There will forever be only one Dark Man Unknown and today is his birthday! Born Earl Simmons on this day in “Money Earnin’” Mount Vernon in 1970, DMX became one of the largest names in Hip Hop as well as a sought after actor on the silver screen. Sadly, X passed away on April 9, 2021 after being in a coma from a cocaine-induced heart attack.
In honor of X’s born day, The Mind Squad at The Source has formulated this list of The Dog’s Top 10 anthems. There’s no particular order, but make sure you let us know your favorite banger!
Megan Thee Stallion’s “HISS” is one of the biggest hits of 2024 so far… but there’s only one problem with its chart longevity. It has a lot of subliminal disses and created a moment, but since much of the hype surrounding it is about these feuds, the beefs dying down in the headlines means that the song doesn’t have the same replay value. At least, that’s what Billboard reflects, as the track fell out of the Top 10 this week. Now, it’s populated by the mainstays as of late: Zach Bryan, SZA, Jack Harlow, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Luke Combs, Doja Cat, and more.
Of course, a lot of the conversation around “HISS” surrounded the true ignition of beef between Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj. The latter absolutely popped off on Twitter when this record dropped, going on a social media rampage for three days before dropping her response, “Big Foot.” No matter which side you’re on in this debacle, you can’t deny that either release had a lot of potential to stay on the charts for long. There’s nothing wrong with making a moment out of a song; it just means that you won’t have the same effect as you would with a song catered to be a re-playable and long-lasting effort.
But the question still remains: did Megan Thee Stallion (or Nicki Minaj, for that matter) need to stay on the charts for the song to make its impact? The Houston MC still hasn’t responded to “Big Foot,” which is likely because of all the success she found with “HISS.” Although some folks like The Joe Budden Podcastdoubt that it was an organic No. 1 smash, her fans think that she took the dub here. Barbz think otherwise, obviously, so maybe one more round is what could really settle this.
That aside, a lot of people are still talking about this beef and these disses, including femcee Saweetie, who had a great and nuanced take about female rap beef. As such, Billboard doesn’t mean a thing; “HISS” stamped itself into the history books and into public consciousness. But it means little if what follows it, such as an album, doesn’t result in a compelling, well-crafted, and intent-driven experience. On that note, log back into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Megan Thee Stallion.
Everybody in the rap world is talking about Megan Thee Stallion’s new song “HISS.” While she doesn’t name many names, the song still manages to settle seemingly dozens of scores with those who wronged her. The one that most people gravitated towards is Nicki Minaj. Nicki spat some lyrics on her new album Pink Friday 2 that many interpreted as a diss at Megan and now the “Savage” rapper has responded. Nicki’s answer to Megan’s new diss track has been the very definition of maximal.
Minaj has been tweeting nearly constantly throughout the entire weekend and into this week. Some of those tweets spanned hundreds of words but were occasionally completely incomprehensible. It all came to a head when she dropped “Big Foot” a response song that she teased all weekend. Unfortunately for Nicki, fans nearly universally rejected the track for seeming hastily assembled and lacking in any clever punchlines. The response may look even weaker if “HISS” continues its hot start. Check out the newest projection for the diss track below.
As of the newest chart projections, Megan Thee Stallion could land in the top 10 of the Hot 100 next week. It would be the first time she’s ever debuted a solo song in the top 10. She would join artists like Ariana Grande and 21 Savage who have debuted songs in the top 10 so far in 2024.
Megan is using the attention from the diss as a platform to make some major announcements. She confirmed that she’s taking off on tour later this year and fans will have even more new music to look forward to hearing at the shows. Details are scant but she revealed she’s planning on dropping a new album before the tour starts. What do you think of Megan Thee Stallion’s Nicki Minaj diss track being projected to debut in the top 10 of the Hot 100? Let us know in the comment section below.
Brandy’s status as an R&B icon is unquestionable. The singer, songwriter, and actress have had a prolific career, releasing timeless classics over the course of seven studio albums. Nearly 30 years since she released her debut album back in 1994, the Vocal Bible is still actively releasing music with a brand new Christmas album dropping this month. Known for her impeccable vocal range and intricate overdubbing that continues to shine on records like Ty Dolla $ign’s “No Tomorrow Pt. 2,” Brandy has her fair share of hit songs including seven that cracked the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. As we anticipate Christmas With Brandy, here are her biggest top 10 hits. Take a look at the list below.
The album version of “Brokenhearted” from Brandy’s 1994 self-titled debut album was originally a solo track. However, the single version was reimagined as a duet alongside Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men. The reworked edition of “Brokenhearted” was the fourth and final single from Brandy’s debut album and became one of her biggest hits. The ballad reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, joining her debut album’s first few singles to chart within the top 10.
6. “What About Us?” (2002)
Brandy’s 2002 album, Full Moon saw her dive into the pop realm. It drew inspiration from electronic dance music genres like UK garage and electro. The album’s lead single, “What About Us?” is a Rodney Jerkins-produced electro-funk track, over which Brandy smoothly expresses her frustrations over a former lover. The song’s clunky instrumentation exemplified the deviation in sound from her first two albums. While “What About Us?” was met with mixed reception at the time of its release, it still performed successfully on the charts, landing a spot at #7 on the Hot 100. It is also her most recent single to crack the top 10.
Brandy’s debut single is a bonafide classic. “I Wanna Be Down” embodies the pairing of R&B and hip-hop that defined the music of the 1990s. The lighthearted and flirtatious content of the song was fitting for Brandy, who was only 15 years old at the time of the album’s release. While her subject matter eventually matured, “I Wanna Be Down” is a definitive song in Brandy’s catalog. It has been sampled numerous times in hip-hop, dance, and pop music. Brandy’s debut single performed quite well on the charts, landing the No. 6 spot and marking her very first top 10 hit.
4. “Baby” (1994)
Brandy’s second single from her debut album performed even better than “I Wanna Be Down.” Charting at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Baby” captivated audiences through its hip-hop drum break, soulful melodies, and catchy chorus. Much like “I Wanna Be Down,” it became a ’90s R&B classic over time. In addition to its position at #4, “Baby” also spent four weeks atop the Hot R&B singles chart.
“Sittin’ Up in My Room” supported the 1995 movie, Waiting to Exhale, starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. The Babyface-produced instrumental utilizes a slapping bassline and upbeat grooves to perfectly complement Brandy’s vocals. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was her biggest track until the release of her second album.
2. “Have You Ever?” (1998)
Brandy’s 1998 album, Never Say Never contains both of Brandy’s biggest top 10 hits. “Have You Ever?” is a soft R&B and pop ballad with luscious instrumentation. In the lyrics, she pleads her love to someone who does not reciprocate, framing the emotion in the form of a series of questions. “Have You Ever?” was the second single from Never Say Never to top the Billboard charts. The song’s only rival is another massive track from Brandy’s second album.
“The Boy Is Mine” is undoubtedly Brandy’s biggest track. A duet with Monica, the song marked the first No. 1 hit for both singers. It was the lead single for both Never Say Never and Monica’s second album, The Boy Is Mine. In the song, the two fight over a man, emulating Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s duet off of Thriller, “The Girl Is Mine.” While the song saw Brandy and Monica playfully fight each other over a shared love interest, it sparked a rumored rivalry between them that has since been squashed. “The Boy Is Mine” remains an important song for both the careers of Brandy and Monica. In addition to being her first No. 1 hit, it was Brandy’s fifth top 10 entry and is still her biggest track to date.
Gunna saw a lot of success with his new album a Gift & a Curse, one of hip-hop’s standout releases of the year so far. Not only did it add to the YSL affiliate’s narrative after taking a plea deal in the label’s RICO case, but it also contains plenty of bangers as well. Moreover, one of these is “fukumean,” which quickly became a fan favorite off the project for its engaging beat and wavy flows. In fact, it seems like it’s only going up, because in the three weeks or so since the album’s release, it reached its highest commercial peak so far. Furthermore, the track became the rapper’s first solo top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, placing at number eight.
Of course, it’s not hard to see why this track is rising up the streaming and sales ranks out of all the others. When looking at a Gift & a Curse‘s tracklist, this is one of the few cuts that exists largely outside of the trial’s context. In addition, it’s one of the more exciting and stank-face-inducing performances and instrumentals on the album. As such, it reminds fans of the old Gunna in the best way while still fitting well with the more somber and lyrically focused songs.
Even the music video and a viral interaction with its producer Dunk Rock garnered some attention online. Unfortunately for Gunna, all the project’s success and hot tracks come with a larger-than-life asterisk for many hip-hop listeners out there. His continued presumed beef with artists about his plea deal took center stage with this release, including former collaborators like Lil Baby and Lil Durk. Still, we don’t know where things are at with Young Thug, which is probably the most burning and important question that fans want answered.
Regardless, hits like “fukumean,” no matter your take on them, suggest that his career is here to stay. In the three weeks since a Gift & a Curse dropped, discussion around the drama of his situation mostly died down. Hopefully that means that all parties involved can just get back to their lives and focus on more important issues. With that in mind, stay logged into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Gunna.
When Lil Wayne launched Young Money Entertainment in 2005 as an imprint of Cash Money, he probably knew he’d be successful. However, it was probably hard to predict the dominant and staggeringly influential status that the label would hold just a couple of years down the road. Moreover, through some of its first big releases, it gave us two of the biggest stars in hip-hop of the 2010s, beyond, and of all time: Drake and Nicki Minaj, and Weezy himself obviously fits that list, too. Chart history proves this even more, as now that the Trinidadian rapper has 23 Top 10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the three rappers have the most Top 10 hits in the entire genre.
Given that each artist is still releasing hype material that makes huge waves, it’s unlikely that this streak will end anytime soon. For example, Nicki Minaj has an new album on the way this year, Pink Friday 2, and Lil Wayne is hard at work on Tha Carter VI. Meanwhile, Drake recently announced his new album For All The Dogs, which fans expect to release at some point this year as well. With this in mind, it will be very hard for rappers in the game to beat these metrics, even if Eminem and Jay-Z are tied for the fourth rapper with the most Hot 100 Top 10 songs at 22 each, just one less than Nicki.
Furthermore, it’s likely that the 40-year-old MC achieved this off the strength of some of her recent singles. The last one to come out and hit big on the charts was the Ice Spice collab “Barbie World” for the doll-named film, which releases later in July. Of course, with a November drop on the cards, plenty of tracks will probably edge their way to the Top 10 of the chart, as well. In fact, Nicki Minaj might even pass Lil Wayne soon, who has 25 Top 10 entries.
As far as Drake, though, he can snooze on the throne for years and he would still be tough to beat. The Canadian superstar has a whopping 68 Top 10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100. Maybe they should make another Young Money collab project and make a rising tide lift all boats. Regardless, come back to HNHH for the latest news and updates on Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Lil Wayne.
NBA YoungBoy’s latest mixtape, Richest Opp, dropped on May 12. It’s his third album release of the year, following studio albums I Rest My Case and Don’t Try This At Home. According to industry sales data, Richest Opp is projected to sell somewhere in the region of 58,000 copies in its first week. While not as strong as Don’t Try This At Home‘s 62,000 sales, it should be good enough for a top-five debut in the charts.
While myriad data about album success exists, it’s a little harder to find when broken down by genre. In regards to the Billboard 200, the Rolling Stones hold the record for all-time top-10 albums with 37. In terms of rap music specifically, the best-performing artist in terms of albums is a tie between Jay-Z and Nas. The two rap legends have 16 apiece. While NBA YoungBoy isn’t quite there yet, he’s getting close. And he’s joining some big-name stars in third.
NBA YoungBoy Projected For Third-Most Top-10 Rap Albums
If Richest Opp peaks in the top 10, it will be NBA YoungBoy’s 15th top-10 album. All five of his studio albums peaked in the top 10, with Top and Sincerely, Kentrell reaching number one. As for mixtapes, NBA YoungBoy saw 11 consecutive mixtapes fail to break the top 10. Six failed to chart entirely and two charted outside the top 150. NBA YoungBoy’s performing mixtape prior to 2019 was Realer, which peaked at #15. However, all of his mixtapes since AI YoungBoy 2 have reached the top 10.
If Richest Opp can reach the same mark, it would make YoungBoy the third-most successful rap artist in terms of top-10 releases. He would share the honor with Drake and Future, who both have 15 to their name already. While many people downplayed this, pointing to how frequently YoungBoy releases new content, it’s still an amazing feat. The volume of content doesn’t really matter. You could release 100 albums and mixes and see none of them chart. It’s a historic feat for the Utah-based rapper. What do you think about Richest Opp? Do you think it deserves to be top 10? Let us know in the comments.
Mac Miller‘s death sent tidal waves through the music community. Heavily touted as a unique talent and intimate soul, his journey was left tragically unfinished. Openly addicted to drugs and dealing with depression, Mac was an example of why artists often struggle with the limelight. However, the flawed figure had a noticeable impact on any collaborator he worked with. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Miller was born to a creative family that enhanced his musical interests. By age six, he was already learning the drums and the piano.
The rapper was spitting rhymes on the school bus by his freshman year of high school, orchestrating random jam-out sessions where his buddies acted as impromptu drum sets or hi-hats. The Pittsburgh outfit would continue to hone his craft, releasing his breakout mixtape K.I.D.S at only 18 years old. Soon, making large-scale connections and signing a record deal with Rostrum Records, he released his debut studio album, Blue Slide Park, in 2011.
For all of Mac’s faults, he was one of the most influential artists of our generation. Mac was more than just a rapper, improving leaps and bounds as a vocalist or multi-instrumentalist throughout his career. With his last few albums being his best work, Mac is one of hip-hop’s biggest “what if” stories.
10. Blue Slide Park
His debut studio album, Blue Slide Park is a noticed maturation from the lyrical and production sound of his mixtapes. Mac is impressively able to find his distinctive voice throughout the 46-minute record. The project is famously known for receiving a scathing 1.0 mark from Pitchfork. However, that rating has since been disproven. Employing a timeless sound, tracks like “Party of Fifth Ave” or “PA Nights” still sound just as fresh today.
Additionally, the record sold 145,000 in its first week, shooting straight to #1 on the Billboard charts. Blue Slide Park is full of egotistical, party-rap bops. While it’s far more surface-level than his later releases, it’s an admirable full-length debut. A direct shoutout to his upbringing in Pittsburgh, it’s a transition album from his fun mixtapes to his later, more mature records.
9. Best Day Ever
The follow-up mixtape to his hit day-view mixtape K.I.D.S, Best Day Ever saw Mac Miller strip down his sound to appeal to his hoards of new fans. Bringing in fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa, the mixtape was ultimately an attempt to mold himself into a household mainstream rapper. The result is mixed from front to back, as cringeworthy choruses and forced verses are undeniably present throughout the album.
However, Best Day Ever still features much of what made early-era Mac Miller great. It’s braggadocios, groovy, and has plenty of timeless bangers such as “Donald Trump” and title track, “Best Day Ever.” While Best Day Ever is mixed better while seeing Mac improve on his technical songwriting chops, it’s missing the uniqueness or nostalgic bite of K.I.D.S.
8. K.I.D.S
Iconic, nostalgic, and downright fun. The debut streaming mixtape from Mac, K.I.D.S is a coming-of-age collection of boom-bap rap and jazzy beats. Even on his early mixtapes, he had proved that he wasn’t in the game to sound like everyone else. Sampling the likes of Empire of the Sun and Nas, he displayed an inherent knack for utilizing great sounds.
Throwing the listener in the headspace of a sunny day riding a bike with friends, K.I.D.S is a 47-minute middle finger to what’s to be expected of him. Ditching high school or the traditional college route, Mac idolizes smoking weed or being with women. He and his friends are driving around town without a destination, searching for the next high of childhood. Purposefully goofy, he flexes as any other indulgent teenager would.
Clearly listening to hip-hop from the West to the East Coast, Miller integrates the two styles into an eclectic blend. Tracks such as “Nikes On My Feet” and “Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza” are much the latter, with Joey Bada$$‘s influence written all over them. However, tracks such as “Knock Knock” and “The Spins” very much contain the freedom or spontaneity of a West Coast track. While he hasn’t found his distinctive sound, Mac still finds a way to make K.I.D.S sound uniquely him.
7. Macadelic
While Blue Slide Park was largely devoid of features, Macadelic saw him work with plenty of collaborators. From Lil Wayne to Kendrick Lamar, Mac sounds far more comfortable when able to rely on the energy of others to create in comparison to Blue Slide Park. Taking a noticeable step up in the lyrical department, he comes off as a rapper who’s more confident about the subject matter he’s rapping about.
Mac Miller is unsettlingly dark and pensive on Macadelic, talking about his addiction to codeine and questioning religion. He puts it all on the table, throwing away the façade that his drug and fame-filled lifestyle was an endless fever dream. Some of Mac’s essential hits appear on the record, such as “Loud” and “Fight the Feeling.”
Macadelic suffers from the common theme of Mac’s early records of being far too long. Surpassing the hour mark, it’s a tedious front-to-back listen. However, he’s able to use the run-time to express more stylistic range than ever. Hopping from Soul to Trap-based influences, it was his most unpredictable record to date.
6. Watching Movies With The Sound Off
Mac’s second studio album, Watching Moves with the Sound Offwas his most experimental record. Playing around with ethereal beats and vocal pitch shifting, it was his most psychedelic record, as well. Mac recruited the likes of Clams Casino and The Alchemist to curate his sound. In an interview with Complex, Mac described the record as “very introspective and very personal, so it’s kind of throwing it all out there and seeing what happens.” After settling into the “weed rapper” persona for a few years, the 2012 release marked a significant crossroads in his career, where he could distinguish his narrative from that stereotype.
With guest features from the likes of Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt, and Schoolboy Q, Mac was an established force in the music industry by this time. Additionally, the features seemed to compliment his grittier narratives far better than on previous projects. He focuses far more on his vocal delivery on the project, which he’d been struggling with previously. Initially aspiring to be a singer before becoming a rapper, it’s no wonder he began venturing into different vocal pallets at this career stage.
While Watching Movies with the Sound Off is a little lengthy, plenty of memorable moments remain stuck in my head ten years later. You have Earl’s verse on the back end of “I’m Not Real,” or the trippy summertime vibes of “Someone Like You.” There’s no question that some of his best tracks appeared on this album. From warped reverb guitars to psychedelic synths, the record was his most cohesive and mature project.
5. The Divine Feminine
Mac’s fourth studio album,The Divine Feminine, ties together grandiose vocal harmonies and airy piano chords for his most pleasant-sounding record to date. Featuring some absolute slappers, we have some great features from Anderson Paak and Kendrick Lamar. Full of earworm choruses, “Dang!” and “God is Fair, Sexy Nasty” are two of his best tracks. Mac focuses more than ever on his psychedelic blend of jazz and hip-hop on The Divine Feminine. In many ways, the production techniques on this record would be fully realized on Swimming.
As is implied by the title, Mac is narratively focused on his relationships with women throughout The Divine Feminine, or as he puts it, “the feminine energy of the planet.” Referencing his past relationship with Nomi Leasure in contrast to his current relationship with Ariana Grande, he reflects on the subtle differences between the two experiences. Grande later confirmed that “Cinderella” was about her.
The Divine Feminine is a sonic and narrative contrast to Good A:M. Peeling back the many layers of love, it replaces hard-hitting bops with introspective grooves. In retrospect, it feels like the project that cemented Mac as a multi-creative force rather than just your other mainstream MC.
4. Good A:M
A banger-filled follow-up to Watching Movies with the Sound Off, the project sees Mac noticeably progress in terms of his ability to create a narratively engaging project. While he remains fully engaged in the pure hip-hop era of his career, Good A:M would be the last (relatively) straightforward rap project from Mac Miller. In many ways, Good A:M is a homecoming to his early rap days. The production mirrors his early mixtapes, showcasing a significant improvement from Mac.
In his most cohesive record up to this point, he discusses topics regarding addiction, fame, and personal growth. Mac states: “White lines be numbing them dark times / Them pills that I’m popping, I need to man up / Admit it’s a problem, I need a wake up / Before one morning, I don’t wake up.” In retrospect, it’s another harrowing line that showcases how he was self-conscious about his shortcomings.
Good A:M bounces from beautiful jazz-rap samples to reverb-filled trap bangers. He recruits the likes of Chief Keef and Lil B for the latter, who each deliver a refreshing change of pace on their respective tracks. While the project suffers from a common thread of overstaying its welcome, this doesn’t weigh down the record to the same extent as past projects. Good A:M is a pleasant mix of moody and hype songs that signaled his outstanding growth from Blue Slide Park to the Fall of 2015.
3. Faces
Initially released in 2014, Faces was re-issued to streaming services in 2021. A firm fan favorite, the mixtape was finally released as a retrospective celebration of his life. As Mac Miller’s astounding eleventh (and best) mixtape, the record is peppered with topics surrounding our mortality and his personal struggle to discover meaning. Up to this point, Faces sees Mac as more unfiltered and raw than ever.
While Faces is officially a mixtape, it certainly feels like a full-length experience. Running just past the 90-minute mark, the jazz-adjacent jams feature iconic Miles Davis samples and bass guitar riffs from close friend Thundercat. Oddly enough, the album feels more relevant now than in 2014. The leisurely and abstract nature of the production better mirrors present-day hip-hop styles than those relevant back when Faces was released.
An even more tragic listen when consumed with the context of Mac’s death, it almost feels as if Mac is accepting of his approaching demise on the record. “Grand Finale,” the final track off of the mixtape, sees Mac claim that it would be the final song he would ever put out. Full of fantastic features, we see common contemporaries such as Earl Sweatshirt and Vince Staples on the record. Hauling in a West Coast collective of MCs, Mac’s pen game is at its peak on the mixtape.
2. Swimming
Mac Miller’s fifth studio album, Swimming, was his most vulnerable record. It had been a rough six months leading up to the record’s release. Mac was arrested for a DUI, as he references in “Hurt Feelings.” Recently breaking up with Ariana Grande, the album contains a definite “me against the world mentality.” Mac explores his loneliness amidst a pool of emotions, feeling as lost as ever at 26.
There’s an apparentTo Pimp a Butterflyinfluence on Swimming, as Mac integrates groovy jazz basslines on the likes of “Ladders” and “Self Care.” Of course, this isn’t the first time Mac toyed with Jazz or Soul influences. In fact, Swimming feels like a project he had built up to throughout his career trajectory. Take The Divine Feminine, where Anderson Paak and Kendrick Lamar-featured tracks add in falsetto horns and rapid tempo drums.
Swimming is a fully realized version of the eclectic blends of Jazz-Rap that Mac Miller had been going for in the past. The record is so fascinating in that, in many cases, the sound directly contrasts with Mac’s lyricism. The music acts as a therapeutic escape for him, masking him from the reality of his mental state. However, this isn’t a concurring theme from start to finish. “Perfecto” is far more melancholic, as Mac references Grande with the line, “She put me back together when I was out of order.” “2009” features earnest, piercing piano chords as he sighs, “I don’t have it all, but that’s alright with me.” Swimming is arguably the best sounding project in his discography.
1. Circles
It’s both tragic and beautiful that Mac’s only posthumous release would be his best project. Circles is precisely that. Reflective and harrowing, the record was intended to be a narrative companion to Swimming. He completed the vast majority of the project before his sudden passing. It took composer-producer Job Brion to complete the mixing process of the record. On Circles, Mac Miller is swimming in a despondent loop, living on a high tossing him into the same fortuitous cycle of drug use and depressive episodes.
While Mac seems wholly lost on Swimming, Circles seems to see him find his footing a bit more. He’s more conscious of the inherent ebbs and flows of life or accepting the trends that have led him to his current mental state. On “Surf,” he states, “It’s more when I’m standin’ in crowds that I’m feelin’ the most on my own.” He continuously references this juxtaposition throughout Circles, repeating “good news is all they wanna hear” on the isolating “Good News.”
Circles was meant to symbolize a new sonic direction for the Pittsburgh-born rapper. Dreaming of one day being a singer before his rap career took off, the record felt like a new stage in his astounding evolution as an artist. Predominately indie-folk, Mac Miller raps less than ever on the record. The one exception is “Blue World,” a rare moment of clarity and contentment amidst stuttering vocal samples. In retrospect, Circles is the best form of closure fans could’ve asked for.
That “Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time” list has earned attention from Swizz Beatz. The megaproducer knows all about the greats in Hip Hop—his songs are staples in many of their catalogs. Swizz has been working on music and getting Verzuz back on the main stage, but he recently sat down with Billboard. Swizz was asked about his thoughts on the controversial GOAT list during their chat. He didn’t seem up in arms about the choices, but he admitted he would have changed one thing.
“It didn’t make me mad,” he said of the list overall. “But you know, the way I would have did it — which, you know, y’all can do how you want to do it — but I would’ve said, ‘in no particular order.’ I know those are hard lists to do. It’s never gonna be the perfect list, you know?” It did seem that audiences were more concerned with where the choices landed rather than the picks themselves.
Swizz Beatz’s Ever-Changing Top 10
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz perform onstage during the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman on February 04, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The interviewer suggested that no one would read the article if the artists weren’t ranked numerically. However, Swizz pushed back against that, stating that readers would engage in conversations about where they would place artists instead of being told where their favorites deserved to be. Elsewhere, he was further asked about his Top 10. “It changes a lot, because I don’t base my top 10 off of too much old things,” said Swizz. “It’s an all-time [list], and it’s a current [list]. That current one changes all the time, depending on the performance of what they do.”
The youngest artist on Swizz’s Top 10 is Lil Durk. “You know why? Because for me, it’s not just about bars,” Swizz explained. “It’s about believing those bars. When we first started coming up with Ruff Ryders and The LOX, what they was rapping about, they was really doing. It was really about that. It wasn’t for views, it wasn’t for an app, it was to express their surroundings. That’s what Durk does.”
Durk: The Voice Of The Heroes
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 22: Rapper Lil Durk performs during “One Big Party Tour” at Capital One Arena on January 22, 2023 in Washington, DC.(photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)
“When you hear him rap, you know that he’s actually been through what he’s talking about,” Swizz continued. “Some fortunate situations, some unfortunate situations, but it’s almost like an autobiography in real-time. That’s what Pac did, that’s what X did, that’s what B.I.G. did. The people we call the best of all time — not comparing them to him, but they used their experiences. A lot of artists do it, but I particularly like the way Durk does it.”
NBA YoungBoy scored his 13th top 10 album on the charts with I Rest My Case. Moreover, the Motown Records debut landed at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart. According to chart numbers, the latest from the Louisiana MC moved 29,000 album equivalents in its first week. Also, it garnered around 40 million streams in the U.S. in that time span.
ATLANTA, GA – NOVEMBER 29: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Rapper NBA YoungBoy performs onstage during Lil Baby & Friends concert to promote the new release of Lil Baby’s new album “Street Gossip” at Coca-Cola Roxy on November 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
While this a huge win for the Top star, many saw it as a drop in momentum. After all, it represented YB’s lowest album sales since his career first took off. Considering chart numbers, though, the 23-year-old still found massive success. When you’re as successful as him, even your relative misses are worth celebrating.
However, a few other factors could’ve contributed to this album’s success and relative lack of fanfare. I Rest My Case dropped at the very start of the year amid a busy holiday season. Also, it represents a different sound for YoungBoy, at least when it comes to the first half of the tracklist. Moreover, cuts like “Black” saw YoungBoy in the rage space, spitting over distorted synths and compressed-to-death percussion. Despite some calling it derivative, this writer still finds it to be a compelling and exciting fit for the MC.
Meanwhile, other artists continue to celebrate their Billboard dominance. SZA’s long-awaited SOS celebrated its fifth week atop the charts, and she tweeted a special message. In fact, it seems she’s writing a new one practically every week, with all the success she’s found. Moreover, the last album to achieve such a feat was Adele’s 30.
“5th week at number one,” the “Kill Bill” singer wrote. “God is good . F**k who disagree! Focus on yourself believe in yourself TRUST YOURSELF. GRATEFUL.”
5th week at number one . God is good . Fuck who disagree! Focus on yourself believe in yourself TRUST YOURSELF GRATEFUL
Back to YB, though, he capped the year off by squashing his beef with Fredo Bang, as they hosted a toy drive in their home city of Baton Rouge. Also, he seems to have resolved things with Kodak Black. The two rappers recently hopped on FaceTime to air out their issues, put them aside, and come together.
What do you think of NBA YoungBoy’s I Rest My Case marking his 13th top 10 album on the charts? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, as always, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest on YB.
GRATEFUL 
