It's about half way through 2021, so it's time to talk about my favorite albums so far. With artists like Ian Kelly, T. Carrier, Mach-Hommy, Khrysis, Rome Streetz, Armand Hammer and more having dropped dope albums, there's a lot to consider.

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/7LtUA8hfbHk

Every year, XXL compiles a list of artists that they deem to be on their Freshman Class, and this year is no different. As with every year, people have their own thoughts and opinions on who should be included as well as wondering what exactly the criteria is to be on the list. This week, that's what I try to figure out. 

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/9cmZ8xKEpDc

We're just about half way through the year, so it's almost time to talk about the best albums of 2021 so far and what my favorites are. However, before we get into that, let's talk about what projects I'm looking forward to for the rest of the year. 

Video episode: https://youtu.be/VOCNr4i3nrQ

Just about a year ago, Killer Mike and El-P returned to bring us the fourth installment of their Run The Jewels tapes with RTJ 4. Seeing as it came out during a very tense time and the messages were very relevant, it's only right to go back and see how well it's held up. I also go into quite a bit of other news as well as listed with the timestamps listed below. 

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/UwwyYO4nFfs

0:00 Intro 

1:38 RTJ4 1 year later 

8:05 Mariah Carey leaves Roc Nation 

9:10 Jay Z learns to swim 

11:12 Tina Snow is back 

13:10 Vince Staples' new music 

16:36 Snoop Dogg - Sr. Strategic Advisor at Def Jam 

20:09 B.Dot Miller's Top 10 Best Rappers of 2021 

27:09 New Music 30:58 Outro

Drizzy, K-Dot, Cole and ??? Who takes the fourth spot on the Mount Rushmore of the 2010s? This was a question posed by Rap Caviar last week, which stirred quite a bit of conversation around who the fourth spot should be. The polls show Nicki Minaj, but who else should be considered and why? 

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/Zm6HagacPxY

0:00 Intro 

0:36 Why these three? 

4:29 Who's number 4? 

5:15 Other choices 

8:28 The 1Train argument 

14:53 NEWS 15:05 The Cave returns! 

16:03 Lloyd Banks album announcement 

16:34 EarthGang gives Ghetto Gods update 

17:52 J. Cole leaves BAL 

19:40 Suge Knight's hit on Biggie 

21:55 Thoughts on Exodus 

26:10 Outro

About three years ago when HipHopDX's The Breakdown series was hosted by MURS and Justin Hunte, I was inspired to go out and add to the conversations they started. Today I'm incredibly happy to say that we've reached episode 100. This week my discussion will primarily be focused on why I started this and a bit of a history of the podcast as well. After that, I go into my typical discussion on what happened last week and some preliminary thoughts on music.  

Thank you to everyone that's subscribed and supported Bar for Bar over the past 100 podcast episodes!  

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/Dh6JAB4NXXA

0:00 Intro  

1:28 The history of Bar for Bar 

17:47 Hip Hop 50 

20:30 RIP Chi Modu 

22:35 The artist of the decade: Drake 

26:01 Change Maker Award: Trae Tha Truth 

28:56 Sa-Roc - The Sharecropper's Daughter Deluxe 

30:31 Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti 

32:40 Other releases 

36:25 Outro

Over the past week or so, there's been a lot of discussion online regarding producers from both T-Pain and Flying Lotus. This week, I give my thoughts on what they've said as well as go a bit into how pxvce might have stolen some beats.

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/lKrTgS-Y9F0

Apologies for the audio, we wanted to record outside with a microphone meant for one.   

Poetry and hip hop go hand in hand and for a time in the early 2000s we saw a resurgence in interest in poetry, especially slam poetry. Joining me on this week's podcast is my good friend Jose to talk about Russell Simmons' Def Poetry and why we need it to come back.  #BringBackDefPoetry  

Video episode: https://youtu.be/eHoy8OItQXc

Follow Jose:  

https://twitter.com/Official_S1N_X 

https://www.facebook.com/officials1nx 

https://www.instagram.com/official_s1n_x/

On April 28, Top Dawg tweeted out "THE WAIT IS OVAH!!!! #TDE" accompanied by a video that ended saying 5/7/21. Everyone assumes it's Kendrick, which is fair given how long it's been since he's released, but what if it's someone else? That's the main topic of discussion this week, but we'll also get into the possibility that J. Cole may be dropping The Off Season very soon as well. 

Be sure to check out https://www.hiphopisgod.com/

Video episode: https://youtu.be/SH9ERU6EuZ8

Over the years the conversation about longevity has been brought up and talked about briefly, but how does that apply to hip hop and how does that tie in with the allure of inaccessibility? On this week's podcast, this is exactly what I'll touch on.

Video episode here: https://youtu.be/lF20Cc8xsCY