The 3rd Verse Podcast

Is Drake really out of the 2027 Grammys? Reports say he's chosen not to submit his new projects, but there's no official word from Drake or the Recording Academy yet. The 3rd Verse breaks down what's actually being reported, Drake's long and messy history with the Grammys, including pulling his Certified Lover Boy nominations in 2021 and his 2019 acceptance speech, and what it means for hip-hop at the Grammys.

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Stat Quo and Justin Hunte break down Kendrick Lamar and SZA's record-breaking tour numbers, ask whether Drake has more FOMO content on the way, and get into the latest Kai Cenat drama. Time Stamps: 0:00 Intro 2:19 Rick Ross Arrested On Domestic Violence Charges 11:04 New Wednesday Interview Series Launches — Che Pope & S1 14:08 Che Pope: The Most Accomplished Person You've Never Heard Of 28:02 Megan Thee Stallion vs. GloRilla — BK's Full Breakdown 48:19 Kai Cenat & Reggie — Grooming Allegations Breakdown 58:19 The Kai Cenat Fallout Continues 1:02:01 How Much "Mess" Should A Platform Cover? 1:19:01 Building "The Road" Not "The Car" — Justin's Brand Philosophy 1:31:07 Drake's FOMO Album — Full Breakdown 1:37:32 Drake Snubbed At The VMAs — Cardi B Wins Instead 1:42:04 Cardi B vs. Drake — Why We Know Nothing About Drake 1:54:01 Rap Wishes Coming True 2:09:39 Charter Schools vs. Public Schools Debate 2:15:38 Rick Ross's Courthouse "Rigatoni" Statement 2:24:18 Kendrick & SZA's Tour Just Made $390 Million 2:27:36 Should Artists Tour Album-By-Album? 2:38:41 Rhapsody Claps Back At A Twitter Critic 2:56:46 Outro Check out the whole episode here: [insert full episode link] Follow: IG: https://www.instagram.com/the3rdversepodcast/ X: https://x.com/3rdVersepodcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thethirdversepod

Stat Quo, DJ Mormile and Justin Hunte break down why hip-hop was largely missing from this year's MTV Awards — and ask why nobody's talking about Jay-Z's new documentary, a project that should be getting way more attention.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro & Chart Report Setup

0:34 VMAs Reaction — Stat's First Watch In Years

7:19 Jay Valentine Recap & The Kawhi Leonard Discovery Story

13:14 SF Bay Area Hip-Hop Museum & Preserving Culture

15:30 Black History Erasure — Famous Amos, Buffalo Wings & More

20:32 Sampling Isn't Theft — Stat's Defense

24:16 Stevie Wonder's 50th Anniversary Shoutout

25:12 VMAs Winners Breakdown

32:00 Is Bruno Mars R&B Or Pop? The Blackness Debate

44:30 Politics & Music Eras — The Obama Correlation

52:12 Anthony Fantano Joins — Chart Report Begins

58:00 Chart Report: 100–91

1:03:00 Fantano's Worst Song Of The Year

1:11:38 Why Country Music Took Over The Charts

1:26:00 Fantano Rates Drake's Iceman Live

1:37:19 Is Stella Lefty A Total Industry Plant?

1:44:00 Fantano Rates GNX A 9

1:48:30 The Tupac Murder Conviction & Hip-Hop's False Narratives

1:52:12 Stat vs. Fantano: Is Iceman Drake's Best Since Scorpion?

2:04:00 The "Whisper My Name" vs. "Started From The Bottom" Flow Story

2:12:00 Should We Cancel Lil Yachty?

2:16:56 The Undercast/Overcast Two-Button Game

2:22:53 Beyoncé, Country Music & Segregation History

2:27:03 Overcast's Official Statement — Stat Breaks It Down

2:34:42 Weed, Truffle & Cologne — The Random Debate Of The Year

2:42:39 Third Verse Expansion — New Pre-Recorded Interviews Announced

2:52:01 Outro

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It's Superfan Friday — Stat Quo and Justin Hunte take live calls from fans around the world, answering questions on hip-hop, the industry, and everything happening on The 3rd Verse this week.

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Tuma Basa — the creator of RapCaviar and former head of Rap Programming at Spotify, YouTube Music, and Revolt — joins Stat Quo and Justin Hunte live to break down how hip-hop curation actually works, why streaming platforms are built the way they are, and what's next for how we consume music.

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Stat Quo and Justin Hunte ask the hard question: did leaning on the Kendrick Lamar connection actually hurt AZ Chike's rollout instead of helping it? Breaking down the numbers, the marketing strategy, and what went wrong.

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Live Thursday morning — Stat Quo, DJ Mormile & Justin Hunte react to Drake's FOMO and break down AZ Chike's new album, No Rest For The Wicked.

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Stat and Justin break down a huge morning in hip-hop: Lil Durk's not guilty verdict, Drake's new FOMO release, and fresh music from Kendrick Lamar.

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Stat and Justin break down Ye's Soldier Field show in Chicago from last Friday, giving their full reaction to the performance, staging, and what it means for his comeback.

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It’s Fan Fuss Friday! This episode was recorded live with Stat and Justin taking calls from listeners about hip-hop, the show, and whatever else the fans wanted to get into.

Hear the conversations, questions, debates, and everything that happened when The 3rd Verse opened up the phone lines.

📞 This episode is a recording and the call-in portion has ended.

Want to join the conversation next time? Fan Fuss Friday goes LIVE at 10AM PT on YouTube. Watch live on YouTube to call in and be part of the show.

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