Q: Hey Q who’s your least favorite rapper?
SBQ: KENDRICK HE SUCKS

Q: What’s under the bucket hat, Q?
SBQ: used to b my Hairline but dat sHit far from tHere

Q: Who wins in a fight between TDE and A$AP Mob?
SBQ: us easy dem niggaHz cant figHt

Q: Oprah, Martha Stewart, Kathy Griffin. Fuck one, Marry one, Kill one.GO!
SBQ: i already fuck katHy, i would marry opraH and kill martHa sHe a felon

Q: Sup Q, two questions 1. How many bucket hats you got? 2. Who the ugliest rapper you know?
SBQ: I GOT LIKE 300 PLUS and danny brown and ab-soul witout HIs sHades

To clarify, these jokes are only a small part of the AMA and none of them are actual, mean-spirited, match-igniting shots. Like Kendrick‘s “Control” verse, these are just friendly (and hilarious) nudges between friends and peers. Read the full exchange here.

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The gem of the interview is Q‘s revelation that the members of TDE were collectively surprised at how the “Control” verse was received. It really was intended to just be friendly fire between friends. Beyond that, Q also crucially mentions that the cypher was recorded before “Control” dropped, which is important to remember if you’re really trying to argue that Kendrick vs Drake is an actual beef (it probably isn’t, thankfully).

There’s also a funny surprise at the end that involves a phone call. Watch below.

The post Video: Schoolboy Q Discusses the BET Cypher on Sway in the Morning appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Though other rappers have said more about Kendrick Lamar‘s verse on “Control” more than the author himself, the figures aren’t absolutely skewed against Kendrick. K. Dot recently sat down with Chelsea Handler to discuss the verse. It’s a brief segment and Handler is unsurprisingly obnoxious and racist (“You’re black so obviously you know about basketball” – hardy, har har), but Kendrick handles it with poise. The segment is only two minutes, but why wouldn’t it be? The verse truly is that easy to explain, despite the histrionics from the rap community. Watch below and never watch Chelsea Lately again.

For additional words from Kendrick himself regarding the verse, listen to his interview with Peter Rosenberg. It’s slightly sycophantic and over-dramatic, but it’s an interesting listen nonetheless. Kendrick is a very thoughtful dude.

The post Video: Kendrick Lamar Discusses “Control” on Chelsea Lately appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Joey Bada$$ has made it clear that he can’t sit back and let Kendrick Lamar get away with claiming the title “King of New York.” Teaming up with Knxwledge for the production, Joey  adopts his gritty “95 Til’ Infinity” flow and goes straight for Kendrick’s head:

“My set told me to light you up so this that propane/It’s Nathan all I gotta do is spit this flame/No escaping, you in a room full of champagne/You set yourself up for that one mane/The king of New York?/Ha! we ain’t just gonna let that one hang/Last nigga got dethroned and you ain’t from my zone/The rest of the real niggas is dead and gone.”

It’s a short track, and hopefully the last Kendrick response from now til infinity, but it’s definitely one of the stronger approaches. Listen below.

The post New Music: Joey Bada$$ – “Killuminati Pt. 2” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

There’s a moment, a little less than 10 seconds in on “10 2 10,” where Big Sean says, “I’m gonna be paid forever.” It’s a small, minor moment in an album full of small, minor moments, but it could also serve as Big Sean‘s mission statement. Hall of Fame is Big Sean‘s second major label-release, under Kanye West‘s G.O.O.D Music imprint, and it’s an album that was designed to sell records.

Big Sean’s career path is one of decent mythology: he spit bars for Kanye at a local radio station, exchanges numbers, drops a few mixtapes, and eventually earns himself a deal with G.O.O.D. Then, he was shelved for a while, and he waited patiently for his moment by dropping a few more mixtapes. Finally, his time came, and with a few solid singles to his name, he dropped his debut album, the aptly named Finally Famous, 4 years after initially signing to West‘s label. Where Finally Famous was a celebration of making it to this point, Hall of Fame is designed to keep him at the top, and all over your radio dial.

Sean‘s one of the few artists out who have cornered the market on pop-rap; he’s created radio friendly hip-hop that can still craftily fall into the genre’s ever growing title of “street music.” Sometimes, he finds the right blend of melodic flows and catchy hooks. The album has a handful of tracks that show that formula’s potential for making good music. ‘Beware’ featuring Jhene Aiko, and a not-so-stellar Lil’ Wayne, is a great example, as Sean bounces from singing alongside Aiko on the hook, to verses with an uneven flow; “Toyota Music” has Sean zonked out on some good tree, slowing it down for a minute to a very solid effect; “10 2 10′”and “Mula (Remix)” both capitalize on the trap sounds that are all over Urban Radio, and Young Chop provides the daring instrumentals on both tracks.

Sean does struggle to find his footing on more than one occasion. For every solid point on the album, there’s almost always a matching negative. “MILF” features mailed in verses from Nicki Minaj and Juicy J. “First Chain” is reminiscent of Kanye‘s “‘We Major,” but in the sense that Nas was pretty much there for nothing (not that Cudi doesn’t show out, because he definitely brought his A-Game on this one). “Nothing is Stopping You” features a fairly decent beat from Key Wayne, but the song as a whole is a rather forgettable tale of Sean paying it forward for an up-and-coming rapper like himself. And Jay-Z may want a Picasso in his casa, but Sean getting a “Mona Lisa,” is one of the album’s lowest point.s

“‘Fire” may be the most polarizing track on the album. DJ Camper‘s produced arguably the best track on the album, but Sean‘s verses are still so polarizing. The moment the beat fades out and Sean spits “when it’s all finished, at the ending, after all the bottles spilling, throttle gripping, model switching, ching chilling in my villa, fucking like I’m trying to populate a village, I’m replenished, I didn’t do it for the money, just for the feeling, I made it through the…” and then the beat hits back harder than ever; that’s a moment that Sean’s rarely hit in his career. But, then he drops lines like “back to the hood where they’re speaking Trapanese, if I fall down, bet I only trampoline” and it’s hard to take him seriously. That’s ultimately the problem with Big Sean, and Hall of Fame, he tries so hard – almost TOO hard – to be taken seriously as something.

But what is he trying to be? A real rapper? Kendrick and Jay Electronica showed that he can’t really hang in that realm. An uplifting spirit, speaking for the streets of Detroit? Danny Brown has other thoughts on what streets Sean’s from. A hybrid of Drake and J. Cole? He’s doing a sub-par job of that. (See: “All Figured Out”) . Maybe Big Sean doesn’t even know what he wants to be, but there’s one thing that he is for certain: an average rapper, that’s going to sell a lot of records. With a Kanye West co-sign, and enough weight to his name with radio hits already there, there’s no denying that Big Sean‘s music is going to sell records and hit the airwaves. It’s the world we live in, and for that, we’ve gotten Hall of Fame. It’s an average rap-record that’s going to produce 3-4 singles (our bet is on album standout “Ashley” to be the biggest hit from the album, even though Miguel does much of the song’s heavy lifting), but Sean could’ve given us so much more.

The post Album Review: Big Sean – Hall of Fame appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The road to release for this record has been a bumpy one. Joe Budden initially recorded it earlier in the week but, at the request of some of his entourage, he decided not to release it. However, in classic Budden fashion, the song was played over a Ustream session. The audio from that session was then promptly ripped and uploaded online yesterday. Following that, a CDQ version has finally popped out. Does the Slaughterhouse founder win best response? Listen now and decide.

The post New Music: Joe Budden – “Control” (Kendrick Lamar Response) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If you’ve been paying attention, the past 4 months have been full of three-man collaborations. Drake, 2 Chainz and Big Sean got together for “All Me,” Casey Veggies, Earl and Vince Staples got together for “Hive” and Joey Fatts, A$AP Rocky and Danny Brown got together for “Choppa.” Then of course, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica got together for “Control.” Clearly the three-man format is becoming the new standard. That was a joke.

All jokes aside though, E-40, Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q attack this unforgivably hyphy beat with unique yet complementary approaches. The video brings this interesting chemistry to life, even if it is in a somewhat standard way. Watch below and talk about this song more than “Control.”

The post New Video: E-40 feat. Danny Brown & Schoolboy Q – “All My Niggas” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.