Dissect - Kendrick's Mixtapes, Loosies, & Features | LAST SONG STANDING (E5)

Episode Date: August 11, 2022

Get the LSS Boyz on the phone! Our journey to crown Kendrick Lamar's best song ever continues with every track NOT on one of Kendrick's main releases. We're talking untitled, unmastered, Overly Dedicated, The Heart series, the K Dot mixtapes, The Black Panther soundtrack, and more. Cast your vote in the poll below and follow the LSS playlist, updated weekly. LAST SONG STANDING is a new show from Dissect and The Ringer. Each season focuses on one artist in attempt to determine their greatest song of all time by debating through their ENTIRE catalog. New episodes publish Thursdays on the Dissect feed. Hosts: Cole Cuchna & Charles Holmes Producer: Justin Sayles Audio Production: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome everyone to Last Song Standing, a show about your favorite artist's greatest song of all time. I'm Cole Kushna. And I'm Charles Holmes. And in this first season of Last Song Standing, we're diving deep into one of the most talented and complicated rappers of a generation. Kendrick Lamar, Cole and I are debating our way through his entire catalog in an effort to decide what's the greatest Kendrick Lamar's song of all time. The L-Double S boys have been in the content minds. We've been at war with each other, okay? Trying to pick what the greatest Kendrick Lamar song of all time is.

Cole, how are you feeling? Are you exhausted? Are you, is there exuberance? Are you ready to delve deep to almost finish our grand experiment? I know. It feels like we're just getting started. We're seeing the finish line now. I've loved this exercise, especially for this episode, which we'll talk about.

I've been getting to listen to Kendrick Lamar for the last three months, which is for me. amazing and perfect. But I do have one regret doing this show, Charles. I have to admit to you. I have one regret. What's the regret? Okay, so I talked about it last episode.

My biggest pick regret is not picking Sing About Me, I'm Dying a Thirst. And my second regret also has to do with this song, because in that episode, you said something about that song that now haunts me every time I hear sing about me, I'm dying a thirst. I hear your voice in my head saying, Cole, you're scaring the hose. Every time I listen to the song now, I hear you say it in my head, and it just ruins it every time. Like, I was, I was getting exhausted. I had been giving Kendrick too much props and too much praise. This is literally the jolt. I need to keep going. Oh, yeah, me ruining, sing about me. I'm dying of thirst for Cole.

That is a win in my book. But, yo, Cole, I feel like we have to go back to the board. We need to remind listeners what our individual nominees for Kendrick's greatest songs are so far. Yeah, so episode one, Good Kid, Mad City, we both agreed Mad City was the best song on that album. Episode two, Mr. Morrell, I chose the best song, Mother I Sober. You chose a great song, Father Time. Episode three, damn, you picked DNA, great choice. I picked Fear, another great choice. In episode four, last episode, we did Section 80.

I pick rigor mortis and you pick ADHD. Here's the thing, Cole. Gonna be honest with you. Should have went. Should have went with money trees in the first episode. It's biting me in the ass. Okay. It's like I keep looking at this, our board,

and I keep being like, there's something missing here. But here's my problem. If I would have went with money trees and you would have one was sick about me of dying of thirst, we both would have been like, why didn't neither of us pick mad city? Yeah. Yeah, it's just a tough album. There's so many good songs on that one. But yeah, I just wish we didn't agree.

I mean, it was the first episode, you know, we were trying to like, you know, meet each other halfway, I think. But maybe I think the listeners are going to save us with their pick. Do you think they're going to do money trees or sing about me? I'm dying at thirst. I feel like those are the two top ones. Yeah, it's definitely going to be one of those two. I don't know.

Yeah, we'll see. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of those two. So, you know, I think the listener pick is going to help us a lot with that. So on today's episode, we are switching things up a little bit in a way that I think this might actually be our most chaotic show of all time. Kendrick is the consummate album artist, but some of his best work often happens outside of those parameters. So we're celebrating everything that didn't make one of Kendrick's major label albums. On the penultimate episode of Last Song Standing, we are diving deep into the mixtapes, features, and Lucy's. dudes made rules change out of love

shut your fucking mouth and get some cash you bitch You be sitting in the studio Thinking about what's smooth We'll go right now Freestyle or write down Whatever All right so yeah

This is gonna be a bit different Do you want to like break down What the format for today's episode It's gonna be Of course I do Cole Usually the L-Dubble S boys cover one album And are forced to crown

The Last Song Standing AK.A. The one song off an album That we think is better than the rest But on today's show, we're tackling a lot more. Instead of one category, we're going to have three. First is mixed tapes and any song that Kendrick has released on the Kendrick Lamar EP, overly dedicated, untitled, unmastered, or the Black Panther soundtrack is in contention.

Second, we'll be handling Kendrick's features, which is any song where the Compton rapper is a guest on another artist's song. And the last category is Lucy's, which is basically any Kendrick's song that wasn't attached to a specific project. Cole and I will get two nominations for each category, and then at the end of the episode, we'll have to pick the last song standing in each. Now that we've set the table, we're going to go to a quick break, and then it is nominations time. All right, we are back, and it's time to nominate some songs. For round one, we're nominating two songs from Kendrick's mixtapes.

Cole, who do you think should go first? Do you want the first pick, or should I get the first pick? I'm going to go with the first pick. I'm going to go first pick. All right. Before we get into this, let me just say I really loved going back to all these mixtapes, all his earliest work.

I mean, it was kind of like a double-edged sword for me because I just heard some early Kendrick bars that I cannot now get out of my head. It's like seeing the chinks in the hero's armor. And it also kind of made me sad because, I don't know, there was so much good music coming out at this time. There's such a plethora of music, abundance of music. And now in retrospect, you think about, you know, the five-year break between Damn and Mr. Moral. You think about the pandemic and all the implications of that.

It just, I don't know, I just got, did you get that feeling like returning to these albums, like, or this era, you know, this early Kendrick era where it just seemed, the time seemed a little more special, a little more prolific. Am I off on that? You're not off on that. And I will say having to pick songs from this moment. I think what I realize is we took for granted how much easier it was to be a Kendrick fan before there was all of this weight attached to him where it's like there's so many songs where it's just he's having fun and he's just like the artistry, you could tell the artistry is still developing.

He's still taking wild swings. And he's just not as massive of an artist yet. So it's like now, like you said, with like COVID and he wins a Pulitzer. and all of these things, the music just has to do so many things. Where it's like a lot of my picks, I almost like them because there's just a joy to them

of like a young artist just kind of still figuring out his powers. Like he's not at the mountaintop yet. And that's probably the era that I miss from Kendrick. Yeah. And there's a sense too with a lot of these early tracks that like he's still proving himself.

And so he's just, yeah, he's not so worried about the, the meaning and the message or just like the complete package of a perfect album with a story and all that. It's just like, let me just prove to you that I can rap. Yeah. And, you know, sometimes I think Kendrick is, early Kendrick especially at his best when he's just rapping, which is actually going to lead me to my first pick. So my first pick for the mixtape section is off of overly dedicated.

It is the song that caught Dr. Dre's attention, ignorance is bliss. See, this game we play come from uncles that race me in. So I love this song. I love the beat. The music video is great. Like I said at top, the song that got Dr. Dre's attention and led to Dr. Dre's co-sign for Kendrick. Apparently Dr. Dr. Dre saw the video for Ignorance's Bliss, which is a very powerful video. And ended up to that phone call, which we described a few episodes back where Dr. Dre calls him and they think it's a prank call and all that. But so in terms of like Kendrick's history and you know the ethos of kendrick ignorance as bliss, I feel like is just an important song just for that reason. But it's also really, really great

song. It's, you know, Kendrick's storytelling, but he's also just rapping. He's got just some crazy word rhyme flows, cadences, word play, double entendres. It's like he's just showing us the full arsenal. I've got some some nerdy stuff. point out here, but what are your thoughts on Intersons? Do you like this song? Hell no. What? What? You don't like this song? You want to know how I know like I'm old as hell? Like I'm not old like in terms of like I'm still pretty young, but I remember downloading overly dedicated from like Zippy Share, like one of those like weird like links where you had to like download the entire zip file. I think I downloaded it from like two dope boys. Then I had to put it into iTunes.

pretty sure I had to, did you ever go through this where if you downloaded something, you had to name it? I had to get my own artwork. I had to put it into this whole thing. Then I had to fucking burn it to a CD so I could play it on my way to high school. That's like when overly dedicated came out. And there were so many of like bloggers and critics be like, Kendrick, Kendrick, overly dedicated.

And I listened to Ignorance's Bliss. And I was like, whack. I didn't like this mixtape because I think what people forget in writing. retrospect, I feel like people like overly dedicated now. But at the time, I did not have the language to totally get Kendrick Lamar, where he had not built his world yet. TDE was still very much in the popular consciousness, not a thing when overly dedicated comes out. So I was just like, who is like this nasly motherfucker? Why does his voice sound weird? Why is he like just doing his best Nas impression. And it wasn't until like section 80 comes out in some of the black hippie

stuff and the schoolboy Q mixtape and the abseol one where I'm like, oh, I like overly dedicated way more now because I get the language of what TDE was trying to do. Yeah, but when ignorance is bliss came out, I was like, no, shut this off. But what do you feel about it now? Does it, did it grow on you? Do you? Uh, no, no, not at all. Now? I like it better now than I did then, but it is not the song, because I have an overly dedicated song as well. It is not the song. There was one song off this mixtape where I was just like, I don't know if Kendrick has it, but if he does, this is the song to prove it, but I'm not going to spoil what that song is. Tell me more about why you like ignorance is bliss. Well, the first verse, I think is like amazing.

So the story he's telling is, well, if you believe the music video, it says in the beginning based on a true story and it's talking about if you in the video he's visits you know his homie's grave he pours out some liquor on it and then he goes schoolboy cue picks him up in a car they go to you know the rival gang neighborhood and kendrick jumps out of a car with a gun and and it's implied that he shoots this guy and i mean not to get i don't want to get too into this but like kendrick has talked about possibly you know getting involved in that so many times and then to put it on a video. And in the first verse, he's essentially describing that scenario.

But he's also doing it in a very, very technically brilliant way. So if you listen to the first verse of the song, he doesn't take a breath the entire time. And he's doing like multiple internal rhyme schemes. But he's also doing this thing. There's probably a word for it where he ends one line with a word and then he starts the next line with the same word and it kind of just all like layers on top of each other so he says kill him where he stand and stand over him shake his hand then jump back in the minivan double back to his block and blam ain't back and down for nathan like he's doing like illiteration multiple like it's just like

everything you can like fit into a verse in all the lyrical techniques all the lyrical miracle shit it's like in here but also like the story he's telling is very very powerful um I think the first verse is the standout verse. I'm not too, you know, ecstatic about the second and third verses. And just to show you like, just to, because I got to call out some of the questionable bars during these songs, too. So I got to be doing a lot of that this episode.

Yeah. Which gets us maybe into a segment we'll talk about, which is like Kendrick trying to do sex bars, which kind of just never ends up working out great historically. But so he ends the third verse by saying, back and down bitches we go and flip her once she off that blue dolphin

you go and tip her because ignorance is bliss so he does the flip her like flip the girl but also flip her like as an dolphin flipper and he says blue dolphin

which is ecstasy but also like a dolphin and he says you go and tip her so tip her means like payer maybe she's a sex worker but also it's like the penis tip like it's just so cricky all right here's the thing

we have to bring it up if you listen back to those early, early Kendrick mixtapes, you could tell he is just so infatuated with Lowell Wayne. Oh, yeah. And it's just like he's doing his best to like do a mixtape Wayne impression. But because it's Kendrick and he does not have the coolness factor of Lowell Wayne in my opinion, it just comes off so cringy. You're like, dude, like, come on, man.

Like, what are we doing here? And there's parts on overly dedicated where he's mostly past. that point. But every once in a while, he dips back into that punchline era flow that I'm like, come on, man, you better than this dog. You don't like, you go tipper? No, no, no. They're going through so many of his Lucy's and mixtape tracks, there are so many

bars about sex now that just have aged terribly in a way where it's like, what is that? Like, I don't remember him rapping these bars. Like, well, post morale, my sex radar has been very high going back to all the Kendrick Pass catalog because obviously, like, sex addiction is like the big revelation in that album. And he go through, like, he doesn't do it so much on his albums. But if you go through on his features, his Lucy's, so many of them are about sex. It's crazy. Like, so many of them.

Yes, dude, I was like, I don't remember this. I was like, oh, you don't remember this? Because, to your point, until you listen to you. a bunch of his Lucy's or features back to back to back. You're like, oh, this is where he got all of this shit out. Like, he didn't do it on the albums. Yeah, exactly. There's just like on untitled and masters.

There's like little bars here and there where I'm like, wait, why don't I remember him like rapping like doggy style is boring to me now. Like I don't remember that. Ignorance is placed. Wow, I can't. There's only one right answer off OD and I'm surprised you didn't go with it. All right. Let's hear it.

gotta go with the heart part two. We used to beefing over turf, fuck beefing over first, niggas dying motherfucker double untow. And this is cop done. Lyons in the land. The heart part two was when I heard it, I was like, oh, there's something here. Like, there is a kernel of talent here.

It samples the Roots' 2010 song, A Piece of Light. And it starts off with this snippet of an interview from Dashnow, where Dashnow was a photographer and a graffiti artist at the time. He was bubbling up. He unfortunately passes away of an overdose. But he's talking about the things that he needs to get through the day. He's like four big bottles of water a day, two packs of Marlboro Reds. And then he says, well, keeps me alive.

Shit, music. I have to listen to music all day long. And the song starts at that poignant moment. and what unfurals after that is amazing to me because it's what happens when a young, young artist, starts realizing just the expansiveness of their voice, what they can do with it, because there's just so much raw, visceral emotion.

Like, I don't even know what you would describe it as, but it almost is like, Kendrick is rapping so forcefully that throughout this song, it's like he's losing his voice, He's getting raspier, but the intensity is still there. I remember there was, there's a bar where, like, there's a sequence of bars where when I was listening to it for the first time, I was blown away.

He goes, we used to beefing over turf. Fuck beefing over averse. Niggas die and motherfucker double entendre. And this is Compton. Lines in the Land of the Triumph. Raps are our defiance, ban our alliance. Put burners in the hands of the black man. One hood with 24 for is like a clone Kobe Bryant.

as a high school kid, like, I know I was just like shitting on ignorance and bliss, but as a high school kid, I was like, what is, like, what is going on right now? When you hear that coming out of your speakers, like, wait, what? Because back then when overly dedicated is dropping, this is around a time where Connie's coming out with Edowaste and heartbreak, Drake has so far gone, Kid Cuddy's in the mix, was Khalifa's getting more melodic. So much of rap music was very much in, tinkering with R&B, tinkering with melodies, tinkering with autotune. So hearing this young rapper be so forceful and not rely on melody in that way was so, so amazing. I think it's also such a timestamp record for Kendrick as well because he's rapping about being afraid of like flying in planes and people hopping on Twitter to brag about their iPhones. So for people being like, oh, like what, like the iPhone was still like novel to us back

then. Like, it wasn't like everybody in the world had an iPhone. Like, I didn't. I still had, like, a flip phone. Um, but there's also this off-the-cuff nature to it. And there's this part at the end of the record that was also something where I'm like, if he keeps doing this thing, he will be a superstar. And I don't know if he can pull it off, but he will. And these last four bars when he's like, look, the mastermind took the master's mind, just the perfect time, just the mastermind, just to match the grind with precision. Look, the mastermind took, and he coughs at the end. perfect time just the mastermind just the master ground with position look the mastermind took the

he's rapping so fast he's rhyming these words on top of each other there's the alliteration of mastermind master's mind mastermind um and it's coming so fast at you that when he coughs you're like oh shit this feels real and he just like keeps it in there and i'm like oh this is why you love kentric because not only is he so virtuosic when he's rapping he's also very very good at keeping in the edges, like the rough edges of a song, that make you feel like, oh, this was like either a first, second, or third take. He was more concerned about how it hits your ear versus if every single bar was perfectly hitting exactly when it needed to.

So that is kind of my, like, my spiel on, like, the heart part too. Yeah, I love that. This was definitely, like, close to one of my picks. I love just the sprawling nature of it. It's just one verse, right? multiple voice changes, multiple flows. And it feels like the first time Kendrick really, like it's not as polished as his later work or even the later heart series,

but you can see him kind of like working his way there. And I feel like it's, yeah, to your point, it's like definitely a timestamp for the moment, but it's also like a timestamp for Kendrick as a developing artist. Because, I mean, who else was doing those types of like voice changes and like just, you know, what emotion might,

trying to convey in during this part or during this song and how can i use my voice as an instrument to help convey that emotion and you can hear in these early tracks him kind of experimenting again not landing it quite as well or articulately as as his later stuff but just to hear him make that progress and i think you know well one of the interesting things about the heart series which we're probably going to be destined to talk about a lot on this episode is that you can really track his evolution as an artist just through the just listening to the five parts of the heart series and heart part two pins him exactly where he is at this time he's still hungry still trying to prove himself so you get all the lyrical stuff that you you mentioned you know multiple rhyme flows alliteration all of that but also i feel

like it's really you know overly dedicated he's making that transition from like i'm a rapper that makes mixtapes all uh you know little wayne to like i don't know i'm actually an artist that uses rap to convey stories and emotions and all that. So I feel like the heart part too is very indicative of that transition point. It's a great song. I really like this song. Is it too early for your boy to get a nice trolling for soup in there? Oh shit. Okay, go because I got like three or four hotter cold takes. So get it off. Cole, you want to know what's better than the heart series? Oh God, what? Drick's timestamp record. It's I think Drake's timestamp records are way better than any song that any part one, two,

three, four, five. Like the timestamp records are way better. Are we going to really talk about Drake on another Kendra? No, no, no. I'm just, we don't have to talk about it. I just want people to know that it's on record that the time. 5 a.m. in Toronto is better than any heart series ever.

Like any, any song in the heart series, Drake has done better on the timestamp records. I will just say, I'll just put it out there. All right. Actually, I mean, to give Drake Ketter, those are usually my favorite songs of his. I do like the free-flowing quality. He's not trying to be a pop star on those. He's just like, you know, you know, expressing his feelings. I appreciate that.

Although, like, usually what he's talking about is just like baby mom and drama. That's the only thing we need in our music, all right? Kevin, maybe can we put some flex bombs or some like, because we got our first Cole being nice to Drake. which is like amazing. So that's not my only trolling for soup for the day, but that is my first one. Hopefully your last,

bringing up Drake on this podcast. Oh, no, it is not. There will be another moment, and it's very funny. Are we ready for nomination number two under mixtapes? Yes, I think,

okay, so I had to get one on untitled unmastered. Because that's just, I love that album. It doesn't have a lot of like standout tracks, but that's an album that I just love putting on, start to finish. It sounds great.

I love that it's like rough around the edges. I love that we're getting like the rough drafts of To Pimp a Butterfly and some leftovers from Good Kid Mad City if you believe the dates on those tracks. So I knew I had to get one from Untitled Unmastered. It was really hard, but I ended up landing on in terms of the best song,

Untitled O2. Damn, we agree. we agree because I'll put it to you this way what song were you in between because I was in between Untitled 02 and Untitled 07 Okay yeah 07's like the hit

you know the levitate but if you listen to like If you just go through the words And like I don't know he's just not doing that much Levitate would have been a hit onto Pimp a Butterfly But Untitled O2 is a better lyrical masterpiece Yeah and it's a better This is a better song which is why

So I was debating between Untitled O2 and I think Untitled 03, which is the one he performed on Stephen Colbert first, and it's like, what does the white man say, and what the black man say? Blue faces. Yeah. So I love that song.

I love the beat of that song. But again, Untitled O2, I think, is just, if we're talking best Kendrick Lamar songs, I think Untitled O2 is the clear choice from Untitled and Mastered. So you pick this song, too. Why do you love it? All right, so a couple things. I'm dropping hot take after hot take.

This is another trolling for soup. I've always had this take. If Kendrick had taken two or three songs on titled Unmastered and put them onto Pimba Butterfly, I would like to Pimba Butterfly, because at least two or three of these songs are better than a lot of songs that ended up onto Pimba Butterfly.

That's my hot take. Second of all, it is so funny listening to this song in retrospect because, like, Kendrick is in like peak savior mode. He is like in peak like what is going on in my society. The get God on the phone, said it won't be long. I see jigabooze.

I see stirophones. All right. Here's the thing. Gonna be honest, why this song is hilarious. It was hilarious then, and it's hilarious now. Kendrick, are you fucking 50? I have not heard. Like, like, jigaboos is like a racial slur

and is something that, like, my grandfather would say. I'm just like, what, like, dude, what is what I listen to this song? It's just, like, very funny that Kendrick sang something like jigaboo. because it's like at this point, when does this come out? Like, 2015, 16? 15, yeah. So, but yo, I love this song. I also, we keep going back to Mr. Moral.

And there's like lines on this. I already brought it up where there's so many illusions where he'll say something like Palisade views with some sex. I lost the love for Missenary this the first time I confess. Yeah. And it's like, it's like lines like that where you think about them so much. differently after Mr. Moral and I know we keep going back to that but did

you hear that line and this would be like Oh funny you pointed out that line because There's a I bought it there's a Kendrick Lamar shirt that I have and it has Part of this verse on the back of the shirt like it just has the lyrics for this This verse you're talking about and I texted Femi Who you know co-wrote our season on damn I texted him this line after Mr. Moral came out Because I was wearing the shirt and I was just reading the lyrics and I saw this is

the first time I confess. And I was like, oh shit. That's when I, the beginning of me realizing like, oh, no, he's been like talking about this codedly for a long time. But he's just never came out and said it as, you know, vividly and, uh, in your face as Mr. Morrell where he essentially says, I have a sex addiction. But yeah, like, that's funny that you pointed that line out. Because in retrospect, it's like, yeah, first time that I confess and he's talking about losing love for missionary. It's like, oh, he's been doing this for a while. Yeah, it's wild. I'm going to talk about it more once we do our other songs,

but like the fact that you're having the same experience of like, oh, it is on the Lucey's, it is on the features where I'm not going to say Kendrick is more honest, but I think he is like, because he is not trapped in the need to sell you on a bigger story that has like, just the big thematic arcs,

there are little lines or little verses here and there where I'm like, oh, we're actually getting a version of Kendrick that he doesn't all. always give us on the albums. Yeah, I think, I mean, that's to your point about Tipinpa Butterfly. I mean, there's so many songs that don't make the albums because they don't fit conceptually. So, on Untitle, on Master, he's talking about the apocalypse, like, so much.

The first song is, like, a literal description of the apocalypse, even on Untitled O2. It's kind of he's reckoning with that apocalypse obsession. that's what the whole chorus is about get God on the phone he says it won't be long like saying the end of the world is coming he's seeing all this chaos

I'm stuck in the belly of the beast can you pray for me so to your point about yeah I disagree I think Topima Butterfly is a perfect album so you can't make it better you think I is a good song

he made it a skit like we're gonna talk we're gonna save that that's our we're building up to the Chipinpe butterfly episode. We don't want to spoil it here. But you can see the precursor to Dam, specifically on this song.

Yeah. You know, he says, get God on the phone. The phone call on Ya, where he's getting God's call and rejecting God's call on Yaw, literally we hear, you know, the phone ring, and Kung Fu Kenney rejects it. So you have that connection here to get God on the phone. You have, can you please pray for me, which comes up, you know, ain't nobody praying for me on damn. prophesies if we live or not

that ties back to is it wickedness or is it weakness you decide are we going to live or die so you can see you can see damn brewing in this song and throughout untitled and mastered what I want from

I want Kendrick to write either a play or a movie about the apocalypse like it's in him he wants to do it so bad but he doesn't have his definitive apocalypse album but I think like PG Lang needs to like they need to make that happen Kendrick needs to get his apocalypse take off.

Hell no, y'all. You see Kendrick up there with that puppet on the Mr. Moral tour? I'm like, it's so good. It's so good. Cole. I'm going to be honest. I was going through Twitter. Is it true that he struck Auntie Diaries from the set list? I've seen one video where he performs and that's when the box comes off, but I've been trying to not consume too much of that because I'm going to see him and I don't want to spoil it. Damn, hook me up with tickets then, Cole? Jeez. Do you do you have anything else to say about Untitled?

O2 because I'm very surprised me. Both agree. This is like the best song on the project. It's really good. It's a great song. I mean, it might not be my favorite song, but again, it's like this exercise is about the

best Kendrick Lamar song, not your favorite. And I think objectively Untitled O2 hits all the marks. It's got a great hook. It's got a great, I love this beat. Like the abstract saxophone wrist, the weird, reversed, warped kind of like sample, the big

80 weights. It's like, it's just got everything. It's got that second verse that you quoted where he has, like one of my favorite Kendrick-Gamar voices is when he gets like, he does it in lust where it feels like he's possessed. It's like monotone and just kind of like sprawling stream of consciousness where yeah, it feels like he's possessed. Guys, let's recap a little bit. Mix tapes. Nomination one, I picked the heart part two. Cole picked Ignorance is Bliss, both off OD.

then nomination two, we both picked on titled O2. Are you a little bit surprised that both of us went with O.D.? We didn't go for anything off the Black Panther soundtrack. We didn't go off anything earlier.

We both picked O.D. And we both picked on Title D Master. I feel like those were kind of the easiest, like these have the best songs on them. I went through the older stuff and it's just, it's cool to listen to those early mixtapes, like the very one of he was like 1617. but it's like, come on, if we're talking about the best

Kendrick Lamar songs, they're not going to be in the early stuff. It's just as interesting and as fun it is to return to those. Yeah, best song got to be from his more polished work, which I think, you know, I don't know, Black Panther has some great songs, but it's also hard for me to consider those his songs. Those feel like features or like compilation. So I wanted something that was more, you know, Kendrick-centered. And so the obvious choices, I think, were OD and Untitled and Master.

Here's the thing, though. Can I call an ISO? Real quick. Oh, all right. Next up, we have features. And this is what I've been waiting for for so long. I've been waiting for this moment. Okay.

Number one nomination. I don't smoke crack motherfucker I sell it. We're going with control. I don't smoke crack motherfucker I sell it. Bitch everything that rap is a quarter of three. All right, produced by No ID release August 12, 2013. I'm putting the stamp here. This is the song.

This is the song that transitions Kendrick Lamar from just a rap star. He's just a star to a superstar. Someone who is like, for the next years upon years, we are going to look at as one of the best. This is the song that does it. And I remember vividly where I was because this was all. also at a time when like rap Twitter was still a thing and control the impact that this verse has because it's a few months removed from the one year anniversary of Good Kid Mad City. So everybody, he's still kind of basking in the light of what Good Kid Mad City was.

And this drops before Tipima Butterfly. It's supposed to be on Big Sean's Hall of Fame record. It's very clear why it was not. Big Sean decides to release it. And when it drops, everything changes. Did Big Sean release it or did it get leaked? I want to say Big Sean released it. I want to say Big Sean, how I remembered it,

is that he kind of like throws it out there. Like this isn't going to make the album. I think that's where a lot of kind of the static between Kendrick and Big Sean actually starts is this record. And yeah, it's really, really hard to describe how much when control drops, Kendrick to me was like a critical darling that like if you're a rap fan,

if you are 15, 16, 17, 18, if you're of the moment, like, you're like Kendrick. Yeah, I like Kendrick. You know probably some of his songs. When this happens, I think there's a lot of older heads, especially who are like, who is this kid comparing himself to J and Nas and him? Who the fuck is this?

Like, calling himself the king of New York. All right. Can I go in? I'm going into a lawyer mode. I have three exhibits of the three most impactful parts from this entire verse. Can I go? Yeah, let's hear it. I'm important like the Pope.

I'm a Muslim Mount Pork. I'm Machiavelli's offspring. I'm the King of New York, King of the Coast. One hand, I juggle him both. So I was in the tri-state area at the time, and motherfuckers are all. They were just like, who is this Compton motherfucker saying he's the King of New York? Fuck him. Like everyone from Nause, fabulous.

Zaprocky, funk flex. Everybody had to have, like, an argument about this. Like, Kendrick had to go on radio stations in New York and answer for this line, which was always ridiculous because I'm like, guys, like, at this point, New York rap was, like, anemic. Like, it wasn't... Yeah, there's no one you can point to that was, yeah. Yeah, it was like...

That... We could talk about it later, why that's a thing. But if you live in New York long enough, realize that, like, oh, New York is one of the most inhospitable places for, like, a rapper to exist. So we didn't have a King of New York forever. Like, Jay-Z was off doing whatever. Aesap Rocky was fine.

Like, him calling himself the King of New York is like, all right, you want to be the king of nothing? Our hip-hop scene was not as strong as it was on the West Coast or in Atlanta. So I find that very, very funny. The whole thing was ridiculous. That's Exhibit 1. And Puff Daddy slapped a shit out of him for the line, right? Yes. And it is alleged that Diddy did in fact try to confront Kendrick over calling himself

the king of New York. He was supposedly allegedly intoxicated. Okay. And then Jay Cole came to Jay Cole came to Kendrick's rescue. I love it. This is what this is, we don't have this anymore. Like this is what I'm saying. We're missed this right now. We don't have this right now. You're the Jay Cole to my Kendrick. Because somebody would try to slap me for one of my hot takes. you're like, oh. Chill. Next time we're at a Spotify event, and ditties there,

you're going to be looking like Charles. But, all right, I have exhibit two, call it. Yeah, let's hear it. I have three exhibits. This is my second one,

the barbershop argument, the lyrics, because I want to call out Kendrick because he's fucking lying. He said, I heard the barbershops being great debates all the time about who's the best MC, Kendrick Jiggin and Nas,

Eb and M, Ager 30,000, the rest of y'all, new niggas, just new niggas, don't get involved. All right, I was getting my hair cut

in black barbershops. in 2013. Nobody was having a yo, y'all think Kendrick better than Jay and Nas. Kendrick, you had one fucking album out. You had Good Kid Mad City, yo. Nobody was listening to like,

OD, Section 80 and Good Kid Mad City and be like, yep, it's a rap better than Jay. Like, so, like, I have to call bullshit on that. Were you also in black barbershops in 2013, Cole? Um, no. So, with that being said, no one was having this argument. I like him, like him.

forecasting, but call bullshit Kendrick. But Exhibit 3 is my biggest exhibit. It is the part that pissed everybody in the world off and inspired so many control responses from rappers who just should have kept them in their hard drives. So the lyrics are, I'm usually home boys with the same niggas I'm rhyming with,

but this is hip hop and them niggas and should know what time it is. And that goes for Germain Cole, big crit Walet, Waleigh, push a team, meekmill, Ace, Rocky, Drake, big Sean J, Electron, and Tali MacMella. I got love for you all, but I'm trying to murder you, niggas. All right. First, I want to bring this up.

This list in retrospect is so funny. This list is like, this looks is so because like, I don't look at any of these rappers as like trying to do the same thing. Like, I don't listen to an AZab Rocky song. It'd be like, yeah, Aesab Rocky trying to go at Kendrick right now. Like, I've never looked at AASB Rocky as like some lyrical miracle rapper. So it was very funny that like him and Big Sean were in this or like Big Crit who I was just like, yes, big crit was like big at the time.

Like, don't get me wrong. Like, he had a following. But it's like, going back, I was just like, people were pissed about this. Like, this was the list that everybody was like bad about. The irony of that is like, okay, they called him out. That's what, you know, he said the name on record, which is what everyone freaked out about. But it's actually more of an insult now to not be on that list.

Yes. To be on it, right? Which is like the weird history of the song. Okay, here's my, okay, I'm going to do my best trolling pursuit for you on this, on this verse. One, is it even a good? verse, but two, is it just clickbait? Is it control kind of corny? All right. You're falling into Drake territory, and I can't believe that you agreed with him. Because Drake went on, in an interview with Elliot Wilson said, quote,

Kendrick is giving people moments, but are you listening to it now? At this point in time, okay, it was real cool for a couple weeks. If I ask you, for example, how does this verse start, mind you? It'll go on complex and rap radar. Will it give it like verse of the millennium and all that shit or whatever? So here's my, here's my issue with that take. Too broad. is this clickbaitie yes is everything that kendrick and every rapper of his stature do clickbait yes when kendrick raps that he's disappointed that drake and connie have like made up is that clickbait absolutely that's what rappers do rappers aren't fucking insanely corny anybody looking back at control and being like it was dumb that we all reacted like that i'm like yes it was but that is quite literally every sick like

think about it, Drake and Big Mills whole beef. All of that shit in retrospect is wild corny. That's literally rap. It's fucking wrestling. Like, what are we, like, what are we doing here, Cole? Like, it's a good verse. Like, here, I'll put it to you this way. My hot take coming out of this.

I don't think Kendrick Lamar is the same artist if he does not release control. I don't think we talk about him the same way. And I think, honestly, my closing argument for control as like a great verse, but also a very annoying instance of like a verse, fundamentally changing how we talk about an artist,

is that I think what happens after this verse is that everybody adds a level of antagonism to how we talk about Kendrick, where we always talk about Kendrick in terms of like, is Kendrick better than Drake? Is he better than Jay Cole? Who is Kendrick sending shots at? Kendrick has to be standing shots at this person.

Kinkoonta has to be about this person, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think control puts him on a trajectory where he's now a superstar, but instead of enjoying Kendrick's music as music first, we'd look at it towards spectacle. Like, who is he dissing? Who is he mad at? And that's the thing that pisses me off about this verse. Is that fair?

No, yeah, I get that. And I guess my frustration for it is like, Kendrick's so good without the clickbait. He's so, like, his art can stand on its own. He doesn't need to do this. But I think this, like, speaks to his mentality, like we talked about earlier, where he was hungry, he's still trying to prove himself. I think after this point, he doesn't really feel that need anymore, and that's where we get

his more mature work and stuff. But I agree with you. It's, I mean, I love what the verse did. I love that he kind of infused that debate back into hip-hop, that he was trying to keep it going. You know, that was a big thing about, you know, good kid Matt City, generally speaking. He said, like, on the heart part three. you know, are you going to let hip hop die? Like he's really trying to carry the torch that was passed to him in a very genuine way.

And I think, yeah, maybe control looks a little clunky or a little cheesy in retrospect. But at the time, to get that kind of conversation back into hip hop, I think it's really cool. And it's cool, like, from a historical moment. We don't have a lot of these, like, you can point exactly to this date, this verse when it drops and everything that came after. It's like a notch on the timeline of hip hop. So I love that he got that. a part of me also in retrospect is just like, eh, I don't know. It's cheesy, it's corny, but I put it in this because I'm just like, it's history.

Oh, you have to put it in. It's like, you have to put it in it. In his biography, we will be like, that was a moment where we have to talk about it. 100%. So what's your, what's your first nomination and features, them? It's got to be his best feature ever. Nostalgia with push a tea. 20 plus years are selling Johnson and Johnson.

I started out as a baby face monster. No wonder is diaper. Oh, come on. I don't dislike it. It's just like, I've never thought about it again. I've never, like, of that album, there's, like, better songs on that album. I've never thought about this song. I actually had to go re-listen to this song to remember what the verse was like.

What? I'd never listen to this song. This is one of my favorite songs ever. The beat is so sick. Like, what they're doing, storytelling-wise, with, like, push-a-tee being the one cooking and selling the drugs, and then Kendrick coming on 10 years late. Their birthdays are 10 years apart. and then him describing people using those drugs that push a tea was selling,

like seeing his father and his family using the drugs that push a tea was pushing and giving you two sides of the coin, like brilliant storytelling. The beat is amazing. Kendrick's verse has to be in the running, has to be in the running for one of the greatest verses ever. Ever! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, dude. Let's be clear. Nostalgia doesn't even make the top 10 Kendrick verses of all time.

Oh, come on. in the best. Okay, let me just hot or cold take. Have you seen my video on this? I have not. Can you describe it to me? LeBron James posted about it. LeBron James? I did a TikTok video. It went viral. It has like 30 million views

or something crazy now. I'm going to be honest, Cole. That's really not a flex because I don't know if you've seen LeBron's musical taste, but it is not great. But it's still my thunder, Charles. Thank you. My favorite basketball player ever. So anyways, let me just lay it out for you.

I love that actually you don't, you didn't see the video. So I can give it to you, this theory to you fresh. Okay. So Kendrick says, quantum physics never show you the world I was in. And then he goes on to list all these numbers. So he says, when I was 10, back when nine ounces had got you 10, and nine times out of 10, N words don't pay attention. And when there's tension in the air, nines come. with extensions, extensions.

So if you add up all the numbers, all the nines and tens in these bars, they add up to 87. In the latter part of the verse, he says, I was born in 87. So that's definitely, that's definitely intentional. So cool, the numbers add up to 87.

But also, he uses specifically three nines and six tens. Why is that important? because 36 ounces or what he says in the verse 36 zips is a brick of cocaine and so

you realize how he ends the verse is saying go figure motherfucker every verse is a brick your son dope so he's comparing himself his value as a rapper every verse I write is the value of 36 ounces of cocaine a brick of cocaine

but here's the kicker nostalgia is divided perfectly in half to the very second. Kendrick comes in the song exactly halfway through, which means Pusha T has the first half, Kendrick has the second half, and they each rhyme one verse.

And when you go back, and you count the bars in the first half of the song, and the bars in the second half of the song, 36 bars. So literally every verse is a brick. He's talking about how many bars he just wrapped. Hell no. This makes me like the song less.

If I'm going to be honest. Here's my thing. All right, here's my thing. I'm going to be real with you, Cole. And this is why you're my boy. Because we're complete opposites. That is great. Like, everything you broke down.

I'm like, this is why, like, Cole is like such a smart person, somebody that, like, I trust. Like, when you talk about music in a certain way, I'm just like, dog, Cole is like so fucking smart. Like, this is an intelligent motherfucker. Like, I love you. But also, like, no, you ain't getting points for that. Like, Kendrick, you ain't getting points for that.

Come on, bro. Like, come on. Like, if we real, like, if we really talk about music outside, I don't care, Kentrick. Like, is the verse dope or not? Like, I'm not trying to do it. Okay, but that's the thing. This is a math class. Is this math class or is this rap? Okay, but you don't need that. The verse is still really, really good without that. It's just the icing on the cake. And it's brilliant writing, like, brilliant writing. You said, but here's the thing. This is why I'm being overly negative because you said this is one of the greatest verses of all time, which is like, come on.

Come on. I, come on. That's a long list, but maybe I'm being a little too overboard there. But I think, I think for Kendrick, it's definitely in the running for one of his best verses ever. All right. Here's the thing. I'm going to teach a little bit about hot taking. Put your name on it.

Put it in the top five. Put it in the top five. All right. I'll definitely put it in top five. You put it in the top five? Yeah. For sure. All right.

Next week, I want your top five. Next week, that's the homework. I want your top five. Because that's the part of a hot take. If you're going to say this in the top five, I want you to put it. Where is it? Actually, let's put that into the finale episode.

Each of us have to rank our top five, Kendrick versus. How about that? All right, let's do it. Because you said it's in his top five. I want to see if it's three. I want to see if it's two because this is wild. Okay, but that,

the numbers thing is going to, it's so easily in the top five just for the brilliance of that numbers connection. Like, it's brilliant. This is a calculus class, Cole. Come on, bro. All right, but that's my pick. Let's move on to yours.

It's the correct pick, but what do you got? You got your second features. Let me tell you, I'm out here. Rob, my very large. No more parties in L.A., produced by Kanye and Madlib. The opportunity to proper top of breast and booty cheek. The pop community. I mean, these bitches come with union feet, and I won't do with these moving units through consumers.

got to tell you, in retrospect, this is one of the foulest, Kendrick versus of all time. Oh, my God. There's so many questionable lines in this one. Dude, I love No Bar Parties in L.A. and it wasn't until, like, because here's the thing. What I'm listening to No Parties in L.A. is that type of song where I'm, like, just grooving. I'm grooving. I'm

not really, like, I don't have genius open. I'm not looking at the lyrics a lot. Right. So for this, it reminded me of that story. You know the story where it's like, Push, it tells it all the time. Connie is telling push, like, more douchebag, more douchebag when he's recording the verse for a runaway.

Like he needs him to be more of a villain. This feels like Kendrick's villain song, where it is so overtly horny and misogynistic, reading the lyrics, can I count you down from five to one, the best fuckboy bar is ranked in no more parties in L.A. All right. Let's hear it. Number five. Mega, nagas, say big.

Where is a lyrical? Make me get spiritual. Make me believe in miracles. as Buddhist monks and Captain on cereal. It's so funny. I love the Captain Crunch one is fucking amazing. It's a great line. I love that line.

It's at five because it's not bad, but he is rapping. It's almost like he's rapping about like a very spiritual woman who is just like maybe calling him out on his shit. I think it's very funny. That's number five. Number four. She said,

K. Lamar, you kind of dumb to be a poet. I'm going to put you on game for the lames that don't know they are rookie, Instagram is the best way to promote some pussy. And then I'm like, I put on my, uh, you know, my little detective glasses and I'm just like, Instagram, uh, the best way to promote some pussy. How do you know that, Kenner? We got him.

We got him. Kendrick's Instagram DMs are probably crazy, bro. Oh my God. He says it on morale, like my text hurting text messages or whatever. Like, here's the thing. I don't want to see Kendrick Lamar's burner Instagram. Like, I really don't. Like, his only fan account is wild, like, dog.

Number three, the pop community, I mean, these bitches come with union fee is rough. Like, it's, it's like comparing women to, like, a union and having a union fee to have sex with you. He's talking specifically about a certain type of Los Angeles woman. Right. It's rough, though. Still, I get you. Kendrick Kna. But I think he's definitely, like, playing a character.

He's playing a character. That's why I said the push a team. I need more douchebag. I need more villain. But like, in retrospect, going back to the bar, I was like, okay. Like, you could have just, like, Kendrick could have, like, just entered the booth and been like, yeah, LA parties are whack. It's really hard to be black. And he's like, no, no, no, I'm talking about LA women.

And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Kendrick. All right. Number two, I'm the best fuckboy bars ranked. You're dealing with malpractice. Don't kill a good niggas confident just because he's a nerd and you don't know what a condom is the head still good down. The head still good out. Great line.

Like, here's the thing. All these lines when you just read them out are terrible. But when I'm wrapping the bars, I'm just like, whoa, massage anew, Kendrick Lamar. They work. And then the last one. that pushy should be holding exclusive rights to me. And he says it is like,

that one's bad. It's like, we could have cut that one. Like Kanye's probably the one who's like, now we need to keep that in. Yeah. I put no more parties in L.A. in here for a reason because I think that what we've kind of been circling this whole time is like the out, the major label albums are when like Kendrick is like really

sanctified, really putting on his like Sunday suit, going to church, really like being the savior that we all. need. And it's in these little pockets of Kendrick Lamar songs in these pockets of fandom when you get him being, I think honestly, he's more authentic self. And I'm not saying that like everything and no more parties in LA is autobiographical or is about him. But I do think that it's like a very, very good encapsulation of like, oh no, Kendrick Lamar is like nuanced. Like he's like a rapper. Like he's out here. He's a person with like wants and desires and needs and he's not like this perfect saint. So I like

songs like No More Parties in LA where I'm like oh he gets to be a douche. I like songs like control where I'm like oh like Kendrick isn't above worrying about who's the best rapper alive. Like this is something that's in him and we don't get to see it on the albums. I just love this verse so much because like

there are lines on it where I'm like, oof, it has it age well but also like hilarious. I'm going to wrap this alone. Yeah. Going back to all the features for this episode was really fun. Yeah, because to your point, I think he very specifically and intentionally experiments on his features. There's always like one underlying concept that you can point to in every feature. They're like, oh, that's what he was like,

the idea started there, which like the nostalgia verse is like, he definitely had this numbers thing, to your point, the character for no parties in LA, but you can go through a lot of the features, especially during like 2015 to 2018-ish, and there's an underlying concept to all of them. and so I love that he kind of used that as an opportunity to kind of yeah experiment stretch his imagination and yeah allow himself a little more freedom that he can't really do in the types of record or albums that he makes there's not a lot of wiggle room which is why there's so many like cartoons and cereals that are great songs that just never make the album because they don't fit conceptually but yeah that's one of my favorite things about Kendrick features is the experimentation

which I'll just go into my second nomination, unless you have anything else on No, please. Oh, dude, let's wrap, let's wrap this feature's up. What do you got? I don't know if you, if I know this one. All right, so honorable, I have to give an honorable mention just briefly to his pain by BJ, the Chicago Kid.

It's a gorgeous song. It's like Kendrick has the first half of the song, like entirely to himself. And it's like, he does the voice, vulnerable voice things. he's telling all these like kind of stories about people in Compton. It's very, very poetic and beautiful and vulnerable. I couldn't give it the feature because it was actually a Kendrick Lamar song that was supposed to be on section 80 as a prequel to Cushing Corinthians, his pain. And then it didn't fit the album. So it sounds like they just gave it to BJ Chicago Kid. So it was like,

it's kind of a Kendrick Lamar song. So I couldn't quite narrow it into my features list. But so that leaves me to my actual pick, which is freedom. by Beyonce. This is rough. Six headlights waving in my direction. Come on. Five, four, ax and me

what's in my possession. Yeah. I keep running. This is rough. Wait, what? This is a real rough choice. You say that about all my picks.

Why, this is a beautiful song. Like, I was, like, I get nostalgia because, like, I was trolling a little bit. Like, people fuck with that song,

like a lot, Kendrick fans, but I was kind of getting your goat a little bit. Freedom, though? Out of all. Like this song? Yeah.

I like freedom. I've never thought about freedom again. It's so perfect. Within the context of lemonade, it's like, it's the moment, it's the breakthrough moment. But we're talking about

best country. I know. Okay, let me try to, okay, I know I'm not going to convince you because I got another hot or cold take. And it has to do with numbers again.

So I'm just going to lay it out. You're not going to get sold on it, but I have to do it. There's some listeners out there that appreciate this stuff. So I'm going to go ahead and lay it out. So it's a count. down from 10 to 0. The verse is structured as a countdown from 10 to 0. He starts out saying

10 hell marries. I meditate for practice. Channel 9 news telling me that I'm moving backwards. Backwards is cluing in. That is this backwards count. He says eight blocks left. Death is around the corner. Seven misleading statements. Six headlights. And then 5o asking me what's in my possession. So he goes, very clearly goes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5. But then he stops or you think he stops and then the verse just goes on and there's not another not another number in the whole verse. So when I first heard that, I was like, why would he just stop at five? That seems weird. And then my first thought was like, oh, 5-0. If you do 5-0, it's like 5 to 0. Maybe that counts as like completing the countdown. But no, here's what he does. Instead of a number, he actually does

it in syllables. So if you go after 5-0 asking me what's in my possession, he says, I keep Run nin, which is four syllables, fire, high drens, four syllables, and has their des, four syllables. So he does three lines that all have four syllables. Then he goes into this huge three syllable lines. He says, but mama, don't cry for me, ride for me, try for me, breathe for me, sing for me, goes on and on, three syllables each.

Then he goes to two syllables. Open, correctional gates in high desert. Open our mind. Open the streets. So two syllables open. the last line is one syllable starts with a one syllable i pray it forever reads and here's the kicker you want you you're like okay maybe he did 10 to 1 but no he did 10 to 0 he actually did the 0 how do you it's a blank right you'd have to say nothing to represent zero so he does it though he says i pray it

forever reads and it's he's supposed to say freedom because it goes into the hook but he doesn't say freedom so the missing word freedom is the zero completing the 10 to zero countdown. Once again, I love you, Cole, because you're so intelligent and so crazy talking about this stuff. But this is the shit that, like, irks me about Kendrick.

Like, it's like, dog, is this a fucking book report? Or is this a song, dude? Like, what? Like, come on, bro. Because he does this shit so much in his career. You've done this same breakdown for at least three or four songs throughout this season.

Every single time I have the same face. Like, dog, is this a song is this fucking homework because like I don't want to one of these times I'm going to get you I'm going to get you I'm not saying that your your breakdown your dissection is I know I know it's more so that like

what am I supposed to feel like what am like good job like here's a cookie catcher you're just to say that's fucking cool I love this verse 10 times more now that's not cool and it's so cool I love this for you this is great why else do you like this one? Well I have a very

personal connection to this song. This pick might be skewed. I think it's a phenomenal verse. I think the concept was great. I think it fits in perfectly with the message of what Beyonce was trying to say. For Beyonce to allow you to have that moment on her most personal album ever and then nail it, I think that's such an

accomplishment. I think a lot of rappers would just shroud in that moment and not be able to live up to it. So I love that. There's a historic I think it's BET performance where they perform the song in the water, which is amazing. Yeah, I just think Kendrick Amar and Beyonce coming together in the peak of their careers.

Like, that to me is such a moment. Wait, you think Lemonade was the peak of her career? Hell yeah. Oh, my God. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Artistically? Artistically. I don't give a fuck about pop.

You know me. I don't give a fuck. Artistically, lemonade? Oh, my God. Because here's the thing. Definitely not commercially. Yeah, no. Artistically, you can make the argument.

I think I couldn't make the argument. Especially the film. If you understand what she's doing with the film and how it relates to... This is a wild-ass Beyonce take for me. Really? I thought that was a free universal. Lemonade is a good... Like, Lemonade is probably my favorite album of hers. But, like, come on. Like, the joints she has, like, you missed her. I don't listen to R&B, so, like, I don't know if I can... No, I know Beyonce. I've always liked Beyonce.

You've always liked Beyonce? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I just think it's phenomenal. But again, I might have a... I mean, we did a season on Lemonade. The song, like, if you want a breakdown in this song, the... I think this is such a brilliant song from like she does some stuff with the samples of this song, which is insanely brilliant. Go listen to The Breakdown if you're interested in that on Dissect. But maybe it's a personal choice. Maybe it's not his most like, yeah, maybe his most acclaimed or known feature. But I think it's one of my personal favorites.

Oh, that's beautiful, Cole. You know, I'm a little, I'm in a little bit of a trolling mood. I know. I do think it's very sweet that you love this song. Hey, so I think it's time where we tell everybody where we are because we have one more category. So in round two features, I went with control. Cole went with nostalgia. Number two, I went with no parties in LA.

And then Cole went with, um, womp freedom. So guys, we are about to get into our last round of the day, Lucy's. Before that, we're going to go to a quick,

quick advertising break. Make sure y'all stick around. All right, we are back and it's time for the final song nominations for mixtapes features. And round three, Lucy.

All right, we've already recapped before the ad break. So we're going to go into nomination number one. I think we agree on nomination. Let's just get it out of the way. It's cartoon and cereal. I actually picked this one because I'm like, if we don't talk about this on this episode, we're getting killed.

We are going to get killed. So cartoon and serial is produced by J. LBS and T.HC. least in 2012, was meant to be on Good Kid Mad City, but didn't make it because of clearance issues. All right, the first question I want to ask you really is, like, what do you think it is about cartoon and serial that makes it a song that fans not only in the moment gravitated towards, but like years later, it's still like a fan favorite. The short answer is the fucking hook, dude. Like that hook, when he comes and says, I run it and then it's got the... Doop do, do.

I run it. So, sick. Like, one of my favorite things in rap, Tyler does this a lot is when the beat kicks in and it's like a hype beat or like up tempo beat, loud beat. And the rapper stays cool and understated. And let's like the beat, like, what's the coolest thing you can do when, like, chaos is around you? Like, fucking be calm, right?

So when he says, I run it and then there's just chaos, the beats chaos, the high hats are going. There's the gunshot sounds. And he just says, it. I run it. And he's just like being so cool. It's just, it's just such a dope. It gets you go. It has the same like mad city quality in terms of just like that visceral feeling that you get. It just kind of gets you hype. You want to listen to it in your car. But I mean, conceptually, I think it's like a brilliant, brilliant song in terms of like that it's again classic

Kendrick doing the duality thing, right? Like him being a kid, his parents doing fucked up shit, you know, getting into trouble and then saying, no, you need to go over here. watch cartoons eat cereal don't be like me you're the innocent kid you're the good kid and then we get the punchline of like oh like the irony what's ironic what he says what he says in the chorus is like wily coyotes are in the room like these these cartoons that i watch are just as violent as the things i'm seeing in the street and i ended up with running with wily coyotes anyway even though you're trying to like protect me from it which is goes into this whole other thing about the inescapability of living in those environments, right?

Even when you want to be good, you can't, or you can't fully, right? Why'd you pick this song? I was definitely, you know, doing this for the crowd. I didn't get cartoon and cereal when it came out. I was like, cool, whatever. But, like, in retrospect, I get it. I think this is...

I think cartoon and serial is probably the first time where Kendrick is really letting the audience in to who he is before Good Kid Mad City. I think we had talked about it on the Section 80 episode. There was still so much of a remove. Like, Kienchuk was talking about society, but he wasn't really talking about himself and what he feels and his story.

And cartoon and cereal is almost like a prequel in a lot of ways to Good Kid Mad City. It is setting up that dichotomy of, like, what does it mean to be a kid? Eating cereal, watching TV when all this chaos is going on outside. There's even the dichotomy of putting someone like gunplay on the record,

whereas back then, people were like, why is gunplay on a Kentz? record. And I think that speaks to like, good kid, Mad City. Gunplay at that time, affiliated with Rick Ross, very, very talented rapper in his own right. But my man was off the drugs. He was wild. Like his rap style is way less controlled than Kendrick. It's a lot more the way gunplay wraps, it's with such force and with such chaos that it boles you over. And it's, it's in direct opposition to Kendrick, who's very consistent. So I think cartoon and serial is really the primer text for you to understand Good Kid, Mad

City, and to understand where Kendrick Lamar was at this time in his career. We've talked about this on the Good Kid Mad City episode, but the way that he uses features as characters and as almost textures of the environment that he's trying to describe. He did that with MC8 on Mad City. He does that a few times on Good Kid, Mad City. But yeah, just to get that dichotomy of, I mean, even his voices like, you know, He's doing the high-pitched nasly thing to, like, evoke innocence and childhood. And then gunplay comes in with the ad libs and the, you know, the post-chorus thing, the salt all in my wounds, here, my tears, all in these tunes.

Yeah, it's just that he's doing the classic Kendrick dichotomy thing. He's playing characters. The beat itself is just really cool, like the way that it dips for the hook and, or dips for like the pre-chorus where he's talking about being in the sandbox and then ramps up to the chorus. Funnily, like, funny enough, like, I don't really like the verses all that much on this song. Like, they're kind of compared to everything else, they feel like a little uninspired. But I love the- Verses for you? I hate the bridge.

What's the bridge? Now, I was raised in a sandbox next to you and her. That's like the- Yeah, I love that part. I hate that part. That's the- Really? I like the verses. I hate the bridge. Like, the do-do-do part, like, all of that is my shit.

Like, that's the part I love about the song. It's like the kid. Kendrick, like, high-pitched nasally thing that I'm like, oh, man, this kind of takes the song down just a tiny bit. I don't think that this song should have been on Good Kid Mad City. I thought, I don't, I think Good Kid Mad City is like nearly perfect. I don't think this song would have fit. So that's where one of my questions was like, where would it go? Because narratively, it doesn't have that function. And the rumor was that I was going to be like one of the first songs, which that's the only place I could actually see it working is,

him describing him literally describing himself as a child in Compton which he doesn't do on good kid mad city it's that's the day and the live thing he's 16 so this could be the precursor to that story you know that's the that's the only conceptual placement i don't think about right i don't know like narratively like this seems like a clunky like to your point you're going back to the past so it's like bitch don't kill my vibes like serves a fucking purpose like it's like where go can you imagine like cartoon and cereal next to like, bitch don't kill my vibe or something like that? Yeah, it's definitely hard.

It's hard to know where it would go. Maybe, oh, pitch you on this. What if on the deluxe, you put it next to Black Boy Fly? Because you're getting like, you get earlier, Kendrick. Like to me, the Deluxe, if they were smart, they would have done like, maybe like,

this is like actually the prelude because I think cartoon and cereal and Black Boy Fly near him. Yeah, so if you look, so this song ends by saying to be continued, and the continuation is county building blues, which is another song on the deluxe that didn't make...

Oh shit, I did not know that. Damn! And I think that's another kind of prequel song, too, because he's talking about his mom going to the county building and blowing checks, you know, as soon as you get him type thing and just kind of like dreaming of having wealth. But let me just give you my quick breakdown of the wordplay in the chorus, which I think is really cool. Let's do it.

So in that part that you don't like, he says, you told me, don't be like. like me talking about his dad just finished watching cartoons which is funny now because all i see is wily coyotes in the room which goes into the course he says and i run it so he's playing on like roadrunner he's calling himself the roadrunner while you know people around him are the wily coyotes trying to get him or be like him so that's where i think it's kind of cool and i think he's doing i think he has there's a double meaning here that it's intentional so on one hand the wily coyotes can be his friends like the people that he was running with,

the people in Compton, the bad influences, the art of peer pressure kids that we hear on that track. But he also could be talking about like his enemies. So the Wiley Coyotes could be the Pyrus and Crips, you know, all trying to, like him being the good kid

and everyone attacking him because he doesn't choose a side. And so it feels like everyone's against him. And so yeah, you get that wordplay with I run it. So he's literally he runs the game. So if Wiley Coyote are his homies or maybe his rap peers. Like he runs it.

He's the leader. But also I run it could be like he's literally running away if the Wiley coyotes are his enemies are the people in Compton, you know, coming to get him. So there's like a clever double play there. Oh, I think both of those meetings make sense. I always like thought like run it is like when you go up on a person and you like, run your pockets. You know what I'm saying?

Oh, got it. Maybe triple meaning. Maybe triple meeting. Wouldn't put it past him. And then did you ever think about cartoons and serial, the hominims? So it kind of works with this double meaning that were, so cartoons like music, like tunes you play in your car and serial being like serial killers. So again, it goes like he's a killing MC, but he's also like killing his enemies.

Because here's the thing, I was almost dissected. I was all you were like, you went one because I was about to be like, I've been dissected. And then he said like the serial killer serial thing. I was like, I don't know. But then he, I think he definitely wrote what Gunplay says

on the chorus at least because he says salt all in my wounds, hear my tears on these tunes. So again, we're getting the double play of tunes as in songs,

but also cartoons. And then that's why he says, just for you, motherfucker, hope you all amused. So laughing goes into the cartoon thing.

And then, okay, so here's, the Looney tunes thing is like so brilliant in this song. Because we hear the sample of Bugs Bunny.

We hear the Wiley coyote and the roadrunner of the chorus. He stutters like porky pig on the chorus. Do you ever notice that? Where he goes, I, I, I, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And he stutters throughout it. Like, he's stuttering like porky pig. And then if you listen, there's a voice behind him

throughout his verses. If you listen closely, you can hear him like singing this melody throughout the entire two verses. And what he's saying is Elmer Fudd say, shoot him down. So he's like drawing the parallel of seeing like, you know, Elmer Fudd essentially killing people. people in the cartoons and the parallel to seeing people being killed in Compton around them,

which is, again, like, there's so many layers. Can I ask you this question? Because I picked this song, too. Do you think that we would find this song corny in 2022? Like, if it was released now. Like, do you think? Do you, no, I feel like, here's the thing. I feel like people like this song because it was released at a time where, like, you

could make a song like this and, like, nobody would be at an eyelash. But, like, if this song was, like, on Mr. Morale, we'd be like, What? No, I'd be like, this is dope. No, there's no way. I think this is like a perfect record for a perfect specific time of like the Tumblr generation. And when we're all coming of age and being like, remember all this stuff like cartoon. Like there was literally like gifts of like Kendrick eating fruity pebbles.

This is at a perfect time. If this came out in 2022, I'm wondering every time you break it down for them. I'm like, what do we fuck with this song if it was like released now? Are we too like negative? and like just jaded. No, this timeless. Kendrick's music's timeless. You can put it in.

You listen to those KDOT mixtapes. Okay, everything, good Kid Mad City on, timeless, all of it. You just took out OD in Section 80. Yeah. His debut album, Good Kid Mad City. He knew. He knew. Can we go to nomination number two, please?

Yeah, let's move on. So, nomination number two, we both. both agree on cartoon and serial. I believe we both picked another entry in the heart series, but different ones. Yeah, you want to go first? All right, I'll go first because I picked the earlier one,

the Heart 3. That's enough pressure to live your home life sedated. Find the tallest building in Vegas and jump off it. Heart 3 is really interesting because there's this story of like Kendrick making the song when he's on the 32nd stop of a tour. I believe is in Vegas. And he immediately gets off the stage.

He goes to the studio and it just starts like spilling his heart out. Like just rapping, rapping. Like he had to get this verse, this song out of him. And to me, we talk about snapshots. This is a perfect snapshot of Kendrick on the cusp of fame.

If control was like the song, which makes him go from a star to a superstar, the heart part three is like the day, before he becomes a star. It's the day before all of his rap dreams begin to come true. Listening back to it, it was almost like there's this nostalgia

to it. Because there's this heartfelt moment where he's like two young niggas, me and Dave inside the garage. That thought we was Jay and Dame. That's the lane that we tried to drive. Truthfully, I just started rapping to get away. I never thought that your favorite rapper would want a verse. Like

that, he's almost so taken back. like this is going to happen. Yeah. And it's like, no, if you go back to the sales of Section 80, only selling a couple thousand units, the fact that he goes from that to Good Kid Mad City, he has to know that it's trending in a way where like, this might be, this will be my biggest album ever. I got the Dr. Drake Co-Sign. Like, this is about to happen for me. It's that pinch me moment. And then it's like him starting to talk about TDE in this. Now Punch is my mentor. Top Dog is the

coach. J. Rock is my older brother. I was there when he wrote. His name on his record deal. We had figured the coast. We live on a pedal stool once the shit hit the store, found ourselves scrambling, trying to figure it out. And then he starts talking about soul and Q and all of these things. And that, to me, is also, like, what people forget about that is like, Kendrick was not supposed to be the star of TDE. I think in the crew, everybody knew, but J. Rock was the one that came out. And I remember that J. Rock album coming out, and they do nothing. It bricked. So you have to think everybody in the crew is like, how the fuck do we like come back from this? This is supposed to be our moment. How do we do this? So like the heart part three to me like is

really, really important to me as a Kendrick fan because it's like, it's just like it's like a moment where you're like, oh, like dreams can't come true. Like if you work hard enough and you like practice your craft enough, like things can happen. One thing I will do want to shout out is Kendrick bragged about brags about working with Lady Gaga and I'm like in retrospect, chill because she worked with Wallet.

Yeah, you took her off. Yeah, you took her off. Yeah, you took her off. Yeah. Also, ending your rap with, will you let hip hop die on October 22nd is hilarious because like, fuck out of here. Like, every single time I get to, I'm like, this is a perfect song, but he's like, will you let hip hop die on October 22nd? I'm like, dog.

Like, can we stop? Like, can we stop, Kendrick? Okay, because the other thing I want to, to bring up with you is like, I did not realize the extent of Kendrick's Pock obsession and his savior complex until we started doing this experiment. And I'm like, every other song, he's either bringing up Pock or how he's like destined to save hip hop. And I'm like, oh, he really, like, he really felt that weight. Like, especially, I mean, this is a good song to even exemplify that because every, I mean, 50 cent out of breakout record. I'm in an end.

go down the list. There's debut albums that made a mark in hip hop and changed their life forever. But none of those rappers felt the weight that Kendrick is expressing even before his album comes out. You know, like this is, he writes High Part 3, three days before Good Kid, Mid City comes out. And he starts it with when the whole world see you as Pock reincarnated. Which is a lie. Come on. Which is like, but I don't think that's true.

But that was his perception of it. That was the weight that he was feeling. Then he says, that's enough pressure. to live your whole life sedated. Like when he got handed that torch on that stage from Game and Snoop and Dre, he took that seriously. And he has, we've talked about a lot on this podcast,

has felt the weight of that for years. Obviously culminates with Mr. Morale. But yeah, to your point, to have the foresight three days before good kid mad city comes out and then to make this song, knowing your life was going to change, writing it as if your life,

life was going to change. And then, like, yeah, give this, like, very heartfelt recollection of your journey and the people you came up with. And not just, I mean, it was like, this kind of promo for Good Kid Mad City, but as we've seen with these Heart series, you know, anyone can make a promo song about their upcoming album, maybe put some, like, you know, clickbaiting lines in there, just try to get pressed or you start a beef with another rapper, a drake and Kanye. Like, there's all these promotional things you can do, all these gimmicks you can do to promote your album. But Kendrick with the Heart series, all these songs are very to the point of the title.

They're all very heartfelt. I think Heart Part 3, actually, I wouldn't have picked it. And then I saw that you were going to pick it. We kind of like previewed each other's picks before. And I listened to it like three or four times after that. I was like, oh my God. This might be actually the best heart.

Dude, all right, we had the same feeling. I'm not going to spoil, but I listened to your heart pick. And I was like, this one might be better than part three. Like it might like... Tell people which one you pick because I had the same feeling. I was listening to back and I was like,

is part three the one? I am the greatest rapper A life. So damn great motherfucker I've died. What you're hearing now is a paranormal five. Okay, so I picked Hart Part 4. I was going back between Heart Part 5 and 4. Four is way better than 5. Come on, dude.

Hard part 5 is great. it's a great it's probably the better song in a in a vacuum but i can't for hard part four what really pushed me over the edge was just the moment again it was like it wasn't quite as huge as control but it was pretty damn close at least in my circle online like when that came out there was all you know people know it i mean actually relates to control because there's all these sub tweets all these subliminal shots being taken by drake kendrick and big sean and some other rappers, but those are like the main three that were kind of beefing subliminally for a while. And then Kendrick just comes out, you know, a couple days or I guess formally two weeks or something before damn drops.

And just lays one of the most vicious, I mean, couple verses. Like, just like, you want to go? Let's fucking go. Like, he was revving the engine. He was baiting Drake. He was baiting Big Sean. And just the moment that he, like, I remember the first time I heard him say, my fans can't wait for me to sun your punk ass. And he, that fear, like, it's the beat for fear, but at the time we didn't know as a beat for fear. Like, I just remember, like, my jaw just dropped. Like, holy shit, he's going there. And then he calls out Donald Trump.

Like, he's just like, it's like, Kung-Kinney to the T. I just, I mean, the energy it inspired, the conversation, the hype. it just hit every single mark. Don't you tell me you was playing. Oh, it's just playing KDoc. Come on. You know what I was. Shut the fuck up. You sound like the last thing on.

Like it's so, yeah, you were right. Like it did, listening back to it. I was just like, dog, this was a fucking hot ass person. Yeah, he, I mean, have we ever heard him so, like, control was aggressive, but I feel like this one meant more to him. Like, the stakes were a little bit higher here because he was, he was the top MC, Drake was a top MC. No one really at the time was like willing to go there

or we didn't think they're really willing to go there. We would just get lines here and there. Like, oh, could that be about Kendrick? Could that be about Drake? I love the hard part for. What do you put it on? Like, I had forgotten that it was so good. And it was like something that Kendrick just,

this whole episode, I think we both are kind of like circling that same thing is that like it's so cool to be a Kendrick fan in terms of like what he decides. it's like, I'm just going to do the rapping. Like, I'm not, like, this isn't album time yet. I'm just going to give you something that Prince y'all that, like, I still got it. Like, I'm waiting for the song, like, a couple songs after Miss Moro, where he's just like, all right, for everybody saying, like, this isn't a good album, don't fucking forget that,

like, I still have it, you know? Yeah, and you have to remember, too, Hart Part 4 is off the heels of Tipa Butterfly. So, you know, that didn't have a lot of rapping on it. So to your point, like putting out Heart Part 4 as a precursor to damage it just being like, oh yeah, don't forget, like, I can fucking rap. Yeah, I can still do. He does that a lot when it's like when he gives us the difficult albums where it's like that to Pimp a Butterfries and Mr. Morales, he'll go on a little bit of a run like doing features

and shit be like, yo, don't like, don't play with my name. Like, relax. But see, this is where what I was brought up in the top of this episode. I kind of think those days are over for Kendrick. Don't say it. They're not. I think they are. I really do.

Like, runaway from the culture, all that stuff. I think, I think he's kind of done. I think he's done proving to anyone about anything about him. I think he's just going to create art that he wants to make and not worry about any of the, any of the conversations anymore. I think he's, I think he's done, sadly. Cool. I think we've made a case for the best Kendrick songs on mixtapes, features, and Lucy's. Now it's time for the last song standing.

And what's different about this episode is we're both going to walk away with three songs. We're going to take those into our Royal Rumble. But Cole, I'm going to introduce a new rule. Okay? This is coming down from the L-Dubbl S Commissioner, the last song standing commissioner. We cannot agree. We made that mistake in episode one. And you got to pick Rick and Mortis in our Section 80 episode. So I'll get the first pick. We'll go back and forth, but we cannot agree. Are we both in agreements on this? Yeah, that's fair. And you're going to get first pick because I got first pick last. And I can get first pick in any round.

I can get first pick in any round. So. Yeah, we'll just draft our three, right? All right. Ooh, this is tough. This is tough.

All right. You know what? I'm going to go with untitled O2 in mixed tapes. I'm taking untitled one too. Okay. That's a great pick. So that leaves me with, okay,

I got to strategize here. You have to take ignorance as bliss in mixed tapes now. You have to. Or you could take anything that's still on the board. You could take the heart part too if you want it. But do I have to choose from mixtapes or can I choose from any of the categories right now? You can choose from any of the categories. Yeah, okay.

So then I'm going cartoon cereal because I know you want that. It's a crowd pleaser. I need some crowd pleasers on my list. So I'm going cartoons and cereal with my top choice. Actually, I don't really care because there's no way we're picking cartoon and cereal is the greatest song of all time. So I don't do fuck. All right. Yo, then I'm going to go with, hmm, should I go with the heart part three or the heart part four?

Yeah, that's tough. I'm going to go with control before I make my decision. I'm just going to, I'm going to, you have to make this job. I'm going to go with control in features. What are you going to go with goal? All right. So it's going to be hard part. Oh, no, I already picked my Lucy's.

So I think I got to go features. I'm going, I'm going nostalgia features 100%. I knew you were going to go with that. It's fine. Damn. All right, Cole, Hart Part 3, Heart Part 4. What are you thinking? It's a tough one.

It's, oh, yeah. Is it, well, God, they're so different. That's the thing. They're so different. But you already got control, which is kind of like a sister to Heart Part 4. I'm going to go to Heart Part 3 just in terms of like... Yeah, you need a little vulnerable song.

We need something vulnerable. we need something that is like capturing him in a specific moment. All right, cool. So like if let's let's go down. I got Untitled O2. So then my, my last pick would be Ignorance's Bliss. Is Ignorance's Bliss.

So in mixtapes, you went with Ignorance's Bliss. I went with Untitled O2. Features, I did control. You went with nostalgia. And then Lucy's, you got cartoon and cereal. I got the heart part three.

How are we feeling about that? I feel pretty good. Maybe Ignorance's Bliss is a little. week comparatively, but I feel really good about cartoons and serial and nostalgia. Cartoon and cereal, people are going to love that pick. They're going to, like, fucking love that pick. It's fine, because, like, I'm not that big of a fan of cartoon and cereal, for me honest. Yeah, you don't deserve, you don't deserve it. But guys, yo, that's our episode of Last Song Standing. Thank y'all for listening. We want to hear y'all at Dissect Podcasts on all the

socials. You can catch me at Charles X Holmes. We are going to Kendrick's not as album or its most great acclaimed album. Shut the fuck up. Just an all right album. You might have heard of it to Pimba Butterfly. Oh my God. Wobb, wamp.

I'm so looking forward to this. I'm like, I'm training every day. I'm running five miles. I'm sparring. I'm, get ready. You better be ready.

All right. Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of last song Standing. I have to thank everybody behind the scenes who makes this possible. Shout out to our producer, Justin Sales, our audio production wizard, Kevin Pooler, our editorial assistant Eduardo Ocampo, and theme music by Devin Ronaldo. And quick programming reminder, okay? We are taking a pause on our normal scheduled programming, but we will be back a week later to serve you up more last

song standing goodness. And with that, we'll see you all later. All right, yo, Cole, I've got to say something. You turned me into a classic man. Oh, shit, did it? Okay, okay. Classic man, can you tell, can you remind the people the song that you gave me last week? Yeah, so last week your assignment was Bella Bartok, who's a 20th century composer from Hungary, his string quartet number four, movement number five. And you were telling me only four instruments in this.

So, string quartet, so there's two violins, a viola and. cello. But have you ever heard anything like that in your life? Especially that's classical music. Like, that's, yeah. It boulded me over. It was like listening to a tsunami. It was, yeah. It was intense. I was just like, what is, what is this

classic song gonna sound? Classical song gonna sound like? Yeah, man, it did it. It was just like knowing that you could do that with music, you could do that with so few instruments, but like really just like create a sonic world. and something that like, I don't know if this makes sense, but feels bigger than it is,

that feels more all-consuming that it probably is in reality, was mind-blowing to see. Yeah, that's, like I said last week, that was the piece that I heard during school, during my college years, that I was like, oh, okay, I can get into this.

Because I was a little, like, the early stuff, like Bach and Haydn and all that shit, like, it's cool. I respect it. But like bar taught what you listen to, that's when it clicked for me. I was like, oh, there's this whole other world. There's all, the most experimental music actually happens in classical music. That's wild to me.

So I'm really, really, really, really happy that you, because you kind of shit on Bo Burnham. I didn't shit on Bo Burnham. Yeah, you did. You gave it a 1.5. But I will say, this was, this was like, this is a five out of five, five stars. Oh, shit. Great recommendation. I love these records.

You have a really good taste then because it's one of the it's yeah, it's a great. So anyone that hasn't heard it in full go listen to it, it'll change your perception of classical music, even if you don't like it. So I did my homework. Well, how are you feeling?

For those that forgot, I gave you a Tony Braxton song. You're making me high. I gave you, I need a girl part two. Did he eat genuine. A bunch of people. The third pick. What did I give you for the third pick again?

Four page letter. Four page letter. Leah, how are you feeling? Okay, so the first couple Pixie gave me, I was into genuine, Usher,

I get it. Not so much on these three. What? Not so much on these three. Whoa, dude, watch your... I need a girl part,

okay, I need a girl part two. Again, preface this, like, obviously this music's not for someone like me, it's not,

you know, blah, blah, blah. I need to grow part two. Good drumbeat. I'll give it that. My note here, my notes here is just, No.

What? I need a I need a girl part two is one of my favorite songs of all time. Like he's like genuinely one of my favorite songs of all time.

I listen to it probably the most I listen to any R&B song in my daily life. And my other note is out of the thousands of R&B songs you choose this one question mark question mark. Why?

Dog. Do you fall in love to this song? Like what is going on here? The fact that you just don't feel it in your soul, bro. Like come on. No. Definitely not.

This hurts. This is like you shitting on Bo Burtum. Because this is just one of those R&B joints that it's like, I'm not saying it's the number one R&B song of all time. But this is what you like, this is what you just throw on on a Sunday like on a Sunday morning when you want to do a quick two step. This is when you like go to a barbecue and this shit comes on and you like your auntie's like, oh, this is my jam. All right, cool. Like, dog, have you seen the video when Diddy like hops out of the fucking helicopter and does it like a kung fu kick? Like, dog, that don't fill your soul?

I was actually in Miami when I watched that video that takes place in Miami. That bounce right here. Come on, Cole. All right, go to the next one. What's the company? All right, you're Miking Me High. Amazing. Dap Punk, this is one of Dap Punk's favorite songs.

Really? This is a foundation. Yeah, they love this song. This was like a song like in an, I read an old, old, old profile. And they're like, what Tony Braxton is doing on, you're making me high is some of the best music that's ever been made. And they were absolutely right. I don't I'm trying to think of what they see in it

like there's some great parts like the baby baby baby baby part with all the harmonies that's great I get so high when I'm around you baby woo come on man come on Cole

the drums are good this okay this is I think maybe I talked about this at the other point but the drums hearing the drums from this era compared to the drums of the contemporary era I miss these kind of drums I'm so sick of like the trap 808 drums that you hear on every single song

so hearing all these drums and these older songs, breath of fresh air. But the verses just kind of like drag on. It's a four minute and 30 second song for no reason. Like the second half of the song just doesn't need to exist. Are you, do you understand vibes? Like this is like, it's supposed to be this like you put this shit on. Like my girlfriend hates when I play this song because I'll play it all repeat. repeat. Like, I'm in a zone. I love this. The fact that you don't like Tony Braxton,

this is your second strike. I'm so fucking mad. Okay, four page letter. I love Aaliyah, generally speaking. This again, great beat, Timberlin, you're going to get me every time. There's not a bad Timberlin beat. He's great. But for Alia song, this is the one. There's so many other great Leah songs. I just was like, uh, nah. After Kendrick. Kendrick loves this song. I thought that that would like, would wet your whistle. Kendrick loves this song.

Four page letter. And I enclose the thing. A kiss, a kiss. Woo! Come on. I'm getting chills right now. Cole, this is not your finest hour. This is not your finest hour.

Well, all right, you need to do better. I need better suggestions. Oh, guess what my suggestion is. We're, we're, R&B Corner is done. Oh, shit. You know what we're doing next week? Where are we going? I want you to listen to every Drake timestamp record

and rank it. it from least favorite to best. Okay. All right. That's fair. What's your homework? All right. So we're going to stick with the classical theme.

We've got to go Beethoven. He's one of my favorite composer. It might be my favorite composer ever. All right. String quartet. An F major, Opus 135. This was his last string quartet.

I think it was his very last piece that he ever wrote. So he would have been, you know, pretty much completely deaf. at this point. It's phenomenal, knowing that it was like his last work. It comes out just three months or so from his death.

And let me just, I'll just end it there. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's, uh, it's great. Are the vibes strong on that song? The vibes are what you'd expect from a dying man.

Guys, this is our homework. If y'all are like, vibing with the homework, like just let us know. and that is your episode of Last Song Standing. We're going to see y'all.