DJ Khaled Is Destroying the Posse Cut

POP AGENT: 5 Things We Learned In Music (June 26)

1. DJ Khaled is destroying the posse cut.

“Iced Out My Arms” — DJ Khaled ft. Future, Migos, 21 Savage, T.I. — (Spotify) — (2.5/4)

(posse cut — a popular form of song in hip hop music that involves successive verses by four or more rappers)

With plenty of drool-worthy feature cuts, DJ Khaled’s Grateful may have one of the strongest artist rosters in hip-hop history.

And a star-studded album can lead to star-studded moments. Where else is hip-hop legend Nas going to tease his forthcoming album? What other album would give you three (arguably unnecessary) Travis Scott hooks, each in a different genre? And, let’s be real, is there a better place for Big Sean to diss Kendrick than under the protection of Grateful’s artist line-up?

Evidently, DJ Khaled has the posse cut structure down to a science. He can get the right artist on the right track, and everyone wins. He’s destroying the game.

So, let’s play devil’s advocate: with so many feature spots, could DJ Khaled actually be cheapening the value of the posse cut?

Nowadays, three-to-five rappers on a track is no big deal: Quavo, Lil Wayne and Chance? No problem. Rick Ross, Gucci Mane and Kodak Black? It’s a party. Future, Migos, and 21 Savage? Why not?! Grateful may boast some incredible artists, but it lacks the awe-inspiring milestones that make many posse cuts exceptional.

Could we still get that shock-and-awe feeling of when Gucci busted back onto the rap scene on last year’s “Champions”? Or how about the verse that showed Drake ballin’ alongside Eminem, Tunechi and Kanye (“Forever”)? What about Kanye’s suicide-door introduction to 2 Chainz (“Mercy”)?

In the age of the connection DJ, posse cuts may be losing their novelty. Only time will tell whether or not the art-form will survive this Cruel Winter.

2. You’ve run out of emails to get a free month of Tidal.

(Disclaimer: We are legally obligated to remind you that Beyoncé gave birth to twins and that is the most important event in June.)

Following last week’s unprecedented flood of thank-you tweets, Jay-Z announced his first album in four years, “4:44”. In a move that we all should have seen coming, the album will be exclusively released on Tidal, Jay’s own music service that was originally meant to rival Spotify and Pandora.

Last year, Rihanna, Kanye and Queen Bey all released projects exclusively to Tidal before distributing them to other music platforms. In an age of instant gratitude, we can’t help but wonder how thrifty, tech-savvy millennials, many of whom won’t want to pay Tidal’s “steep” price-tag, will circumvent this financial hurdle. Chances are, all of your other emails have already been used on Tidal’s free trial to listen to RiRi, Ye and Bey… so now what?

3. Drake might not take naps… but he yawns.

“Signs” — Drake — (Spotify) — (2/4)

A couple of weeks ago, Drake let us know that he was back in the studio with his producer BFFL (and possible “broski”), Noah “40” Shehbib. Of course, new music was destined to follow, even if Drake told us at the end of “More Life” that he wouldn’t be back until next year.

The result is “Signs”. While the track sounds like a B-Side from More Life, (which would arguably make it a C-Side from Views,) it actually holds up pretty well against Drizzy’s post-NWTS catalogue. But hey! If you start singing the lyrics for “Too Good” over the beat, please know that you’re not alone.

Although Drake doesn’t take naps, we do now know that he yawns. He’s also an advocate for the millennial brunch, sipping on bottomless mimosas (or champagne, at least,) and taking it easy. So, deep down, maybe we’re all a little bit like Drake.

4. You’re being too hard on Imagine Dragons.

“Walking The Wire” — Imagine Dragons — (Spotify) — (3/4)

If you took the commercial-grunge elements of Nickelback, smoothed them out with soaring vocals The Script, added a dash of AWOLNATION’s EDM and sprinkled in the spiritual soul of NEEDTOBREATHE, you’d start to arrive at Imagine Dragon’s Evolve. And, while each of those bands has their fair share of haters, Dan Reynolds and the boys do a good job at weaving these elements together in a way that’s neither grating nor repetitive. It’s borderline miraculous.

Evolve may not be the truest or hardest rock album of the year, but it’s about time that a band got pop-rock right. If this is pop-rock in 2017, then we’re ok with that.

5. Ugly God may be the future.

“Ugly God Freestyle — 2017 XXL Freshman” — (YouTube) — (3.5/4)

Some background: each year, XXL Magazine selects up-and-coming rappers for their Freshman Class, as a way of saying: “Watch out, world! These guys are the next big thing.”

Upon their selection, last year’s class, riddled with mumble-rappers before mumble-rap (i.e. lazy trap) was cool, didn’t seem to be going anywhere. While Desiigner was spitting the similarities between cars and pandas and 21 Savage had earned some coveted guest spots, the other guys didn’t have much clout to their name.

Fast forward a year, and Anderson .Paak released one of 2016’s most lauded albums; Lil Uzi Vert scored a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 (“Bad and Boujee”); Kodak Black released a ridiculously impactful and thought-provoking video (“Tunnel Vision”), and Lil Yachty became the voice of a generation (sorry not sorry!).

Even though last year’s group yielded fruit, this year’s freshman class got considerable backlash when XXL selected controversial and commercial figures. Expanding on the mumble rap category (and Madeintyo doesn’t want you to forget it), the XXL Class of 2017 also welcomes a grunge-rapper charged with assaulting his pregnant ex-girlfriend (XXXTentacion) and a geeky sing-rapper whose been on the scene for four years (KYLE). After two unexpectedly abysmal freestyles at the hands of fan-favorites Playboi Carti and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, prospects weren’t looking good for the young class of rappers.

Then, out of nowhere, comes Ugly God. With only two songs on Spotify and a handful of tracks on SoundCloud, John Jeffrey Bean (a.k.a. Ugly God) who admitted his music is trash earlier this year, rocked the freestyle stage with a semi-legit freestyle with good flow and clever parental-advisory-worthy puns.

Quickly becoming the dark horse of XXL 2017, Ugly God is someone to keep your eyes on. 👀