my pick for the Nelly-Luda battle
hip hop's new daily operation | 5.16.20
TheMotto No. 13 shifts from NAV to Nelly and Luda and dammit if I don’t feel like I’m havin’ an XXL mag flashback. The day has finally come for the hit-making heavyweights of the aughts to do battle. My prediction for tonight’s installment of Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s groundbreaking Verzuz series …
flap your wings:
I’m goin’ with Pimp Juice. There is no question that Luda has classic guest features for days, and has the deeper, better catalogue ⤵️🎤🗝 ⏬
But we can’t underestimate the Country Grammar man’s competitive spirit 👀⬇️ 🎤
Mr. Haynes is gonna have his Air Force 1’s on tight tonight and he’s ready to get the respect that’s eluded him. Luda is still praised for his bars, goes on to big Hollywood wins, all while the Midwest Swinga, for a variety of reasons, rarely gets mentioned enough. Nelly broke a double album in 2004 into two individual discs, Sweat and Suit, and we copped both. Ha! Seriously, my father had me studying sports since I was a youth, and I’ll always place my bet on the one that wants it more. It’s going to be close. But no L for Nelly Nel.
life is good:
Future chopped it up with Apple’s Zane Lowe + teased an upcoming book, film and Netflix deal. Also check out my guy Yoh’s High Off Life take ⏬
don’t curse: Aiko goes comic book style for her latest Chilombo video 🆒⬇️
Fat Joe’s interview run continues: Ashanti talks about staying scandal-free — and maintaining her mystique 🎶🔻
a Damita Jo dedication: Questlove’s 4-hour Janet Jackson birthday tribute.
allow me to reintroduce myself:
the District’s ADÉ returns with fellow DC native Wale on hook duties on his new single. listen to the full EP, wyd after? here.
Chi city support:
A couple days ago, Chance The Rapper partnered with Verizon to perform a live concert stream in support of small businesses affected by COVID-19. “As a Chicago native, I would like to especially highlight these black-owned businesses, who are the soul and backbone of our community: Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles, Mikkey's Retro Grill Stony Island, Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken, and Fat Tiger Workshop, just to name a few. It's more than important than ever that we all come together to get through this tough time and help continue to help support small businesses in our local communities” 🗣😷✊🏾⤵️
what more can I say:
Once again — don’t sleep on Nelly. I made that mistake in Summer 2000. Although the whole XXL staff had advance cassettes of Country Grammar — and tbh none of us gave it a fair listen. If we had, we would have recognized that this was no one hit wonder: “E.I.” and “Ride Wit Me” were potential smashes too. We were shocked when Nelly outsold Lil Kim in the first week of release. I flipped out. Me and the XXL team scrambled to reach out to the Universal Records squad and hopped on the Lunatic wagon. Better late than never. In 2020, Nelly’s debut is diamond — 10 million sold.
andele andele.
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