Who’s the Current King of Hip-Hop?
Another week, another edition of XXL's Hip-Hop Moments of clarity, a podcast that deconstructs trending news in the world of hip-hop.
This week's hosts are XXL's Editor-In-Chief Vanessa Satten, XXL's Executive Editor John Kennedy (a.k.a. JFK), veteran hip-hop journalist Shaheem Reid and hip-hop entrepreneur Rahman Dukes. These are the hosts for this week's edition, but the roster is subject to change from week-to-week.
As is nearly always the case, a lot's gone down over the last seven days. Whether it was J. Cole teasing his next album, the discussion surrounding T.I.'s brand of parenting, the question of whether Kendrick Lamar sent a stunt double to his own performance or a teacher wearing Blackface to dress as Common for an ill-advised Halloween costume, there were plenty of things to make rap fans scratch their heads.
While performing at the Day N Vegas Festival last Friday (Nov. 1), J. Cole teased the coming of his The Fall Off project with a hilarious ad. That moment led Hip-Hop Moments of Clarity hosts to ask just who is the current king of hip-hop? That's a question they discuss themselves and it's safe to say there's no clear-cut answer.
For his part, Tip made a shocking revelation during an appearance on an episode of the Ladies Like Us podcast. During the episode, the Dime Trap rapper admitted that he goes with his daughter to her gynecologist visits to ensure that her "hymen is still intact." T.I. faced a ton of backlash after the comments, but based on how casually he divulged the information, which revolves around his 18-year-old daughter, Deyjah, it doesn't look like he expected this backlash.
Meanwhile, a school teacher in Northern California has been put on administrative leave for dressing up in Blackface to impersonate rapper Common for Halloween. Last Thursday (Oct. 31), the White teacher, who teaches at Milpitas, Calif.'s Milpitas High School, stood in front of a classroom of district leaders, students and teachers imitating the Chicago rapper while he rapped about A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and Microsoft.
In a bit of bizarre news, K. Dot's performance at the 2019 Day N Night Festival in Las Vegas left some fans convinced that the TDE rapper sent a look-a-like to perform in his place. Of course, K. Dot didn't actually do that, but the internet has its way.
Hip-Hop Moments of Clarity also sends best wishes to Angie Martinez, who suffered injuries from a serious car crash earlier this week.
Listen to XXL's Hip-Hop Moments of Clarity podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Check out the latest episode of the podcast on YouTube below.
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