(SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 will be found below.)
The sixth season ofCobra Kai presented the bleakest episode (Season 6, Episode 10) of the series. This landed as a surprise not only due to those final moments but because Daniel-san’s kidnapping (by cartoon villain Terry Silver) had just been resolved with a semi-jokey vibe. That tone was in line with the series’ heightened reality, which usually doesn’t weigh too heavily upon an audience seeking to be entertained. Yet the season took a horrific turn when Kwon fell upon the knife that Kreese had been holding behind his back while Sekai Taikai continued to devolve into chaos.
That moment when Kwon (who is formally part of the Cobra Kai, but that dojo’s lines have blurred with Miyagi-do throughout the series) was killed took this generally sunny series into an unprecedented dark place. Presumably, Season 6 Part 3 will resolve everything and restore The Karate Kid universe’s order before next year’s movie. However, there’s more: the Kwon tragedy followed the show’s revelation that Mr. Miyagi had not only fought at the Sekai Taikai tournament but had killed an opponent. WTF.
With that said (what?), it’s hard not to wonder whether Cobra Kai is suggesting that there is some sort of curse on either Miyagi-do or the Sekai Taikai or the intersection therein. Fortunately, Hollywood Reporter‘s Demetrius Patterson had the same question and broached the subject while interviewing co-creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg. In response, Hurwitz admitted that “[I]t’s very possible” and that “there’s a brutality” to the Sekai Taikai that adds “a level of danger beyond the All Valley [Tournament].” As for the idea of a curse, Hurwitz offered this insight:
“In terms of Miyagi, we learned that match ended in death in the past and a thing that we may find out more about is, what exactly happened in that match? All we know are the results, and that’s what Daniel is wrestling with there. When he’s seeing what happens with Kwon, it’s this element of history repeating itself right in front of Daniel LaRusso. And it continues his soul searching – not just about Mr. Miyagi, but about karate and tournaments in general.”
We do know that Daniel-san hasn’t been doing well emotionally over Miyagi’s hidden past, and even though he and Johnny (supposedly for real this time) vanquished their decades-long beef, plenty of emotional turmoil is still smacking the franchise’s original protagonist in the face. This existential karate woe could, however, bridge the gap between Cobra Kai and the Karate Kid: Legends movie, which comes out on May 30, 2025.
In the meantime, the series will hopefully resolve the “curse” business when Cobra Kai returns for the final time on Feb. 13, 2025.
This is the time of year where the music industry generally starts to wind down (unless you’re Kendrick Lamar). Most of the year’s biggest albums have been released and folks are gearing up to make a splash next year.
There’s still one more significant matter to tackle in 2024, though: the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, which are set to air on December 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox (or on-demand via Paramount+). Today (November 25), the finalists were announced.
Unlike other award shows, instead of being voted on by a committee, winners are determined by year-end Billboard chart data from October 28, 2023 to October 19, 2024, so the winners are based on data, not the opinions of a select few.
Zach Bryan is this year’s leading finalist with 21 entries, while Taylor Swift is close behind with 17. After them are Morgan Wallen (15 entries), Sabrina Carpenter (9), Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Teddy Swims, Tyla (8 each), Bad Bunny, Benson Boone, Chandler Moore, Jung Kook, Naomi Raine, Shaboozey, and SZA (6 each).
First-time finalists include Swims, Tyla, Boone, Shaboozey, Tommy Richman, and Chappell Roan.
Check out the full list of finalists below.
Artist Awards
Top Artist
Zach Bryan
Sabrina Carpenter
Drake
Taylor Swift
Morgan Wallen
Top New Artist
Benson Boone
Tommy Richman
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Top Male Artist
Zach Bryan
Luke Combs
Drake
Post Malone
Morgan Wallen
Top Female Artist
Sabrina Carpenter
Billie Eilish
Chappell Roan
Taylor Swift
SZA
Top Duo/Group
blink-182
Coldplay
Fuerza Regida
Linkin Park
Stray Kids
Top Billboard 200 Artist
Zach Bryan
Drake
Taylor Swift
SZA
Morgan Wallen
Top Hot 100 Artist
Zach Bryan
Sabrina Carpenter
Billie Eilish
Taylor Swift
Morgan Wallen
Top Hot 100 Songwriter
Amy Allen
Jack Antonoff
Zach Bryan
Kendrick Lamar
Taylor Swift
Top Hot 100 Producer
Jack Antonoff
Zach Bryan
Daniel Nigro
Finneas O’Connell
Taylor Swift
Top Streaming Songs Artist
Zach Bryan
Sabrina Carpenter
Kendrick Lamar
Taylor Swift
Morgan Wallen
Top Radio Songs Artist
Sabrina Carpenter
Doja Cat
Taylor Swift
SZA
Morgan Wallen
Top Song Sales Artist
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Shaboozey
Taylor Swift
Teddy Swims
Top Billboard Global 200 Artist
Sabrina Carpenter
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Artist
Sabrina Carpenter
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
Top R&B Artist
Brent Faiyaz
Tommy Richman
SZA
Tyla
The Weeknd
Top R&B Male Artist
Brent Faiyaz
Tommy Richman
The Weeknd
Top R&B Female Artist
Muni Long
SZA
Tyla
Top R&B Touring Artist
Chris Brown
Bruno Mars
Usher
Top Rap Artist
Drake
Future
Kendrick Lamar
Metro Boomin
Travis Scott
Top Rap Male Artist
Drake
Kendrick Lamar
Travis Scott
Top Rap Female Artist
Doja Cat
GloRilla
Nicki Minaj
Top Rap Touring Artist
Nicki Minaj
Travis Scott
$uicideboy$
Top Country Artist
Zach Bryan
Luke Combs
Post Malone
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Top Country Male Artist
Zach Bryan
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Top Country Female Artist
Beyoncé
Megan Moroney
Lainey Wilson
Top Country Duo/Group
Zac Brown Band
The Red Clay Strays
Treaty Oak Revival
Top Country Touring Artist
Zach Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Luke Combs
Top Rock Artist
Zach Bryan
Hozier
Jelly Roll
Noah Kahan
Linkin Park
Top Rock Duo/Group
Good Neighbours
Linkin Park
The Red Clay Strays
Top Hard Rock Artist
Bad Omens
Hardy
Linkin Park
Top Rock Touring Artist
Coldplay
The Rolling Stones
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Top Latin Artist
Bad Bunny
Fuerza Regida
Junior H
Karol G
Peso Pluma
Top Latin Male Artist
Bad Bunny
Junior H
Peso Pluma
Top Latin Female Artist
Karol G
Shakira
Kali Uchis
Top Latin Duo/Group
Eslabon Armado
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Top Latin Touring Artist
Bad Bunny
Karol G
Luis Miguel
Top Global K-Pop Artist
Enhyphen
Jimin
Jung Kook
Stray Kids
Tomorrow X Together
Top K-Pop Touring Artist
Enhyphen
Seventeen
Tomorrow X Together
Top Afrobeats Artist
Asake
Burna Boy
Rema
Tems
Tyla
Top Dance/Electronic Artist
Beyoncé
The Chainsmokers
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa
Calvin Harris
Top Christian Artist
Lauren Daigle
Elevation Worship
Forrest Frank
Brandon Lake
Anne Wilson
Top Gospel Artist
Kirk Franklin
Maverick City Music
Chandler Moore
Naomi Raine
CeCe Winans
Album Awards
Top Billboard 200 Album
Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan
Drake — For All the Dogs
Noah Kahan — Stick Season
Taylor Swift — 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift — The Tortured Poets Department
Top Soundtrack
Hazbin Hotel: Season One Trolls: Band Together Twisters: The Album Wish Wonka
Top R&B Album
Chris Brown — 11:11
Brent Faiyaz — Larger Than Life
PartyNextDoor — PartyNextDoor 4 (P4)
Bryson Tiller, Bryson Tiller
Tyla — Tyla
Top Rap Album
21 Savage — american dream
Drake — For All the Dogs
Future & Metro Boomin — WE DON’T TRUST YOU
Nicki Minaj — Pink Friday 2
Rod Wave — Nostalgia
Top Country Album
Beyoncé — Cowboy Carter
Zach Bryan — The Great American Bar Scene
Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan
Chris Stapleton — Higher
Bailey Zimmerman — Religiously. The Album.
Top Rock Album
Zach Bryan — The Great American Bar Scene
Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan
Hozier — Unheard (EP)
Noah Kahan — Stick Season
Dolly Parton — Rockstar
Top Hard Rock Album
Bring Me The Horizon — POST HUMAN: NeX GEn
Falling In Reverse — Popular Monster
Hardy — Quit!!
Pearl Jam — Dark Matter
Sleep Token — Take Me Back to Eden
Top Latin Album
Bad Bunny — nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana
Fuerza Regida — Pa Las Baby’s Y Belikeada
Grupo Frontera — El Comienzo
Junior H — $AD BOYZ 4 LIFE II
Karol G — Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)
Top K-Pop Album
Ateez — THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL
Jung Kook — GOLDEN
Stray Kids — ROCK-STAR
Stray Kids — Ate: Mini Album
Tomorrow X Together — The Name Chapter: FREEFALL
Top Dance/Electronic Album
Charli XCX — BRAT
Jungle — Volcano
Odetari — XXIII SORROWS
Troye Sivan — Something to Give Each Other
John Summit — Comfort in Chaos
Top Christian Album
Elevation Worship — CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Forrest Frank — CHILD OF GOD
Brandon Lake — COAT OF MANY COLORS
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine — The Maverick Way Complete: Complete Vol 02
Katy Nichole — Jesus Changed My Life
Top Gospel Album
Kirk Franklin — Father’s Day
Koryn Hawthorne — On God
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine — The Maverick Way Complete: Complete Vol 02
CeCe Winans — More Than This
Naomi Raine — Cover The Earth: Live in New York
Song Awards
Top Hot 100 Song
Benson Boone — “Beautiful Things”
Jack Harlow — “Lovin on Me”
Post Malone Feat. Morgan Wallen — “I Had Some Help”
Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
Top Streaming Song
Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves — “I Remember Everything”
Kendrick Lamar — “Not Like Us”
Post Malone Feat. Morgan Wallen — “I Had Some Help”
Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
Top Radio Song
Benson Boone — “Beautiful Things”
Jack Harlow — “Lovin on Me”
Tate McRae — “Greedy”
Taylor Swift — “Cruel Summer”
Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
Top Selling Song
Benson Boone — “Beautiful Things”
Jung Kook — “Standing Next to You”
Post Malone Feat. Morgan Wallen — “I Had Some Help”
Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
Top Collaboration
Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves — “I Remember Everything”
Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar — “Like That”
Post Malone Feat. Morgan Wallen — “I Had Some Help”
Taylor Swift Feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
Morgan Wallen Feat. Ernest — “Cowgirls”
4batz Feat. Drake — “act ii: date @ 8 (remix)”
Muni Long — “Made for Me”
Tommy Richman — “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”
SZA — “Saturn”
Tyla — “Water”
Top Rap Song
Doja Cat — “Agora Hills”
Doja Cat — “Paint the Town Red”
Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar — “Like That”
Jack Harlow — “Lovin on Me”
Kendrick Lamar — “Not Like Us”
Top Country Song
Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves — “I Remember Everything”
Dasha — “Austin”
Post Malone Feat. Morgan Wallen — “I Had Some Help”
Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Morgan Wallen — “Thinkin’ Bout Me”
Falling In Reverse Feat. Jelly Roll — “All My Life”
Falling In Reverse, Tech N9ne & Alex Terrible — “Ronald”
Hardy — “Psycho”
Linkin Park — “The Emptiness Machine”
Superheaven — “Youngest Daughter”
Top Latin Song
Bad Bunny — “MONACO”
Bad Bunny & Feid — “PERRO NEGRO”
FloyyMenor & Cris MJ — “Gata Only”
Karol G & Peso Pluma — “QLONA”
Xavi — “La Diabla”
Top Global K-Pop Song
ILLIT — “Magnetic”
Jimin — “Who”
Jung Kook — “Standing Next to You”
Jung Kook Feat. Jack Harlow — “3D”
Le Sserafim — “Perfect Night”
Top Afrobeats Song
Adam Port & Stryv Feat. Malachiii — “Move”
Tems — “Me & U”
Tyla — “Truth or Dare”
Tyla — “Water”
Tyla, Gunna & Skillibeng — “Jump”
Top Dance/Electronic Song
Dua Lipa — “Houdini”
Dua Lipa — “Illusion”
Kenya Grace — “Strangers”
Ariana Grande — “yes, and?”
Marshmello & Kane Brown — “Miles on It”
Top Christian Song
Elevation Worship Feat. Brandon Lake, Chris Brown & Chandler Moore — “Praise”
Forrest Frank — “GOOD DAY”
Josiah Queen — “The Prodigal”
Seph Schlueter — “Counting My Blessings”
Tauren Wells with We The Kingdom & Davies — “Take It All Back”
Top Gospel Song
Koryn Hawthorne — “Look at God”
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine — “God Problems”
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine ft. Tasha Cobbs Leonard — “In the Room”
Victor Thompson X Gunna Feat. Ehis ‘D’ Greatest — “THIS YEAR (Blessings)”
CeCe Winans — “That’s My King”
Is Wicked the best movie based on a musical based on a book based on another movie based on another book? Yes. But even if you remove those hyper-specific qualifiers, Wicked is getting [extremely Julianne Moore in 30 Rock voice] wicked good reviews. The Jon M. Chu-directed film has a strong 90 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with universally positive reviews for Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.
Erivo has been a movie star since making her big-screen debut in Steve McQueen’s Widows, one of the most under-appreciated films of the 2010s. But Wicked is, somewhat surprisingly, Grande’s first starring role in a movie. And her first sizable role in any project since her Nickelodeon days.
Let’s take a look back at the firsts that led Grande to Wicked, beginning in Florida where Ariana had an awfully long way to go.
First Starring Role
For a lot of New Yorkers, the dream is to retire and move to Florida. Ariana Grande’s journey began in reverse: she was born in Florida, and from a young age, dreamed of performing under the bright lights of Broadway. She would get there eventually, but not before making one of her first live performances at a hockey game in the Sunshine State.
An eight-year-old Grande sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Florida Panthers game in 2002, four years after her mom paid $200 in a charity auction to have her curly-haired daughter ride a zamboni at then-National Car Rental Center. (She also got hit in the wrist with a hockey puck… twice.)
Around the same time, she was getting into theater. Grande made her acting debut in a production of Annie with the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater (there is footage, and yes, it’s cute). This wasn’t a case of Michael Jordan getting cut from his high school basketball team with Grande playing one of the lesser-known orphans; she was cast as Annie. A star right from the start.
First Musical
If Grande had her way, her first album would have come out much earlier than 2013. “I was 14 years old [in 2007/2008] and ready to make an R&B album,” Grande told Marie Claire. “I was like, ‘Where is that Mary J. Blige collab? Where is that Natasha Bedingfield writing session? Where is my session with India.Arie? I’m ready. Let’s go.’ I wrote this song called ‘Higher,’ and the lyrics were too sexual, too mature.” Her mom told her, “This is a great song, but damn, you’re too young for this.” So, naturally, Grande did what any rebellious teenager would do in this situation: she got cast in a Broadway musical.
13 is about a teenage boy on the verge of his Bar Mitzvah who is dealing with a move from New York City to rural Indiana and the divorce of his parents. Grande played gossipy Charlotte during the Broadway run of the musical, which was later turned into a Netflix movie. But 13’s most notable contribution to culture — besides “A Little More Homework” — is that it was the professional debut of not only Grande, but also Elizabeth Gillies. They would go on to star in Victorious, the first of Grande’s many Nickelodeon shows.
Without the proving ground of 13, she might not have been cast in Victorious. Without Victorious (and its spinoff, Sam & Cat), her YouTube channel might not have caught the attention of Republic Records CEO Monte Lipman. A friend sent him videos of Grande covering Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and he liked what he heard so much that he signed her to a record contract.
Grande has gone on to record 22 top-five singles.
First Starring Role In A Movie Musical
When Ariana Grande was a kid, she won an auction (a different auction than the zamboni one) to go backstage and meet Wicked star Kristin Chenoweth at New York City’s Gershwin Theatre. “Her mom and grandma brought her back,” the Glinda actress recalled, “and she sang a little bit of ‘Popular.’ And I thought, well, you’re pretty good.”
Little did Chenoweth know that Grande would eventually be cast as Glinda. But in the years between this encounter and the movie, Grande kept a strong connection to Wicked. She sang “What Is This Feeling?” with Seth MacFarlane on Carpool Karaoke: The Series (what a sentence); she belted “The Wizard And I,” with green lipstick, on NBC’s A Very Wicked Halloween special; and she fan-casted herself as Glinda over a decade ago. Even the song that landed her on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time has a Wicked connection.
But even with her history with the material (and — perhaps as significantly — her 376 million Instagram followers), Grande didn’t tap her heels together three times and instantly get the part. “She auditioned many times,” Chu told Vanity Fair. “I sort of didn’t want to believe that she could do this. It seems almost too easy to say, ‘Oh, Ariana Grande.’ [But] every time she came in, she was the most interesting person. You couldn’t take your eyes away.”
The obvious-in-retrospect casting paid off: she’s considered a frontrunner to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 Oscars. For Ariana Grande, there’s no place like Wicked.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Kendrick Lamar surprisingly dominate the week with an unexpected new album. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
It looked like Kendrick Lamar was going to end 2024 by hanging his hat his decisive victory in the Drake beef, which was highlighted by the No. 1 single “Not Like Us.” Instead, he wrapped up the year with a bang by, to everybody’s surprise, dropping a new album, GNX, which includes “Squabble Up,” that song Lamar teased in the “Not Like Us” video.
Jack Harlow — “Hello Miss Johnson”
While some unexpected Kendrick knocked Harlow down this week’s hip-hop power rankings, “Hello Miss Johnson” still isn’t one to miss. The smooth, samba-inspired tune is a delightful one that sees Harlow getting in his romantic bag.
Nicki Minaj — “Arctic Tundra” Feat. Juice WRLD
Back in the day (if you consider 2019 “the day”), Nicki Minaj teamed up with Juice WRLD on “Girl With The Blonde Hair,” a song that leaked online. Now, Minaj has given the collab (now titled “Arctic Tundra“) an official release. The tune arrives via The Pinkprint (Tenth Anniversary Edition), a reissue of Minaj’s classic release.
Rosé — “Number One Girl”
Rosé has a non-Blackpink hit alongside Bruno Mars with “APT.,” and now the train continues to roll. Last week, she unveiled “Number One Girl,” which is actually low-key another Mars collab, as he co-wrote the track.
Snoop Dogg — “Outta Da Blue” Feat. Dr. Dre and Alus
Missionary is the first full collaborative album from Snoop and Dre since 1993’s Doggystyle. They’re not squandering the occasion either, as they show on “Outta Da Blue,” a lively new tune that sees the two swapping verses back and forth.
Bossman Dlow — “The Biggest Pt. 2”
After landing a coveted TikTok hit with “Get In With Me” in January, Dlow rode the momentum to a prosperous 2024. He reflects on that, and the success yet to come, on his latest single, “The Biggest Pt. 2.”
Omar Apollo, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross — “Te Maldigo”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are behind the score of Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Queer. Omar Apollo stars in the movie, so given that all this musical firepower is involved, they went ahead and linked up on “Te Maldigo,” a ballad for the soundtrack.
Kenny Mason — “Intuition”
Mason is gearing up to join Denzel Curry on the Mischievous South tour next year, and he’ll have some new music to perform, too: He just dropped the Angel Eyes mixtape, along with a Joker-inspired video for “Intuition.”
Tyla — “Tears”
After Tyla started 2024 off on a sour note by canceling tour dates, the year picked up from there. Her latest win is “Tears,” a new acoustic song she dropped in partnership with Coke Studio.
Father John Misty — “Mahashmashana”
Poor Father John Misty: He just released his new album Mahashmashana, on the same day as Lamar’s big surprise. (He’s fine with joking about the unfortunate timing, at least.) FJM’s LP is worth the spin, though, with highlights including the sweeping, nine-minute title track.
After a monstrous 2024, Kendrick Lamar put his stamp on the final weeks of the year with the surprise release of a new album, GNX. The project features more bars about Drake after his feud with the Canadian rapper dominated the cultural conversation this summer. Now, following GNX, Drake appears to have spoken out.
While livestreaming with xQc, Drake, seemingly speaking about Lamar, said (as HotNewHipHop notes), “I’m here, as you can see, fully intact. Mind, body, and soul. In case you are wondering, right? You need facts to take me out. Fairy tales won’t do it.”
Lamar also had some words about Lil Wayne on the new album, and Wayne responded on X (formerly Twitter), “Man wtf I do. I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction. Not even me, but I shall destroy if disturbed.”
It’s not all beef, though, as plenty of folks collaborated on the new album and the list includes SZA, Jack Antonoff, Roddy Ricch, Terrace Martin, Sounwave, Deats, M-Tech, Juju, Deyra Barrera, AzChike, Dody6, Hitta J3, Peysoh, Siete, Wallie The Sensei, Lefty Gunplay, Siete7x, and YoungThreat.
On Friday, Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise (and Taylor Swift-free) new album, GNX. By Saturday, a meme was born. On “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, Lamar yells “MUSTARD” — or as it’s transcribed by someone on Genius, “MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD.” Is it a reference to his favorite condiment? Possibly, but it’s also a nod to DJ Mustard, a rapper and producer who worked on GNX, as well as Lamar’s No. 1 hit “Not Like Us.”
“I’ve been literally trying to get a song with him for years,” the producer told Billboard about Lamar. “Before I even made that beat [for “Not Like Us”], I got to a point where I was like, ‘I’m gonna send five beats a day.’ I maybe sent him five beats a day for maybe three months. I’m still doing it right now just in case he wants to record something. I sent him that beat and then I think that day I would make it a point just to go to the studio to make a couple of beats to send to him.”
He added, “I don’t think I even understood how big it was until it went No. 1. I was like, ‘This is the biggest song I ever had in my life.’ I just wanted a song with Kendrick.”
On Friday, Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise (and Taylor Swift-free) new album, GNX. By Saturday, a meme was born. On “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, Lamar yells “MUSTARD” — or as it’s transcribed by someone on Genius, “MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD.” Is it a reference to his favorite condiment? Possibly, but it’s also a nod to DJ Mustard, a rapper and producer who worked on GNX, as well as Lamar’s No. 1 hit “Not Like Us.”
“I’ve been literally trying to get a song with him for years,” the producer told Billboard about Lamar. “Before I even made that beat [for “Not Like Us”], I got to a point where I was like, ‘I’m gonna send five beats a day.’ I maybe sent him five beats a day for maybe three months. I’m still doing it right now just in case he wants to record something. I sent him that beat and then I think that day I would make it a point just to go to the studio to make a couple of beats to send to him.”
He added, “I don’t think I even understood how big it was until it went No. 1. I was like, ‘This is the biggest song I ever had in my life.’ I just wanted a song with Kendrick.”
On Friday, Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise (and Taylor Swift-free) new album, GNX. By Saturday, a meme was born. On “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, Lamar yells “MUSTARD” — or as it’s transcribed by someone on Genius, “MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD.” Is it a reference to his favorite condiment? Possibly, but it’s also a nod to DJ Mustard, a rapper and producer who worked on GNX, as well as Lamar’s No. 1 hit “Not Like Us.”
“I’ve been literally trying to get a song with him for years,” the producer told Billboard about Lamar. “Before I even made that beat [for “Not Like Us”], I got to a point where I was like, ‘I’m gonna send five beats a day.’ I maybe sent him five beats a day for maybe three months. I’m still doing it right now just in case he wants to record something. I sent him that beat and then I think that day I would make it a point just to go to the studio to make a couple of beats to send to him.”
He added, “I don’t think I even understood how big it was until it went No. 1. I was like, ‘This is the biggest song I ever had in my life.’ I just wanted a song with Kendrick.”
On Friday, Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise (and Taylor Swift-free) new album, GNX. By Saturday, a meme was born. On “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, Lamar yells “MUSTARD” — or as it’s transcribed by someone on Genius, “MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD.” Is it a reference to his favorite condiment? Possibly, but it’s also a nod to DJ Mustard, a rapper and producer who worked on GNX, as well as Lamar’s No. 1 hit “Not Like Us.”
“I’ve been literally trying to get a song with him for years,” the producer told Billboard about Lamar. “Before I even made that beat [for “Not Like Us”], I got to a point where I was like, ‘I’m gonna send five beats a day.’ I maybe sent him five beats a day for maybe three months. I’m still doing it right now just in case he wants to record something. I sent him that beat and then I think that day I would make it a point just to go to the studio to make a couple of beats to send to him.”
He added, “I don’t think I even understood how big it was until it went No. 1. I was like, ‘This is the biggest song I ever had in my life.’ I just wanted a song with Kendrick.”
On Friday, Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise (and Taylor Swift-free) new album, GNX. By Saturday, a meme was born. On “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, Lamar yells “MUSTARD” — or as it’s transcribed by someone on Genius, “MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD.” Is it a reference to his favorite condiment? Possibly, but it’s also a nod to DJ Mustard, a rapper and producer who worked on GNX, as well as Lamar’s No. 1 hit “Not Like Us.”
“I’ve been literally trying to get a song with him for years,” the producer told Billboard about Lamar. “Before I even made that beat [for “Not Like Us”], I got to a point where I was like, ‘I’m gonna send five beats a day.’ I maybe sent him five beats a day for maybe three months. I’m still doing it right now just in case he wants to record something. I sent him that beat and then I think that day I would make it a point just to go to the studio to make a couple of beats to send to him.”
He added, “I don’t think I even understood how big it was until it went No. 1. I was like, ‘This is the biggest song I ever had in my life.’ I just wanted a song with Kendrick.”
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This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
