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For nearly its entire 40-year history, hip-hop has been just as defined by intergenerational conflict as it has its youthful energy and rebellious spirit. It was founded by teens in New York rejecting the constraints of their parents’ music, causing no end to the consternation of elder generations back then — a tradition that continues to this day.

However, as much as those early rap records — and the ones of today — are a repudiation of whatever conventions defined “grown-up” music at the time, they are also influenced by and tied to those standards as well. The first rap records sampled disco, funk, and jazz, even as they strove to create something new and different. Today, modern artists sample their predecessors, borrow their flows, and pay lyrical homage without thinking about it, like it’s second nature.

And as much as the elder generation has been bemused by and berated youth movements, there have also always been those who have sought to guide, instruct, and encourage the “kids.” For every J. Cole, there’s a Jay-Z; for every Kendrick Lamar, there’s a Dr. Dre.

For Queens, New York poet, drummer, and rapper Kumbaya, there’s Pharoahe Monch, the veteran syllable slayer perhaps still best known for his Japanese monster movie-sampling 1999 hit “Simon Says.” Beginning his career in the early ’90s as part of the duo Organized Konfusion, Pharoahe has evolved and persevered through three decades of hip-hop, making him perhaps one of the best-suited artists to mentor an unconventional up-and-comer like Kumbaya.

The rap elder statesman and his protege joined Uproxx via Zoom to talk about the roots of Black music that have always tied generations together, the evolution of Black music through its myriad forms, the legacy both artists hope to leave behind, and the responsibility artists have to the world around them.

So, first of all, I just want to say, thank you both for agreeing to participate in this discussion. We’re talking about the rich history of Black music and its impact on American culture and the roots of Black music and so forth. A great place to start that discussion is when you started becoming aware of the differences between Black music and mainstream music, and what your first experiences with Black music really were.

Pharoahe Monch: I guess my first experience was in a church. With my parents being from the South, it’s like a mainstay. So, very early on, even in that sense, I would notice the patterns and stomp my feet to the various rhythms.

Kumbaya: When it came to church, my family didn’t have a tradition. Sometimes we went. Sometimes we didn’t. So, I think my first experience was kind of just digging through my mom’s CDs. She always had a whole bunch of CDs on deck, and I would just, on my off time, I would dig through them. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I was just looking for the most attractive CD cover, and I just popped it in. And I had no idea what I would, who these people were, but I just knew I really enjoyed what I was hearing.

I remember one time, she came in the house and she gave me a DMX cassette, and she said somebody had given it to her. And it was the one where he had all the blood on the cover [Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood] and my mom said, “Somebody gave this to me in the street.” She goes, “Here you go. I think this is gospel music.” And I was like, “I don’t think so.”

Well… He prays on it.

Kumbaya: I was like, “Ma, this man barking. I don’t think this is ‘gospel,’” but I listened to that front and back. So it was just those hands-off experiences. But as far as the differences, I was always told that it was all our music. All of the genres came from us. So for me, it’s just like, I see the differences as far as who gets to have their music on the forefront more often. I see that. But as far as the sound, it’s ours.

Pharoahe Monch: Even on the DMX joint, it’s intertwined, because he hits those things like a pastor, and then he’s praying on there. And he would pray on stage and sh*t like that. My whole household was just a plethora of different vibes. My mom was the gospel. My pop was jazz. Brother was the rock. Sister was the Jacksons, and so forth. But within all those genres, you can hear the originality and the origin.

I find that interesting because even going back to your time on Rawkus Records, your labelmate Mos Def [Yasiin Bey] made the song “Rock N Roll”: “Elvis Presley ain’t got no soul, Chuck Berry is rock and roll.” He was talking to the roots of where the music comes from. And I’m really interested in how music evolves and how you translate those influences through your own music. For instance, Pharoahe, you have, “Hallelujah, Pharoahe Monch’ll do ya.”

Pharoahe Monch: It’s funny you bring up Mos. I remember one time we did MTV, and his mom was managing him at the time. And he and his mom was telling me how his grandmother liked that verse. She was like, “Oh, he killed it with that ‘hallelujah’ part.” At that moment, in that piece, I am trying to bring about that same vibration and let it resonate on some Martin Luther King sh*t in terms of the tone, and in terms of the power there, with sh*t that moved me.

I used to study what gives you goosebumps. Is it the truth in the words? Is it the tone? Tonality in the line? What was it about the King speech that makes everybody’s hair stand up? What is it about Chuck D that can make your hair stand up when he hits you with a bit of truth? With the tone on that sh*t back then, I would be like, “Yo, this is different.”

All those things are soul to me. And all those things are Black to me. You have to study that sh*t to dig down into the roots of making people feel you beyond the f*cking content, which is why I’m a big fan of Kumbaya. It’s a combination of truth and pocket tone. As an MC, you don’t say somebody is nice unless they can command all of those kinds of elements. I think if you study Black music, you’re constantly chasing the elements.

Kumbaya: First of all, for Pharaohe to say he’s a fan of mine blows me away.

I just really like words, and I knew that from an early age. My mom knew that about me. I like to read, and I like to write. And so, I would just naturally gravitate towards voices that made me feel something. I say to myself, “Oh, I need to study how to be like this.” That’s when I started to realize that you start to take on the elements that you are drawn to, that you’re attracted to. So, if as a rapper, you’re just attracted to the flash, then you’re going to take on the element of the flash and ignore all the other stuff. But if you’re attracted to the tone, if you’re attracted to the presence, if you’re attracted to the look on somebody’s face, you’re going to start to absorb that stuff and put it back out in your own way.

As we’re talking about the impact that hip-hop music or Black music can have on culture and have on a person… knowing that impact, do artists have a responsibility to address that or use that?

Pharoahe Monch: I think for me, my overall feeling about artists is all about freedom. So, if you want to make some f*ck sh*t or some dance sh*t or some good time sh*t, all I want from that is to be inspired and motivated. It doesn’t all have to be revolutionary in the sense of pushing a Black agenda forward. It can be revolutionary in how it inspired me to think about doing that or to inspire the next person to think about doing it.

For me, it’s important to have the total spectrum of freedom but to also focus on leaving gems and continuing the legacy because this is what we come from. This is what we gathered this energy from, so it’s only right to give it back

Kumbaya, I absolutely heard a lot of what he was talking about in the music of yours that I listen to, but it’s being translated through a different lens. Pharoahe’s from a different generation. Kumbaya, you’re of course a little bit younger. What’s your take on the artist’s responsibility, and how do you think your individual lens makes it unique and so important to make sure that that perspective gets heard?

Kumbaya: At a basic level, we’re all the same. We’re all human beings and there’s no feeling that you’re going to feel, there’s no feeling that Pharoahe’s going to feel, that I’m going to be foreign to. There’s no emotion or anything that you’ve experienced, that I’m not going to understand. I may not agree but I’m not going to not understand it.

So I just feel like naturally as human beings, no matter what an artist does, no matter what they portray, whether they even try to be responsible or not, somebody is going to feel them. They’re going to resonate with somebody. So I think an artist’s responsibility is to just project whatever it is that you truly would like to project, which is why it’s important to know yourself and to stick by your stuff.

Pharoahe Monch: And you take the time to find your voice so you can get to those inner places. When you think about it in that sense it still goes back to the ancestors, not to get on some spiritual sh*t…

Kumbaya: No, let’s get on it.

Pharoahe Monch: When you tap into that sh*t, you tap into a vibration that’s undeniable every single time. It might not be for everybody but that sh*t’s going to resonate crazy when you dig that deep.

Kumbaya: I was listening to Ahmad Jamal yesterday and for like two weeks now I’ve been replaying this one song, “Poinciana.”I can’t stop listening to that song. I have no idea why but it makes me feel a way. I don’t even know what the title of that song means.

For a very long time, I was very angry. I was a very angry Black person for a very long time, rightfully so, once I started to learn about this system in place against me. I got very upset and I had to work through that because it started to affect my behavior for a reason that was unhelpful to me. So, I had to address that and I had to go and be on my own and work through that and find that voice so that I could express this in a more palatable way.

So I guess just to kind of wrap things up a little bit. Of course, history is always changing. It’s always moving forward. Right now, we are making history. So, I guess the obvious question is how do you want history to see you?

Pharoahe Monch: It’s simple for me, man. A lot of the joy I’m getting is learning and it’s dope to know that it’s a continuing f*cking thing that’s ongoing. The reason I personally push forward is that you can go back and listen to a verse or a song like Ahmad Jamal and get a whole new interpretation of that sh*t than when the first time you heard it. I think that’s part of the lesson of why you layer shit because the history of our message is that this shit needs to travel beyond our years.

If you look at the Black Messiah joint and Fred Hampton and the Panthers, Malcolm, Martin, at some point they all literally said, “I might not get there with you but this sh*t is going to resonate,” and not in the corny sense. You know, people are becoming more aware of the hardcore harsh reality of how they looked at the ugliness of this country. People always promote the “I have a dream” sh*t, but as we see now, Martin was like, “Yo, this sh*t is f*cked up. It’s f*cking two Americas and y’all need to be called out on that sh*t.”

So, woven into the Black experience of the music that I think resonates with artists like ourselves. That’s what makes this sh*t last and that’s what makes this sh*t a learning experience.

Kumbaya: I feel like I’m kind of new in the game so I actually never thought about that, what I would want to be remembered for. I know that the impact that I want to make is I want to encourage people to remember, as Toni Morrison said, “Words are things”. They’re real and they get into the walls and they get into the clothes and they get into you. I guess I would like to remind people of the power of them — particularly the power of the words that you speak to yourself because those are the most important words, the ones that we don’t hear.

I just want to remind people, “Your ideas are real. They’re real ideas. And if you feel passionate about something, go for it. Make that move.”

Pharoahe Monch’s A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism is out now via Fat Beats. Get it here. Check out Kumbaya on Soundcloud.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered this season with renewed hope after an offseason of pretty major shakeup from the top down in the organization. They hired Daryl Morey to run their basketball operations, brought in Doc Rivers as their new coach, and retooled their roster with shooters like Seth Curry and Danny Green to better fit with their core of Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid.

The first name on that list of core players is often left off, as the conversation in Philadelphia has long centered on the young star duo of Simmons and Embiid and whether the two could co-exist on a winner. However, Harris holds a lot of the keys to whether that can happen, as he was the one they invested heavily in to be the balance to those two on the wing and this season he’s having one of the best of his career, back under the guidance of his former coach in L.A. in Rivers.

Harris is averaging 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game on 51.3/40.3/89.4 shooting, which are similar to his career year in 2018 with the Clippers that had Philly wanting to trade for him. Harris has taken this step forward in lock-step with the rest of the team. It’s hard to know exactly who is pulling who along, but there’s no doubt that Harris’ improvement has been a big reason for the Sixers jumping out to a 20-11 start, good for tops in the East.

And yet, Harris isn’t discussed often as a true third star for the Sixers in the same vein as the way the Nets new Big 3 is discussed, and in a recent interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick, he explained how that frustrates him at times.

Yeah, you know, that shit pisses me off. I ain’t even gonna lie. But I also kind of get it because that’s kind of been me my whole life. …

I’ve come to grips that I’m not the flashiest player, not the sought-after hype machine type guy, you know? When I came out of college, I remember telling my older brother when I was going through all these workouts, saying, ‘Yo, I’m gonna go lottery.’ And he said to me, ‘I don’t think so.’ I’d say, ‘What do you mean? Why not?’ He was just like, ‘You just don’t have the hype like the other guys.’ … But he was actually 100 percent correct, you know what I’m saying? For me, that was just one of those things where I was like, ‘Man, I’m not that guy but I also know that I’m a winner and I know how to win and I know how to be a winner for my guys.’ At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me, really. But I do hear it, and it does get to me at times, but I have to stay rooted in who I am and what I want to be known for at the end of the day.

It’s understandable why Harris would feel slighted by the way the Sixers are discussed, which is so often Embiid, Simmons, and everyone else. He’s having a tremendous season, likely just below All-Star level for this year but on the cusp, and that is a huge deal for this Sixers team. Still, when discussing “Big Threes,” he’s not the type of guy that’s going to often get brought up in that conversation because he hasn’t yet proven to be able to play at that star level when it counts the most.

The Nets have two MVPs and a consistent All-Star performer who’s played a huge role on a title team, so naturally they’ll be discussed differently than the Sixers. Philadelphia, meanwhile, can have a sensational regular season and the same questions about the playoffs will linger, and until they get over that hump and prove themselves as a contender come playoff time by winning some of the series they’ve come up short in, the recognition for Harris and the belief in Simmons and Embiid as a duo won’t come.

Although Jaden’s mostly known for following in his famous dad’s musical footsteps, his latest single is a departure from his old-school influenced raps. “Photograph,” which comes from Jaden’s 2020 mixtape CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3, takes an even sharper left turn from that project’s pop-rock-oriented lead single “Cabin Fever,” slowing things way down for an indie-ish guitar ballad about the longing Jaden feels for an ex-flame.

Fittingly, the video for the song, released today, finds Jaden literally and figuratively drowning in his emotions as he wanders along the beach, getting lost in the waves. Several striking underwater shots punctuate the overwhelming melancholy he feels in the song’s lyrics as he croons, “I’m in the middle of the ocean and I need you right now / If I can’t love you, I guess I’ll just drown.”

Imagined as a prequel of sorts to his Syre and Erys albums, Cool Tape Vol. 3 tracks the sort of teenage love affair that does feel as big as an ocean — and just as mercurial. The project found him diverging from his usual style and reuniting with Justin Bieber on a song for the first time in a decade. More recently, Jaden returned to his rap roots to once again celebrate Marvel’s Miles Morales with “I’m Ready” from the Spider-Man: Miles Morales video game’s soundtrack.

Watch the “Photograph” video above.

Meghan McCain is getting dragged on social media after The View co-host essentially asked to speak to the vaccine manager and launched into an especially entitled rant, even for her, about her inability to get vaccinated. During a segment on the COVID vaccine rollout, McCain launched into an exhausted tirade on why she still has no idea when she’ll receive the vaccine, and she demands Joe Biden fire Dr. Fauci over it. It also didn’t help that McCain brought up her celebrity status during her remarks, which only made her argument sound even more entitled than it already was. Via Raw Story:

“The fact I, Meghan McCain, co-host of The View, don’t know when or how I will be able to get a vaccine because the rollout for my age range and my health is so nebulous, I have no idea when and how I get it.” She continued: “If you call me at 3:00 in the morning, I will go any place at any time to get it. I want to be responsible and obviously, wait my turn, but this rollout has been a disaster.”

After feigning outrage that she, Meghan McCain of The View, still doesn’t have a shot even though she works in the media and should know full well how the vaccine tiers work, McCain declared she’s “over Fauci” and thinks it’s time for him to go. “We need to have more people giving more opinions and honestly quite frankly, I think the Biden administration should remove him.” She also reiterated the call to fire Fauci on Twitter minutes after The View finished taping:

But by that point, McCain was already being roasted for the “I, Meghan McCain, co-host of The View” comment as people tore into her tone-deaf rant on social media:

And then there’s this angle, which only further highlighted McCain’s tunnel vision:

(Via Raw Story)

If you thought Donald Trump Jr. would retreat from the spotlight following his disgraced dad’s exit from the White House, you were wrong, but you may not be too upset to be wrong, given that Don Jr. seems determined to keep us all entertained. He’s still amped up and ranting wildly while having exchanged his Motel 6 background for a wall of guns over the weekend. And he’s never deterred from his causes, not even when he should probably be embarrassed for thinking that Texas’ governor is Democrat (that would be news to Greg Abbott). So, what’s Don Jr. up to on this fine Monday morning? He’s angry about The Muppets being “canceled.”

That doesn’t make sense, of course. The Muppets are riding high with all five seasons landing on Disney+ late last week. That’s excellent news, other than for people whose feathers are ruffled because 18 episodes arrived with content warnings of “negative depictions or mistreatment of people or cultures,” as with the episode where Johnny Cash sings in a barn where the Confederate flag is present. “These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now,” the disclaimer reads, and yes, Don Jr. is very offended.

“Apparently The Muppets have now been canceled,” tweeted Trump’s messiest son. “There’s nothing these psychos won’t destroy… Liberalism is a disease.”

Don Jr. is not alone in his right-wing grumpiness over the issue. Fox Business went to town while covering the story, which led to this surreal screencap.

What Don Jr. completely fails to see is that “cancellation” would mean that The Muppets got yanked off Disney+ altogether when that clearly is not the case. In fact, given that the beloved show made its Disney+ debut a few days ago, The Muppets are the very opposite of cancelled, and people are letting Don Jr. know what’s up.

Well, maybe Don Jr. will make a video to explain what the heck he’s thinking. Can’t wait to see the background on his next vlogging installment.

Gucci Mane protege Foogiano lends an assist to burgeoning Quality Control star Duke Deuce on “Spin,” the latest single from the fancy footwork flaunting Memphis native. While both have largely come to be recognized for their love of thunderous, menacing production, on “Spin,” the beat is much more laid-back, with smooth piano chords and shimmying snares backing their boastful bars.

The two rappers are the latest in a long line of rappers from Atlanta and Memphis to team up over the years. Although Atlanta received much of the credit for the “crunk” movement in the early 2000s, in truth, the style originated 391 miles west of the ATL with groups like Three-6-Mafia and 8Ball & MJG. The stylistic similarities and relative close geography ensured strong chemistry between artists of both cities which continues today.

In fact, Duke Deuce first exploded onto the scene thanks to his insistence that “Crunk Ain’t Dead,” receiving big-name cosigns from pioneers of the subgenre like Juicy J, Lil Jon, and Project Pat on his song’s 2020 remix. Meanwhile, although Foogiano’s lineage stems from the trap movement propagated by his New 1017 bossman Gucci Mane, he fits right in on this lighter production, keeping the ATL-Memphis connection as strong as ever.

Foogiano is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Oklahoma football player Spencer Jones is lucky to have his full faculties after a fight in a bar bathroom last week with an MMA fighter that saw him get taken to the ground, put in a chokehold, and punched repeatedly in his left eye.

According to the OU Daily, Jones nearly lost his left eye after a Valentine’s weekend brawl at a Norman bar. According to Jones’ attorney, Woodrow Glass, Jones had reconstructive surgery this past Tuesday that will require a lengthy recovery.

“Dr. Brooks came out of that surgery saying he’s extraordinarily lucky at this point, that he’s lucky he didn’t lose the eye altogether,” Glass said. “And so he was able to do some things surgically to rebuild that orbital socket and thinks everything is eventually going to come back to normal, but it’s going to take a while for him to fully recover.”

In Jones’ version of the events, as told to the Daily by Glass, he was trying to act as a peacekeeper, which doesn’t exactly match up with the brief snippet of the pre-fight conversation we see in the video.

“He was trying to de-escalate that situation,” Glass told The Daily. “But unfortunately, it wasn’t de-escalated despite his best efforts, and he became the victim of this vicious assault you’ve seen.”

Whatever the intentions, putting your finger in someone’s face while you and your friend say “look at me, bitch,” and “get the f*ck out of here,” is a bottom-tier de-escalation strategy, and having your friend reach over and push them is even worse. Luckily, Jones was able to have successful surgery and appears set to make a full recovery, but, as a rule, if the person you are having an altercation with turns to their friend and smiles that is a bad sign for a potential fight.

What is the best movie with a versus in the title? It’s not Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s not Alien vs. Predator or Freddy vs. Jason (both good and fun and dumb, but not as good and fun and dumb other films in their respective series), and it’s definitely not Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two great “versus” movies: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Best Picture winner Kramer vs. Kramer. Actually, make that three. I have not seen Godzilla vs. Kong yet, but if the trailer is any indication (either one of them), it’s going to punch its way to the top of the “versus” canon.

Scott Pilgrim beat the world (or at least Ramona’s seven evil exes), but who will in Godzilla vs. Kong: the radioactive lizard or the angry monkey?

Director Adam Wingard won’t say, obviously, but he did reveal to Nerdist that he’s long known which character he wanted to win. “I remember in second grade there was a friend of mine who had a definitive idea of who he thought would win in a fight, Godzilla or King Kong. And I remember being on the playground and arguing with him about it. I felt like he was totally wrong, by the way,” he said. “And so, in a weird roundabout way, this movie is like the most like ridiculous way of winning a fight with a friend of yours in second grade. But now I finally have the last word.” Wingard wouldn’t confess whether he sided with Godzilla or Kong, but I like the idea of him using a $200 million movie to settle an argument from 30 years ago. Take that, second grade kid.

Godzilla vs. Kong comes out on HBO Max on March 31.

(Via Nerdist)

In a lengthy new profile on the behind-the-scenes drama that led to Zack Snyder exiting Justice League only to get the unprecedented chance to release his original version of the film, the Snyder Cut, on HBO Max, the director reveals that he had intricate plans for Ben Affleck’s Batman to have a very conflicting love interest until Warner Bros. shot it down. While it’s unclear whether the romantic tension between Affleck’s Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman was a pivot that Snyder made to appease the studio or if it was a subplot that Joss Whedon added when he took over Justice League, Snyder has opened up for the first time about his love story that would’ve seen Bruce Wayne picking up Amy Adams‘ Lois Lane on the rebound following the death of Henry Cavill’s Superman. Via Vanity Fair, which says that this idea got the “nix” from Warner Bros.:

“The intention was that Bruce fell in love with Lois and then realized that the only way to save the world was to bring Superman back to life,” says Snyder. “So he had this insane conflict, because Lois, of course, was still in love with Superman. We had this beautiful speech where [Bruce] said to Alfred: ‘I never had a life outside the cave. I never imagined a world for me beyond this. But this woman makes me think that if I can get this group of gods together, then my job is done. I can quit. I can stop.’ And of course that doesn’t work out for him.”

Considering Cavill’s Superman died battling Doomsday in Batman V Superman, which could’ve been avoided had Batman been more focused on Lex Luthor instead of trying to murder Superman in the face, we’re guessing the Man of Steel probably would not have been thrilled to come back to life and find Batman dating Lois. That’s not how you get a super team together.

(Via Vanity Fair)

Travis Barker does a ton of collaboration outside of Blink-182, but that doesn’t happen as frequently with the band. Barker has revealed, though, that for the next Blink album, they have been working on songs with Grimes, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pharrell.

On a recent episode of the Rock This With Allison Hagendorf podcast, Barker said the album is about “60 percent” done and added, “There’s a lot of cool stuff. There’s like a song with Grimes right now that’s really, really cool that I love. There’s a song with Uzi that’s really, really cool that we did with Pharrell.” He also said:

“I mean, it’s not like Blink’s making a rap song or anything. It’s like bringing Uzi over to our world. So it’s more of a punk kind of like reggae-feeling song. And yeah, I mean, I don’t think Blink will ever be anything but like a pop-punk band. I mean, that’s who we are. And I feel like our fans have kind of journeyed with us when we’ve done songs like ‘I Miss You’ or ballads like ‘Adam’s Song.’ But like we’re never going to veer too far off from what we are — like, I’m like a punk kid at heart, you know what I mean? Whether it’s like pop-punk with Blink or whatever with [Machine Gun Kelly] or whatever with Trippie [Redd], that’s where my heart’s at. Like, I was raised on rap music and punk rock music. It’s kind of all I know.”

Listen to the full Rock This episode below.