Love & Hip Hop feat Kathy Iandoli
This episode is about love and hip hop (not the tv show).
Available now on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts from and here is the show’s RSS feed if that helps!
Rap might not be the first genre that comes to mind when you think of love songs, but trust me, the genre is full them. There have been mix tapes and albums devoted to love hell. Even my debut album, Don Q Sack and High Fidelity was all about. It was a rap album based on the film. High Fidelity and the bonus songs on the album were the soundtrack to the film.
Yeah, pretty. What can I say? I love a good concept and I love, love. One of the more ambitious love related projects in recent memory was Chance the rapper's major label debut. He made an album about getting married, which is one of, if not the biggest events to symbolize romantic love. His album the big day was a beautiful gesture made to further commemorate the love with his now wife.
But the. Hated it.
Hey, their lovely sister, won't you come home to your Mister. I've got plan, hug, and kiss ya. I've got plan hug and hug and hug you musically. It wasn't that big of a departure. But thematically, it was a huge departure from the landscape of rap albums. I don't think anyone had ever done this type of thing before, and sadly, the concept didn't land too well with casual fans.
Plus, the internet loves memes, so the song parodies. Poured in. Ooh, I love my wife. I love my wife. Let's go ride a bike with my wife. My wife's real young. My wife's real small. Let's go to the beach and play with a beach ball. Praise Jesus. God and my wife. Let's go to the beach and ride a bike. That's not to say that rap doesn't like songs about romantic love.
That's definitely not the case. It's just that not everyone is into p. Luckily, there are tons of songs about other types of love. You got songs about platonic love, family love, self love, toxic love, all types of love, and at times there can even be objectification. Masquerading is love. I know. It's so sneaky.
However, when it comes to romantic love, one thing we don't see much of is rappers dating other rappers. I mean, sure it happens, but it's not that commonplace. Most of the highly visible relationships that we see are between rappers and singers. Or models, but rarely another rapper. This makes Pap P and Remy Ma the gold standard in rap power couples.
And the fact that Kay Slay was the person that introduced them makes their love even more rap related. The first time we met was actually in the studio between a mutual friend, Kay Slay. When she came in the room. I had never seen nobody talk to him that way. She threw her feet up on the table. She was telling people to turn music down.
She was arguing with people. She was telling people to shut up, and I was just like, wow. I like her. While both artists have several collaborations in their discographies, they don't have any full length albums together, which brings us to another anomaly. Male female duet rap albums. These almost never happen, which is a shame because when they do, they're always a pretty good time.
A few examples of this are. Fat Joe and Remi Ma Plateau plumber. I be in and out the city like a New York draft pick. They cut the check, I check it out, and then I cash it. Got my first Cuban winning nigga 14 back with King Cato after them. Things of 14. How Iraq when Obama was student in and now Cabrini Green.
Here we at them, things moving. Or Harriet by El Camil and Damani. You know, we had to double up double. We sued it forward, all without the cumber bond. Usher knew you better with us. Find wine in the alkaline water. Refined line with the source of the shot beside the rhyme. We checking the levels of messages, clear light water did the steal with the bomb.
And everything's fine by Quale Chris and Jean Gray. My contributions to this game, I'm wearing overalls one shoulder off. Dwayne Wayne flipped glasses of syrup for my cause. It's going be lit. I ain hit my contributions to this game one duet album that was in the works, but never. Was Battle of the Sexist, a collaboration between Ludicrous and Shauna.
She was signed to his DTP records when they started recording it, but decided to leave the label for a new one. This in turn, resulted in Luda deciding to make it into a solo album and enlisting a star-studded guest list. While it did have a few hits, it probably didn't have the same level of impact it would've had in its initial form.
Ka. Can rap, rap? Here's a little bit of the lead. Single. Everybody drunk. Everybody with me? Drunk as fuck. Break it down and roll it up.
The album version of this song doesn't feature her at all, and her place is little scrappy. That's label politics for you. And I don't think anyone loves label politics. Rap is often referred to as a game or a sport, and that's due to its competitive nature. Everyone considers themselves to be the best, which is a form of love in itself.
Self-love, and this among other things, breeds beef. And rap loves beef. Beef not only drives record sales, but it's given us dis tracks and other huge moments for the. Now while beef and disc tracks deserve an episode to themselves, a few examples of disc songs are Roxanne's Revenge by Roxanne Shante. He ain't really cute and he ain't great.
He don't even know how to operate. He came up to me with some rap, but lemme tell you, so you make a record on me, the R o s a n N E.
I came back for you by Lil Kim. Like the sin in the hourglass. You outta your time trying to go against the queen as you outta your mind. He being number two, your chance, slim. Cause when God made Adam, it shoulda made Kim. I gave a few passes, but I never forget. It's enough. I gotta put up with this and the takeover by.
And all you other cats throwing shots at jig, you only get half a ball. Fuck y'all niggas. A fan base is the tangible manifestation of love for an artist, but lately these parasocial relationships are becoming unusually toxic. If you don't love the artist they do. It's more than a difference of opinion.
It's a call to. But not all stand thems are bad. One new artist with a really fun fan base is Ice spice. If you are of a certain age, you might not be into her music, but her social interactions and memes are top tier, and we all know by now that that can make or break your career. Right. Well, if you don't know now, you know.
So what's the state of love and hip hop? Not the TV show, but shouldn't the TV show just be a dating show where rappers date, other rappers? That's what the name kind of implies. No. Huh? Whatever. Why don't rappers date each other more often? These are all good questions and ones that me and Kathy will get into during this interview.
We also talk about love songs, breakup songs, and put superlatives on the few rap couples that we have out there. As usual, there's a mix of songs related to the topic after the conversation, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. As I talk to my friend Kathy about Love and hip hop, because a lot of people out here they say, I love my car.
Oh, I love my, I'm just in love with.
TRACKLIST:
Couples Therapy - Papoose
To All The Girls - Wyclef Jean
Lost Ones - Lauryn Hill
Fancy Clan - Madvillian
Always - Kev Brown
Tainted - Slum Village
Come Close Remix - Common
Love I Need - Moonchild
All I Need - Method Man
Black Love - NE$$, Baby J
Your Love - Mick Jenkins
We Fight/Love - Q Tip
The Light - Common
Love - Jay Dee
Happy Valentines Day - Andre 3000
I Want You - Marvin Gaye
Want U 2 Want Me - Tanya Morgan
Love Won’t Wait - Black Eyed Peas
Paper Thing - MC Lyte
2 Fourteen - Von Pea