With the Summer Olympics wrapping Snoop Dogg’s epic run in Paris and the arrival of Latto’s Sugar Honey Iced Tea album, hip-hop continued to make waves.
Billboard Unfiltered returns with another brand-new episode on Thursday (Aug. 15), with co-hosts Carl Lamarre, Damien Scott and Trevor Anderson breaking down Snoop stealing the Olympic show, Latto’s new album and a possible feud brewing between Travis Scott and Killer Mike.
Sugar Honey Iced Tea arrived last Friday, packed with 17 tracks and a myriad of features from Megan Thee Stallion, Young Nudy, Mariah The Scientist and more. Billboard‘s deputy director, editorial Damien Scott believes this is the strongest album from a female rapper released in 2024, dethroning Megan Thee Stallion’s Megan project.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “Kyle [Denis] in a previous episode said that he thought when he went to go listen to it that it was the strongest female rap album of the year so far. After listening to it, I tend to agree. I think it’s strong. It’s so cohesive. Everything sounds like it all fits together.
“It’s amazing she was able to work with Grizz and land on this sound that sounds like Atlanta but also sounds very modern. These songs could ring off anywhere in the country.”
Being the resident OVO owl on set, deputy director R&B/hip-hop Carl Lamarre felt that Drake’s imprint could be heard throughout Sugar Honey Iced Tea.
“The reason I like it a lot it’s very Drake-coded,” he stated. “You listen to ‘Georgia Peach,’ it gave me ‘Laugh Now, Cry Later’ vibes. You listen to ‘Big Mama,’ there’s a beat switch in the middle and she does the singing first. A little Drake-esque. Then the outro, ‘S/O to Me’ where she threw some darts at Ice Spice, it gave me more the introspective lyrical Drake vibe that we’re used to getting like ‘Middle of the Ocean,’ ’30 for 30′ type vibes. She annihilated the intro and the outro tracks.”
There was no better hire for NBC than Snoop Dogg, who was completing side missions left and right as a correspondent at the 2024 Olympics. From swimming with Michael Phelps to watching equestrian events with his buddy Martha Stewart, Snoop did it all in Paris.
“We thought he was going to jail for murder and now he’s walking with the Olympic torch. [He’s] definitely the most beloved living rapper,” Scott declared.
Senior charts & data analyst Trevor Anderson mentioned LL Cool J as a possible pushback against Snoop as the most beloved rapper, but saluted the Doggfather for what he’s been able to accomplish in so many different industries.
“The thing about Snoop is I think they’re all genuine. None ever feel like this crazy play,” he added. “To think that Snoop Dogg goes from one of the quintessential faces of Death Row and labeled by mainstream media as the face of gangsta rap and everything you don’t want to be. And now your grandma would have him over for dinner. They would kick it and have a good time and she would teach him how to Crip walk.”
Killer Mike seemingly dissed Travis Scott on his Michael & the Midnight Revival album on the heels of winning the best rap album trophy at the Grammy Awards earlier this year. While Scott didn’t respond, there’s been a simmering feud and back-and-forth on social media from both the rappers’ managers.
“Travis Scott is a young popping rapper in the prime of his career,” Scott chimed in about the unlikely foes. “Killer Mike is like 50-plus and has been rapping since I was maybe in high school and made an album that very few people would do what it did. And this is a nice to have for him, so it’s weird that they’re comparing this with Travis’ big comeback album.”
Watch the full episode below.