Khalid Williams
Million Dollar Wavy
Updated: Feb 3
GILLIE AND WALLO STARTED THE YEAR WITH A "BEST OF 2022" SHOW...AND THE SOUNDTRACK WAS BEAUTIFULLY DANGEROUS
The song choice at the beginning of MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME podcast captures something particularly soulful.
Spitting rhymes in unison with a song is a sign of fandom.
Spitting rhymes in unison with fans who don’t know each other is a moment of exhilaration that’s beyond the tangible-if I know the song and you know the song, that means we know each other on a spiritual level. It means we both are connected in the sonic realm.
….I have no idea what a friggin sonic realm is but that sh*t sounds great.
Or it sounds like a Sega Genesis game.
When a podcast plays music for the bag(a record label silently funnels money to the platform for spins) it’s obviously forced. This ain’t that.The MDWOG opening music just hits to the soul and really sets a dope framework for who these men are and what they endeavor to accomplish.
Normalize Aggresive Hip Hop Lyrics
Also, real talk: young black men talking about crimes in songs should be defended and normalized. Period.
Young white men blowing up buildings is normalized in Hollywood. If you need more of an explanation, you don’t get hip hop.
If Keanu ain't a Killer, Pusha T ain't a Pusher.
Maybe that was too abrupt a judgement on my part. Here’s the deal:
John Wick is a character. Nobody equates the wanton violence in the movie with Keanu Reeves and his demeanor as a person. Hip hop deserves the same right of distinction.
If a rapper raps about shooting people and it’s then discovered that he shot people, I assert that the music is still NOT the problem.
If a rapper raps about shooting people and a teenager listens to it and then goes out and starts shooting people, the music is STILL isn’t the problem. The problem is the other areas of stability (or lack thereof) in that child’s life.
Scores of children in the suburbs listen to this same music and their trajectroy.
Beating the Odds and
Wallo did 20 years in prison. Gillie survived 30 years in hip hop. I’m not sure which is more dangerous. The point is, they are former survivors that are now thriving. They’ve signed a potential 9 figure deal with Barstool Sports and the integrity of their podcast is the same as it ever was. That's monumental.
I feel better about listening to explicit music when gillie and wallow play it because their character and how they show up in the world acts as a filter for the music and causes the wise listener to pull out the one thing that’s always present in every young stepper, shooter, slider and rider’s song:
Motivation.
Playlist
Bobby Shmurda-Smoney
Desi Banks-Pullin up
Pusha T-Diet Coke
Back Again-King Von/Prince Dre
Twin-Roddy Rich/Lil Durk
Tomorrow -GloRilla/CMG the Label
Candy Rain”-Soul for Real
Chop Suey! System of a Down