The WORST Hot Takes in Music 

I once got this girls phone number by playing sax solo over a Cypress Hill joint. Saxophonist are like Jedi: they can bend any music to their will, but you can only hope that they use it for good, not evil.

The hot take about how disco killed funk and music was in a dark age for 50 years is the king of hot takes because the amount of ignorance you need to have to have that opinion is profound, considering how funk had one of its biggest decades in the 80s.

8:30 A funny thing about music now is that it is so much more accessible. It is so much easier to find different music today then literally ever. People definitely don’t take advantage of this

Though "purists" and instrumentalists of days past may look at sampling as a lack of creativity, there is actually a great deal of creativity that comes with sampling. Tracklib illustrates that masterfully with their Sample Breakdown videos.

I love getting a notification that a new Digging Th Greats video has dropped. The quality, information and entertainment are off the charts. Thanks for awesome content and keep it up.

I don't think Spotify not paying is solely a undercharge thing It's also a greed thing on top to bottom level, their CEO rakes in unbelievable amounts of money and so do the board of directors

There should be a better music IP system. IP protections should only exist to make sure that certain creators are compensated for their work. When it comes to music, everything should be a compulsory license. IP protections shouldn’t be a thing that makes monopolies. It should be a thing that gets people what they are owed.

The Isleys and EWF thumbnail had me worried 😂. I do understand why ppl like to compare but with every one of those you brought up I love those individual artists for separate reasons and don’t really compare them. Ppl just like to argue. Great video

Man I love sampling it's a shame using samples comes with so much legal trouble but at least us small musicians aren't getting sued any time soon

I appreciate that you see music as a record store and not a standings chart.

I’ve never understood why people love to compare artists whose styles and aesthetics aren’t comparable in any glaring, meaningful way (i.e. Sade vs Beyoncé, Luther vs MJ). Makes my eye twitch. Isleys vs EWF tho? *That’s* a debate I’d have my popcorn in hand for!

hopefully you do another hot takes like this but on the community tab, itd be awesome and more accessible to other fans! great video anyway, loved the section on sampling

Oof. This was... well, this was definitely some takes lol! I will say this: it made me realize i have my own takes, and made me establish my voice adout them. Also, love the 3d "over there, over there" view! Same here, and has been hard to explain til now. Thanks again, Prof!

This is one of your best yet, and that's sayin' something. I enjoyed this immensely. Thank you so much, man.

As a Sade stan, I was listening intently to that Sade > Beyonce take lmao. You were prolly wise to "no comment" that one 😂😂

My Green Day comment got mentioned. Lol. Shout out to Billie Joe and the rest of the 60 year old teenagers wearing eyeliner out there On a side note, the channel is awesome, my man. Keep up the amazing work.

The pacing of your videos is just incredibly tight!

Back in the early days of FaceBook, I posted "Faith Evans > Mary J Blige", and my circle of friends nearly self-immolated they were so mad

So here’s the thing about Hamilton… The fact that it exists and has been the phenomenon we’ve all witnessed is a major statement for hip hop. This artform went from being brushed off as an “urban thing” to being tried in Congress all the way to being celebrated at the White House. Hamilton is undeniable proof that hip hop is as nuanced and can have as much broad appeal as classical, jazz, rock or country, it’s not just some inner-city, cop-hating, misogynistic noise. As far it being a watered-down version of the genre, I don’t agree but also don’t feel like that would be the worst thing even if it were true - any artform that has legs gets watered down if it stays in the mainstream long enough.

Love your take on not ranking music. Whole-heartedly agree.

Your videos are always entertaining and informative and your stance on not ranking music made me stick my hand in my virtual pocket and say thank you!

I just learned so much. Great video

@5:16 section talking about artists comparison and finding the GOAT, this right here OMG... I'm glad you talked about it. I get so drained when people are talking about the GOAT and comparing artists when that's not how I think about artists. You couldn't of said it better yourself. And I'd say - preference is not a competition.

T-Pain is literally the reason of 808s and Heartbreak was made. One of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time.

Spinning Isley Brother and Issac Hayes LPs today. Thank you for great content. Amen, there is a deeper connection when you purchase and spin your own curated, selected records/CDs.

Love this video format!

Sampling and to a an extent Shocklees take on it was a huge portion of what drew me to hip hop and its related forms. There is something intrinsically beautiful about taking something familiar and creating a whole new thing out of it that is not only familiar but at the same time new and unique. I would point to the Pauls Boutique album which was the first to use only samples in its creation. I would point to Endtroducing which created an entire new genre of music. I would point to the hundreds if not thousands of trip hop artists that followed creating new and experimental sounds both of their own original as well as transformative works so deeply rich and layered that they are studied like college classes. Look at how it revived the careers of lost and forgotten artists like James Brown or Parliament just to name some obvious ones it revitalized their entire catalog and brought them back to relevance for a whole new audience. The IP system needs a lot of work, without it we will not just lose transformative works we will also lose or forget musical history. It is an art that needs to be preserved.

You gotta make this a series

Aw man, I missed the original hunt for hot takes on your socials. Here’s my late one: Steely Dan is yacht rock with extra steps

You could say that all music streaming plattforms kind of underpay their artists, because they are companies. And companies always keep the bigger part for themselves. The only solution to this would be laws, since they can't afford earning less then their competitors.

😻Much needed convo

Love your channel!! Amazing content as always. What are the names of the books behing you? Im curious to read them lol

I love when digging the greats uploads

This should be a series

I love collecting music. I just got a copy of Fantastic Vol. 2. Can't wait to hear it. But I respect that people like the easy access to spotify.

I have yet to join a streaming service. What I do have is an ever growing mp3 library which spans back to my college years when Napster came out. That mp3 library could double probably if I ever got around to ripping my 3 to 4 Caselogic CD binders stuffed full of CDs. I have classical music of varying types, rock of varying types, hip-hop of various types, jazz/R&B/funk, modern music (because most of it doesn't really have a genre - LIttle Dragon, Black Queen, Lorn, etc), and random stuff like Javanese Gamelan music. No country. I'm a musician so I respect anyone who can make music, but country makes me want to go Van Gogh on both my ears. I totally agree with your take on music being a 3d landscape. Take a stroll around to different parts, depending on how the mood strikes you.

The best hip hop channel on RU-vid. This man is a professor of hiphop love this content!

Ranking art gets on my nerve. Im in this mood for this song.

You had me really thinking on that michael jackson joke lmao. But I like what you did there🤣

Those sax sections are straight fuego!🎷🔥🎷🔥

thanks for breaking down my spotify take B !!!

i'd say an opinion of mine that could be considered a hot take is that i think Wu-tang forever is a fucking superb followup to Enter the wu-tang, and is probably the best hip hop double album ever.

Wow that spotify breakdown. Thank you for the edumakation 🙏

yo so real for that, as a sax player in not normal sax contexts- yea

Great video! thanks !

Bro I love love your videos!! Great content. Started listening to the podcasts too. So interesting & informative I feel like if we were around eachother we would be friends lol. I'm sure u won't see this cuz like u said in previous videos u stay away from the comments but I figured I respond anyways. I dig your channel & nas is 1 of my most favorite mc's ever. Krs1 black thought Yasin bey common hov royce crooked I Joel ortiz Kendrick cole wayne lupe deck meth redman ghost just to name a few lol I love guru gangstar is my stuff!! Peace & love

8:55.... I have the PERFECT solution for this one..!

Dude you set my echo speaker off twice with that Alexa take 😂

Actually that one about ppl only streaming what’s popular is nonsense Im a manager at a restaurant n we all take turns on aux n I can’t believe how much variety the gen z kids play. N if I put on something a bit older or left field from like Talib Kweli to Aphex Twin to George Micheal, they either know it already or ask me what it is n they have no context of what’s new or old. It’s turned into a huge part of our little work culture for everyone to try n introduce the rest to some banger we’ve never heard. I love it n I admire how open these kids of all kinds of backgrounds are to want to appreciate the stuff other ppl love. I learned how to dance to Bachata last week, the other day two girls played some like metal breakdown stuff n everyone even vibed to it. I think when you see other ppl really enjoying something u maybe didn’t get before, it makes u wanna join in n rock out together as human beings. The whole thing has been on like a 3 year run n it never gets old. At first u get a new person n u know when they aux cuz they have only the music they knew before…but after a few weeks they end up adding so much from other ppl, it’s like a crazy mix of u never know what to expect. U can’t force this kinda stuff tho. That’s how corporate places ruin shit. In fact I have no idea how we haven’t gotten told by our overlords to stop blasting wall shaking volume music from the back cuz ppl are eating n they have rod Stewart or whatever playing on corp radio and you’ll hear like DMX or whatever in unignorable clarity superimposed over it

Great video as always. Loved the Spotify take #Teamhorizontal

i too, think of Sade horizontally ...

Where sax is really missing is in metal, but it requires a totally different playing style than what we think of when we think of saxophone. Sax can be sinister, menacing, overpowering, it can blend exceptionally well with distorted guitar... Not everyone can be Colin Stetson, but listen to New History Warfare vol. 2 and tell me sax doesn't belong in darker, louder rock.

Comparing EWF vs Isley Brothers is sacrilegious! 😤

Aww. Pity I missed the community post. I got some spice to shake out of the jar.

Shout-out to all saxophonists and those working with them! Trust a hornsman: our favorite instrumentalists are obviously bassies ;) 🎷🎸💞

Paying ya grand pops to talk about his draws is hilarious.

Isley Brothers are the greatest American band in history. Longevity, innovation, musicianship (I mean Ernie Isley is one of the greats) and Ron Isley has one of the greatest voices ever in music. Don’t just judge him on that Mr. Big falsetto, he has some grit/growl and used to emote with the best lead singers ever. A reason they had hits in like 5 or 6 different decades

Wake up babe new Digging the Greats just dropped

House of Pain, and Everlast in particular, are a hell of a lot better than they get credit for. I think Whitey Ford just shot himself in the foot when he tried calling out Em.

5:20 That’s facts and I stand by it, I guarantee it

If I could only pick 4 RU-vid channels to watch for the rest of time, you would be one of them. Your content is superb

the lead singers name and face are so fitting for their band name and sound lol

I always say youtube is like the worlds histroical jukebox

That Musical Dark Ages take was certainly… hot. Yeah. Lets use that adjective. It is far nicer to the take than anything I can say about it in a RU-vid comment

4:22 KING KRULE

The first ever Sprite commercial he did is the best thing he’s ever done.

16:16 😂😂😂😂😂 You are a master at this yt creator s#!t.

We really need to establish a methodology for talking about Alexa that doesn't spark that crazy robot into action. I was watching this video - really not at a high volume - early this morning while the house was asleep and as soon as you said 'Alexa, play some music' she instructed my Sonos system to start pumping out some deep, deep beats at max volume. While I'm on, here's my hot take: The Walkman broke music. Before that, listening to music was an active choice: we put a record, or an 8-track cartridge - and and listened to the thing. With the Walkman, music suddenly became something that was happening while we were doing something else. From there, it's been a long slow slide to a point where 90% of listeners have no idea who is playing on the stuff they're listening to, who the engineers & producers are etc., and that blunts discovery, stifles curiosity, and imprisons listeners into lanes delineated by other peoples’ choices.

sade is a totally different artist where does that comparison comes from lmao

Saxxy Tank is a bop

Spotify still definitely underpays because they could take way less of the top. Their CEO is worth over 2 billion and is making all that money at the artists' and his workers expense

great video man

Saxophonist here, sax almost works on everything. The real issue is that the style is not understood rather than the sax doesn’t fit. Cant tell you how many jazz gigs I’ve played where the sax doesn’t “belong”. The real issue is that I wasn’t encapsulating the vibe of the song in my playing. No different than guitar in jazz vs rock.

What’s the song in the background 10:58 ?

"Out for 50 years?" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

On the Hamilton hot take... Jorge Rivera-Herran's "Epic"... that is a good example of where it is giong. Just putting this out there.

On the saxophone hot takes: Don't just add saxophone to everything, replace guitar in every song with saxophone a la "50:50" by Sad Lovers and Giants

I saw the thumbnail before the title and was ready to light you up in the comments 😅😅

Earth wind and fire and the isley brothers are my favourite two bands catelog impact longevity and debates are fun if its a legit battle. Matter of fact the verzuz held during the lockdown featured both acts steve harvey hosted

Loved that my hot takes made it 😂 (Isleys > EWF, Sade > Beyonce). I hoped he'd answer one of two ways (refuting or teaching) and he did the latter and I loved it. Wish he would have touched what I said about the Sylvers and the Jacksons. That's a discussion I'd love to hear.

This video set my Alexa off in my house.

I must agree with your explanation of sampling and the comparison to lyrical reference points. Simple but definitely the best rationalization IMO. BTW, the entire saxophone plugs were slap hilarious. Again, I thank you for another well thought out and entertaining video post. ✊🏿❤ And Sade is by far better than Beyonce although their music and audiences differ again IMO but the whole Isley Brothers vs. EW&F is obviously a personal preference... I'm done rambling and I'm out bruh✌🏿

As a Green Day fan since the age of 15, I found that comment hilarious! 😆

6:50 Is it 3D if it's on a horizontal plane?

I love this video already omg??

That Spotify payout math sounds like it leaves a lot of room for some people behind the scenes making a little leak here n there. I’m just sayin… N Return of the Mack is a national treasure.

3D horizontal plane? You mean a 2D space? 😂

Drake isn’t as good as everyone says

The best thing Hamilton did was open floodgates for different genres in Broadway there's Six w pop music, Here Lies Live w disco and I'm sure more will come

That sax made Thomas The Tank kinda Fonky!!🤣

That disco one is the most egregious take I’ve ever heard. I think you meant to say, the birth of American Pop Music was disco and it began to replace feeling, personally, heart and soul for money, popularity and widening the reach. We are now at the promise land with Hip-Hop or Rap entering the popular space (Mid to Late 90s) and dominating all music (late 2010s-Now). From the outside looking in, music is diluted, has darting similarities and over saturated. From the inside looking out, hundreds of thousands of man hours, not owning your masters, and not being able to feed your children. This is NOT a hot take, but more of an explanation. Music did NOT decline, it finally started making Cents!!

i feel like we're in a dark age of rap right now. the crossing between vapor, cloud, and hiphop is where my hope is.

Well said on how we don't have to rank everything. And also hate the fallacy that because you love 'A' you have to actively hate 'B'. I'm not a big fan of say metal or opera, but I don't hate them or the people that do. End of the day we all share a love of music in common. But Nickleback do objectively suck though.

They have a say on what product they want to put out. To them, apparently, that means , on using addictive substances on-stage.

My hot take is mariachi is just country ska

Disco is a vital part of funk and soul, and people that hate disco have dubious reactions to gay people dancing together. Also, there is a ton of really terrible disco, especially during the late 70s. The best era of disco was the early 80s, in between the “death” of disco and the rise of house.

Hold on a second....a 3D horizontal plane?! That's a pretty bad hot take 😬😬 Surely the jazz music would be on a certain floor and then in each corner (maybe on the same floor as French improvised piano music), whilst other music would be floors above/below in different corners? I had to think for a second if I was thinking in a 4D space for minute.

"How can it be bullshit to state a preference?" - Rob Gordon

Not a hot take, but you should do book reviews! I’d love to see how you interpret your books, as you do with Dilla Time throughout your videos.

If it's a ratio of 40/60 premium to free on Spotify, how many of those users are active? Does it count inactive free users?