Brooklyn Nets small/power forward Kevin Durant stopped by Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning(with hosts Ebro Darden, Peter Rosenberg and Laura Stylez) on Tuesday (October 8).
When KD brought up Freddie Gibbs as an artist he’s currently listening to — after Darden said it was time to get to some tunes — he was quickly given a brief lesson in how mainstream radio operated.
“What are you playing right now,” Ebro asked Durant, who looked at his phone quickly before name dropping Freddie Gibbs — much to Rosenberg’s delight.
Ebro then asked whether they should play “Palmolive” featuring Pusha T and Killer Mike. Rosenberg jokingly noted, “If I played it, it would be a problem.”
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Darden replied, “Absolutely. But you’re not Kevin Durant.”
Durant seemed confused by the exchange, asking Darden, “You don’t like playing underground music on the radio?”
“Not at prime time,” Darden stated. “Because it’s mainstream and prime time … that would defeat the purpose of underground.
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“What is mainstream?” Durant asked.
When Laura Stylez attempted to clarify that there were politics at play, Darden shot down the notion, citing his audience (commuters and possibly families) more or less wouldn’t be as into it.
“It’s most of the people in their car right now … when we played this Freddie Gibbs and Madlib song they’re gonna hear some great raps,” he stated. “[But], they like to sing along with songs with melody. It’s because of how people listen during commute times. It’s not really political.”
When Durant questioned whether he would consider potentially catering to fans of artists like Gibbs and making it about the art, Darden laughingly said he caters to people who “give ratings.”
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Rosenberg took the opportunity to plug his show Real Late With Rosenberg, which airs Sunday nights on Hot 97 — where he frequently plays underground Hip Hop. “That’s how you balance it out. I’m supposed to be here to fight for the art against big corporate,” he said, pointing at Darden.
Following its release on June 25, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s Bandana peaked at #3 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Album Sales and received rave reviews from critics — including a perfect score here at HipHopDX.
Check out the video below.
