Complex Greatest NYC Rappers Re-Rank, Dame Dash's Teeth Fly Out + The Cyrus Carmack-Belton Verdict | Essential ELR 6.4.26

Key Moments (02:03:55) Directing the Algorithm: Tracing the Complex All-Time New York Hip-Hop List (02:04:30) Re-Rank Breakdown: Nas, Biggie, Rakim, Jadakiss & The Jay-Z Brand Fatigue (02:06:50) Dame Dash Fires Back at the Roots Picnic: The Art of Dialogue Meltdown (02:08:00) The Unfortunate Clip: Dame's Teeth Fly Out of His Mouth Mid-Sentence (02:09:35) Financial Realities: public Record Debts & Getting Paid for Semantics Interviews (02:14:40) Evolutionary Growth: Tracing Jay-Z's Material Shift vs. Drake's Current Bag (02:18:20) The Rundown: Michael Jackson's Michael Biopic Hits Global Streaming Formats (02:19:00) Ellie the Elephant Moonwalks at the New York Liberty Barclays Game (02:20:45) Donald Trump's $1.8B IRS Lawsuit Settlement & Megyn Kelly's Fox News Call-Out (02:26:55) Legal Tragedy: The Rick Chow / Cyrus Carmack-Belton South Carolina Verdict   Detailed Breakdown Thursday's show starts with a hard look at the current state of hip-hop legacy charting. Complex Media recently released their official staff list of the greatest New York City rappers of all time, allowing fans to dynamically vote and re-rank the slots. Ebro and Laura explore the fascinating results, which placed Nas firmly at number one followed by Notorious B.I.G., Rakim, and Jadakiss. Ebro provides exceptional context on the list, noting that Jay-Z's slide to the number five spot doesn't reflect a lack of skill, but rather a severe case of audience "brand fatigue" stemming from his decades of complete cultural and algorithmic saturation. The tone shifts completely from musical analysis into pure comedy as the crew pulls up Dame Dash's explosive video response on The Art of Dialogue. Dame attempted to take the high road by expressing "embarrassment" for Jay-Z's current aging rockstar persona and wild Roots Picnic hairstyle, but his critique is instantly undermined when his prosthetic front teeth literally fly out of his mouth live on camera. Laura and Ebro completely lose it, breaking down the tragic delusion of an old business partner stuck in the past, while evaluating public record documents that prove Dame is only running to these platforms to secure fast interview appearance fees to patch his well-documented tax debts. In The Rundown, Laura introduces a lighter entertainment block, highlighting the historic $850 million theatrical box office run of the Michael Jackson Michael biopic ahead of its digital home streaming launch, alongside a viral video of the WNBA New York Liberty mascot, Ellie the Elephant, performing a perfect moonwalk. Ebro then steers the conversation toward politics, reacting to a fiery leaked clip of conservative host Megyn Kelly screaming about the blatant corruption of Donald Trump's $1.8 billion IRS lawsuit exemption. The show finishes on an emotional note as Ebro condemns a South Carolina jury's "not guilty" verdict for store owner Rick Chow, who chased down and shot 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back over a false shoplifting accusation involving bottles of water.  -----------------------------Experience the Culture: Catch Ebro, Laura, Rosenberg, and the rest of the network 24/7 on the Amplified Voices TV app: amplifiedvoices.com/download Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.