Unsurprisingly, my girlfriend, parents, and closest friends provide the most feedback and support for my writing. Thankfully, pivoting away from politics has exposed me to a number of talented artists, producers, writers, and creators who share a similar love of music. That includes Imani Prince.
Though Imani graduated from Howard University a year after me, we first connected during the pandemic. Imani’s passion for music is displayed through her blog, Imani Versus, which reviews albums and artists with a care/consideration often absent from popular music criticism.
Her videos have a way of blending thoroughness with sarcasm, ensuring viewers leave with a laugh and substance. Last week, Imani and I chatted over Zoom, asking each other unshared questions on a wide range of music topics
Note: This article features the best moments from our conversation — which will be released in full on July 31st on the What’s Really Going On Podcast.
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Noah Lyons: Since you’re the guest, I’ll let you ask the first question!
Imani Versus: I’ve been pondering this for a while and thinking about this for my YouTube page. Who would you choose, Summer Walker or SZA?
NL: I’d go with Summer Walker. I feel like her level of musicality is underrated. SZA is talented from a songwriting perspective, but I don’t think she can make a song like “Unloyal.” That is actually a good transition to my first question. Outside Beyonce, Summer Walker, and SZA is R&B as popular as we think it is?
IV: Yes!
NL: Really? I would say no.
IV: Let me think…I’m trying to get out of my own world. All I listen to is R&B.
NL: I ask because I wonder if we want to like R&B more than we actually listen to it.
IV: Then I’d say no. Hip-hop will always dominate the charts. For a while, I’ve thought about what we have been missing, and one thing is the rapper-R&B collaborations. I feel like those really helped R&B artists back in the day.
NL: I do miss that. I’ve struggled with mainstream R&B for a while. What was the last great R&B album?
IV: For me, Ari Lennox album (age/sex/location).
NL: A lot of people didn’t like it.
IV: That’s another conversation I want to have. A lot of people don’t like neo-soul. People don’t want to hear the soul or pain that neo-soul brings. People only want melodies and airy stuff. Only to package that up with some girl in a garden.
NL: I’ll ask another question. Is the growing influence of social media on music bad?
IV: Yes!
NL: Ha, I knew you were going to say that. Say why.
IV: It’s good for artists and producers trying to get their stuff out there. It’s bad because everyone thinks they’re music bloggers and critics. People are so quick to say, “That sucks” or “This is bad,” without taking anything into consideration, especially after listening to just one clip. Now we throw the whole album away? I see so many bad takes online from people who have no idea what they’re talking about.
NL: I wish we had something like Rap City or some music tv show. The only music conversations we really have are online. Not a lot of places do music reviews or have writers. It’s harder to understand why something is good or bad. Social media only fuels our worst instincts. “Oh, this is shit.” Well, it might be, but why?
IV: Yeah, there is no why to it anymore.
NL: I think it is your turn.
IV: Yes, it is! I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Do you believe mainstream men in hip-hop are boring? I’ve been saying since 2019 that they are boring!
NL: I think we’ve changed. Music hits differently now that I’m a little older. We know more people who are engaged or have kids. Life’s slowed down a bit. I have fewer of the moments Drake built his career on. Rap is catering to a young demographic or talking about the same things that no longer reflect my life.
IV: I think the men are boring right now. How could you relate to someone like Lil Durk? They felt more playful and creative a couple of years ago.
NL: Do you feel like women are pivoting to the same thing? A few years ago, a diverse group of women rappers were finding success doing different things. Feels like something has shifted within the last year.
IV: Yeah, we are slowly getting there. I was happy to see women doing different things. Meg, Cardi, Flo Milli, Rico, and all these other women made things fun. Now, everyone has to be light skin and talk about who got the wettest this or the biggest that. It’s just not fun anymore.
NL: There is only so much connectivity to content you don’t relate to, especially if it feels like copy and paste.
IV: I’ve always been a hip-hop head. The last couple of years haven’t been fun, so I’ve been dabbling in other genres more.
NL: This has been great! Where can people connect with you?
IV: Instagram and Twitter @ImaniVersus. My Spotify (also Imani Versus) has a lot of playlists from artists people probably don’t know. Of course, YouTube is the main thing. Eventually, I’ll add some video game content to go with the music videos. I have been posting a lot recently on trending topics. I am trying to balance the gossip with actual music reviews.
