New Rory & Mal – Episode 418 | "Class Act"

Release Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: Mal & Baby D
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume

Episode Overview

In this lively and nostalgia-filled episode, Mal and Baby D hold it down without Rory (who’s away on a cruise), diving into stories from the Atlanta One Music Fest, the Cash Money vs. No Limit "versus", Megan Thee Stallion’s latest video, the state of hip hop, Keke Palmer’s new series, and even some talk about the NBA season. The vibes are as irreverent and unfiltered as ever, with the duo riffing on music history, rap’s "pussy rap" era, pop culture controversies, and the evolution of sex and artistic expression in hip hop.

Major Discussion Topics & Insights

1. Recap: Atlanta, One Music Fest & Party Misadventures

• Baby D shares her Atlanta trip to the One Music Fest:
  • "I overdid it bro... I blacked out, I do not remember how I got home… I just remember Kehlani and then waking up in the bed at five o’clock in the morning." (05:32)
  • Hennessy activations, VIP, Cutwater cocktails, and missing parts of the festival.
• Reflects on hip hop and R&B icons seen/ missed:
  • "Apparently Ray J, Pleasure P, Bo Bobby Valentino, and Sammy have a group called RSVP…they did a good job. No, Ray J mic wasn’t on—but that’s whatever, right?" (06:20)
  • Conversation on R&B guys all being "short and stocky" (Baby D jokes about their height, (06:50)).
• Post-fest shenanigans: Vlogging while blackout drunk; creates unintentional snippets of “the sky.” (06:01)

2. Cultural Nostalgia: Baby Showers & Security

• Mal recounts going to a baby shower, surprised to see security outside:
  • "Usually it’s your cousin’s there, somebody got it on him just in case… But security at a baby shower? Now I understood. This is the era of social media; exes pull up… now the ex pull up mad..." (11:10)
  • Both hosts poke fun at the changing social climate and heightened tensions at even wholesome events.

3. Hip Hop Nostalgia: Cash Money vs. No Limit at ComplexCon

• The Venue Disappointment:
  • "Why was this in Las Vegas ComplexCon? ...This had to be in New Orleans. We were supposed to do this at the Superdome." (13:28)
• Missing Legends:
  • “No Lil Wayne, no Turk... How invested am I at that point?" (15:10)
  • Played Wayne’s verses but not the same as a live appearance.
• Who won?
  • "I felt like No Limit won… the records just hit a little different." (15:30)
• On Master P:
  • "We didn’t pause long enough to salute Master P. Master P played in the NBA – he was out there, he looked good, he can play basketball." (17:00)
  • Playful comparison: “Was he better than Bronny?” "Nah, Bronny would destroy Master P." (19:36)
• Feelings on JD vs. Puff battle never happening:
  • "JD would be the underdog, but…we gotta go Brat, Kris Kross, Bow Wow—he got real songs with Biggie, Lil Kim…" (22:17)

4. "Pussy Rap", Megan Thee Stallion, & Sexuality in Hip Hop

• New Megan Thee Stallion Video – “Lover Girl”:
  • "She’s a pussy rapper and she loves the pussy aesthetic… the opening shot is alluding to vaginal aesthetics, right?" (27:35 / 28:15)
  • “Kissing You is a double entendre. Now you talking my language.” (28:31)
  • Hosts reflect on the push-pull of explicit content versus metaphorical sexual expression.
• Sexual Expression in Rap: Then vs. Now:
  • Baby D: "Don’t make me feel bad about WAP when there were credit cards getting slid in between people’s ass cracks…" (61:33)
  • Mal: "Lil’ Kim’s ‘Hardcore’ poster shook up the culture like crack rock..." (56:58)
  • Differences from the 90s/00s icons (Lil’ Kim, Trina), to current explicitness.
  • Respect for cleverness and metaphor: "We just need to kinda dress it up a little more as hip hop, as rap. Put a little more skill…" (64:14)

5. The Decline or Evolution of Hip Hop?

• Fewer hip hop tracks on global charts:
  • "In September only four hip hop songs were on a global chart... Five years ago, there were fifty-six." (39:55)
• Baby D disagrees that women are “dominating” rap:
  • "Women are not dominating rap. There are more women hip hop stars than ever before, but that doesn’t mean they’re dominating, because there’s still way more men." (40:17)
• Taking soul out of hip hop:
  • "We took the R&B out of hip hop, the soulfulness…that’s what made it more palatable to other genres." (41:30)
• On streaming & social media changing music consumption:
  • "The phone is killing music... The phone takes away from the music experience as much as I love it… but it definitely has taken us away from experiencing music the way we used to." (45:28)
  • "Songs live longer on social media than they do in your home or car." (47:34)
• Music industry now rewards attention over talent:
  • "No one's looking for the quality... there’s no quality control. What they're looking for is who has the attention." (49:35)

6. Pop Culture: Keke Palmer & Representation

• Keke Palmer’s show 'Southern Fried Rice' backlash:
  • Baby D: "Out of all the perspectives that you can write from, you’re black and you have the opportunity to tell stories, instead of telling our story, you tell the story of an Asian American in a black person’s space… People are saying that it’s tone deaf." (71:52)
  • Mal: “Keke’s done stories for us... Here comes Keke Palmer giving us something different, it’s still HBCU, our culture is the focus, just from a different lens... I don’t have a victim mentality. Let me see what this is before I go online and start stomping Keke out…” (73:38 – 78:03)

7. NBA Season & Victor Wembanyama

• "Wemby is an Alien:"
  • "One of them now playing in San Antonio. He's 7 foot 6, speaks French, can do everything… his balance, his feel for the game—he's just fun to watch because we've never seen anything like this." (83:39 – 85:03)
  • High praise, predicted as a future all-time great if his body holds up.
• Knicks and general NBA banter: Injury updates, playful sports ignorance from Baby D.

8. Listener Voicemails & Relationship Advice

• Advice for a Syracuse transplant looking to meet women:
  • Baby D offers to play matchmaker: "Light skin cute, big titties… in school to be a nurse… DM me." (92:13)
  • Mal: "R&B night is a good night to find women. If she’s singing a little too hard when that Mary comes on, she overly going, I can fix her." (92:55)
• Second voicemail: Unrequited love with best friend long-distance story; both hosts suggest respect, caution, and listening for genuine signals. (98:34 – 102:03)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:44 | Baby D recaps Atlanta/One Music Fest adventure | | 06:50 | R&B male height “short and stocky” funny riff | | 11:10 | Baby shower with security; social media impacts on events | | 13:28 | Cash Money vs. No Limit “versus” discussion | | 15:30 | No Limit judged the winner, weighing in on missing Wayne/Turk | | 17:00 | Appreciating Master P’s NBA moment | | 22:17 | On JD’s catalog; why JD vs. Puff didn’t happen | | 27:35-28:15 | Megan Thee Stallion’s new video: explicit visual analysis | | 39:55 | Only four hip hop tracks on global charts, industry shift | | 41:30 | Baby D: R&B hooks once made hip hop more global | | 45:28-47:34 | How streaming/social media shortened music lifespans | | 56:58 | Lil Kim’s “Hardcore” poster & 90s sexuality compared to today | | 61:33 | Fire back at WAP critics: 90s were also explicit | | 64:14 | Call for artistry: “Dress it up a little more as hip hop, as rap”| | 71:52 | Keke Palmer ‘Southern Fried Rice’ controversy | | 83:39-85:03 | Victor Wembanyama: Next NBA megastar? | | 92:13 | Listener advice: dating life in Syracuse | | 98:34 | Love advice: visiting best friend, reading the signals |

Notable Quotes

• "I blacked out… I do not remember how I got home." – Baby D, on festival overindulgence (05:32)
• "No Lil Wayne, no Turk… How invested am I at that point?" – Mal, on Cash Money versus (15:10)
• "We didn’t pause long enough to salute Master P." – Mal (17:00)
• "She’s a pussy rapper and she loves the pussy aesthetic." – Mal, on Megan Thee Stallion (28:40)
• "We took the R&B out of hip hop… that’s what made it more palatable." – Baby D (41:30)
• "The phone is killing music… It takes away from the music experience." – Mal (45:28)
• "Out of all the perspectives… you tell the story of an Asian American in a black person’s space?" – Baby D on Keke Palmer’s show (71:52)
• "One of them now playing San Antonio. He’s seven foot six, speaks French, can do everything…" – Mal on Victor Wembanyama (83:39)

Tone & Style

• Relatable, lively, and very conversational.
• Plenty of humorous banter and cultural references.
• Candid on music’s explicit evolution, the importance of cleverness, and generational differences in pop culture.
• Strong undercurrent of nostalgia mixed with critical takes on modern hip hop, music industry shifts, and societal changes.

Ideal For:

• Listeners interested in hip hop nostalgia, pop culture commentary, candid relationship talk, and unfiltered music industry insights.
• Fans of Megan Thee Stallion, vintage R&B/hip hop, and those following the evolving conversation about authenticity and representation in entertainment.

Next Episode Tease:
Mal and Baby D preview more Patreon shenanigans, a movie date, and continued answers to listener voicemails. Expect more laughs and insight as the series continues.