ANTHONY FANTANO | Radiohead, Abbey Road, Drake vs. Kendrick

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Adam Friedland Show — Interview with Anthony Fantano

Episode: ANTHONY FANTANO | Radiohead, Abbey Road, Drake vs. Kendrick
Date: June 19, 2025
Host: Adam Friedland
Guest: Anthony Fantano ("The Needle Drop", music critic)

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Episode Overview

This energetic, irreverent episode of The Adam Friedland Show features YouTuber and acclaimed music critic Anthony Fantano. Together, Adam and Anthony deep-dive into musical tastes, the art of criticism, classic albums (with contentious opinions, especially on The Beatles and Radiohead), and the dynamics of being a prominent online persona in both music and internet culture. The conversation is both comically antagonistic and surprisingly reflective, showing how cherished—and fraught—music can be in people’s lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Abbey Road Review & Criticism

• [00:04–00:32, 26:06–35:37]
  • Adam confronts Anthony over his Abbey Road review, expressing real frustration and nitpicking Anthony’s descriptions (especially calling the "Golden Slumbers" medley "art pop").
  • Fantano clarifies he actually loves Abbey Road, naming it his favorite Beatles album, but Adam is hung up on the language used in the review.
  • The two debate the application of modern genres to classic works, and whether such classification is helpful or disrespectful.
  • Quote:
    • Adam (sarcastic): “You’re a psycho. I think you’re a sicko. You—you’re going 2x on this crap.” [04:32]
    • Anthony: “Classic Abbey Road review that is very positive and very glowing because I do think it is my favorite Beatles album...so I'm perplexed as to what you hate about it.” [26:56]
  • Fantano stands by his use of the term "art pop," explaining its historical context and why The Beatles were at the forefront of progressivism in pop.

2. Role and Purpose of Criticism

• [15:05–23:14]
  • Adam challenges the need to rank or compare classic albums, suggesting it doesn’t matter if “they’re all good”—a sentiment Fantano deftly pushes back on by outlining why criticism must go beyond blanket praise.
  • Quote:
    • Fantano: “Wouldn't there be even less of a point to a critic that just says everything is good?” [22:31]
    • Fantano: “If you just said everything was good all the time, why would anybody watch?” [22:43]
  • They mutually acknowledge that the fun of such rankings is the argument it sparks—it's as much game or content as analysis.

3. Personal Musical Roots & Early Experiences

• [06:34–13:12]
  • Both recount musical influences from childhood, with Adam’s parents playing Paul Simon and a humorous story about Matisyahu ("the reggae rabbi"), and Fantano discovering music through pop osmosis (Green Day, Nirvana, TLC, Coolio, Biggie).
  • Fantano shares that while his dad was a powerlifting coach, music was something he came to on his own rather than through his family.
  • Fantano highlights generational shifts in parents’ music tastes ("Sonic Youth is oldies now").
  • Quote:
    • Fantano: “I think like getting into really sort of like aggressive heavy metal music when I was a teenager was probably like a moment like that.” [12:29]
    • Adam: “My mom... walked in my room. She said, hey, you like reggae, right?...there’s a rabbi who does reggae.” [10:51]

4. Radiohead, Ranking, and Generational Impact

• [15:05–23:14, 21:22–23:09]
  • Big debates: Is Kid A overrated? What’s the present-day equivalent? (Fantano suggests Playboi Carti is this generation’s ‘mind-blowing artist’ to young listeners, to Adam’s incredulity.)
  • Fantano notes how the impact of an album like Kid A depends on what someone has already been exposed to.
  • Quote:
    • Fantano: “If you’ve heard Aphex Twin before you heard Kid A, that album’s not blowing your mind the same way.” [15:48]

5. Kanye West, Artistic Influence, and Controversies

• [17:18–19:24]
  • Fantano describes how his review of Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy brought massive hate early in his career, but stands by his takes.
  • Discusses how Kanye, especially on Yeezus, was influenced by experimental acts like Death Grips and Travis Scott.
  • Quote:
    • Fantano: “I think Travis Scott had more of an impact on the sound of that record than Death Grips did.” [19:09]

6. Dealing with Hate and Internet Culture

• [42:58–46:52]
  • Fantano reflects on dealing with vitriolic criticism from both artists’ fans and random internet users, noting it becomes "background noise" after years.
  • Both joke about misogyny, homophobia, and the general toxicity of platform like Twitter and 4chan—Fantano describes the shift in online discourse and how it “just becomes the same three-to-five hate comments” over the years.
  • Quote:
    • Fantano: “I feel like I've just been reading the same three to five hate comments, like over and over and over for the past 12 years, you know?” [44:00]
    • Fantano: “Elon [Musk’s Twitter] is... just a freedom to be a fourth grader on the Internet.” [45:33]
  • Fantano shares that Drake once DM'd him to call him "a zero or like a light one," cementing Fantano's rent-free status in Drake's head.

7. Race, Criticism, and Hip-Hop

• [37:33–42:21]
  • Adam brings up Fantano’s role as a white critic in a genre rooted in Black culture. Fantano candidly discusses being careful with context and not treating hip hop as a "special case", but taking the subject matter seriously.
  • Adam notes a parallel with NBA punditry’s reliance on stats.
  • In dissecting the Kendrick vs. Drake beef, Fantano explains Kendrick's attempt to frame Drake as “culturally outside of the black experience," and the fallout this had online.
  • Quote:
    • Fantano: “You don’t want to treat rap music like it’s a special case, because I feel like that’s kind of patronizing.” [38:22]
    • Fantano: “I think he's sort of displaying that as more of a cultural blackness.” [42:21]

8. Making Music & Putting Himself on the Line

• [49:12–55:06]
  • Adam challenges Fantano to share his own music, teasing him relentlessly. Fantano shares a tongue-in-cheek, self-recorded “diss track” about Donald Trump, which Adam critiques in return.
  • The pair bond over the anxiety and vulnerability of creating and sharing original music.
  • Quote:
    • Fantano (self-deprecatingly): “I don’t want to release it. It’s crap.” [53:30]
    • Adam: “I think kids find out about a lot of cool stuff because of you.” [55:06]

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Adam Friedland:
  • “You’re a psycho. I think you’re a sicko. You—you’re going 2x on this crap.” [04:32]
  • “It's just music means so much to people...and that’s why they respond so much that you make up stuff to be mad about.” [35:28]
• Anthony Fantano:
  • “Classic Abbey Road review that is very positive and very glowing because I do think it is my favorite Beatles album...so I'm perplexed as to what you hate about it.” [26:56]
  • “Wouldn't there be even less of a point to a critic that just says everything is good?” [22:31]
  • “You don’t want to treat rap music like it’s a special case, because I feel like that’s kind of patronizing.” [38:22]
  • “I feel like I've just been reading the same three to five hate comments, like over and over and over for the past 12 years, you know?” [44:00]
  • “Elon [Musk’s Twitter] is... just a freedom to be a fourth grader on the Internet.” [45:33]
• On Drake’s feud:
  • Adam: “Drake is the most famous male pop star and you, you were—you got rent free in there and you’re just some...You’re from a guy from Connecticut.” [43:34]
  • Fantano (deadpan): “Yeah, I’M still, still rent free in there.” [43:36]

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• 00:04 – 04:32: Opening banter on Abbey Road, YouTuber life meta-jokes
• 06:34 – 13:12: Musical childhood memories, discovering music
• 15:05 – 23:14: Radiohead, the art and point of criticism, generational 'mind-blowing' albums
• 17:18 – 19:24: Kanye’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, influences, and fan backlash
• 26:06 – 35:37: The Abbey Road debate in depth (Golden Slumbers, “art pop”, McCartney’s vocals)
• 37:33 – 42:21: Hip hop, race, and criticism, the Drake vs Kendrick beef
• 42:58 – 46:52: Internet toxicity, dealing with hate, Fantano’s online experience
• 49:12 – 55:06: Sharing original music, mutual critiques, and vulnerability

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Memorable & Humorous Moments

• Adam teasing Fantano for using the phrase “art pop” to describe The Beatles and pretending to be physically upset by Anthony’s reviews.
• The two agreeing: “It’s a game kind of more...It’s supposed to be fun on some level.” [23:14]
• Fantano (on hate): “My audience is, like, 80% men.” Adam: “No, you want a 50–50.” Fantano: “Why?” [19:55–20:15]
• The meta segment where Adam tries to corner Fantano into exposing his own music, leading to the comic “diss track” for Trump.
• Fantano explaining that being critical is his job, and it’s what keeps people watching.

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Episode Tone

• Playfully combative: Adam intentionally goads Fantano, exaggerating gripes with his reviews but clearly respects his guest’s expertise.
• Self-aware and ironic: Both joke about internet culture, the agony of being online, and the artificiality of influencer/critic “communities.”
• Passionate and nerdy: When discussing Radiohead, The Beatles, and Kanye, both demonstrate clear love for music and the intense subjectivity of taste.

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Summary for First-Time Listeners

This episode gives a vivid peek into the messy, passionate world of online music criticism—warts, internet haters, and all. Adam and Anthony face off on the merits of reviews, the emotional importance of music, and the endless cultural arguments music fans love to have. The show is informative, hilarious, and sometimes a little unhinged, but always rooted in a deep appreciation of how—and why—music shapes identities, friendships, and internet fights.

A must-listen for music nerds, Radiohead defenders, Beatles obsessives, and anyone who’s ever fought over who’s really the G.O.A.T.

Transcript

[Adam Friedland]

Should we do the Abbey Road thing or not?

[Anthony Fantano]

If you want.

[Adam Friedland]

There are like, I don't even know.

[Anthony Fantano]

What thing is to.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay, look at how schizophrenic these notes were. This is how angry you were making me.

[Anthony Fantano]

Are you talking about a ranking that I did or just the Abbey Road review?

[Adam Friedland]

What do you mean? You ranked the songs in Abbey Road.

[Anthony Fantano]

Never mind. You're just talking about my straight up Abbey Road review. You had an issue with it.

[Adam Friedland]

You ranked the Beatles.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, stop talking.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you ranked the Beatles?

[Anthony Fantano]

Listen.

[Adam Friedland]

What? Good evening and welcome back to the Adam Friedland Show. I'm Adam Friedland. If you've been enjoying this new season of the show so far, I'd like to remind you to consider supporting the Adam Friedland Family foundation right here on YouTube.com click join right at the top of the YouTube page. You get episodes early. Starting this week, you'll get them two days early. For members, you'll get the episode on Wednesday. For the rest of the public, you get it on Friday. My guest this week is none other than YouTuber and music critic Anthony Fantano, who has an audience of over 3 million people here on YouTube.com and millions more across other platforms. It would be safe to say that Fantano is perhaps the world's biggest music critic. Currently, he's also known as the Internet's busiest music nerd, a nickname he gave himself as the host of a talk show. I'll admit it, I have no idea what it's like to be a YouTuber. So in an effort to relate, I started my own YouTube project. A social experiment, if you will. I present to you my personal YouTube channel where I've been sharing some of my music. Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortune together. I've never admitted this publicly, but I am a practicing acoustic guitar player. After starting this channel only a week ago, I've already seen my audience balloon over four subscribers worldwide. I've amassed this audience with zero promotion or media attention. I could have easily used my massive platform to promote this project, but I didn't because that would have been a corruption of the mission of this project. To peek inside the YouTuber's world. The feedback has been positive, with the exception of only six hateful comments. It was extremely hard work being a YouTuber and it granted me a new appreciation for the work of men like Fantano. Beast Pie. Sticking to a content production schedule like this has been, frankly, grueling. Refreshing my page to check for new subscribers, it affected my personal and professional relationships I even considered turning to drugs. So before you comment on an asmongold video, take a moment and think it may look easy, but these people work extremely hard to bring you some of the best content in the world, including today's guest. Please enjoy my interview with Anthony Fantano. Our guest today has amassed over a billion views cross platform. He is perhaps the biggest music critic in the world. I think that's actually. You could argue that. Everyone please welcome Anthony Fantano. Bigger. More. More, more.

[Anthony Fantano]

How's it going?

[Adam Friedland]

Good. How you doing? Okay. Yeah. I watched your Abbey Road review last night, and it literally infuriated me into not being able to sleep for two hours. Why? We're gonna get to that later.

[Anthony Fantano]

You just brought it up now.

[Adam Friedland]

It really does elicit such an ins. Such a What?

[Anthony Fantano]

What's wrong with my Abbey Road?

[Adam Friedland]

No, we're gonna get to that later.

[Anthony Fantano]

Tell me.

[Adam Friedland]

We're gonna do a whole segment where we go through the. You're gonna have to defend whatever this insanity is. Who do you think? You. You're. You're. I think you're a psycho. I think you're a sicko. You. You're going 2x on this crap.

[Anthony Fantano]

I'm not listening to all the music that I review casually. I mean, there are a lot of records that I review, and I just don't listen again either because I don't like it, or maybe it's like, you know, not calling back to me in the way that some other albums are, but, like, those albums that do, like, stick with me and I am, like, listening to in a casual way and showing my friends, like, seeing a show, like, you know, I mean, for example, like, you know, in my downtime last year, I was listening to Brad a lot, you know, and there was, like, a lot of Brad Pitt, Charlie xcx.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, that. Yeah. But that. That's kind of a. That I.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, because of how much I was listening to that. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff that was happening in my life last year that I associate with that album.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, that was. That was the biggest album of last year.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, for me, for a lot.

[Adam Friedland]

Of people, I guess it's. Does it get exhausting needing to think something about something?

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Adam Friedland]

Because for me, I listened to it. I was like, gay guys are probably having the best time to this. But, like, I don't know. It's just. And it's fine. Yeah, I. I'm glad that they're having a great time.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's just, like, not everything.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't need to have an opinion about it.

[Anthony Fantano]

Not everything is gonna appeal to everyone. And, I mean, as opinionated as I am about a lot of things, like, I'm not gay.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm definitely.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, we know you don't like that.

[Adam Friedland]

I just want to say. Yeah, the apple tree. Yeah. Yeah, I've heard. I mean, it's every. It's an Uber. Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Not. Not liking Brad is, like, probably, like, the straightest thing that you can do.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't not like it. I just didn't respond well.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, it doesn't resonate with you.

[Adam Friedland]

It. Yeah, it was just like. I could tell. It's like, people. There are people that are like, this is amazing. And I feel I'm gonna live forever. And for me, it was just like. I don't know. There's one song that. The short one that sounds like Radiohead. I like that one.

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, the. With, like, the sad synths in the background. Yeah, no, that's a great one.

[Adam Friedland]

It's. She's called Charlie. Idf, though, right? What are your, like. What are your early, earliest music memories? Like, how did you get into music where you're from? Connecticut.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And your dad's got big muscles and stuff. Yeah, He's a bodybuilder.

[Anthony Fantano]

He was a powerlifting coach.

[Adam Friedland]

And you're a bodybuilder as well.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, I know how to lift because he taught me.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, it's a family institute, like, thing.

[Anthony Fantano]

Having big old muscles. Say it's an institution, but, like, you.

[Adam Friedland]

Know, you want your body to match. Your dad.

[Anthony Fantano]

Fuck, no.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, he was in very bad shape and bad health for a long time because of how far he kind of pushed himself.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh. Because he was lifting too many weights.

[Anthony Fantano]

He's torn muscles. Had to have surgeries and so on and so forth, you know?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah. Why would you. Why would you even want to get muscles? Like, fashion muscles? That's your fault, I guess. He was getting other guys buffed, too.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, he was a coach.

[Adam Friedland]

It must be. Is that. Was he, like, a chill dad? It's must be.

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, no, absolutely.

[Adam Friedland]

My dad was so buff. I would like that. Would have. I wouldn't have liked it.

[Anthony Fantano]

He was very imposing. He was very heavy on the threats.

[Adam Friedland]

So why'd you get muscles, too? To patch things up, maybe?

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I just like going to the gym.

[Adam Friedland]

What was your first. Your musical memory?

[Anthony Fantano]

First musical memories. That's really what you want to know?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Like, why do you like music? That's why I like music.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Because I was a kid, my parents played me Paul Simon, Graceland. I remember being a kid and listening to it. There's a nostalgic aspect to it.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, I love that. For you. Number one.

[Adam Friedland]

That's a little. I don't like. I love that for you. That's what women say to their friends. They say that, like, when they get a new boyfriend who's like, for you, it's kind of also, like. It sounds like an old Jewish man, too. For you. I love. I like that. What do you mean, you like that?

[Anthony Fantano]

I like that. For specific videos.

[Adam Friedland]

Why? For me, it's a great album. What are you talking about?

[Anthony Fantano]

I don't know if I would want that to be my first. You know, it's like.

[Adam Friedland]

Honestly, what was your first?

[Anthony Fantano]

My parents never had that moment with me, like, you just described, where they sat me down and was like, hey, this is like trying to put you.

[Adam Friedland]

Out in the car and stuff.

[Anthony Fantano]

But no, it's like, either way, in the car, whatever.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

They were never like, you got to check this out, you know? So it's like whatever was kind of popular at the time. Like, I just kind of just osmosis. Just took in based on.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Whether or not it just appealed to me instantly. And that was like, you know, Green Day. That was like Nirvana. It was like tlc. It was like Coolio and Biggie and, you know, just stuff that was popular.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know if I would want that to be my first.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, I was kind of, you know, again, I. I agree. Why? I don't think you. I agree with your sentiment.

[Adam Friedland]

I want you to check this out. Then you're by. By virtue of the fact that they're.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, the thing is, conversely, I had a lot of friends who were, like, into certain bands and certain artists and, like, I would hear. I would even, like, see, you know, them say stuff like this, like, turn that garbage off. You know, like, while my parents, like, didn't necessarily push me in any direction, they were kind of down with whatever I felt like I was into, which I felt like, kind of gave me the ability to just kind of decide on my own what was cool and what wasn't.

[Adam Friedland]

They let you listen to what your.

[Anthony Fantano]

Any music, whether it was like, metal or rock or rap or pop or whatever, you know, it was cool.

[Adam Friedland]

That's nice. Yeah. Yeah. Do people's parents still do that? I feel like it's like the town from Footloose, they would do that.

[Anthony Fantano]

There's, like, a lot of younger people that watch me and sometimes, like, when they do kind of describe Such experiences to me that I generally get, like, you know, positive stories about, like, oh, yeah, my dad's into all these bands that I'm into. Or like. I mean, there's a generational shift now. You know, there's like, kids that tell me, like, yeah, my dad put me on a Sonic Youth, and it's like, what the fuck? I couldn't name one track of Sonic Youth.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Everyone says acts like it's a. I mean, that's fine.

[Adam Friedland]

I couldn't name one track.

[Anthony Fantano]

Things have shifted in such a way to where? For some parents, that's like oldies now. Like, Sonic Youth is oldies.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Like Smashing Pumpkins is oldies.

[Adam Friedland]

That's a good band.

[Anthony Fantano]

They're a good band.

[Adam Friedland]

I'll say. When I was young, the one time my parents were like, I want you to check this out. My mom. And I feel so bad about it. She. She came into my. I was in high school. She was like, hey, Adam. Like, she had, like, a CD in her head. She's like, hey, Adam, like, you like reggae, right? And I was like, yeah, I love reggae.

[Anthony Fantano]

What information was she basing that off of?

[Adam Friedland]

That you were like Bob Marley and stuff? Yeah, I mean, whatever. I mean, it's not that crazy of a thing to know about me. So. So my mom. So when I was in high school, the one time my parents suggested I check something out, my mom walked in my room. She said, hey, you like reggae, right? She had a CD in her head. And I was like, yeah, I like reggae. And she's like. And then she goes, well, there's a rabbi who does reggae. And I got the cd, and I thought. And I was like, get the. Out of my room right now. I was like, that will never be cool. That is the worst idea for that is the. I think I said. I called her gay, maybe. I was like, you're gay, Mom. And then I got to school. I went to public school, and my non Jewish friends were like, yo, there's this rabbi that does reggae.

[Anthony Fantano]

This is the Matas Yahoo guy.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, it was Matas Yahoo. It was the most shocking thing in the world.

[Anthony Fantano]

He was like, super.

[Adam Friedland]

I shouldn't have spoken that way to my mother. Yeah, I can't believe I spoke to her that way. She was right.

[Anthony Fantano]

He popped off when I was in college and a lot of people thought it was cool.

[Adam Friedland]

The protocols of the elders of Zion.

[Anthony Fantano]

You know, if you throw around terminology like that, eventually you are going to get a reggae rabbi. It's gonna happen.

[Adam Friedland]

There were, like, a couple. There are like, Moments you remember your whole life that like you get shook where you're like this. This has blown my mind and this has changed my life. Like what? Like, what were a couple of those moments when you were a kid where.

[Anthony Fantano]

Like, with the music that I heard that changed my life, where you're like, this is.

[Adam Friedland]

Wow. Like, wait, you should.

[Anthony Fantano]

I think like getting into really sort of like aggressive heavy metal music when I was a teenager was probably like a moment like that. And then I think probably hearing like bands like Dead Kennedys for the first time. You know what? Like. Okay, wait, hold on. You know what? You know, it was like a mind blowing band when I was like an adolescent. Like in that period that you're talking about. Rage against the Machine.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

So that's like around when Evil Empire came out. I was so into Bulls on Parade. Crazy song.

[Adam Friedland]

Did your parents get divorced?

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Rage against the Machine was big for divorce. I won't do what they told you.

[Anthony Fantano]

You know, I did hear that within a couple years after that happened. So I mean, yeah, that hit at the right time.

[Adam Friedland]

It is music that is presented as like smart politics, but it's literally for. Is literally for babies. I think, kind of.

[Anthony Fantano]

I think. I think you.

[Adam Friedland]

I will do what you what?

[Anthony Fantano]

That's just the one dumb song.

[Adam Friedland]

But an adult man, the guitar is what you're like.

[Anthony Fantano]

If you're actually a Rage fan. That's one of your least favorite songs. That's one of your least favorite songs if you're a Rage fan.

[Adam Friedland]

What do you mean? It's a sick song.

[Anthony Fantano]

If you're casual. If you're casual.

[Adam Friedland]

I would listen to it before. If I was about to be in an NFL football game and I wanted to break someone's face, I would listen to it.

[Anthony Fantano]

That's the thing. Like, that's the context in which you can do that.

[Adam Friedland]

Where you say that that song is not.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, I don't have to, but I did you.

[Adam Friedland]

I won't do it. What is the word? What are the words?

[Anthony Fantano]

You won't do what? You tell me.

[Adam Friedland]

That's so sick. But that is what a baby says. Like writing a song.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, the song is anti cop though.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah. The parents of society. You consumed like criticism when you were a kid or what you. You read like Pitchfork probably.

[Anthony Fantano]

When I was a kid.

[Adam Friedland]

You didn't. A teenager when you were growing up. You didn't read Pitchfork. No, no. This is a bullshit.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, you're lying.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, I find that very hard to believe.

[Anthony Fantano]

I think the most giving a numerical.

[Adam Friedland]

Value to yeah, you happened upon, say.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, listen, I'm not saying that, like, Pitchfork didn't influence me or that I wasn't, like, aware of Pitchfork when I started doing what I did. But the thing is, like, are you. You're asking me. I'm not gonna pretend to sort of, like, have cool taste and cool points of being like, yeah, I was on to Pitchfork before anybody else was or whatever. It just wasn't the thing I was paying attention to when I was younger.

[Adam Friedland]

It made me feel old. Interacting with your content.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, again, there's like, a lot of new pop that just sounds like pop from the 2000s now.

[Adam Friedland]

Right. It doesn't seem like anything sounds like anything new.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, after. I think, like, what's the Kid A of now? What's the Kid A of now?

[Adam Friedland]

It's not. It's not. There is none. What's like the Stevie Wonder?

[Anthony Fantano]

See, here's the thing, and I'm gonna. I'm gonna bust. I'm gonna bust your balls a little bit about this. I feel like. No, no, no. Like, Kid A's a great record. Classic record, Love it. Okay. But the thing is, like, I feel like. I feel like whether or not that's a mind blowing album to you depends on, like, how much electronic music you've heard. Before you got introduced to Kid A, you were already in.

[Adam Friedland]

I was 50, I was 14 years old, and I was like, wow, you're.

[Anthony Fantano]

Asking me what the Kid A is of Kid A.

[Adam Friedland]

And also. Shut up. It's the best. It's amazing.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's a great album.

[Adam Friedland]

But the thing is, like, what do you mean? If.

[Anthony Fantano]

If you've heard Aphex Twin before, you heard Kid A, that album's not blowing your mind the same way.

[Adam Friedland]

What are you. Who cares? Do you understand what art is? Art, it like you.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay, you're asking.

[Adam Friedland]

There are things that you're influenced by and then you improve upon them.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm just saying, what are the new things? And I.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay, what is. Okay, you're asking me what is an artist that kids blow their mind at.

[Adam Friedland]

Because, like, is there a Steve E.

[Anthony Fantano]

Wonder of now because of other sounds and genres out there in music? I'd say it's Playboi Carti.

[Adam Friedland]

He's the Stevie Wonder of now.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, he's the Kid A of now.

[Adam Friedland]

He's the Kid A of now.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah. He's the artist that children's minds are blown by because they have an ignorance towards what came before.

[Adam Friedland]

It's the hardest people on earth. Some of the People that understand that the President is. You can't trust. I don't know. When you sh. T on something, right, if you don't like something, right, the artist is obviously gonna get pissed off because they, like, worked hard on it and they're like, fuck this guy. But their fans, I think, also. Have you seen a rise in the people that like the artists getting pissed off at you?

[Anthony Fantano]

Over the course of time that I've been doing what I do, I wouldn't say there was a rise. Like, I still see. And I, you know, really, really. In the first few years of doing what I do full time, like, you know, one of my earliest reviews was a review that, like, blew up and I just got widespread hate for it. My Beautiful Dark, Twisted Fantasy. But.

[Adam Friedland]

It'S bad.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, it's not bad. It's just.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. What do you mean just? It's. I think you run away. I think he has better Nicky verse on Monster.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, there's highlights on it.

[Adam Friedland]

It's got the best Jay Z verse I've ever heard. Goblins, Spookies. Spookies.

[Anthony Fantano]

That is not the best Jay Z verse.

[Adam Friedland]

Halloween, Frankenstein. Things that go bump in the night. Monsters. It's great.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's okay.

[Adam Friedland]

It's not. It's not. It's. Come on.

[Anthony Fantano]

College Dropout's better.

[Adam Friedland]

You gave Yeezus a three.

[Anthony Fantano]

I gave it a five.

[Adam Friedland]

But it's. That was a music that. When people heard it, they were like, this is a new type of thing.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, that depends on what you've heard.

[Adam Friedland]

Kanye was copying Death Grips. I have it on good authority, 100%. What?

[Anthony Fantano]

I have it on good authority that a friend of mine who was connected to his team, you know, help burn him a bunch of CDs.

[Adam Friedland]

Nick Fuentes.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, it was the early 2000s, though that freak was still around around that time.

[Adam Friedland]

Nick Fuentes? Yeah. He was in kindergarten.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, probably. No, he was like. I can't remember.

[Adam Friedland]

He's like an old man that looks like a little kid.

[Anthony Fantano]

Gary Coleman. No, he's younger. Anyway. Anyway, I don't even want to talk about that. Freakazoid.

[Adam Friedland]

So can you say, I know, I.

[Anthony Fantano]

Know, I know, I know a friend of mine who had knowledge that, like, a bunch of sort of, like, you know, prevailing industrial hip hop artists, you know, so they're copying Trent Reznor, including Death Grips. Like, they had their music burned on a cd. He was exposed to it. But the thing is, like, I think with that being said, I think Travis Scott had more of an impact on the sound of that record than Death Grips did.

[Adam Friedland]

So what?

[Anthony Fantano]

I'm not saying that as a bad thing. You're talking.

[Adam Friedland]

That's just what art is.

[Anthony Fantano]

You posited a few minutes ago that there was absolutely Death Grips.

[Adam Friedland]

No, you're saying he's biting. You're saying he's biting, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

I think. I think it's not that interesting if you've heard other stuff, is what I'm saying.

[Adam Friedland]

You're such a dickhead, dude.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, that's kind of my job.

[Adam Friedland]

It's so brave, though. I really like. Because it is infuriating. Right. I love. You know I like music a lot, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

And if you disagree with me, it does upset me. And I do think you're doing some sort of thing for attention, for. To girls or something.

[Anthony Fantano]

To girl.

[Adam Friedland]

If not, he doesn't like Yeezys.

[Anthony Fantano]

If it's for girls, it's not working.

[Adam Friedland]

He's crazy. He's different. You're doing it.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, my audience.

[Adam Friedland]

What upsets me is this.

[Anthony Fantano]

My audience is like 80% men.

[Adam Friedland]

Really? Yeah. Lucky 80%. I think U.S. too. It's terrible feeling, isn't it?

[Anthony Fantano]

I'm neutral on it.

[Adam Friedland]

You're neutral on it? No, it doesn't feel good.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I'm neutral on it.

[Adam Friedland]

No, you want.

[Anthony Fantano]

It has.

[Adam Friedland]

You want a 50. 50.

[Anthony Fantano]

Why?

[Adam Friedland]

You don't just. What, like male online Internet population. It's not.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, I feel like it has upsides if. Maybe if they're watching me, they're not watching Andrew Tate.

[Adam Friedland]

You think that that's a thing?

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

Maybe they like music and like the.

[Anthony Fantano]

Coolest guy of all time now, Andrew. Andrew. Andrew Tate hates music.

[Adam Friedland]

He does like music.

[Anthony Fantano]

He hates music.

[Adam Friedland]

Ah, he has. He's got so.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, the thing is, like, people. People. People of that mindset hate art generally.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay, so you have a community, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure. I'm. To an extent.

[Adam Friedland]

Millions of people that. That are part of your community.

[Anthony Fantano]

I would call it a community.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, no. You're constantly interacting with them. You say you asking them questions.

[Anthony Fantano]

Make it a community.

[Adam Friedland]

You're asking them questions. You say, what's the best. What's the best album of the 2000s? And then someone says, kid A.

[Anthony Fantano]

And you go across several million people.

[Adam Friedland]

You'd be wrong.

[Anthony Fantano]

Across several million people, there's little cohesion.

[Adam Friedland]

When I watched that one, you said you could say that, but you'd be wrong. In Rainbows is better. But does it matter?

[Anthony Fantano]

In Rainbows is better than Kid A.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, but does it matter?

[Anthony Fantano]

No, no, none of it matters. But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna put out my opinion.

[Adam Friedland]

But what is the. Like, I guess, what's the cultural merit of. Of assigning a new. Is it you? Like, who. Like, what does it matter? Like, who cares?

[Anthony Fantano]

I guess if you want me to explain the context that all of that is coming up.

[Adam Friedland]

It's great content. It's.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, sure.

[Adam Friedland]

It's really engaging. And I wanted to keep clicking and keep, you know, saying, getting angry alone. But what. But, like, why can't you just be like, they're really good.

[Anthony Fantano]

Why can't I just say they're all great?

[Adam Friedland]

But why does a kid a. Have to be worse than. Okay, well, those. Yeah, that's a really good one.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, okay, here.

[Adam Friedland]

Those three are really good.

[Anthony Fantano]

If you're actually gonna be critical, like, for a living, you have to sort of, like, break some eggs.

[Adam Friedland]

But don't you think that it's kind of like. I don't know, it doesn't.

[Anthony Fantano]

See, here's the thing. It's like you're asking sort of like, what is the merit of the point?

[Adam Friedland]

Is this criticism?

[Anthony Fantano]

You're asking, what is the merit and what is the point of what I'm doing? Wouldn't there be even less.

[Adam Friedland]

What's the project.

[Anthony Fantano]

Wouldn't there be even less of a point to a critic that just says everything is good?

[Adam Friedland]

No, not everything's good, but, like.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, yeah, not everything is good. So the thing is, if you just said everything was good all the time, why would anybody watch?

[Adam Friedland]

I'm saying that if two albums are both really good, does it matter if. And also, does it matter if. OK Computer is. They're all really good albums. It's a really good band. Yeah. Have you. I mean, I can't get enough of this stuff.

[Anthony Fantano]

Like, to say that, like, I enjoy In Rainbows more than Amnesiac isn't to say that I don't enjoy Amnesiac or that it isn't a good album. I'm just stating a preference.

[Adam Friedland]

No, but you're. Yeah, you're fan. But it is for your community. They want to see what Melon's gonna say about this crap.

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

It's a game kind of more. Yeah, it doesn't.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, it's supposed to be fun on some level.

[Adam Friedland]

It's not fun for me because the.

[Anthony Fantano]

Thing is, like, with a band like Radiohead that has as versatile discography as they do, and even Kanye like, to make such a list, everybody's gonna have a wildly different opinion. I mean, they have so many.

[Adam Friedland]

There's the Right answer.

[Anthony Fantano]

What's the right answer?

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, what's the right answer? Yeah. Yeah. It's the thing, I think.

[Anthony Fantano]

What is the thing that you think?

[Adam Friedland]

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[Anthony Fantano]

What the thing is to you.

[Adam Friedland]

I went just, okay, look at how schizophrenic these notes were. This is how angry you were making me.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay?

[Adam Friedland]

There's, like, different pieces of paper. There's no logical flow. Okay, should I Actually talk.

[Anthony Fantano]

You're talking. Wait, you're just talking about my classic Abbey Road review. Just a standalone review of the album. Are you talking about. Are you talking about a ranking that I did or just the Abbey Road review?

[Adam Friedland]

You. What do you mean? You ranked the songs in Abbey Road.

[Anthony Fantano]

Never mind. You're just talking about my straight up Abbey Road review. You had an issue with it.

[Adam Friedland]

You ranked the Beatles.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, stop talking.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you ranked the Beatles?

[Anthony Fantano]

Listen.

[Adam Friedland]

What I listened to you talk about Abbey Road. Just the review, which is a. Okay, you got the. It's so.

[Anthony Fantano]

But it's like a class.

[Adam Friedland]

So brave. I mean, it's crazy of. You're a sick man to say what.

[Anthony Fantano]

It like for context. For everybody who is watching this. For everybody who's watching this, who is sane. I did a classic Abbey Road review. Classic Abbey Road review that is very positive and very glowing because I do think it is my favorite Beatles album. So I'm perplexed.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, but you just don't have.

[Anthony Fantano]

As to what you hate about it. What do you hate about me loving that album?

[Adam Friedland]

Because you.

[Anthony Fantano]

The way you're talking, you're making it sound like I on the record and talk like it was the worst thing ever.

[Adam Friedland]

You didn't on it. But the way you talked about it.

[Anthony Fantano]

How did I talk about it? That you got pissed off about.

[Adam Friedland]

You said that the. Okay. You said the Golden Slumbers medley was art. Art pop. Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

That's like a.

[Adam Friedland]

That's a very. That's a very. No, that's not a thing. Do you understand that this is where.

[Anthony Fantano]

Very well established opinion.

[Adam Friedland]

No, you're like. And the Love Shack, baby. It's not art pop. It didn't exist. Nothing they made that's not art pop.

[Anthony Fantano]

They made are not art pop. That's New waves.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, you put on a big suit. What?

[Anthony Fantano]

Now I understand why you're.

[Adam Friedland]

It's. It's in terms of a term. It's like. It's. It's a. It's offensive to my ear.

[Anthony Fantano]

Why?

[Adam Friedland]

Because it's a. It's.

[Anthony Fantano]

Artpop is a thing.

[Adam Friedland]

It's a contemporary term. It's like saying.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, wait, it's contemporary.

[Adam Friedland]

The Golden Slumbers medley was Twitter. I feel like it's just like. It's. It's not. It's. It's an inappropriate like. Like phrasing for it. Because it's.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, the thing is like that.

[Adam Friedland]

It'S the Rosetta Stone for the time period.

[Anthony Fantano]

The record was progressive and artsy by pop standards. I mean, it's Sort of like.

[Adam Friedland]

It's pop, though, because that's like some lesbian in the 1990s. College.

[Anthony Fantano]

I understand. I understand.

[Adam Friedland]

It's just. It's not offensive to the Beatles.

[Anthony Fantano]

I understand the era of music that that term is usually attached to because obviously it sort of, like, snowballed into something bigger that was like a larger musical movement. But we're talking about a band, and.

[Adam Friedland]

We'Re talking about the Golden Slippers Men. Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Who were ahead of the curve.

[Adam Friedland]

It was Cloud rap. Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

We're talking about artists who were ahead of the curve. And, like.

[Adam Friedland]

It wasn't ahead of the curve. It was. They invented pop music. This is.

[Anthony Fantano]

They did not invent pop music.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes, they did.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, they did not.

[Adam Friedland]

They invent.

[Anthony Fantano]

Do you believe the Beatles did not. Pop music.

[Adam Friedland]

Do you play guitar?

[Anthony Fantano]

Pop music precedes the Beatles.

[Adam Friedland]

I know that. Yeah. Yeah. But do you understand, like, everything comes there. It's the. It's the source.

[Anthony Fantano]

A lot of things do, which is why I. And other things.

[Adam Friedland]

The Beatles obviously came from other places. Right.

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure. And there's a lot of people who rightly acknowledge the fact that, like, you know, I Want yout. She's so heavy. The last passages. That's like one of the first metal riffs, if not the first, like, metal riff.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. You know, so sick.

[Anthony Fantano]

But the thing is, like, how do they know? You could call that like metal, in a sense, while also acknowledging that, like, metal as we know it came later.

[Adam Friedland]

What do you mean?

[Anthony Fantano]

That's not. That's not to say. That's not to say. That riff is. That's not to say the Beatles are a metal band because they did that riff.

[Adam Friedland]

It just sounded. It was grating on my ear to say the Golden Slumber, which is the. Probably the best song. It's probably the best moment in music to me.

[Anthony Fantano]

But you're just mad that I use.

[Adam Friedland]

The term art pop because it's, like, offensive. Because it's the most important thing. And I. I just. Okay, let's go back through my. Look at it. I'd like a. This is like a manifesto.

[Anthony Fantano]

Earlier, you accused me of being. Of being grading on purpose. I think you're.

[Adam Friedland]

I think you're. At minute 11. At minute 11, you're. You're. You're reviewing. Oh, darling. Right, okay. Which is a. Oh, darling. The emotion. The. Like, how pissed he's singing at the end. How much pain he's in. Okay, Right.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, he's in love. On that song.

[Adam Friedland]

You said that you wish that he. Paul could sing more regular.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, what gives you the right. Come on. Just don't say. But what gives you the confidence to say that? I'm. Honestly.

[Anthony Fantano]

Because I look at Paul McCartney.

[Adam Friedland]

Why would you say that?

[Anthony Fantano]

And I don't. And I don't see.

[Adam Friedland]

When you tell me, you know, I.

[Anthony Fantano]

Mean, I get that you think.

[Adam Friedland]

That doesn't sound sick.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's like John Fogarty singing about being from down by the bayou. He's not okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you heard the BG song, MA? They've never been to Massachusetts. They didn't know what Massachusetts was.

[Anthony Fantano]

They didn't know what it was.

[Adam Friedland]

It sounded good there. And it does sound good there. So what do you mean that when you told me. Do you understand that they consumed American rock and roll?

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I get that.

[Adam Friedland]

And they lived in a place. No one even knew what Liverpool was. Right. Until they came here. And then they gave it back to us. And as a cultural exchange. It's incredible. It's. It's like I. You can't possibly say, I wish Paul would sing more regular here.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah. And he has the capacity to. You know, we've heard hey Jude.

[Adam Friedland]

What you wanted to sound. That's just. Don't say that.

[Anthony Fantano]

He's just singing straighter on that song.

[Adam Friedland]

Pete cut that for him. It's just. You wanted it to sound more like hey Jude.

[Anthony Fantano]

I didn't want it to sound. I just wanted him to sing a bit straighter on that one.

[Adam Friedland]

Let it be the Beatles. It's just. It's there. It's been there already. You don't have to say. It's. It's. It's. Why? Like, what's the point of it? It stresses me out. I'm stressed again, just thinking about it. I am. And I know, like, listen, if you're talking about that album, my kid sees it and you're. That's. That's. That's great. Right? But, like, you're so brave and crazy and you're sick in the head for, like. For even saying, I wish Paul would do a little bit more of a regular voice in this moment.

[Anthony Fantano]

I think, like, I think we should be allowed to be critical of everything.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, as the greatest songwriter of all time.

[Anthony Fantano]

Paul McCartney. The greatest songwriter of all time.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes.

[Anthony Fantano]

Point blank period.

[Adam Friedland]

Bob Dylan.

[Anthony Fantano]

No competition.

[Adam Friedland]

Paul. Bob Dylan. Paul McCarthy. Yeah. In my opinion.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, like, you're wrong. There's probably.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. Maxwell Silver Hammer. You said that. You said that it was, like, disturbing.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, but that's what's funny about it.

[Adam Friedland]

But you understand that the words, they're. They're just saying any word.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, no, no, that's not.

[Adam Friedland]

Did you see. Get. Did you see?

[Anthony Fantano]

The Beatles do have songs where they consciously did say just any words and on purpose just because there were people who were reading too much into their music.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, how are you disturbed by it? It's a baby song. We all know it.

[Anthony Fantano]

What are you talking about?

[Adam Friedland]

You said that this qualified, that it qualifies. Everyone thinks that John is the. Is the weird artist and Paul is. Paul is the normal one, but he writes this disturb. Most disturbing song.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, but that's what's fun. You're confused.

[Adam Friedland]

First of all, John was the emotional.

[Anthony Fantano]

I'm citing this as, like. This is a positive, interesting characteristic of the record.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm exhausted right now. I've been up all night. Okay, when he says, and I will sing you a lullaby. Right? And then the next word is what?

[Anthony Fantano]

The big golden slumber crescendo.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. You take issue with the fact that it wasn't a lullaby that comes next.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I didn't. I took issue with it. Not. No, I didn't.

[Adam Friedland]

You said that a lullaby should come next.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I did not.

[Adam Friedland]

You're driving me.

[Anthony Fantano]

Now you're just making stuff up. I did not say that.

[Adam Friedland]

Check it. Can someone check it?

[Anthony Fantano]

I did not say. I did not say. I'm mad.

[Adam Friedland]

That's what I punched.

[Anthony Fantano]

I did not say you were mad.

[Adam Friedland]

You're like. You would be expecting a lullaby.

[Anthony Fantano]

I did not say that. I did not say. I think you did say that I was upset or that there was anything bad about not a lullaby following that part. I know for a fact I put out a lot of content and I can't remember every second of it, but I guarantee I did not say that there was an issue with not a lullaby following that.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm pretty sure a lullaby would be.

[Anthony Fantano]

Listen, what you're gonna have to do is.

[Adam Friedland]

I think I'm right.

[Anthony Fantano]

What you're gonna have to do is slice in the clip of me saying, I don't wanna. Hey, you know what really would have been good here? A lullaby with golden slumbers. We get this very big dramatic showing of strings and horns and pianos for a lullaby that is described in the lyrics, but never really qu. I mean, it is gorgeous and it is powerful, but I would be pretty angry if Paul McCartney went through all of this trouble to set up a lullaby only for him to kind of.

[Adam Friedland]

Lead into, boy, you're gonna carry that weight. Now, what it is is that just music means so much to people, and.

[Anthony Fantano]

That'S why they respond so much that you make up stuff to be mad about.

[Adam Friedland]

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[Anthony Fantano]

A lot of them.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. You're probably the biggest hip hop critic nowadays.

[Anthony Fantano]

Like it by virtue of just kind.

[Adam Friedland]

Of review numbers wise. Yeah. Does it, does it feel weird sometimes as a white guy to be talking about, to be talking about a black, like something that's predominantly black?

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

How do you, how do you like manage that in terms of your reviews?

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, I feel like one of the ways I try to manage it, which I think is like kind of a best practice for me, is like you want to sort of like pay attention, very careful attention, and sort of like take care to sort of make note of and most importantly, take seriously like the substance of the subject matter, you know, and especially like, you know, consider that like people are describing experiences that I don't personally have a super, you know, intimate familiarity with. But you know, simultaneously, you don't want to treat rap music like it's a special case, because I feel like that's kind of patronizing.

[Adam Friedland]

You're a music critic, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, I mean, the thing is, like, you know, by that same token, while I say that I also don't have intimate personal experience of what it is to be a woman, I'll give you.

[Adam Friedland]

An example of what I'm trying to get at in the NBA, right. Punditry has, in the last 10 years, kind of become a lot about advanced statistics and metrics, and I think maybe perhaps is a result of white. A predominantly white pundit class talking about something that's predominantly black.

[Anthony Fantano]

Sports is a bit more of a concrete subject matter than whether or not a song is good.

[Adam Friedland]

But the question is, is that, like, I don't know. I really saw a lot of your tweets during this Drake and Kendrick thing last year.

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

And your analysis did tend to be, like, you know, in the third round, they switched up the flow three times, and, you know, like, you were giving kind of more of the stats a little bit. Yeah. Did you find it entertaining? Yeah, it just. What is they, in your opinion? I mean, as a person that's commented on this. Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

You want me to start answering now?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Sorry. We'll cut that down.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, no, no, it's fine. I think from my personal outsider perspective, having, you know, listened to and reviewed a great deal of Kendrick's music and looking at that song, like, I feel like there is sort of a weakness there or a bit of confusion there when you're talking about the song that you're observing, when you're kind of, like, looking at it outside of the greater context of, like, the beef between him and Drake. Well, I mean, the thing is, if you look at specifically in that vacuum, I feel like the they is super clear in terms of like. In terms of it literally, like, him and his entourage and him and his friends are like. And not only people who sort of engage in the sort of behavior that Kendrick paints him as, you know, engaging in on the song, but also in his own way. Kendrick is trying to paint Drake in a way, and. But again, this is not, like, me saying whether or not this is true. This is me saying, like, this is what Kendrick. I'm saying this is what Kendrick is insinuating in the song. He's trying to paint Drake as culturally being outside of the black experience in a way.

[Adam Friedland]

Kamala Harris was told that she's not black, and there was an outrage.

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

It's confusing to me why there wasn't a similar response by, I mean, people like yourself or like, why. Why that what happened with Drake was treated differently.

[Anthony Fantano]

Like, whether or not I was outraged that that was the case.

[Adam Friedland]

It's kind of. It's kind of messed up, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, I mean, I think that those were happening in two far different contexts.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, I mean, like, Drake's like black, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, yeah, I can't deny that.

[Adam Friedland]

So, I mean, it's. But it's.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay, look, here's the thing. I'm not saying it's not faulty messaging. Like, you know, objectively speaking. Objectively speaking, like Drake's dad is black, Drake is black. You know, I think. And again, I'm just insinuating here based off of what I hear on the song. I feel like for Kendrick, what he was trying to get across on the track. Because when you literally talk about sort of like who he collabs with and where he goes to sort of like make these kind of cultural connections, sort of like align himself with certain segments of hip hop music, I think he's sort of displaying that as more of a cultural blackness.

[Adam Friedland]

I think it's a lot of guys our age that are white guys that were like really getting into it and it felt a little weird. I think we just had a nice time when Drake was here. We've had a lot of nice times while Drake was playing. And now we have to know what a tariff is and stuff because Drake went away. Please, wherever you are. Australia. Where is he now?

[Anthony Fantano]

I think he's in America again.

[Adam Friedland]

Listen, in Canada, I guess I just miss him.

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, you know, he's still around.

[Adam Friedland]

No, everyone's laughing at him for being a nonce.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, so you can't be into Drake because other people aren't.

[Adam Friedland]

How do you deal with people being mad at you? I'm you. I'm doing it right now to you. And you're a good guy. You're a sicko, but you're a good guy. No, I mean, look, I just disagree with what you're saying, but I have to imagine, I mean, people have sued you. Yeah, I mean, I gotta say, hats off, like the most. The most famous male pop star of the last 15 years DM'd you and said that he thinks you're a zero. Or like a light. A light one. I mean, it's crazy. Drake is the most famous male pop star and you, you were. You got rent free in there and you're just some. You're from a guy from Connecticut.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, I'M still, still rent free in there.

[Adam Friedland]

Wait, that upset you? Your response there is. That's a genuine response.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, no, I'm saying. I'm saying I still think it's likely that he thinks about me.

[Adam Friedland]

He thinks you think he's thinking about you still.

[Anthony Fantano]

I know he's thinking about me.

[Adam Friedland]

Why is that?

[Anthony Fantano]

I've seen evidence that he still thinks about me.

[Adam Friedland]

What?

[Anthony Fantano]

So what is your question?

[Adam Friedland]

I'm asking you, like, how do you deal with people getting pissed at you?

[Anthony Fantano]

I don't know really. I mean, I feel like it's just been happening. So I guess here's the thing. Like, it's been happening so consistency so consistently for so long. And most of the criticisms are like, I feel like I've just been reading the same three to five hate comments, like over and over and over for the past 12 years, you know? So it's like after a while, I.

[Adam Friedland]

Just become, what are they mad about?

[Anthony Fantano]

Just the same. You already know, you know, just like, oh, you reviewed that album.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm just mad at you for.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I mean, it's the comments. You've already seen.

[Adam Friedland]

Tell Paul McCartney what he could do 80 years ago. Yeah, but. But what do they say? That you, you. You're.

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, you shouldn't have rated this. That or it's like you don't know it is.

[Adam Friedland]

Why? Because they disagree with your opinion on a song?

[Anthony Fantano]

No, like, you're a fucking idiot. You rated this wrong. Well, what is hate?

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know. I've got people tell me.

[Anthony Fantano]

There are people claiming, like, you didn't even listen to the album or you don't know about music. You're fat ass, melon head, white loser.

[Adam Friedland]

That's fine.

[Anthony Fantano]

Slur this, slur that, something else.

[Adam Friedland]

What slur is there for you?

[Anthony Fantano]

Like, everybody also sort of like on Twitter.

[Adam Friedland]

Italian slurs.

[Anthony Fantano]

Not even that. Like, like, like homophobic slurs. People on Twitter are sort of like, everybody's using retard now.

[Adam Friedland]

Everybody's just like saying the Internet is hell on earth.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, it is hell on earth, but it's getting worse.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I know. Elon did free speech and it's too scary, I think. I think we found that up it. Sodom and War.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's not even free speech. They just wanted to be free to talk like fourth graders on the Internet. That's all it is. It's not about a free expression of ideas. I think you're right. It's about a freedom to be a fourth grader on the Internet.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I think you are right. Like in fourth grade, a lot of people were like, that the Holocaust never happened. Yeah, no, but I'm saying you're on 4chan. Don't act like the Internet's. You've seen crazy stuff.

[Anthony Fantano]

By the time that I was on 4chan, I had already read Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and been introduced.

[Adam Friedland]

To. You can't say that you read the people. You can't say that you had read people's history before you joined 4chan. I did, but that's. You don't. Come on, bro.

[Anthony Fantano]

So the thing is, like, by the time I came. By the time I came across a lot of the ideological stuff that was on there, I was already like, oh, this is psychotic, you know?

[Adam Friedland]

Because you read the people's history of. No, come on. Yeah, because you read two things.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, no, it wasn't just two things.

[Adam Friedland]

But I'm saying, like, you've seen wackadoo stuff. That's what I'm saying.

[Anthony Fantano]

I'm saying you've been exposed to that. Okay, well, first off, let's not disregard Howard Zinn's people's history as, like, not the essential tome on imperialism that it is.

[Adam Friedland]

I know, I've read it.

[Anthony Fantano]

And once you understand that and once you understand that and have read it, there's like a lot of, I think, fear based white identity politics that you're kind of like automatically inoculated against because you actually see, like, oh, you're talking about Holocaust. I'm sorry, I'm talking about Holocaust denial and also imperialism. And I feel like there's a lot of that that you understand is bull when you're confronted with it, when you sort of understand the broader history of imperialism across the world.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, but I've never actually been on 4chan much. But is it scary stuff like that?

[Anthony Fantano]

I would say it's probably, I think, because it's been, like, sold off. And a lot of the worst places where you kind of get a hold of those ideologies, it's kind of been pulled out of Pandora's box. And you can kind of see that stuff on Twitter now. I feel like you don't need to go to 4chan anymore to see that shit.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, that's. That's the point I was making is.

[Anthony Fantano]

Like, we're talking about numerous errors here. The time period in which I was there, there was more of a variety of different people of ideologies because there weren't a whole lot of places to talk about a lot of the stuff that people were talking about On 4chan.

[Adam Friedland]

It was a board.

[Anthony Fantano]

It was a. It was many different boards. But the thing is, like. Like, for example, on the music board, because I was mostly on the music board. Whenever somebody would be coming. Whenever somebody. Radiohead. Whenever somebody would come in and say something ridiculous or racist or sort of like offensive, people just be like, go back to the politics. To the racist one, to the politics board. Like, mostly the politics board was kind of just like, relegated to the psychos. But then once there became more variety of places to discuss music, anime, so on and so forth, be it on Reddit or wherever it became less essential to go, talk about it there.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

So, like, a lot of the psychopaths just started, like, running the asylum. And also it got sold off and so on and so forth.

[Adam Friedland]

And who bought it?

[Anthony Fantano]

I forget.

[Adam Friedland]

Even more racist guy, I think.

[Anthony Fantano]

I think maybe a less racist guy. I can't remember.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, there was a documentary about it where it was like, a little guy in the bed. Did you guys see that? The 4chan documentary? What was that little guy in the bed all about? Right. You saw that? No, I forgot. Sick, dude. Have you listened to his stuff?

[Anthony Fantano]

Can't say I have.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you made music?

[Anthony Fantano]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

And you're. You've been in bands?

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

You're a bassist, right? Yeah. Do you have any, like, songs that I. That I could listen to? No. Come on, dude. No. Why don't you get a little taste of your own medicine? Let me just. Let me. I'm not gonna be mean about it.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, I thought you were about to give me a million.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, no, no. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Adam Friedland]

Chapstick. It dries out your lips more.

[Anthony Fantano]

No, it doesn't.

[Adam Friedland]

No. You gotta use Aquaphor.

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, okay.

[Adam Friedland]

We'll go to the CVS after this. All right, Lil, I want to hear. I'll play. I'll give you a song of mine. We'll both put on headphones and then. Honest reviews.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Are you down? Yeah. For real, though?

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. Whoa. This is skloosy for me. Sure are your friends and family have heard this?

[Anthony Fantano]

A couple people like friends that I've sent it to on my.

[Adam Friedland]

But the closest friends.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

So that's it.

[Anthony Fantano]

Where the fuck is Jesus Christ?

[Adam Friedland]

So you're a music critic?

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Can I ask you a serious question, though? Yeah. Have you ever farted into Shazam and discovered Your new favorite U2 song?

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I have not.

[Adam Friedland]

You should. That's how I discovered that song was a one, two, three. Catorce. Yeah. Okay. Disgusting. What do you think is better, rock or rap? Just Answer it, dude. Let's settle the goat. It's because you would stop laughing because you have the same birthday. It's disgusting.

[Anthony Fantano]

All right, you're gonna hate this. I think this is, like, really shitty.

[Adam Friedland]

What? Why? Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

You're not gonna like it.

[Adam Friedland]

No. You know what you're doing? You're saying something because it's really scary to put yourself out there like that. Just put on the headphones and then think about.

[Anthony Fantano]

I got it. I got it. Are you ready? Are you ready?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. These are your headphones? Yeah. You should have better headphones.

[Anthony Fantano]

I mean, I know they're cheap. Okay. Are you ready?

[Adam Friedland]

You're probably.

[Anthony Fantano]

Are you ready?

[Adam Friedland]

You have $10 million.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, about.

[Adam Friedland]

That's what you do. Yeah. You make mad money. Probably. All right, let's go. Okay. Whistle. Trump. Yeah. Trump. Yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's a political thing.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. He's done after this.

[Anthony Fantano]

I'm done after this.

[Adam Friedland]

It. You. This is distracted.

[Anthony Fantano]

If you want to read it that way.

[Adam Friedland]

Diss track on Trump, your district.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's like a short thing.

[Adam Friedland]

It's not short. That seemed like it took forever.

[Anthony Fantano]

Less than two minutes.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, okay. You really did that. You really did that for yourself.

[Anthony Fantano]

By myself. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

But if you want to take down Trump, you got to release this crap.

[Anthony Fantano]

I don't want to release it. It's crap.

[Adam Friedland]

He's been accused 10 times the style. Okay. I'll give you my honest reaction. Making that for yourself is. That's a very interesting thing to think about. Why? I don't know. Do you feel like you're getting. You're getting your rocks off a little bit?

[Anthony Fantano]

Like, it's so much about, like. Yeah, I guess I just want to see if I could do it if.

[Adam Friedland]

You do a diss track on Trump.

[Anthony Fantano]

Well, just record a song.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, is that your only song you've ever done?

[Anthony Fantano]

No.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh. So why did you say you wanted to see if you could record a song?

[Anthony Fantano]

Oh, I haven't recorded a song that sounded quite like that.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, yeah. It sounds a lot like. It's like. Yeah. Like 90s.

[Anthony Fantano]

Bit of a post punky talk rock kind of thing.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Like when they. College radio. Yeah. My United States of Whatever kind of thing.

[Anthony Fantano]

That's a banger.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah.

[Anthony Fantano]

Syphil and all.

[Adam Friedland]

It's kind of that. But I'm just thinking, like, you were like, you know, it's really just. It's a song about Donald Trump for yourself.

[Anthony Fantano]

It's about, like.

[Adam Friedland]

It's a fascinating thing to think about.

[Anthony Fantano]

Weird right wingers that I see on the Internet.

[Adam Friedland]

I think it was pretty much about Donald. Yeah, but it. It's like a reference there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just an interesting thing.

[Anthony Fantano]

Yeah, but you.

[Adam Friedland]

But it's. You're never going to drop it, right?

[Anthony Fantano]

I don't think so.

[Adam Friedland]

Are you going to keep practicing trying new diss tracks on Trump until you're ready?

[Anthony Fantano]

No, I'm probably just going to keep practicing, just writing and recording different.

[Adam Friedland]

I think you're a good guy. I think. I think kids find out a lot about a lot of cool stuff because of you.

[Anthony Fantano]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Thank you, bro. You said that you never feel? But all the things that you see? Better fade away? So it's a revolution? Cause you said things ahead? Went to my hands? Step outside the summertime?