The Joe Budden Podcast Episode 916 | Muslim Laettner

The hosts largely classify Kanye West's latest album, "Vultures 1," as "mid" (average to below average for Kanye). They attribute this decline to the absence of long-time collaborators such as Mike Dean, CyHi, Pusha T, GLC, Consequence, and other writers and co-producers who previously helped craft his masterpieces. The album is described as sounding like a "rough project" or a "stripped-down version" that lacks the usual polish and vocal production expected from Kanye.

You can tell that Mike Dean's missing, that SciHigh is missing, that you know, some of the people that helped him create these masterpieces that he has created time and time again are no longer around. (33:51) The writers are going the co-producers cuz like even just like the vocal production, he didn't sound like Kanye. (34:24)

NBA player Jaden Ivey's Instagram Live rant, where he criticized the NBA's LGBTQ+ month celebration and Steph Curry's Christianity, led to his immediate release by the Chicago Bulls. The hosts debate the implications, with Mark arguing against punishing individuals for expressing religious convictions, even if the views are disagreeable, to avoid a "messy territory" where any differing opinion could lead to job loss. Others emphasize that professional contracts often include clauses against hate speech and that public figures represent their teams, even off-duty. Concerns about Ivey's mental health are also raised as a potential underlying factor.

I don't like people being disciplined though for speaking, particularly if you're speaking from a place of religious conviction. (1:18:23) There are plenty of companies that have specific language in the contract to where they can clip you at the drop of a dime if they hear hate speech. (1:19:55) The Chicago Bulls uh waved him immediately. And there's some more clips out now where he's talking about how he never felt loved and just his upbringing and it's real rough. (1:17:44)

The hosts express extreme disappointment with the season finale of the TV show "Paradise," criticizing its abrupt introduction of time manipulation and AI. They felt the season "slow-walked" for five episodes only to "mash the gas" with convoluted plot points in the last two, leaving too many unexplained anomalies and plot holes. The shift from a "sort of realistic sci-fi" premise to an "open world for anything" due to time travel was seen as a narrative failure that undermined the show's initial appeal.

It's like they slowwalked it for five episodes and then just mashed the gas with every idea they had and try to cram it into two episodes or three episodes, whatever. (2:02:23) Once you introduce time travel, it's open world for anything. You can do whatever you want. (2:04:13) They didn't do a great job of of explaining it. It felt rushed. (2:06:52)