Welcome to 2026 with The Idea Of… where we explore the noise, the nuance, and everything in between. Bassey and Mike kick off the year by circling back to a “unhinged” hip hop take from last season, the Drake vs Kendrick wars, and a YouTube commenter who decided Mike is a full-blown Drake stan. From there, the conversation opens up into something bigger: who gets to label you, what those labels do to us, and how hip hop discourse turned into a political litmus test.

This is a New Year episode about self-trust, authenticity, and what it means to show up in public with a mic, a catalog of 52 episodes, and a shifting sense of who you are becoming.

Here's to 2026! Let's get it!

This is our Best of 2025 (kinda) — a wrap-up of the moments and conversations that shaped the pod this year. We talk aging out loud with hip-hop, the Ralph Lauren Oak Bluffs debate, Black wealth vs. white wealth, respectability politics, icons who meant everything and got messy, and the political patterns connecting Obama, Trayvon, TikTok, and right now. It’s culture, nuance, and love for Black folks all at once. See you in 2026.

Mike and Bassey take a winding, hilarious ride through hip hop memory and modern rap metrics. From Jay-Z verses that feel like short films to the Gen Z re-discovery wave, they debate what makes an MC “undeniable,” why Drake’s legacy feels fumbled, and why Kendrick’s greatness still sparks weird arguments (including a surprisingly intense debate about haircuts and “cool”). Bassey gets mad at Mike, and it's hilarious.

Then the convo pivots to the Diddy documentary fallout, 50 Cent’s role in shaping the narrative, and what happens when nuance gets labeled as “support.” They close on holiday life, family dynamics, book recs, party games, and the kind of real talk that only happens when culture, critique, and community collide.

See y'all in 2026!