Ben Barzilai

Music writer, podcaster, amateur karaoke philosopher. Words in @nytimes @thedailybeast, @theneedledrop, etc

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

For my @nytimesmusic debut, I wrote about the competitive yet deeply fraternal world of battle rap, which many believe is positioned to be the new frontier of mainstream hip-hop culture. Check it out!

https://t.co/eOQXjF3fRO

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

This take is lazy and annoying but so are all the retweets pretending this show wasn’t at least a little transgressive when it came out. Have any of you people actually watched the first season??

[Fox News @FoxNews]

Rainn Wilson says "The Office" probably wouldn’t be made today, telling Fox News Digital that media trends have shifted left and that cancel culture makes it difficult for edgy comedies to thrive.

[Let’s Talk Battle Rap @LTBRpodcast]

THE KNICKS CAME BACK FROM BEING DOWN 29 POINTS ‼️‼️‼️

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

What an insanely misguided description of this album’s sound. Hozier??

[my life is a living hell. every minute is torture @on_da_spectrum]

New Vince Staples album would be considerably better if its entire sonic palette didn't sound like stuff Hozier or The Black Keys would have written for an Urban Outfitters commercial in 2014

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Damn now Berrettini’s retiring from the French Open. With how physical this sport is becoming and temperatures getting hotter and these men having to play for 5+ hours at a time, we gotta start asking if best of 5 is really necessary. It’s no fun seeing a Slam decided this way.

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

In the pre-chorus of Thong Song when Sisqo says “I think I’ll sing it again” it’s actually a triple entendre:

1. He sings the words “truck” “what” “but” again
2. He sings the whole pre-chorus again
3. He later sings the whole verse + pre-chorus again

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

So much of the most formative music in my life I heard for the first time on early seasons of American Idol

[a @cherryshcney]

I feel like it’s okay to admit you learn new things or take recommendations from someone you’re a fan of

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Why do capitalists keep mentioning food delivery like it’s this new-fangled Gen-Z fad?? It’s been around for forever and it used to be more affordable! Because of inflation!! Am I going crazy???

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Im crying why did no one tell him this isn’t a flex?

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

The proudest moment of my career was getting to talk about battle rap on the front page of Art & Leisure, which I only did because Caryn was willing to take a chance on me. 🫡

[cganz @mehpatrol]

After 11 years, thousands of articles, 11 Taylor Swift album releases, one of the biggest trials in music history and more traumatizing deaths than one pop music editor could fathom, I have decided to leave The New York Times.

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Next Homecoming event @urltv?

[Variety @Variety]

A$AP Rocky laughs when asked about a potential rap battle with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

"Who you got your money on?"

#MetGala

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Rick Ross album cover-ass photo

[J R ❤️‍🔥 @ResilienceX3]

this shit right here just pissed me off

[DEFIANCE - 6/27 (NYC) @iBattlePromo]

We ready for an early YouTube drop?
All we need is 100 retweets.

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

I am so so sick of people getting mad at their own half-baked interpretations of a film and then making it the filmmakers’ problem.

[Denzel Rust @AdemLuz]

The premise of this “anti-cancel culture” movie THE DRAMA is that a guy learns his fiance almost committed a mass shooting at 15, but then didn’t go through with it.

This completely wrecks their relationship. People around him tell him she is a psycho and he must immediately call the police.

You, the viewer, are meant to tap yourself on the back for being empathetic and forgiving towards her while everyone else acts insane about this total non issue.

If my gf told me she almost did that at 15 I would be like wow that’s fuckin crazy - but I wouldn’t break up with her or have it ruin my perception of her because I am an adult, who was also a teenager, who also had dark and erratic thoughts, like literally everyone else. It would be fascinating more than anything. Almost everyone I know would behave the same way.

This couple wears Harper’s magazine shirts and quotes Freud, and we’re supposed to believe they are incredible intelligent literary types with mature understandings of the human condition who simply cannot contextualize this fact of someone’s childhood.

There is something so condescending about the films thesis. It is meant to be a reeducation camp that teaches us to empathize with people we already empathize with. It assumes we are judgmental and wags its finger at us when we are in fact already cured of its supposed ills. Simply not a film that was made for adults.

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Man I can’t wait to see this battle

[Let’s Talk Battle Rap @LTBRpodcast]

Jey The Nitewing pulled up to ibattle and gave them a show🔥🔥

Flawless execution at the end❗️

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

An amazing battle from 2 ppl who are gonna be here a while. I had K1ng 2-1 but anyone saying this wasn’t close didn’t watch the same battle I did. Lots of gas in the room for K1ng (not to discredit how amazing he was) and Yunus’ 2nd was crazy.
https://t.co/WWlIBNiDx1 via @YouTube

[Chris Sommerfeldt @C_Sommerfeldt]

Councilmember @OsseChi was arrested a bit ago while attending a protest against an eviction in Bedstuy.

NYPD officers can be seen tackling him to the ground in this video posted on Instagram:

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

One of my many favorite things about this article is her insistence on writing a completely separate love letter to Diet Coke within her love letter to free bread. A true ball knower.

[Caity Weaver @caityweaver]

I completed my life’s work: I FOUND THE BEST FREE RESTAURANT BREAD IN AMERICA!!!!!!!!!

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Jaz’s performance in this battle is top 3 I’ve ever seen live

[BIG BAG JAZ 💰 @JazTheRapper]

saw someone say me vs Viixen would be a great battle and i just ….. battles dropping on YouTube is super crucial for battle rap man lol

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

Have some things I could nit pick here but the top 5 is more or less how I would have wanted it (although I ultimately voted for roc to take COTY). So happy for Ward and especially excited to see Jey break the top 5, god knows he earned it.

[JSmo @JSmoReviews]

COTY Top 20 for 2025. Congrats to all the battlers who made it 💯

1. AWard
2. Chef Trez
3. Tay Roc
4. Rum Nitty
5. JTNW
6. Fonz
7. Ave
8. Loso
9. Real Deal
10. Vixxen
11. TRex
12. Yunus
13. Charron
14. Cortez
15. J2
16. Snake Eyez
17. Twork
18. JC
19. K1NG
20. Eazy

[Ben Barzilai @BarzNearMe]

I get why people find this icky but

1. This is how literally all artists are marketed today and
2. It only has this level of success if the music is actually worth listening to.

Let’s try to wrap this discourse up by EOD, sound good?

[WIRED @WIRED]

The Brooklyn band Geese was labeled an “industry plant” by those who questioned its sudden ubiquity. Maybe it was. https://t.co/H6QYLmBQUg