Elliott Wilson is responding to Brian “B.Dot” Miller’s recent claims about their falling out and the demise of their Rap Radar podcast.
On Saturday’s episode of the Bigger Picture podcast (April 26), 54-year-old Wilson gave his perspective on the story and started by pointing out the age gap between them. (B.Dot turned 40 in January.)
“Part of why we weren’t friends is because we met with a huge age difference and a huge position of different places where I’m running XXL and he’s coming in as an intern, graduated college, editorial assistant,” Wilson said at the 29-minute mark in the video linked above.
“So that guy’s not going to be the other guy’s friend like that. I put him on, he worked at XXL, we built the Rap Radar blog together—the site, me and him. But there’s always been an age difference and we’re I say we’re great business partners doesn’t make us friends per se.”
Further into his explanation, Wilson explains that creating the Rap Radar podcast was B.Dot’s idea.
Last April, Wilson had been made editorial director of hip-hop journalism for Uproxx, HipHopDX, and Dime. Per Billboard, the Uproxx Studios deal specified that Wilson would “continue holding down his role as co-host of the Rap Radar podcast” with B.Dot.
“The one time I don’t come through and a deal falls through, it’s like I’m the bad guy. I tried to make the deal happen. The deal fell apart. I take accountability cuz the deal didn’t happen, so that’s it,.”
Wilson also addressed B. Dot’s claim that they hadn’t communicated since May.
“Why would I not reach out? I figured he’s mad at me because the deal didn’t work out … I haven’t ducked one phone call, one text, one reach out to me. My grandma said, ‘the phone works both ways.’”
He also confirmed that if a new deal for Rap Radar came through, they would continue with the podcast.
On a recent episode of the Joe Budden Podcast, B.Dot explained, “I thought the terms were fair. I was just ready to get back to work. So that’s what happened and we just became free agents. That was in May and that was the last time I talked to Elliott.”
Elsewhere in the episode, B.Dot shared that while he and Wilson are “friendly,” they aren’t “friends in the traditional sense” and don’t reach out to each other casually.
“Elliott is a cool guy,” said B.Dot on the Joe Budden Podcast. “Working with him isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do. It’s been fun. We made history. We did a lot of iconic shit. But I think the last year and a half has been exacerbated because of you, Joe Budden.”
B.Dot pointed to Budden’s appearance on the Rap Radar podcast in 2023, which he believes had a lasting impact on him, causing Wilson to adopt what he described as an “antagonistic persona.” He felt this shift in Wilson’s behavior may have damaged their past work, while also acknowledging that “you can’t tell a grown man what to do.”
