ROCKTOBER continues!

George Chen sat down with musician Ed Balloon to discuss the documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution (2016). They discuss Russell Simmons' socks, living in Nigeria, The Get Down, Wild Style, Boston's music scene, and much more. Ed's latest EP Flourish just came out on Deathbomb Arc.

While Ed Balloon has never shied away from soul bearing with his streamlined and catchy music, with each new release he brings more socially-focused content to the minimal sound his fans already love. In a unique space between club tracks, love songs, and pop anthems, Ed is able to find the core of a sound, shed the rest, and produce such a focused sound that it is at once huge and cosmic and also as intimate as a cuddle. It is the perfect musical forum for contemplating the ways our world’s huge issues fall right in our laps. Ed Balloon is the best friend we all wish we had; able to tell us those hard truths in a way that is a pure act of love.

Hip-Hop Evolution features in-depth, personal interviews with the progenitors of DJing, rapping, and production, culminating in what is now taken to be Hip hop music and rap, adding to the existing understanding of hip-hip's earliest decades. Such original artists, producers, DJs, and promoters include DJ Kool Herc, Coke La Rock, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Fab Five Freddy, Marley Marl, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Moe Dee, Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Warp 9, DJ Hollywood, Spoonie Gee, The Sugarhill Gang, and Russell Simmons.

Thanks to Jonathan Snipes for lending us mics and letting us record in his kitchen! 

Please visit Sup Doc's website for more info on this episode.