Can't Knock the Shuffle

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As some of you may know, Can't Knock the Shuffle host/creator Sean Kantrowitz also hosts a live hip hop trivia game show called The Questions – and now that show is available in podcast format. Each week, Sean connects with hip hop's biggest fans – rappers, DJs, producers, writers, comedians, actors, and everything in between – to test their rap trivia skills, discuss their careers, and talk about how the music changed their lives. Subscribe/follow wherever you get your podcasts!

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Dante Ross isn't an artist in the traditional sense, but the music industry exec/A&R/producer/engineer had a hand in dozens of classic records and is responsible for helping to cultivate the careers of some of hip hop’s biggest names. In the 90s, Dante was hired by Elektra Records as the first hip hop A&R man – not just Elektra’s first, but the record industry’s first. Dante signed artists such as Brand Nubian, KMD, Leaders of the New School, Busta Rhymes, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, to name a few. Along with his friends John Gamble and Geeby Dajani, Ross was also one third of production group Stimulated Dummies, who worked with many of those acts behind the boards as well. Dante played a significant role in crafting the sound and songs on House of Pain leader Everlast’s breakthrough solo album, 1998’s Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, and would later co-produce the Everlast and Carlos Santana song “Put Your Lights On,” on the latter’s Grammy-winning smash album ‘Supernatural.’ Dante is still active in the business to this day, and has signed and worked with more recent artists like Lil Dicky, Made in Tokyo, and Marlon Craft. And this fall he will release ‘Son of the City,’ a memoir detailing his life as a crucial player in hip hop’s Golden Era. In this episode, we discuss:

3rd Bass "Kick 'Em in the Grill" feat Chubb Rock ('Derelicts of Dialect,' 1991)

Del the Funky Homosapien "Ya Lil Crumbsnatchers" ('I Wish My Brother George Was Here,' 1991)

Ol' Dirty Bastard "Brooklyn Zoo" ('Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version,' 1995)

Everlast "Tired" ('Whitey Ford Sings the Blues,' 1998)

De La Soul "Me, Myself, and I" ('3 Feet High and Rising,' 1989)

Pete Rock and CL Smooth "All Souled Out" ('All Souled Out,' 1991)

Brand Nubian "Step to the Rear" ('One For All,' 1990)

Dante Ross:

danteross.com

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit 

twitter.com/seandammit 

Email: [email protected]

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As a member of the Newark, New Jersey group Artifacts alongside Tame One and DJ Kaos, El Da Sensei is responsible for some bona fide 90s hip hop classics, including "C'mon with the Git Down” and "Wrong Side of da Tracks," the group’s homage to the art of graffiti. After Artifacts split up following their second album 'That’s Them' in 1997, El went on to have a prolific solo career, releasing nearly a dozen projects and consistently touring the globe on his own as well as with Polish hip hop duo The Returners. El’s a true working class emcee, and his dedication to his craft as a writer and as an independent artist has granted him a pretty unique experience that we uncover throughout this conversation. We also talk a little bit about the impromptu Artifacts reunion in 2009 that brought El and Tame together and set the stage for their upcoming third Artifacts album, produced entirely by Buckwild and carrying the torch for DJ Kaos, who unfortunately passed away in 2019 ; the album is scheduled to be released later this year. In this episode, we discuss:

"Speakin'" ('Relax, Relate, Release', 2003)

"Live Noise" feat. Akrobatik (w/ The Returners, 'GT2: Nu World', 2010)

"Wrong Side of Da Tracks" (Artifacts, 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place', 1994)

"It Takes Two" (w/ Sadat X, 'XL,' 2018)

"Money" feat Roc Marciano and Reef the Lost Cause ('The Money EP', 2009)

"Got Fire" (w/ The Returners, 'Global Takeover', 2008)

"31 Bumrush" (Artifacts, 'That's Them,' 1997)

El Da Sensei:

instagram.com/senseifromnj

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit 

twitter.com/seandammit 

Email: [email protected]

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In this episode I’m joined by Sage Francis, a rapper who was independent before claiming indie was cool. A veteran of the underground battle scene in which he won the Scribble Jam emcee battle in 2000, Sage was early in adopting a tour-heavy business model that found him relentlessly doing shows and hitting smaller markets in the 2000s. From the jump, Sage has never been afraid to occupy his own unique space in the landscape of rap music, incorporating influences from different genres of music, a rotating cast of collaborators, and a writing style that ranges from the fiercely political to the vulnerably personal. He was the first hip hop artist signed to legendary punk rock label Epitaph, and he would later go on to launch his own Strange Famous Records, where he continues to release his own projects as well as the works of other artists. Songs discussed:

"Jah Didn't Kill Johnny" ('A Healthy Distrust', 2005)

"Grace" ('Copper Gone,' 2014)

"Doomage" feat. Brother Ali and Slug (prod. MF DOOM) (Non-Prophets "Damage" single, 2004)

"Whoremonger" ('Still Sickly Business,' 2005)

"Underground For Dummies" ('Human the Death Dance', 2007)

Sage Francis:

strangefamousrecords.com

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit 

twitter.com/seandammit 

Email: [email protected]

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Simply put, Tre Hardson aka Slimkid3 is a legend. Hip hop was forever changed in 1992 when his group the Pharcyde emerged onto the scene with their classic debut album 'Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde.' The group brought a decidedly animated and imaginative element to their songwriting and presence on the microphone – and Tre definitely stood out with his distinct melodic voice; you could really even say that a lot of these rappers who sing owe a bit to Slimkid3. The Pharcyde’s second album Labcabincalifornia sported a darker sound (and early contributions from the great Jay Dee aka Jay Dilla) that reflected the frustration the group was going through with both the industry – and internally. Tre did one last album with the group (2000’s Plain Rap) before embarking on a solo career that also has seen him team up with DJ Nu-Mark from Jurassic 5, Ozomatli, and occasional reunions with various members of his Pharcyde brethren. Here are the songs we break down in this episode:

"Groupie Therapy" (Pharcyde 'Labcabincalifornia', 1995)

"Trust" (Pharcyde 'Plain Rap', 2000)

"King" feat Diamond D and K-Natural ('Slimkid3 & Nu-Mark', 2016)

"Life is Love" ('Liberation', 2002)

"Pick It Up" feat Dillon Cooper (TRDMRK, 2019)

"4 Better or 4 Worse" (Pharcyde 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde', 1992)

Slimkid3:

slimkid3.com

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit

twitter.com/seandammit

Email: [email protected]

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We're back with the rest of the conversation with singer/songwriter Esthero. In this episode, we talk about her work with Kanye West on his 808s and Heartbreak album, the making of her classic debut Breath From Another, and how she decided to only release a trailer of her new music on streaming services rather than put the whole thing online – a seriously revolutionary move that definitely caught the media’s attention in 2019. Songs discussed in this episode:

"Streetlights" (Kanye West, '808s and Heartbreak', 2008)

"Amber and Tiger's Eye" ('We R in Need of a Musical Revolution!', 2004)

"Breath From Another" ('Breath From Another,' 1998)

"Gimme Some Time" (2019)

Esthero:

esthero.net

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit 

twitter.com/seandammit 

Email: [email protected]

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Since the release of her debut album Breath from Another - which she co-produced with producer Doc McKinney in 1997, Esthero has definitively held the title of “your favorite singer’s favorite singer,” inspiring audiences and artists alike with the seamless blending of musical styles in her music as well as her captivating, incredible voice. Her second album Wikked Lil Grrls continued to explore different genres and found Esthero steering the ship by herself; by this point, she was fast becoming a frequent collaborator with many hip hop artists, including Goodie Mob, Black Eyed Peas, Andre 3000, and Kanye West, whose 808s and Heartbreak album featured a few songs that she co-wrote. She also provided the voice to Kanye’s spaceship on his groundbreaking Glow in the Dark Tour in 2008, which is a pretty cool flex if you ask me. In this episode, we break down the following songs from her catalog:

"O.G. Bitch" (2003)

"Junglebook" feat Andre 3000...kind of ('Wikked Lil Girls,' 2005)

"Everything is Expensive" ('Everything is Expensive', 2012)

Esthero:

esthero.net

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit 

twitter.com/seandammit 

Email: [email protected]

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After first making noise on a national scale through early collaborations with Danny Brown, Quelle Chris kicked off a prolific solo career of his own, including acclaimed albums such as Innocent Country with producer Chris Keys, his 2018 album ‘Everything’s Fine’ with his wife and fellow polymath Jean Grae, production work for some of indie rap’s finest, and most recently contributing to the score for the film Judas and the Black Messiah. Songs we discuss in this episode:

"Ohsh" feat. Hannibal Buress (w/ Jean Grae, "Everything's Fine', 2018)

"Sickum" ('Lullabies for the Broken Brain', 2016)

"Birthdaze" (prod. by Swarvy) ('Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often,' 2017)

"Walk By Faith" (Homeboy Sandman 'Don't Feed the Monster', 2020)

"Nothing Moves" (w/ Chris Keys, 'Innocent Country', 2015)

"Another Blunt" ('Shotgun and Sleek Rifle', 2013)

"Black Twitter" feat. Mosel and Nelson Bandela (w/ Chris Keys, 'Innocent Country 2', 2020)

Quelle Chris:

quellechris.bandcamp.com

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit 

twitter.com/seandammit 

Email: [email protected]

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Originally hailing from the Netherlands, Nicolay launched his career as we know it in the early 2000s, when he was sharing files over the Internet with Phonte Coleman from Little Brother. Their remote international collaboration resulted in the group Foreign Exchange, an ahead of its time side project that eventually brought Nicolay to the states and would lead to several albums, consistent touring around the globe, his own Foreign Exchange Music record label, and a Grammy nomination for the group’s second album Leave it All Behind – and they’ve done it all independently and playing by their own rules. Nicolay has also released his own albums – both instrumental and with other vocalists – and has built his brand around a refusal to conform to one sound or style. In this episode, we break down these songs:

"There's No Guarantee" ('City Lights Volume 1.5', 2005)

"Nic's Groove" (Foreign Exchange 'Connected', 2004)

"A New World" ('A New World', 2020)

"Behind Your Door" (w/ The Hot At Nights, 'Glaciers', 2018)

"Laughing At Your Plans" (Foreign Exchange 'Authenticity', 2010)

"What It Used To Be" feat Wiz Khalifa ('Here', 2006)

"Asking For a Friend" (Foreign Exchange, 'Tales from the Land of Milk and Honey', 2015)

Nicolay/Foreign Exchange:

foreignexchangemusic.com

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

instagram.com/seandammit

twitter.com/seandammit

Email: [email protected]

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Houston rapper Fat Tony popped onto my radar in the early part of the last decade from his appearances on mixtapes by both ASAP Rocky and Das Racist, and since then he’s had a wildly prolific career, dropping albums at a steady clip and constantly tweaking his sound. His most recent album – 2020's Exotica – finds Tony embracing the role of the griot with a concise collection of storytelling songs. I first connected with him when he appeared on an episode of my hip hop game show The Questions last year, and we had such a good time that I knew we had to reconnect and get even more in-depth on some music talk. In this episode we break down these songs:

"Through the Storm" ('10,000 Hours', 2018)

"What Wake You Up" feat Bun B ('Exotica', 2020)

"Get Out My Way" feat Sophia Pfister ('Wake Up' w/ Taydex, 2020)

'Legal Weed' ('MacGregor Park,' 2017)

"Take A Sip" (Charge it to the Game 'House with a Pool', 2018)

"U Ain't Fat" ('RABDARGAB', 2010)

"Full Circle" feat. J Kelr ('Full Circle', 2018)

Fat Tony:

anthonyobi.com

instagram.com/seandammit

twitter.com/seandammit

cantknocktheshuffle.com

questionshiphop.com

Email: [email protected]

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