Dad Bod Rap Pod

Hey everybody. Today we have a quick mini-episode wrapping up our recent trip to Boise, Idaho for the Treefort Music Fest. We talk about some of the acts we saw and our general impressions of the overall experience of traveling given current circumstances and more. We also have a brief interview with Treefort publicist Marissa Lovell, who describes some of the hard work that goes into planning, booking, and making a music festival come to life. Brought to you by Stony Island Audio.

We recently had the pleasure of attending the Treefort Music Festival in Boise, Idaho, an annual event bringing an eclectic musical lineup as well as discussions, food, beer, and much more. We had a great time at the fest and one of the highlights was getting to have a conversation with Open Mike Eagle and Video Dave. Mike owns our podcast network Stony Island and we have interviewed him several times before, but he is truly one of the most practiced and engaging podcast guests on the planet. This was our first time talking to Video Dave and we all got along well immediately. Mike drops some knowledge about What Had Happened Was Season 3, his TV writing gig, and his feelings around performing in these uncertain times. Dave tells us about his excellent video projections and his last album, Week 1560. Our hosts also share some impressions about traveling, music festivals, and getting back together to pod in person. Beats this week are from our friend Controller 7's new album entitled exhale02: Moments. These shenanigans are brought to you by the world's greatest hip-hop storytelling flower-giving-focused podcast network, Stony Island Audio.

This week we bring you an extravagangsta, our attempt to reckon with the complicated legacy of one of hip-hop's greatest collectives, N.W.A. It is impossible to tell the story of rap music without talking about the controversies, personalities, and most importantly, the music of N.W.A. In the first segment we view their music through a contemporary lens, parsing what works, what doesn't, highlighting favorite tracks, and discussing the group and its members, some of the most important figures, both as artists and business people, in the history of hip-hop. Then we have a great conversation with N.W.A. member DJ Yella. We talk to Yella about the group's rise to fame, fashion sense, seeing himself portrayed on the big screen in Straight Outta Compton, and how he spent his time after the group broke up. Heads up, all of our episodes are marked explicit on the streaming services, and we do occasionally curse on the show, but this one is particularly profane. DBRP comes straight outta Stony Island Audio.

Yoooo. This week we have a quick segment talking about some new music then a great chat with the prolific rapper Blu. We interviewed Blu and frequent collaborator Exile last year about their excellent jazz-influenced album Miles. This week he's back to discuss several new projects and his overall approach to how me makes and presents his music. Beats this week were submitted by Darko The Super and we appreciate the contribution. DBRP is a palm tree slightly inland on Stony Island Audio, bending toward the sun.

If you've been a hip-hop fan long enough, you've been to a few wack shows. Maybe it was too many dudes on stage. Maybe the artist was beefing with the sound man. Maybe someone was rapping over their own vocals. Maybe somebody got too drunk. It happens. However, with the right perspective, you don't have to let it ruin your night. Our three hosts recall less-than-stellar shows as both fans and performers in the first segment. Next up we have an interview with Karim aka Nightclubber Lang and Destro from Seattle's Boom Bap Project. These guys are underground hip-hop mainstays, having crossed the continent multiple times, earning themselves a reputation as very reliable live performers. They also have a new album out called Return Flight, make sure to check that out. Beats this week were submitted by Jake Lionheart. We also appreciate SKECH185 for providing our first ever drop! DBRP is a message in a bottle that somehow reached the shore of Stony Island Audio.

This week our attention turns to record stores, record collecting, and the art of the come-up. Dave, Demone & Nate share a few digging stories, talk about the state of the record collecting game, and discuss the limits of sample snitching in hip-hop media. After that we have a lovely chat with consummate b-boy, gifted producer and recording artist DJ Format. We have been fans of Format's records and mixes for many years, so we are pleased to welcome him to the show to talk about his career, in particular his excellent recent release, the somewhat subdued and psych-influenced Devil's Workshop. DBRP was scooped out of the podcast dollar bin by the keen collectors at Stony Island Audio.

What is the rap album of the summer? We share our picks as well as some listener feedback sourced from Twitter. That conversation inevitably leads to a deeper examination of the seasonality of music and how we decide when to listen to certain albums. Then we have a great talk with MC The Last Emperor. Perhaps best known for his underground classic cut "Secret Wars" where he imagines a battle between hip-hop stalwarts (who he impersonates, some of the impressions are spot on) and Marvel comic heroes many years before the MCU was the dominant force in entertainment. The Emperor had a winding path through the music business, and breaks down his unique career and approach in detail here. DBRP is a proud part of the Stony Island Audio podcast network.

This week we're chatting about new records from Isaiah Rashad, Nas, and past DBRP guests Homeboy Sandman and Pink Siifu that have been released recently. Next up we have a great interview with duo Tanya Morgan. Donwill and Von Pea are veterans of the underground rap scene with an impressive discography of work together as a group and as solo artists. We get into all of that here, with an emphasis on their most recent LP Don & Von which drops Friday August 13th. DBRP is a proud part of the Stony Island Audio podcast network.

This week we have a conversation with Declaime aka Dudley Perkins. This Oxnard-born MC recently released an album of his early collaborative tracks with the great producer Madlib. As Dudley Perkins, he also has a full career as a self-taught singer over very funky production. He is currently focusing a lot of his effort on building up the artists on his label, and we get into all of this and more. DBRP is a proud part of the Stony Island Audio podcast network.

This week we are touching on the subject of gentrification as it relates to rap music and specifically a few recent albums that directly discuss displacement. We are big fans of Skyzoo's most recent release All The Beautiful Things, which describes the changing nature of a Brooklyn neighborhood in vivid detail. Skyzoo possesses one of hip-hop's most gifted pens, and he joins us this week to talk about the layers of his writing, how he put together such a cohesive album, and some of the hallmarks of his career thus far. DBRP is a proud part of the Stony Island Audio podcast network.