Dad Bod Rap Pod

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Illmatic, Nas’s masterpiece, one of the greatest albums in the history of music, and some might say a perfect album. We break it down track by track and then interview Faith Newman, the legendary music executive who signed Nasty Nas to Columbia Records and oversaw the release. We also talk about Lil Nas X because internet.

We check in on the state of hip-hop journalism. Of course DBRP co-host David Ma is one of the world’s premier music journalists, filing stories often for Wax Poetics, The Guardian, Okayplayer and many other fine publications. We discuss the work of his peers, including past guests Jeff Weiss, Paul Thompson, and Shawn Setaro. As important as it is to listen to the music, it’s hard to truly understand the culture without the work of these great writers and journalists.

We’re pleased to be joined this week by LA-based producer Kenny Segal. We are fans of his 2018 instrumental album Happy Little Tress but we were most excited to talk to him about the excellent Hiding Places, a full length collaboration with rapper billy woods. We are huge fans of the project. Kenny tells us about his working methods, as well as some upcoming projects. Tune in!

Great show this week, we are joined in-studio by our friend Cutso to break down Gang Starr’s beyond-classic album Hard To Earn. Make sure to listen until the end for some reflections on the album from its mastermind DJ Premier himself. Dad Bod co-host David Ma interviewed Primo for an upcoming story and we are lucky to be able to share some of the rough audio from the interview here.

This week we take a look at some albums that have become legendary on the minds of fans because they were never actually released. Sparked by the announcement this week that there are Mac Miller and Madlib (Maclib) tracks that exist but won’t be released officially, though Madlib will play them in his live sets from time to time. What are your favorite unreleased projects? Which ones are you dying to hear?

Another unexpected but dope set of guests this week… Our fist segment is an interview with Fat Boys member, solo artist, producer, and actor Prince Markie Dee. Mark shares wild stories from the golden age of hip-hop when the Fat Boys were bringing rap to the masses and talks about what he’s up to now. Next up we have a fun trivia segment with Branden Peters, a well-respected journalist who has transitioned into running an extremely successful hip-hop trivia night in Atlanta and beyond. Every beat this week is from friend of the program @weezmatic huge thanks to Aaron for sending us a pack and shout out his crew The Bangerz por vida!

We have a very special guest this week, Akinyele. You may have heard his energetic verse on the classic Main Source track “Live at the BBQ” or his underground anthem “Put It In Your Mouth”. Now hear what he is up to these days and his refreshing, unique take on the De La/Tommy Boy controversy.

The first segment this week is an interview with reclusive producer Controller 7, a unique talent who may be best known for his work with the Anticon collective in the early 200s but has steadily released dark instrumental projects, mixes, and re-mixes for the last two decades on a variety on influential labels and on his own. We are huge fans of his music, and not just because we come from the same hometown. All of the beats heard on today’s show are his productions, so if you like what you hear make sure to visit https://controller7.bandcamp.com/

The second segment is Nate’s attempt at an NPR style audio essay on how skateboarding, music (especially underground hip-hop) and film intersect as well as a brief chat with pro skateboarder Jose Rojo.

We’re taking a slightly different approach this week. We asked writer, producer, and Grime aficionado Son Raw to join us for the full hour to lead us through the development of the hip-hop adjacent UK-based genre. We laughed, we learned, nodded our heads.

Author, funk drummer, and respected hip-hop figure J-Zone @jzone101 joins us this week to drop knowledge about the rap industry and promote his new Red Bull Music Academy series Give The Drummer Some, where he interviews and plays with legendary drummers. We are really happy with how this one turned out.