Extraordinary Rap Podcast

Epic has incited many a hardcore head to clench their cheeks and shout, "This shit ain't hip hop!"  But a look into Epic's work reveals him as a deep admirer of the culture and a learned student of the craft.  Instead of adopting inner city affectations, as so many other white rappers have, Epic chose to be himself and lean into his Canadian prairie roots.

While not shying away from humor, and rapping about such un-hip-hop subjects as snow sledding, Epic is also no stranger to rap battles, shit-talking with the best of them, and at other times his rhymes gets so raw and real you might be brought to tears.

After a near-decade hiatus Epic is readying several new albums, and his work sounds as fresh as ever.  Nassau Manor, a collaboration with producer robcrooks, comes out later this month on Hand'Solo Records.

In our conversation (which Epic described as "heavy"), we discuss his outlook on the haters, his approach to the craft, aging as it relates to rap, and much more.

Also in this episode, a look at the excellent debut album by Wave Generators (AKA Nosaj of New Kingdom and Height Keech).

Our bonus episode reviews a slew of past releases that may deserve another glance, including works by Rob Base, X-Ecutioners, Jamalski, Ween, Devin The Dude, Tricky, Beck, Method Man, Mike Ladd, Slick Rick, King Geedorah, Biz Markie & more.  Exclusively at http://patreon.com/extraordinaryrap.

For Kool Keith shirts, Rammellzee and StapleMouth records, pedestrian tapes and zines, and much more, visit http://extraordinaryrap.org.

pedestrian doesn't work well with the algorithm.  Web searches for his indistinct moniker are useless; his small number of music releases is poorly-distributed; and while he's received a fair amount of critical praise, most was never, or is no longer, online.  Even before the internet was so integral to a musician's career, James Brandon Best, as he was born, didn't play ball with the music industry.  With no press photos, no music videos, rare and often-bewildering public performances, obscure lyrics, only two albums in over two decades, and not being the type of guy who gets invited to industry social gatherings, pedestrian's music hasn't reached nearly the amount of listeners it deserves.

While the collective that he named, anticon, blew up in the early 00s, establishing an unprecedentedly poetic, rough-hewn brand of hip hop, and his cohorts toured the globe, releasing a torrent of critically-praised projects, seemingly reaching the extent of popularity that could be achieved with cryptic, trend-eschewing rap music at that time, Brandon, as he's known personally, opted out of most of the opportunities afforded by popularity.  The now-long-disbanded group of artists remain successful in their individual music careers, each settling into their own contemporary art ecosystems, except, that is, for pedestrian, who remains on the fringes of obscurity, quietly allowing his artistic legacy to wither.

Unwilling to bend to the norms of a modern career artist, Brandon is arguably self-defeating in the extent to which he's made his work inaccessible.  Even if one manages to track down any of his recordings, cursory listens will leave the vast majority of rap listeners confused, as much of the language is coded and chock-full of highly specific references.

UnIndian Songs Volume I has been expanded and remastered for digital and cassette release, accompanied by a lyric/photo booklet.  (Pre-order it now at http://extraordinaryrap.bandcamp.com.)

In this episode, we sit down with pedestrian to unpack the album's many layers, references, and hidden meanings.

The album comes out digitally, on May 1, 2024, May Day, a day commemorating the historic struggles and gains of the workers and labour movement.  The album itself being largely focused on the United States' atrocities against its land's native peoples, it's a fitting day of solidarity and protest against imperialist forces.

In this spirit, all profits of the album will be donated directly to providing drinking water and search-and-rescue efforts to those desperate enough to attempt unlawful crossing of the southern US border, courtesy of the South Texas Human Rights Center.

Our Patreon bonus includes another 40 minutes with pedestrian, plus a rundown of your host's recent rap listenings.  Past bonus material includes even more talks with pedestrian, his unreleased Stuffed Animals album, interviews with other anticon members, and much more.  Access it all for 3 lousy bucks at http://patreon.com/extraordinaryrap.

All things Extraordinary Rap at http://extraordinaryrap.org.

Insurgent rapper/author/organizer Mic Crenshaw joins us for an in-depth look into his anti-racist actions, community upliftment, music and much more.  Plus reviews of Wet-Jet Seymour and Mars Kumari.

In our bonus episode we cover new and old releases by Danny Brown, Buck 65, Doseone, Jel, Sole & The Skyrider Band, Congplexonome, Gensu Dean & Denmark Vessey, William Crooks, and Jon Spencer, plus a look into the entire Jungle Brothers discography.  http://patreon.com/extraordinaryrap

Mic Crenshaw links:

Official site: https://www.miccrenshaw.com/home It Did Happen Here podcast: https://itdidhappenherepodcast.com It Did Happen Here book: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1467 The Baldies documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BSDZ1DIEIQ Rebelwise: https://www.rebelwise.link Crenshaw & Shabazz: https://crenshawandshabazz.com

Wet-Jet Seymour: The Head https://crossingdoubleyellows.bandcamp.com/album/the-head

Mars Kumari: I Thought I Lost You https://marskumari.bandcamp.com/album/i-thought-i-lost-you-2

Extraordinary Rap record label, merch, links, etc: http://extraordinaryrap.org

In this episode, on location in exotic London of the UK, we speak with vibrant young rap wippersnappers Retropxssy and JoeJas.  Plus reviews of Hester Valentine & Outside House, Andrew Mbaruk, and Cashmaster Buck.

Retropxssy does a unique range of cute/scary/heartfelt music owing influences to grime, punk, pop, and beyond.  https://retropxssy.bandcamp.com

London-based, Atlanta-raised, MC/beatsmith JoeJas makes defiantly sunny, uplifting rap music, and is an event coordinator, video producer and fashion designer under his Fat Llama umbrella.  https://joejas.bandcamp.com

The articles I mentioned on South African and London rap - http://extraordinaryrap.patreon.com

Hester Valentine & Outside House: I Can't Cut Your Hair https://wearethekarmakids.bandcamp.com/album/i-cant-cut-your-hair

Andrew Mbaruk: Black Squirrel: A Memoir https://extraordinaryrap.bandcamp.com/album/black-squirrel-a-memoir Cashmaster Buck: Cashmaster https://buckyoto.bandcamp.com/album/cashmaster

Rate/review if you please at http://weirdrap.com/rating

All the ER stuff at http://extraordinaryrap.org

Featured in this episode:

Lt. Headtrip X DOS4GW - Tap on the Glass https://wearethekarmakids.bandcamp.com/album/tap-on-the-glass

Too Birds - Soul of Too Birds https://toobirds.bandcamp.com/album/soul-of-too-birds

BAYANG (tha Bushranger) - REDBRICKGOTHIK https://soundcloud.com/datuizm/sets/redbrickgothik

Hemlock Ernst & Height Keech - The Fall Collection https://alphapup.bandcamp.com/album/the-fall-collection

Carmine Moth - Pontifical Resin https://deadorchard.bandcamp.com/album/pontifical-resin

Decuma - feeding the world serpent https://decuma1.bandcamp.com/album/feeding-the-world-serpent

Deleeteglitch - Creature of Habit https://deleteeglitch.bandcamp.com/album/creature-of-habit-2

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips https://armandhammer.bandcamp.com/album/we-buy-diabetic-test-strips

(episode art by) Michael Gates https://www.instagram.com/g8s_art

http://extraordinaryrap.org http://instagram.com/extraordinaryrap http://youtube.com/@extraordinaryrap

In this bonus episode, internal affairs are discussed, personal issues are disclosed, and secret info is declassified. Includes talk of Kool Keith, Decuma, Andrew Mbaruk, the Weird vs the Extraordinary, and more.  This is an abridged version of a considerably longer, more embarrasing episode, available in its entirety at http://patreon.com/extraordinaryrap.

Decuma album & more at http://extraordinaryrap.bandcamp.com.

Kool Keith shirts & more at http://extraordinaryrap.org.

<3

It's the last episode of the Weird Rap Podcast, and the first episode of the Extraordinary Rap Podcast!  Mrs.Paintbrush, AKA Jackson of Grand Buffet, bares his beautiful soul, with guest interviewer Beverly Fresh.

Pittsburgh native Mrs.Paintbrush boldly bridges the gap between bedroom hip hop and arena rock - like if David Lee Roth were an underground dadaist rapper, not really but maybe sort of...   This is a poor attempt at describing a truly one-of-a-kind musician.

Keep an ear out for his new EP, Jaskin, out on his bday, Tuesday, Sep 19, at http://mrspaintbrush.bandcamp.com.

http://extraordinaryrap.org

[email protected]

Bonus episodes, etc. - http://patreon.com/extraordinaryrap

Sorry about the sound quality and hasty editing/production/etc.  Times have been fast.  More soon.

Z-Man:

https://www.z-man.xyz

https://gurpcitymusic.bandcamp.com

https://www.instagram.com/zmaineyzdazzle

https://soundcloud.com/zmantheoriginal

https://twitter.com/Zmantheoriginal

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XMd7fCgFvAuHCsP7SR6BV

Weird Rap:

http://weirdrap.com

The self-proclaimed "neighborhood weirdo," Beverly Fresh, has performed in basements, county fairs, and tent revivals, created multi-media exhibitions for major museums, made a feature film, and taught and lectured internationally.  He holds the world record for catching the most Whopper candies in his mouth and compiling the tallest stack of rap cassettes.  PIES is his new vinyl-only rap album, available for a limited time only at http://BeverlyFresh.com.

First Degree The D.E. has a new EP, Light The Beam, further building on the singular MC/producer's catalog of genre-defying work.  http://FirstDegreeTheDE.com

Our bonus material includes reviews of recent releases by billy woods and Kenny Segal, Wet-Jet Seymour, and Rahim Salaam, top secret news, and 15 minutes of unreleased music from Beverly Fresh!  (Subscribers also have access to Weird Wednesdays, non-recorded Zoom meeting and our sizeable back-catalog of exclusive bonus material featuring some of rap's greatest weirdos.)  http://patreon.com/weirdrap

Music, merch, community at http://WeirdRap.com.

In this episode of Weird Rap Podcast, we're joined by Mars Kumari and Volume 10.

Mars Kumari (aka Bruiser Marcy), member of Deadverse and Bruiser Brigade, has been bridging the gap between ambient noise and rap, making a stir in the last couple years as her work has been embraced by the likes of JUNE!, Dälek, and Danny Brown.  Meanwhile she's released several solo instrumental albums heralded by avant-garde electronic listeners and hip hoppers alike.  We discuss her artistic approach and music as therapy, plus she shares some exclusive tracks.

Volume 10 (of Goodlife, Project Blowed, etc.) returns once again to share his thoughts on the new Backwoodz compilation, High Bias.  He also talks about almost retiring, the tepid response to his most recent album 'Volume 10 As Dean Hawkins,' and more.

In the bonus episode, many recent music releases are discussed including some by Machine Girl, Andrew Mbaruk, DJ Smiley Bobby, Buck 65, DJ Sega, Kohai the Wonderguy, Rahim Salaam, Moor Mother, Quelle Chris, Grill Billyenz, william crooks, Pan Amsterdam, Yung Morpheus, Lil Kydd!?, Joan Of The Stockyards, 40 Ounces Of Palimpestial Equations (Rammellzee and Part 2), Yole Boys, and First Degree The D.E.  We also report on a recent concert featuring M. Sayyid (of Antipop Consortium), Jel, and Mars Kumari.  And finally, Mars Kumari leaks two exclusive tracks, available to download.  All of this, plus past bonus material is yours for three bucks at http://patreon.com/weirdrap.

The many Weird Rap tentacles intersect at http://weirdrap.com, where you'll find Rammellzee and StapleMouth records, Kool Keith/Dr. Octagon shirts, Sensational CDs, and much more.