Helio-Tropes

This week Yash returns with a solo pod mega mix featuring 10 songs to cruise to in your car or commute. Let it rock.

This episode features Yash’s friend, rapper and co-host of 'Call Out Culture' podcast Alaska and producer Steel Tipped Dove. Their new album titled ‘Reverberations of a Dead Man’s Ego’ is out now on Fused Arrow Records. We talk about the relationship between bandcamp and selling merch hand to hand, the divide between what is considered real hip hop vs contemporary rap, Stan Van Gundy’s ball handling, and getting better at rap with age. We go in on day jobs influencing art, how spreadsheets have revolutionized Doves’ process, the album concept’s dark humor, developing a figurative mid-range rap style like Jordan, and that an aging Fat Joe continues to cap in his rap. We wax poetic about the 90's underground rap scene at the Nuyorican Poets cafe in NYC and how certain songs on the album represent the artists and spirit of that time. Dove tells us where he gets his samples from and Alaska lists a few new rappers and pop songs he can rock with and much more. This one is for the heads. All praises due.

Drew Millard is a writer, editor, podcaster (co-host of Nersey) and author of a very good book called 'How Golf Can Save Your Life.' On this episode we delve into his time at VICE's music website 'Noisey' and an unprecedented time of stunt blogging in the blog era. We also get into Drew's new blog called 'Media Events' and his recently posted story that takes a deep dive on The Black Eyed Peas in a way that you or Yash (or anyone) has never seen before. Yash also shares his experience with BIP when they attempted to take it back to the essence on one of their albums and dropped a forgettable dud. We also talk about Drew's book, the game of golf and how it can change your life for better or worse; but mostly for the better after it gets worse. Drew flips the script and questions Yash about his time as a rapper in New York. We also discuss the new Denzel Curry album being indebted to Three 6 Mafia and conclude the show with Drew's Top 5 songs of the moment including highlights from Skrilla, Cavalier, Sematary and more. banger.

Back to our regularly scheduled program. This week we are joined by none other than Kyle Ng, vibe curator, co-founder and creative director of the cutting edge, trippy, music forward, and multi-product clothing brand Braindead. He tells us about his trip to Paris for the Olympics with Oakley and goes on to break down the culture-first ethos of the brand. His passion for indie rock, hardcore and punk is still one of the driving forces behind everything that happens at Braindead and there are no plans to deviate from his personal taste any time soon. From sponsoring Sound and Fury Festival in Los Angeles, to collaborations with Dickies, Magic The Gathering and musicians like Toro Y Moi, Morbid Angel and Devo, Braindead is subverting the subculture. Yash tells him how he discovered the brand after stumbling into an NTS Radio x Braindead event one night out drinking and Kyle breaks down 7 songs he's rocking to right now including bangers from Faye Webster, Big Boy, Clairo, Julia Holter, Thom Yorke and more.

This week Sissòn joins us to talk about some of the influences that shaped his identity and the things that inspire him most. Hailing from Arizona and now based in Los Angeles, Sissòn is a multi-disciplinary artist whose paintings and works have graced galleries and museums worldwide over the past decade. In our conversation, he discusses the intrinsic relationship between art and music in his world, particularly with how he depicts the Black experience. He tells us about Arizona being more gangster than people are aware of, and his personal transition from a life of crime to fine art. From portraying Sociopolitical subjects to capturing the spirit of 4PF on canvas, his range knows no bounds. We talk about how lack of representation in his youth was a driving force in the development of his subject matter, and the overlooked importance of Lil Baby personifying the American dream. He explains how French composer Eric Satie along with Philip Glass provide the soundtracks to concentration, and describes Jay-Z's significance in his life and work. He also breaks down how 'fake humble' is the least genuine form of humility and a lesson he may have learned from Mk.Gee. 

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Fresh off the scorching BET Awards red carpet Yash is back with special guest Suzy Exposito AKA Brujacore. Suzy is a New Jersey born, Miami raised, and LA based freelance writer and editor who has bylines Rolling Stone, LA Times, Vogue, Elle, NPR, Remezcla, Revolver and more. We get right down to business about all girls band camp, how Goth is no longer exclusive to Goths and abuelas with crazy visions. We get into Charli XCX's return to form on 'BRAT,' her PC music past, and the time it takes for popstars to bake.  We also talk about Coi Leray twerking herself out of her XXL Freestyle and Lana being a Larp Goddess. Of course we get into At The Drive In's impact and the lack of a contemporary post-hardcore wave — but we remain hopeful. Spotify raised its prices again? the rich get richer, the artists don't, and Suzy explains why she switched sides. We dig in on Nourished By Time, Eyedress, Lil Yachty and James Blake plus Suzy shares her Top 5 songs of the moment including entries by Girl Ultra, Omar Apollo, Nia Archives, Angelíca Garcia, and Juggler on this holiday week episode.

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Smack in the middle of a heatwave Yash returns from a trip to New York with even more flames. We talk about a forthcoming Clipse reunion album and the prospect of a Re-up Gang come back, opting out of Kendrick's 'The Pop Out' show, 2Hollis' excellent 'boy' album, Wu Tang's long lost album that has now somehow been converted to an $1 NFT, and the the factors at play when an artist/band cancels an arena tour due to low ticket sales. We talk about major labels WMG, UMG and SONY taking legal action against artificial intelligence companies Suno and Udio for alleged copywright infringement by using licensed music as source material to train their models. As AI start ups continue to hatch their insidious plans with big funding in attempts to usurp real human creativitiy, we at Helio-Tropes are welcoming the AI revolution with open arms and pockets. Yash also lets his Top 5 songs ring off with entries from Chicken P, MCVERTT, Lucki, NXCRE & The Villains, Joanne Robertson, and Lelo. 

Matthew Ritchie is a music, culture and sports writer who is also a contributor at Pitchfork and has written stories for GQ, Chicago Reader, Rolling Stone, Passion of The Weiss, and others. In this episode we try our damndest to focus on one body of work and cannonball directly into Mach-Hommy's #RICHAXXHATIAN album which Matthew reviewed for Pitchfork. We talk about how an 8.0 is the "peoples champion" score even if it's not given the Best New Music championship belt. We break down why the title track is the most streamed song on the album and how streams aren't indicative of the qualitative factors that must be considered when it comes to Mach Hommie lore. Could this album have come out on the now defunct, storied Rawkus Records label? Definitely. are we talking Grammy album? possibly. Is the bar low in the 'real hip-hop alert' space? probably. We discuss. We also break down how Mach enlists the top dogs in this lane to deliver guest verses including features from Roc Marciano, Black Thought, Your Old Droog, The God Fahim and more. We tap into the urgency and revolutionary nature of the music fueled by pointed lyrics on the current social and political turmoil in Haiti. We conclude that it's totally fine to like what hasn't aged well like the 1989 cult classic Wrestling movie No Holds Barred. And before it's too late Matt gives us his top 5 songs of the moment, which turn out to be in the name of love (for the most part) with choice cuts from Ghostface, Crime Mob, Michael Urbaniak, and more.

Vivian Medithi is resident rap corrrespondent at The FADER who has bylines at Pitchfork, NoBells, HipHopDX, Los Angeles Review of Books and more. We talk about Milwaukee rapper Myaap whose excellent song "MLK" and new project produced by Nedarb of Gothboy Click fame is a hidden gem (for now). We break down the details of Atlanta rapper Slimesito and Surf Gang honcho/producer Evil Giane's collab tape titled 'Evil Slime.' Is Lazer Dim 700 commercially viable? Does he need to be? We have the answers. The Atlanta phenomenon is taking the internet by storm and we go in on what makes him so captivating to his rapidly growing, rabid audience like self-deprecating bars, and recording songs on his phone via the Bandlab audio app. We debut a new segment called 'Drafts' and get into Vivian's Top 5 songs of the moment including heat from Tomu DJ, ZAYALLCAPS, Baby Osama and more. Listen and maybe learn.

Jayson Buford is a journalist from Harlem, NY covering culture, music, and sports who has written for publications like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Vanity Fair, Stereogum, and more. He joins us today to talk about our beloved Knicks and all things endemic to the greatest city in the world. Our expert analysis leads us to the conclusion that Donté DiVincenzo could have easily been Jackie Junior's mans in The Sopranos or sold ecstasy in real life. We discuss a story he wrote on Cap USA, a black-owned storefront that sells a plethora of hat styles including fitted hats and streetwear in the heart of Harlem — which also serves as a longstanding cultural hub despite a myriad of uncontrollable challenges negatively impacting family-owned businesses. We talk about Ghostface's new album, Chief Keef's excellent 'Almighty SO 2' album, and a buzzing Atlanta rapper with a seemingly encrypted name, 2Sdxrt3all (2S-Dirtball). Jayson also lists his New York restaurant recommendations including where he would split a chicken with anybody. He breaks down Trump's unintentional low-brow, chaotic sense of humor and graces us with his Top 5 songs at the moment, including highlights from Detroit's Baby Money and Future. Go New York Go New York Go.