Microphone Check

While Frannie Kelley was in Atlanta reporting about OutKast weekend, she spoke to Killer Mike in the waxing room at his barber shop, V103 DJ Greg Street in a gold Impala parked behind the gas station at the West End Mall and to DJ Drama while they were both at the airport -- though he was at LAX and she was at Hartsfield. Less than 20 seconds of each of those interviews made it into the radio report, but here is way more: Killer Mike on flip-flops and socks, Greg Street on the OutKast brand and Drama on the days when New York stores thought Southern mixtapes wouldn't sell.

And here's the story that aired on All Things Considered: http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/10/03/353516382/outkast-and-atlanta-until-they-close-the-curtain.

Andre 3000 — née André Benjamin, sometimes Three Stacks and always one half of the mighty OutKast — sat down with Microphone Check hosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley before a screening of the just-released Jimi Hendrix biopic in which he stars. He spoke about his current work with the Queen of Soul, how and why OutKast and the Dungeon Family 20 years ago put the city of Atlanta on their backs and what young musicians now can learn from his group's early days.

On Sunday, Sept. 14, 20 years and one day after Biggie Small's debut album Ready to Die was released, Microphone Check gathered four of the musician's friends in Brooklyn to recall the man they knew. We called the event If You Don't Know, Now You Know: The Stories Of Notorious B.I.G.

Hubert Sam went to elementary school with Chris Wallace and was his very first DJ. Donald Harrison, Jr., was a world-touring jazz musician when Hubert and Chris started going over to his house to talk about jazz and the industry. Matty C, whose job gave him access to all the latest hip-hop before anyone else, used to get hit up by Big for new tapes as he got off the subway. And dream hampton took Biggie with her to classes at NYU's film school.

The story-telling happened at BRIC House on Fulton Street, just blocks from where the young man who would become the Notorious B.I.G. went to school, bagged groceries, hustled and freestyled. You can download the conversation above, or watch videos of the panel here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/microphonecheck/2014/09/18/349607102/microphone-check-live-the-stories-of-the-notorious-b-i-g.

The Brooklyn rapper spoke to Microphone Check about the music business, the old neighborhood, staying in the studio, the appeal of supergroups, the kids and a theoretical campaign to be Mayor of New York City.

A rap duo from New York City is being talked about as a continuation of the golden era of hip-hop — a time in the late '80s and early '90s when groups made songs that noted police brutality, elevated conversation and filled dance floors. Issa and AK are at a stage in their careers — three full length projects in — where they believe they've gained enough skill and experience to be able to make music that does what they want it to do: spark change, infuse the culture, help them see the world.

They sat with Microphone Check cohosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley this spring and received some grown man admonishment and one tip regarding a video location while telling stories about Australian fans and all their strategic moves.

20 years ago, Nas mentioned his friend Cormega on a song called "One Love," which was composed as a letter to someone in prison: "Night time is more trife than ever / What up with Cormega? Did you see him? Are y'all together? / If so then hold the fort down, represent to the fullest / Say what's up to Herb, Ice and Bullet." Those four bars inked Cormega's street credibility and forever tied him, for better and worse, to the crown prince of hip-hop. He spoke to Microphone Check cohosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley about the career and life he's made beyond them.

The Los Angeles rapper spoke to Microphone Check co-hosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley about his early days playing house parties all over the county, DJ Mustard's start, his friendship with ScHoolboy Q and how his mother yelling at him ended up on his debut album.

The Los Angeles rapper spoke to Microphone Check co-hosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley about his early days playing house parties all over the county, DJ Mustard's start, his friendship with ScHoolboy Q and how his mother yelling at him ended up on his debut album.

The renowned producer attributes his creativity to another legend: "I was musically charged, man. I had some adrenaline going on then. I'm serious, ever since I — I think after I met James Brown as a kid. I was seven years old," says Pete Rock. "I wasn't the same since."

The man who made "T.R.O.Y." and "The World Is Yours" spoke with Microphone Check hosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley about shaking the hand of the Godfather of Soul and attending his funeral, crawling through a dog door to practice on Heavy D's equipment, the effects of 9/11 on music and J Dilla. "I'm like, 'Yo, this guy's gonna have me out of a job.'"

Ab-Soul, the most philosophical member of the by now vaunted Top Dawg Entertainment, met Microphone Check hosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley in Los Angeles two weeks before the release of his latest album, called These Days ... After only one listen to the album, the three of them had a conversation about Ab's high expectations of his audience and what he's trying to make for them.

"I've learned the bulk of what I know from hip-hop music. You understand what I'm saying? Like I learned — from listening to hip-hop music, I learned about things that I would soon learn about as an adult, from listening to it as a child," he says. "That's what I got from hip-hop, and so I just want to give that right back."