Pop the Trunk

De La Soul gets the full Pop the Trunk treatment. With one seat empty this week (and a suspect excuse behind it), the crew heads back to Amityville to trace the group from pause tapes to one of the most defiant catalogs rap has ever produced. Along the way, a firsthand account of how they really got signed, a local's view of the Long Island they came up in, and a tribute to Dave that lands close to home.

After years of turning down Insane Clown Posse's invitations, Vinnie finally agrees to play the Gathering of the Juggalos and finds himself learning the culture's unwritten rules in real time. Billy and Brendan get the full story: trailered between Scarface's Ghetto Boys and KRS-One, watching KRS destroy the stage right before his set, bonding with Scarface over shared metalhead roots, and getting schooled on Faygo showers — where getting hit with stuff on stage is a compliment, not a threat.

Twenty years later, Vinnie looks back on the album that carried Jedi Mind Tricks' momentum further than it had ever gone — a record that pushed the group to new heights while staying true to the sound that built them. From the writing to the guest verses to the reaction it got once it hit the road, Vinnie walks through what made this one land the way it did, and why it still holds up two decades on.

Planetary — one half of OuterSpace and a longtime member of Army of the Pharaohs — becomes the first guest to make a return trip to Pop the Trunk, picking up round two of tour stories with Vinnie and the guys. Between promoter run-ins that still don't make sense, road food battles, and shows nobody saw coming, this one's for anyone who's ever wondered what actually happens between the van and the stage.

Of course, with two decades of shared stages behind them, Planetary fits right into the guys' banter like he never left — Episode 30, Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz.

Vinnie and the guys revisit Legacy of Blood, JMT's fourth album, 22 years after it dropped. Vinnie walks through building the record from the ground up in Philly — the studio flood that nearly wiped out the sessions, the cover art story, and how the loop-hunting obsession shaped the sound.

Billy and Brendan dig into the details with him — the almost-censored track that nearly got them dropped from the industry, how the featured verses came together, and the road stories from a 26-year-old still figuring out if anyone outside Philly and New York was listening.

Vinnie and the guys dig into the anniversary of Visions of Gandhi, tracing how the record came together. From a makeshift studio to Chung King in New York, it's a rare look at the making of a record straight from the source. The group also gets into the usual off-topic detours, so stick around for the stuff that has nothing to do with the album too.

Vinnie and the guys tackle one of hip hop's most loaded accusations: what actually makes someone an "industry plant"? They lay out the real definition, argue over where the line is between a plant and a straightforward nepo baby, and put some names under the microscope to see who holds up.

The conversation swings from the self-made billionaire myth to Malcolm Gladwell to comedy's own version of the plant debate. Tune in for it all on Episode 27 of Pop the Trunk!

Comedian Joe DeRosa joins Vinnie and the guys for Episode 26, and the group digs into Joe's early days of hip hop — including who his "cheat code" was, the one that got him hooked on the culture in the first place. From there the conversation moves into Joe's early comedy days, the influences that shaped him, and how he found his own voice on stage. As always it wanders well beyond that too, hitting career stories, some unexpectedly honest reflection, and a run through the Five Spot questions to close it out.

Of course, Joe joins right in on the typical banter with no topic being too ridiculous.

Check out Joe’s new special, Never Promised You a Rose Garden, on Netflix.

Episode 25 gets into where Vinnie's fascination with the occult and conspiracy theories actually started, how deep it pulled him in over the years, and how it eventually found its way into his writing. It's a rare look at the research behind the references fans have picked up on for years, told from the source. From there the conversation wanders through everything from childhood habits to internet rabbit holes and heated debates that go nowhere, plus another Dear Vin reading that goes about how you'd expect.

Today’s episode is a full breakdown of how "Uncommon Valor" actually got made — twenty years after it dropped, still one of the most talked-about concept records in hip hop. The making of that song, the friendship with R.A. the Rugged Man that had to exist before it could happen, and the real history and personal stakes behind the writing. Plus the usual detours you come here for.