Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest this week is New York rapper Jay Cinema. We spoke about Downtown 81 and our mutual love for Basquiat, where his name came from, The Lion King movies, Treasure Planet, the pros and cons of going to concerts, being inspired by Tyler, The Creator, and the creative process behind his four projects from this year: Alchemy with Chow and its recent deluxe edition, Pure Magic with Alikho Igama, and Perseverance as one-half of the duo JUNECINEMA. Come fuck with us.   

Alchemy and ALCDELUXE are both available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen via EveryDejaVu. Consider copping directly off Bandcamp.

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Read my review of Ovrkast's last project, RESET!, over at Pitchfork.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  

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My guest this week is author, former photographer, and event coordinator T. Eric Monroe. We spoke about Family Guy, Freakazoid, and the edifying power of cartoons, his relationship with Boyz n The Hood and Menace II Society, growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, how attending skateboarding events led him to photography, stories behind extremely rare rap photos from his collection, his career in event programming, the art of repurposing content for Instagram, and the creative process behind the collectors edition of his book Rare & Unseen Moments of 90s Hip-Hop. Come fuck with us. 

Rare & Unseen Moments of 90s Hip-Hop is available wherever books are sold. Consider grabbing a copy directly from T Dot's website. Follow T Dot on Instagram and Twitter: @tdoteric.

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Read my review of Ovrkast's last project, RESET!, over at Pitchfork.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)   

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My guest this week is Chicago rapper, producer, promoter, and all-around creative, Rich Jones. We spoke about food blogging, Saturday Night, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ghost Dog: Way of The Samurai, watching movies not made for kids as a kid, establishing himself as a rapper, producer, and promoter, bringing Chicago with him wherever he goes, his future in music, and the creative process behind his latest project Sour Dub, produced entirely by Sinai, otherwise known as Sleep Sinatra. Come fuck with us.

Sour Durb is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from Rich's Bandcamp. Follow Rich on Instagram (@richjones_music) and Twitter (@jonessoruthless). Follow Sleep on Instagram (@sleepsinatra) and Twitter (@SleepSinai).

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Read my review of Ovrkast's last project, RESET!, over at Pitchfork.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)   

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My guests this week are California rapper-producers Blu & Exile. We spoke about recent hits like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Poor Things, hip-hop cinematic classics like Krush Groove, Breakin’, and Wild Style, how DMX and Common inspired Blu to rap, a look back at Blu’s Her Favorite Colo(u)r and Exile’s work on Mobb Deep’s “Pearly Gates,” the Blu Note edition of their 2007 classic Below The Heavens, and the creative process behind their latest album Love (the) Ominous World. Come fuck with us.

Love (the) Ominous World is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from their Bandcamp.  Follow Blu on Instagram (@bluherfavcolor) and Twitter (@HerFavColor), Exile on Instagram (@ExileRadio), and Dirty Science Records on Instagram (@thedirtyscience) and Twitter (@dirtyscience).

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Read my review of Ovrkast's last project, RESET!, over at Pitchfork.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  

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My guest this week is California rapper-producer Ovrkast. We spoke about freestyling on Sway In The Morning, Blink Twice, Shark Tale, Fruitvale Station and the work of Ryan Coogler, the beauty of Oakland slang, how his discography is its own anthology series, the diversity of California rap, and the creative process behind his latest project KAST GOT WINGS, produced in tandem with Texas producer Cardo Got Wings. Come fuck with us.

If you’re in the New York area on Thursday, October 17, pull up to the Kast Got Wings album listening event at IIIXL Studio at 1329 Willoughby Ave in Brooklyn to hear the project and stick around for a brief interview and Q&A, hosted by me. it's a free event, so RSVP here.

Kast Got Wings is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Follow Ovrkast. on Instagram (@ovrkast), Twitter (@ovrkast), and TikTok (@ovrkast_).

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Read my review of Ovrkast's last project, RESET!, over at Pitchfork.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  

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My guest this week is New Jersey rapper Wiseboy Jeremy. We spoke about Third World Cop, The Substance, reading, bootleg DVDs, the magic of renting movies and games, growing up with rap, R&B, and reggae, getting over his elitist hip-hop phase, early Soundcloud songs and motivations, and the creative process behind several of his projects, most notably last month’s Pumpkin Seeds, produced entirely by Kirti Pandey. Come fuck with us. 

Pumpkin Seeds is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from Jeremy's Bandcamp page. Follow Jeremy on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @wiseboyjeremy

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) 

Support the show

My guest this week is Ohio rapper-producer and one-fifth of The Karma Kids, Lt Headtrip. We spoke about the filmographies of Davids Fincher and Lynch, lucid dreaming, the magic of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, studying film in college, founding and preserving the Karma Kids, making concept records vs. rapping from the heart, why depression doesn’t lead to great art, and the creative process behind his latest album EMBLEMS, produced entirely by Bloodmoney Perez. Come fuck with us.

EMBLEMS is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from the Karma Kids' Bandcamp. Follow Headtrip on Instagram and Twitter: @ltheadtrip. If you're in the Brooklyn area on Thursday, October 3rd, catch Headtrip performing at Another Rap Show at The Secret Pour. Show starts at 8:30, tickets are $10 at the door.

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) 
 

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My guest this week is New York singer-songwriter Yolanda Watson. We spoke about Good Times, the Friday series, the work of Denzel Washington, Yolanda’s current favorite books, leaving the world of publishing to pursue music, the difference between recording a song and playing it live, bringing disparate influences together to create with producer BeatsGotDan, singing background vocals for Armand Hammer’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, and the creative process behind their debut EP Soda and their latest single “Caca”. Come fuck with us.

Soda is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping it, "Caca," and all their other music directly from their Bandcamp. Follow Yolanda on Instagram and Twitter: @_y0lly_. Be on the lookout for new music coming soon. 

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) 

Support the show

My guest this week is Baltimore rapper John Wells. We spoke about The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Bel-Air spinoff, The Lion King, the pros and cons of drive-in movie theaters, the Wayans family, putting on for Baltimore, the video for his single “No Drugs In Heaven,” making his late father proud, and the creative process behind his upcoming project whole world burnin’ down. Come fuck with us.

whole world burnin' down will be available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen on Friday, September 20. If you're in the Baltimore area that night, celebrate the album release by pulling up to Live 4Ever 2 at the Metro Baltimore--doors at 7PM, show starts at 8. Tickets are $17.51 and you can cop tickets here. Follow John Wells on Instagram (@lorluck), Twitter (@johnwells__), and TikTok (@johnwells__)

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) 

Support the show

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper and co-host of Strangers Live, ‘89 The Brainchild. We spoke about Deadpool & Wolverine, Elektra, 2000s-era Marvel movies, Purple Rain, why people don’t love musicals anymore, mixtape culture, the similarities between the New York and New Jersey indie music scenes, and the creative process behind his latest project Night Lives, out now via Fused Arrow Records. Come fuck with us.

Night Lives is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from '89's Bandcamp. Follow '89 on Instagram (@89aintonthegram) and Twitter (@89thebrainchild) and listen to Strangers Live! every other Saturday from 12-2PM EST on Newtown Radio. 

Join the Reel Notes Patreon today starting at $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)    

Support the show