Sam and Cray weigh in on the new Mac Miller album and the track “Ascension”. Mac sounds like he believes he’s reached a higher spiritual plane, but does he really believe that? Cray also drops the bombshell that this is the last podcast of Sunday OldSkool……for one week. The SOS studio is getting a makeover and the crew is taking a week off to get the new gear in place and broken in. They also round up some happenings in the rap world and apologize for incorrectly using the word, “requisite.”

Rap Genius lyric annotation for “Ascension“

In part two, Doc breaks down the bulk of Scarface’s “Deeply Rooted” album with us, which crescendos on the interesting if incoherent track, “God.”

Doc on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doc_beats

Clock Radio Speakers: http://clockradiospeakers.com/

Scarface’s “Deeply Rooted” lyric annotations at Rap Genius: http://genius.com/Scarface-deeply-rooted-cover-art-and-tracklist-lyrics

This week in Sunday Oldskool, Cray solos the first of a two part episode. In part one Cray interviews hip-hop producer Doc who shares what it’s like to be a producer and how he found his way into producing for CCM artists. We also discuss Scarface’s career and his new album, “Deeply Rooted”.

Follow Doc on Twitter – @doc_beats

Doc’s Podcast: Clock Radio Speakers

Scarface’s “Deeply Rooted” lyric annotations at Rap Genius

Cray and Sam listen to the spiritual framework for D’Anelgo and the Vanguard’s “Black Messiah” album. The duo discusses whether the R&B singer is co-opting the Christian tradition or honoring it. THEN, we offer our unique interpretation on the album’s song structure–it involves TIME TRAVEL.

Mary McCampbell joins the show to look back at the legacy of soul music and Stax Records, finding similar currents of black spirituality and commercial appeal that run through hip hop today.

Here’s a playlist of the songs Mary recommends our listeners check out:

Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”

Otis Redding’s “Respect”

Sam Moore & Dave Prater’s “Soul Man” (co-written by Isaach Hayes)

Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”

The Staples Singers’ “When Will We Be Paid?”

Jesse Jackson reciting “I Am Somebody” at Wattsax in 1972

We decide whether a few common rap motifs (swearing, Bible references, praising God for secular achievements, and  Jesus pieces) are blasphemous or not, and then wonder what spiritual content the new Jay Rock album might bring.

LINKS

In part two, Armond Wakeup is on the line to discuss the profane balancing act King Los tries to accomplish with the “God, Money, War” album, mixing the holy and the sinful. Armond also shares how hip hop and faith have run together in his own life, and gives an insider’s perspective on the types of spiritual and artistic stifling that encroaches the world of Christian rap.

LINKS:

Check out all of Armond’s great stuff on:

Armond Wakeup joins the show to drop knowledge on the new King Los album, “God, Money, War”. In part one, we talk about the album’s intentionally conflicted view of materialism, its compelling portrait of a “Lil Black Boy”, and whether or not Los has read William Blake.

LINKS:

Check out all of Armond’s great stuff on:

Eons D returns to the show to talk about Oddisee’s latest release. “Book Covers” turns a simplistic moral into a complex meditation on identity, judgment, and politics.

LINKS: