Extensive sit down with Detroit legend House Shoes who provides his customary no bullshit perspective on beer, politics, beat flips, ownership, Street Corner Music, Danny Brown, 8 Mile, and much much more including thoughts on his favorite album of any genre - Mobb Deep’s classic sophomore effort.

L.A. based producer Kenny Segal has contributed to some of the most unique and creative projects in the “art rap” scene, including recent albums Purple Moonlight Pages with R.A.P. Ferreira, Ajai with Serengeti, and Hiding Places with billy woods. Kenny tells us about his intro to Project Blowed, his work with Team Supreme, honing the craft of building intricate soundscapes for dense lyricism, and much more. And we ask Kenny to educate us about his album of choice - the omid produced Project Blowed comp Beneath the Surface. If you’re into L.A.’s underground scene at all then this is the episode for you.

Filmmaker Darby Wheeler is best known stateside for his directing on the most excellent Netflix series Hip-Hop Evolution. He drops some jewels about his experience creating the show, gives us a preview of the in-progress D&D Studios documentary, and chats a bit about Scenario Media and their upcoming projects. And, of course, we all swap stories about Darby’s album of choice - Outkast’s ATLiens.

The second installment in a two-part collab with Nate and Demone from Dad Bod Rap Pod. The first part of the discussion takes place on their pod, where we talked about the soundtrack to the film Juice. Here the four of us discuss music from the motion picture Boyz N The Hood. Does Compton’s Most Wanted have the best cut? Has Tony Toni Tone’s “Me and You” aged better than Nate wants to admit? Is this the last lap for Ice Cube’s militant gangster persona? Listen for our thoughts and more. And be sure to check out both episodes!!

By 1999 Mos Def had already made a name for himself as a freestyle wizard in New York, a gifted MC that held crowds captive with Lyricist Lounge, and as one half of Black Star. Still he crafted a solo debut that seemed to ignore the hype yet managed to blow us away with its genre bending optimism at a time when hip hop was losing its golden luster. Black On Both Sides delivered a love letter to Blackness that is just as excellent and relevant 20 years later.

The poet/singer/activist/recording artist Ursula Rucker brings us needed inspiration as she shares how she is meeting the current reckoning for our country (and our city). True to form, she also challenges us to “do the work” and create the nation that we long to live in. And for the first time on the show we discuss an album from a singer, Frank Ocean, in our attempts to follow Ursula’s mandate - “Don’t limit hip hop...ever”

In 1991 Main Source dropped some game changing science in the form of Breaking Atoms. Yes, it gave us the first recorded verse from Nas (and one of the illest posse cuts of all time). Yes, it featured ground breaking sample-based production. But it also touched on just about every aspect of the life of young Black men including the still relevant and infinitely clever take on police brutality Just a Friendly Game of Baseball. We’re gonna talk about it all but give that track and our current perspective on recent racial injustice a long look.

Kount Fif is the co-owner of Man Bites Dog Records and the producer behind projects like Uncommon Nasa’s City As School and the upcoming release from Baltimore’s Sinista Daniro. He drops by the pod to give us his take on the historic protests happening across the nation, the history of his relationship with Man Bites Dog, his approach as a producer, and his thoughts on an album that prolonged Wu-Tang’s relevance - the second solo joint from Ghostface Killah.

Queen Latifah’s third album, bolstered by a successful hit TV show, brought her the most commercial hit of her career, won her a Grammy, and spoke for all women of color. “Who you callin’ a bitch???” might just be as relevant a question today as it was in 1993. We dig into that question and more with a long look at Black Reign.

David Lotwin, co-owner of the famous D&D Studios and co-founder of D&D Recording, blesses the pod with his wealth of insight into NYC hip hop. From the studio’s beginnings recording reggae to its work with Deee-Lite to becoming a destination for just about every New York hip hop artist you can think of (Nas, Biggie, Jay-Z, KRS-One, Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja, Smif-N-Wesson, Black Moon, Lord Finesse, Fat Joe and many many more) D&D played a huge role in shaping the culture. David gives us the history of the studio, some of his favorite memories, the story behind the album The D&D Project, and much more.