This week we dissect “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST”, the latest release from Odd Future figurehead Tyler, The Creator. We dive into his artistic progression in recent years and how this latest LP reflects this.

(00:00) Intro

(01:20) HER’s upcoming Reggae album

(06:45) I Love You, I Hate You

(14:32) Clash

(21:25) IDK

(23:10) Vince Staples

(27:40) Snoh Aalegra

(31:04) CDW

(31:40) Spotlight Series: Mach Hommy

(35:35) Intro to Tyler discussion

(41:25) Coming off the back of IGOR

(43:44) Production on the record

(47:34) DJ Drama

(53:12) Features

(57:18) Manifesto feature

(58:29) NBA Youngboy

(01:00:40) Album theme

(01:04:06) CORSO + SIR BAUDELAIRE

(01:08:59) LEMONHEAD

(01:09:51) JUGGERNAUT

(01:13:55) MASSA

(01:17:43) MANIFESTO

(01:20:21) SWEET/ I THOUGHT YO WANTED TO DANCE

(01:24:24) SAFARI

(01:25:44) LUMBERJACK

(01:26:17) Album length, final thoughts

(01:30:33) Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we're joined by Afope Rachelle, 1/3 of "Brown Sugar: The Podcast", to dissect the surprise debut album from award-winning singer H.E.R. We dive into her discography leading up to this record, how the album itself failed it meet fan expectations and the directions she can go from this point.

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:05) Spotlight Series: Ama Lou

(08:48) What to expect from Dave’s “We’re All Alone In This Together”

(15:42) Pop Smoke’s second posthumous album

(22:09) Rachelle Intro

(27:28) How Rachelle got into singing

(30:55) GQ feature and Bumble campaign

(33:54) Intro to H.E.R discussion - was a surprise drop expected?

(43:25) RCA’s poor management of H.E.R.

(46:45) Back of My Mind  - Initial Thoughts

(48:46) Title Track; lack of direction

(54:10) The amount of writers on the record, more general thoughts

(59:01) Bloody Waters

(59:40) Find A Way (ft. Lil Baby)

(01:03:30) Cheat Code; the amount of filler on the album

(01:05:53) I Can Have It All (ft. Bryson Tiller and DJ Khaled); were all the features necessary?

(01:08:56) Tiana Major9 influence on Hold On

(01:10:14) Lack of chemistry with features

(01:11:41) Favourite H.E.R. projects

(01:13:06) Trauma (ft. Cordae)

(01:16:18) Final remarks

(01:17:23) Where does she go from here and how can H.E.R. get back on track?

(01:31:08) Closing ,Now and Then playlist

This week we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the debut album from legendary Brooklyn MC, "Jay Z". We dive into his misfortunate beginnings as a rapper and the necessity for an independent release, as well as the tracks themselves and what the album means to Jay-Z's legacy.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(08:01) Justine Skye roast session

(12:30) A2 roast session

(14:25) Hiatus Kaiyote’s “Mood Valiant”

(18:27) Tyler’s “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST”

(25:08) Children of Zeus

(26:10) Spotlight Series: Bobby Sessions

(30:33) Intro to Reasonable Doubt discussion

(34:19) Jay-Z’s rhyming style prior to Reasonable Doubt, struggling to get signed

(38:30) Other labels that passed on Jay

(39:50) Why was it a bit of a dud when it was released?

(43:13) What made the public opinion switch and what makes the album special?

(48:30) Production cohort

(51:15) Brooklyn’s Finest; would Jay Z have been #1 if Biggie didn’t die?

(57:32) Ain’t No Nigga

(01:00:45) Politics As Usual

(01:06:23) Bring It On

(01:08:31) Can’t Knock The Hustle

(01:11:25) D’Evils

(01:15:09) 22 Two’s

(01:18:06) Can I Live

(01:22:35) Regrets/Friend or Foe

(01:25:50) Coming of Age

(01:29:09) Cashmere Thoughts, Dead Presidents II

(01:32:07) Feelin’ It

(01:32:42) Favourite tracks

(01:33:55) What the album means for Jay Z’s legacy

(01:41:14) Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we’re joined by twins Yemi (Guitarist) and Wunmi Odusina (producer, also known as SunsetDRVER) to discuss their musical approaches when working with artists, their creative inspirations and who is better between Beyoncé and Michael Jackson. 

Check out Yemi’s and Wunmi’s work on their respective Instagrams @yemiodusina and @sunsetdrver

(00:00) Intro

(03:35) Spotlight Series: Kenny Mason

(08:57) Berwyn’s "TAPE 2/ FOMALHAUT"

(12:07) Goldlink's "HARAM"

(14:27) Isaiah Rashad's "Headshots (4r da Locals)"

(16:45) Vince Staples' "Law of Averages"

(18:48) Tyler The Creator's "LUMBERJACK" and what to expect from new album

(21:54) NAO's "Messy Love"

(26:25) That artist that dropped their debut album(?)

(28:24) Yemi and Wunmi Intro

(31:28) The name “SunsetDRVER”

(34:18) Artists they’ve worked with

(36:45) Approach to producing

(41:29) Influence of MJ on production

(43:52) Emil

(46:04) The Beyoncé vs. MJ debate

(50:52) Qualities MJ has over Beyoncé and vice versa

(53:57) Classic albums from MJ and Beyoncé

(01:04:07) Is there an artist that could one day be seen on an MJ level?

(01:10:06) How important is chemistry when producing or playing for an artist?

(01:12:47) How important is it to know how an artist’s album will sound prior to working with them?

(01:17:50) Chemistry continued

(01:25:27) UK producers

(01:31:46) Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we’re joined by music writer and content creator Hamza (founder of the hip-hop platform “MicCheque”) to discuss the phenomenon of UK rappers and singers lacking a core fanbase within the UK whilst having significant followings abroad.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro, artists blue-balling with release dates

(01:42) How many singles will Little Simz release prior to the album release date?

(02:45) TDE releases

(05:20) Snoh Aalegra's upcoming album

(09:28) What to expect from Culture III

(14:04) Thoughts on Rolling Stone

(19:30) Spotlight Series: Navy Blue

(23:24) Hamza Intro, the MicCheque platform

(30:58) Hamza's thoughts on the recent Little Simz releases

(38:05) Being snubbed by other content creators

(43:25) Is there a loss of integrity being a UK music content creator?

(48:43) General thoughts on why UK artists have their core fanbase overseas

(52:37) The case of UK artists not adhering to the UK sound

(01:02:55) The power of the US co-sign

(01:11:55) Are we too closely related to UK artists to give them their true props?

(01:23:51) The exceptions to the rule

(01:25:56) UK producers, more examples of UK artists without a core UK fanbase

(01:32:22) Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we're joined by Ebenezer, host of "Produced by: Eb'z Choice" and creator of "Confessions of a Listening Freak" to take a look at the Drill landscape within the UK, how the genre has developed over the last few years and the projected trajectory of its artists.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:25 Spotlight Series - Savannah Ré

05:48 A2 announces his retirement

13:14 Mereba's "AZEB" EP

19:31 Ebenezer Intro

25:30 Confessions of a Listener Freak

29:21 Reasons for covering drill music

32:03 The production within Drill

34:49 Longevity of Drill

43:13 Huge turnover of top Drill artists

54:00 Are UK rapper jumping on the Drill wave?

01:00:15 Why aren’t Drill artists interested in bodies of work?

01:05:42 Does the genre live and die by Headie One?

01:11:34 Can a Drill artist ever headline a marquee event such as Glastonbury?

01:24:02 Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we take your questions/takes from our Vinyl Giveaway event and answer them in this week’s mailbag episode, as well as announce the winner of our giveaway!

This week we dissect the long-anticipated(?) sixth album from North Carolina legend J. Cole, along with some other releases that have dropped over the past week. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

06:11 Spotlight Series: Alewya

09:01 Jorja Smith’s “Be Right Back”

15:10 Beam Me Up Scotty

18:01 BXKS’s “Menace”

21:32 Intro to The Off-Season discussion

23:24 Looking back at KOD

26:03 Time between KOD and The Off-Season

39:43 The Off-Season: General Thoughts

48:38 My Life (ft. Morray and 21 Savage)

51:57 100 mil’

57:44 Interlude

01:01:08 The Climb Back

01:04:18 Let Go My Hand

01:09:18 95 South

01:12:12 Amari

01:14:45 Punchin’ The Clock

01:18:30 Applying Pressure

01:20:01 Pride Is The Devil

01:25:31 Close, Hunger on Hillside

01:28:16 Closing Remarks

01:34:12 Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we take a lighter approach and do a round-up of music-related events over the last week.

00:00 Intro

02:35: J. Cole

14:26 Little Simz “Woman”

21:50 Isaiah Rashad

27:07 Super What?

34:23 Is the UK ready for a “Dissect”-like series?

44:45 Juls - Chance

46:29 Lianne La Havas losing @ the BRIT’s

48:38 Best New Artist

53:05 Best Intl. Group

56:35 Best Intl Female Solo Artist

59:17 Headie One’s performance

01:01:15 Future Nostalgia or Lianne La Havas?

01:05:03 Best Intl. Male Solo Artist

01:07:38 Closing, Now and Then playlist

This week we celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the highly anticipated fourth album “Konnichiwa” by North Londoner Skepta.

00:00 Intro

03:09 Little Simz's "Woman"

05:21 J. Cole's "The Off Season"

14:51 Noname's social media

17:20 More Cole

19:53 Alchemist's new record

21:14 Jon finishing the music writer's exercise

24:12 Artist spotlight: Sampa The Great

32:35 Intro to Konnichiwa discussion

35:19 Blacklisted mixtape

39:49 The BRIT Awards with Kanye

43:20 The Drake co-sign

47:27 The anticipation/pressure for Konnichiwa

49:02 Konnichiwa’s reception

53:07 Worst tracks

59:05 Three-track run

01:02:30 Cultural significance of Konnichiwa

01:06:20 General album discussion

01:14:56 Skits

01:17:49 Back to general discussion

01:23:51 Why call it Konnichiwa?

01:27:06 - Title track

01:28:23 Lyrics

01:31:43 Text Me Back

01:35:29 Detox

01:36:50 Favourite tracks

01:37:37 Konnichiwa - Final thoughts

01:39:59 Ignorance Is Bliss

01:42:32 Closing, Now and Then playlist