The Next Movement

Photographer T. Eric Monroe is known for bringing us iconic moments from the 1990s. His ability to casually slip into green rooms, video shoots, and studio sessions has allowed him to capture rare behind the scenes photos in a uniquely candid way. We talk with him about his early contributions to Thrasher Magazine, his experience working as the Photo Editor at The Source in the mid-90s, and we ask him to share stories behind some of our favorite photos. And course, we ask Monroe to pick one of his favorite albums for us to discuss. De La Soul. Stakes Is High.

Nappy Nina joins the show to talk about creating during the past year of the pandemic, including the struggles with mental health that informed much of her work on her latest project Double Down - a collaborative album with producer JWords. Nina also shares some of her early influences and talks about her relocation from Oakland to Brooklyn. Then she helps us dive into one her favorite albums - Isaiah Rashad’s sophomore effort The Sun’s Tirade.

Rap duo Armand Hammer, comprised of billy woods and ELUCID, have teamed up with living legend The Alchemist for their latest album, Haram. Days before the release, Armand Hammer sit down to talk about how the collab with The Alchemist came to pass, the process of recording the album, the unique experience of working with a single producer through a pandemic, and we ask them to reflect on one of their favorite albums, Capone-N-Noreaga’s 1997 debut The War Report.

Max Ochester is the owner of Brewerytown Beats, a record shop in Philadelphia. But Max has also used the shop and his Philly connections to preserve the city’s rich music history. From reissuing previously unheard jazz and soul recordings to organizing efforts to save local institutions such as Sigma Sound Studios and the Coltrane House, Max has put in some work and has mesmerizing stories about it all. He gives us a behind the scenes look at last year’s Sotheby’s hip-hop auction and a report from Schoolly D himself on his groundbreaking self-titled debut album.

Breeze Brewin’ graces us with insight into his life, the arch of his career, his new album - Hindsight - while also dropping gems about Black Sheep’s debut. Just like A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing we think you’ll find this interview a bit different.

Fatboi Sharif talks about Gandhi Loves Children, his recent project with producer Roper Williams. In the process he also touches on influences, his interest in film, his creative approach, not releasing 12 albums per year, and helps us examine the oddity that is Prince Paul’s solo debut - Psychoanalysis: What Is It?!

Chris Maestro, founder and principle owner of BierWax in Brooklyn joins us to talk about the overlap between hip hop and craft beer, the diversity (or lack thereof) in the craft beer industry, the trials and tribulations of owning a small business during COVID, and a bunch of opinions about Nas and The Lost Tapes (2002).

Rapper/producer HooksArthur discusses his latest project Wave Form Fluent, its emphasis on art in all its forms, working with Influence Prod, and the chance encounter that led to an unlikely friendship with his mentor/engineer Zesto Q. Then Hooks helped us unpack the legacy of DOOM and the brilliance of Madvilliany. RIP DOOM. Metal Face forever.

Photographer Eric Johnson is responsible for some of hip-hop’s most iconic images including several enduring album photos from the likes of Cam’ron, De La Soul, Biggie, and Lauryn Hill. Eric joins the pod to discuss his experiences working with some of these artists and to tell the story of his involvement in L-Boogie’s classic solo debut.

We teamed up with the fellas from the Serious Rap Sh*t Podcast to discuss our favorite albums of the year. We were each tasked with picking three albums and found surprisingly little overlap, which led to a diverse convo about these great bodies of work. 2020 sucked. But this music didn’t. Instead, it sustained us, gave words to our feeling, and made our feelings into sound. And sometimes it just banged hard as sh*t.