The Next Movement

Staten Island natives Jamil Honesty and Squeegie O join us to talk about their recent debut as the Habor Kidz and the double LP that excited the world in 1997 - Wu-Tang Forever. Jamil and Squeegie have known each other since their childhood days growing up in Mariners Harbor Projects and it was dope to hear perspective on the Wu from people who hail from Shaolin.

PremRock helps us complete our Wrecking Crew cypher and joins us to talk about his latest release. It's a self-titled album from a group called Ockham's Blazer that lands somewhere between hip-hop, jazz, and electronic music. PremRock tells us how he became involved with the project and how it required a unique approach to writing and recording. Then we dig into Prem's album pick for this episode - the influential full-length debut from the Arsonists - "As the World Burns". 

Writer, editor, critic, and culture curator Timmhotep Aku joins us to talk about his career in hip-hop writing (XXL, Pitchfork, NPR, Afropunk and others). We discuss the importance of context within music reviews, becoming a steward of hip-hop culture, NTS radio, and some of the music that Timm is currently listening to. We also get Timm's take on his album pick for this episode - "RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta" from dead prez. 

We're joined by AJ Suede who spoke with us about his recent album "Hundred Year Darkness" with Small Professor, his previous album "Metatron's Cube" with Televangel, and his album pick for this episode "The Cold Vein" by Cannibal Ox. Big thanks to Suede for his patience working thru some technical issues and for bringing such thoughtful answers to our questions.

Masai Bey is an elusive veteran MC/producer who quietly made incredibly dope music in the late 90's and early 2000's. In a rare interview, Masai joins us to talk about the upcoming re-release of his album "Natural Magic Music" on Uncommon Records, which is set to hit streaming platforms for the first time in June of this year. We'll also talk about an album that heavily influenced his approach to rhyming - the 1988 debut from Native Tongues foundering Jungle Brothers. 

We're joined by Dan-O from Freemusicempire who talks with us about a bunch of stuff including his approach to reviewing music and conducting interviews AND we swap stories of admiration for Erykah Badu and Dan-O’s album pick “Mama’s Gun”.

Brooklyn based artist maassai joins us to talk about her recent project "Personal Year 8" and last year's "With the Shifts" - two introspective and vulnerable projects. She shares some of her process for writing and recording, and the importance she places on representation in creating her music. Then we discuss her album pick for this episode - Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor - and how it reinforced her desire to make music that pushes boundaries and gives voice to those outside the mainstream.

Photographer Alexander Richter joins us to talk about his documentary film "Dark Brother Rise", his cover photo for Armand Hammer's "Haram", the stories behind some of our favorite photos from his portfolio, and the reason Sean Price's second solo LP "Jesus Price Supastar" is one of his favorites.

We're joined by Nosaj from New Kingdom who blessed us with jewel after jewel from his 30 years in the music industry. We talked about the process behind his writing, his approach to making music after a lengthy break from releasing projects, his recent project Acid is Groovy Kill the Pigz, and his album pick for this episode - Check Your Head from the Beastie Boys. Honestly can't say enough about the nuggets of insight you're gonna find here. Be sure to listen until the end to hear an exclusive Beastie Boys cover from Nosaj.

Jesse Ferguson is the owner and head brewer at Interboro Spirits and Ales in Brooklyn. Jesse also has a background in the music industry, having served as the label manager for Definitive Jux for its entire ten year run. He joins the pod to talk about his efforts to combine craft beer and hip-hop, including collaborations with several artists such as Run the Jewels and most recently Bernadette Price (the wife of the late great Sean Price) to release rap inspired brews. Of course, we also talk with Jesse about his time at Def Jux and ask him to tell us about one of his favorite albums - De La Soul is Dead.