Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest for the season 3 premiere is New York-based rapper-producer MIKE. We spoke about Park Chan-wook, Skinamarink, Nigerian cinema, Paid In Full, Belly, the importance of tragedy in art, growing up in London, Philly, and New York, healing, a brief retrospective on his career, and the creative process behind his last two albums Disco! and Beware of The Monkey. Beware of The Monkey is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from MIKE's Bandcamp page here. Follow MIKE on Instagram (@mikelikesrap) and Twitter (@t6mikee). Read my Pitchfork review of MIKE's Disco! here.  My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.Join the Reel Notes Patreon today for as little as $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, Medical Aid for Palestinians, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)Support the show

My last guest of the season is D.C.-based rapper-producer WifiGawd. We spoke about Tubi’s exhaustive selection of hood classics, the Sticky Fingaz rap opera, the impact of movies like Beat Street and Princess Mononoke had on him, the pros and cons of civil rights movies, his love for martial arts movies, his earliest concert memories, producing for himself vs. producing for others, and the creative process behind several of his best songs of the year.WifiGawd released six projects this year. Five of them are available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. His latest, Secret EP Vol. 3, is available exclusively via Instagram DM. Follow WifiGawd on Instagram (@wifigawd) and Twitter (@7WIFIGAWD7)Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) Support the show

My next guest is Virginia rapper-producer Koncept Jack$on. We spoke about the Avatar movies, reality TV, Black sitcoms of the 90s, Lovecraft Country, coming up on Big L, Kool G Rap, and early 2000s freestyles, the importance of video game soundtracks, perfecting his flows, the art of stretching a rhyme scheme to its breaking point, and the creative process behind his latest project HTR Vol. 1: The Legend of Tawny Tone.HTR Vol. 1: The Legend of Tawny Tone is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping from his Bandcamp page here. Follow Koncept on Instagram (@konceptxjackson) and Twitter (@konceptjackson_)Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  Support the show

My guests this week are New York rapper-producers Lungs and Phiik. We spoke about NBA Street, Ghost in the Shell, transhumanism, The Digimon Movie, growing up on Long Island, how they joined up with East Grip, their working relationship, how movies inspire Lungs’s beats as LoneSword, the creative process behind their Another Planet series, Phiik’s latest album Chainlink, and their now infamous appearance on Top Shelf Premium’s Off Top freestyle series.Phiik and producer Duro's Chainlink is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping from his Bandcamp. The second and third volumes of the Another Planet series are on vinyl for the first time. Consider grabbing a copy here. Follow Phiik on Instagram and Twitter: @phiik_Follow Lungs/Lonesword on Instagram and Twitter: @big_dead_lung  Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  Support the show

My guest this week is California-based producer and archivist Mars Kumari. We spoke about Squishmallows, Xavier: Renegade Angel, the timelessness of Adult Swim, the Earl Sweatshirt short film Nowhere, Nobody, piracy, how her transition influenced the way she creates music, the pros and cons of musical archiving, and the creative process behind a handful of her projects, including her upcoming album I Thought I Lost You.Her latest album I Thought I Lost You is coming soon. Read my interview with Nowhere, Nobody co-director Naima Ramos-Chapman here. Follow Mars on Instagram (@mars.kumari) and Twitter (@marskumari) Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  Support the show

My guest this week is South Carolina-born producer, vocalist, and composer Contour. We took a critical look at Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the MCU and spoke about The Brave Little Toaster, the 2001 Japanese film Pulse, the pros and cons of Letterboxd, the art of film scoring, combining sample-based beats and traditional instruments to find his sound, and the creative process behind his latest album Onwards!Onwards! is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from his Bandcamp page here. The three films Contour has scored--Half Day, directed by Morgan Matthews, One Magenta Afternoon, directed by Vernon Jordan III, and Deprivation, directed by Katie Arthur--will be available in various forms at some point in the future.  Follow Contour on Instagram (@ccontourr) and Twitter (@khariayo_)Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  Support the show

My guest this week is Atlanta-via-Richmond rapper, producer, and co-founder of Mutant Academy, Fly Anakin—our first returning guest in 80 episodes. We spoke about fashion shows, identity in hip-hop, the ending of Atlanta, being an introvert, working through anxiety, food, the creative process behind his latest album Frank and Skinemaxxx, his upcoming full-length with producer Foisey, and more stories than I can count.Frank and Skinemaxxx are both available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from his Bandcamp page or via Lex Records. Follow Fly Anakin on Instagram and Twitter: @flyanakinMy first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.Join the Reel Notes Patreon today for as little as $5/month to get early access to episodes, our Discord server, exclusive bonus interviews and reviews, and more!Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund,  The Palestinian Youth Movement, Medical Aid for Palestinians, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti.  For information about contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire, finding protests, and other tools, check out CeasefireToday!Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)Support the show

My guest this week is Florida-based rapper and producer Gat$. We spoke about money, songs in movie trailers, a spoiler-filled breakdown of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the malleability of horror, making music videos based on his favorite movies, building his career and rebuilding it from the ground up twice, a brief tour of his discography, and the creative process behind his latest albums Robbed and 2 Much 2 Robb and his upcoming compilation album Robbers.2 Much 2 Robb is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Follow Gat$ on Instagram and Twitter: @gats813Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) Support the show

My guest this week is Chicago-born rapper, author, writer, chemist, and activist Psalm One. We spoke about Abbot Elementary, The Muppets, growing up as the child of a journalist, when older favorite movies don’t age well, how chemistry applies to real life, the #BoycottRhymesayers movement, battle rap, and the creative processes behind her latest album Bigg Perrm and her memoir Her Word Is Bond: Navigating Hip-Hop and Relationships in A Culture of Misogyny.Bigg Perrm is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider buying from her Bandcamp here.  Her Word Is Bond: Navigating Hip-Hop and Relationships in A Culture of Misogyny is available wherever books are sold. Consider grabbing a copy here. Watch Defunctland's mini-series on Jim Henson here. Read Psalm One's review of Smino's latest album Luv 4 Rent in the Chicago Reader here. Follow Psalm One on Instagram and Twitter: @psalmoneFollow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) Support the show

My guest this week is Virginia-based producer, DJ, animator, and director Dirty Bird. We spoke about The Bear, Drive My Car, Austin Powers, the work of Maasakai Yuasa, the beauty of animation, our love for anime, how racism and orientalism can ruin your favorite movies, creating his own animation studio, how Chief Keef and Odd Future inspired him, his journey through rap and dance music, and the creative process behind his latest project Wagenmuzik.Wagenmuzik is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Gum Animation Studios is hard at work on their debut feature. Read more about the studio here. Follow Dirty Bird on Instagram and Twitter: @dirtybird0_oFollow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai) Support the show