Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest this week is Oakland rapper and co-founder of the label Lucid Haus, Nappy Nina. We spoke about touring Australia for the first time, the perfect grilled cheese, the 2022 Oscar nominees, Flubber, Jumanji, Medicine for Melancholy, how The Fugees’ The Score changed her life, how her name translates to international audiences, how COVID impacted her creativity, and the creative process behind her latest album Mourning Due.Mourning Due is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping directly from Nina's Bandcamp page (and pre-ordering a super limited edition vinyl copy) here.   Follow Nina on Instagram (@nappynina) and Twitter (@Nappy_Nina) Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)  Support the show

My guest this week is singer, rapper, and designer Lucille Ghatti. We spoke about Run Sweetheart Run, Mo’nique, horror movies, Song of The South, Cleopatra, Elvis, singing in the choir, her musical journey from the blog era to now, the pros and cons of being ahead of the curve, her relationship to plugg&b, and the creative process behind her latest album Tears of A Clown, produced entirely by Popstar Benny.Tears of A Clown coming soon to wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolenFollow Lucille Ghatti on Instagram (@6esabbath), Twitter (@6ES92), and TikTok (@6es92) Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)     Support the show

My guest this week is D.C. rapper and label head ANKHLEJOHN. We spoke about Power, 50 Cent’s legacy as a rapper and a TV producer, Lightyear, reliving his favorite movies through his son’s eyes, how go-go music inspired his rapping style, the history of his Shaap Records label, the power of being yourself on record, and the creative process behind several of his albums, including he and producer Look Damien!’s latest collab The Dead Don’t Die.The Dead Don't Die is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping it direct from Bandcamp here. Follow ANKHLEJOHN on Instagram (@AnkhNasty) and Twitter (@ANKHLEJOHN) Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)    Support the show

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper Rasheed Chappell. We spoke about Everything Everywhere All At Once, It’s A Wonderful Life, seeing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with his late father, how movies play to both escapism and reality, New Jersey’s place in hip-hop, the relationship between New Jersey and New York, his early career, why praise from your friends hits different, and the creative process behind his latest album A Portrait Of, produced by Little Vic.A Portrait Of is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping a signed vinyl direct from the Perfect Time Music Group site here.Follow Rasheed Chappell on Instagram and Twitter: @RasheedChappellFollow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)    Support the show

My guest this week is New York producer, rapper, and writer Radicule. We spoke about anime—specifically Chainsaw Man, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Cowboy Bebop—The Banshees of Inisherin and the work of Colin Farrell, Undercover Brother, A Goofy Movie, SMACK DVD, his producer newsletter Thoughts Beyond The DAW, similarities between music and journalism, and the creative process behind his S-Rank Slaps beat tape series.S-Rank Slaps is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping the second volume direct from Bandcamp here. Check out the Thoughts Beyond The DAW  Substack archive here.Follow Radicule on Instagram (@radicule) and Twitter (@radiculebeats)Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)   Support the show

My guest this week is producer, rapper, DJ, professor, label head, and cultural ambassador Suzi Analogue. We spoke about the adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred, Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, Menace II Society, The Color Purple, Ice Spice, teaching hip-hop at a college level, finding meaning in music, and the process behind her latest album Infinite Zonez.Infinite Zonez is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Follow Suzi Analogue on Instagram and Twitter: @suziAnalogCheck out the website for label Never Normal Records here. Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), and Letterboxd (@CineMasai)Support the show

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