In the pivotal fifth installment of our Beastie Boys miniseries, the Boys have moved back to New York and they are hopping around different studios demoing ideas that will eventually lead to their album Hello Nasty, a sprawling and eclectic work that fuses all of their previous modes into one sound that we call the "Beastie singularity." Rather than jamming and finding ideas in the edit, this time around they are fusing their record collections, old school hip-hop sensibility and guest vocalists...
Jun 26, 2025•1 hr 32 min
This week we are breaking down Ill Communication as part of our miniseries entitled 3 Bad Brothers A Beastie Boys Breakdown. DBRP hosts Nate LeBlanc, David Ma and Demone Carter are joined by one of the very best producers in hip-hop, Kenny Segal, who knows a thing or two about blending disparate elements into a cohesive whole, as the Beasties did on one of their most successful records. In the popular imagination, the Beasties' anthemic rock song Sabotage and its iconic video are probably the hi...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr 9 min
All summer long, Dad Bod Rap Pod is breaking down the Beastie Boys' legendary career in an album-per-episode miniseries. This week things start to get really interesting as the Boys build their own studio in LA so they can jam with Mario C at the boards and Money Mark on keys, crafting their pivotal album, the eclectic and electric Check Your Head. DBRP hosts Nate LeBlanc, David Ma and Demone Carter are joined by hip-hop trivia king and fellow podcaster Sean Kantrowitz to discuss the Beasties pi...
Jun 12, 2025•1 hr 16 min
The finest in men's opinions, this is Paul's Boutique. In many ways, we created this entire miniseries so that we could talk about Paul's Boutique. For Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Nate LeBlanc, David Ma, and Producer Cutso, this is a foundational document, one of the keys that unlocked our love of music and hip-hop in general. Host Demone Carter feels slightly differently, as you will hear. The Beastie Boys' second album is many things: A pinnacle of the art of sampling, an experiment in song structur...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 18 min
Welcome to 3 Bad Brothers, A Beastie Boys Breakdown. For the next 8 weeks, the Dad Bod Rap Pod crew and some special guests will be going album by album through the Beastie Boys' career. This week we are focused on Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D's first album, the wildly successful Licensed To Ill with insight from Dante Ross, who ran in the same circles as the Boys at this formative time in their lives. We will track the band from punk shows to NYC nightclubs, to arena tours, examining their rhymes, b...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 42 min
We are so back. After a longer than expected hiatus to write, record, and produce our Beastie Boys miniseries (more on that in a moment) we are returning to the world of weekly indie rap podcasting with a special guest. We sometimes joke that DBRP started as a way for three old friends to share their love of classic rap music but at some point morphed into a show about how billy woods is really good at rapping. This week we are examining Golliwog, woods' latest album, including a long conversati...
May 22, 2025•1 hr 23 min
Another rap year is in the books! In part 2 of Quibble Jam 2024, the three bad brothers you know so well hand out more fictional awards and share big, sincere laughs. This is the last Dad Bod Rap Episode of 2024. On behalf of the squad, I would like to thank everyone for their time, attention, and support this year. We will return in early 2025 with new episodes and a new format! We are proud members of Open Mike Eagle's terror cell, also known as Stony Island Audio. Dave does the booking. Nate'...
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min
2024 was an amazing year for this podcast and rap as an art form. After a brief hiatus, the best fake awards show in Hip Hop is back. It's Quibble Jam 2024, and the bros have created a gang of hilarious categories and figurative trophies to hand out. Did your favorite albums from this year get mentioned? Tune in and find out. It's the first episode of a two-parter! Dad Bod Rap Pod is a proud member of the podcast crime family known as Stony Island Audio. The theme song is by DEM and Cutso, with ...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 321
We begin this week's episode paying tribute to the recently passed Saafir. The Saucee Nomad is a Bay Area legend, an actor, and an MC with a unique sense of rhythm. DBRP hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc share memories from Saafir's career, a few personal run-ins, and discuss his legacy as an undeniably interesting rhymer. Our interview is a one-on-one conversation between Nate and Dutch journalist and author Jaap Van Der Doelen about the soon-to-be-released book Kill Your Masters: ...
Nov 21, 2024•56 min•Ep. 320
For many hip-hop heads of a certain vintage, the first Wu-Tang record and the subsequent solo albums represent the pinnacle of musical grittiness, lyrical density, and impressive business acumen. Watching RZA and the supremely talented Clan members take over the world with an uncompromising sound and vision was extremely impressive and brought some undeniable classic records into being. During this period, RZA's basement studio was flooded, and that event impacted a few of the albums' final vers...
Nov 14, 2024•44 min
Dad Bod Rap Pod is back with a double dose of interviews. We kick off this week's show with some thoughts on the passing of the legendary music producer and raconteur Quincy Jones. Then we have an interview with Prince Po, one half of the almighty Organized Konfusion. We had a chance to interview Pharoahe Monch a few years back, and we have been looking forward to completing the cypher on this legendary group for some time. Po was kind enough to join us for a conversation, and we discussed his i...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 318
It's a good idea to check in with your favorite works of art as you get older. You may find that you have outgrown certain albums, or that they haven't aged well. Maybe the meaning will deepen over time, as certain aspects of a record mean something different as you move through life with a different perspective. That is the goal with our occasional retrospective episodes... we take a look back at records after 30 years and see what we make of them as adults. This week we are apply9ng that lens ...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 317
This week, we are recapping our experience attending History Of The Bay, an event organized by fellow Bay Area hip-hop podcaster Dregs One. While it did not result in any usable interviews, DBRP co-hosts David Ma and Nate LeBlanc were glad to spend an afternoon immersed in the Bay Area's unique musical culture and to see performances from rappers such as Rappin' 4-Tay, B-Legit, and Kamaiyah. For this week's interview, DBRP host Demone Carter caught up with recurring guest and brilliant rapper Na...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 316
We must begin this week by paying tribute to Ka, a truly great rapper and producer who made uncompromising music for the real heads. May he rest in peace. The first segment of the show this week acts as a real-time processing of the incredibly sad news of Ka's passing. DBRP hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc share some thoughts on Ka's music, his legacy, and the distinct unfairness that he released his art at a time when it will only be appreciated by a niche audience. After that we ...
Oct 17, 2024•50 min
Even though we have dedicated quite a few episodes of this show talking about contemporary hip-hop, especially the left field, intensely wordy variety, we have not been able to settle on a name for what we see as a movement of like-minded artists at its cutting edge. One of our struggles in talking about this kind of music is that it defies easy categorization. Sure, it is "underground hip-hop" in the broadest sense, but that term has little meaning in the streaming economy, and is a somewhat ou...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 314
Real heads know J Sands as a true vet who’s built a solid, no-compromise career. Hailing from Cincinnati and making waves with the group Lone Catalyst, he’s back with a new project called Cash Flow, Buddha, and Shelter. This time, he’s leaning into classic 90s boom-bapery. We chopped it up with him about how the game’s evolved, his adventures making a name for himself in New York, and what he thinks about today’s rap scene. We also talk about some of our favorite new(ish) rap albums. If you’re d...
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Since dropping his debut album Hazardous in 1991, Godfather Don has been popping periodically and reminding us that his sword remains sharp. His latest project, Thesis, is a testament to the enduring power of hard beats and straight-ahead rhymin'. Not content with just killing it lyrically, GFD has also become a saxophonist of note in the NYC scene. The Godfather took a break from his gig in Brooklyn to chat about his long career, and rapping and playing sax feed off each other. In the intro, th...
Sep 26, 2024•59 min
Xiên chào, welcome to Đặc Biệt Rap Pod, a miniseries about music, food, and travel. Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc recently traveled to Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. We received a grant to participate in a cultural exchange program, and since we are a hip-hop podcast, we decided to seek out the DJ and b-boy culture in District 1, Saigon. And here is what we found. Part 3- A Saigon Travelogue We were lucky enough to be able to make this trip a...
Sep 19, 2024•49 min
Xiên chào, welcome to Đặc Biệt Rap Pod, a miniseries about music, food, and travel. Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc recently traveled to Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. We received a grant to participate in a cultural exchange program, and since we are a hip-hop podcast, we decided to seek out the DJ and b-boy culture in District 1, Saigon. And here is what we found. Part 2- The Lady In The Alley Is A Mind Reader Welcome to the second of three p...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 42 min
Xiên chào, welcome to Đặc Biệt Rap Pod, a miniseries about music, food, and travel. Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc recently traveled to Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. We received a grant to participate in a cultural exchange program, and since we are a hip-hop podcast, we decided to seek out the DJ and b-boy culture in District 1, Saigon. And here is what we found. Part 1- Subcultural Exchange We were lucky enough to be able to make this trip ...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 13 min
On this week's episode, DEM chops it up with Ant, the producer half of the iconic rap duo Atmosphere. His debut instrumental album, Collection of Sounds Vol.1, is the first release of a four-part series dropping via Rhymesayers Entertainment on September 6th. Ant talks about DJing, his obsessive record-collecting habit, and how he stays healthy on tour. During the banter segments, we learn about Nate's L.A. food journey, the patron saint of lost wallets, and Nebraskan Reggae. Dad Bod Rap Pod rep...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 311
We'll be the first to admit it... the rumors are true, we do have a Patreon. Behind the paywall there is a shadow universe of exclusive audio segments, record reviews, polls, discussion, and one very special fake radio show. DBRP co-host Nate LeBlanc will occasionally reach into the record shelves to play some jams and talk about them a little. Today we pull back the curtain to bring the eclectic selections to the main pod feed. On this episode, we are focusing on features, sharing some songs wi...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 34 min
What makes a spy creamy? How important is it for lyrics to make grammatical sense? Has any record ever had a better vibe than this one? These among many other questions are answered by Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter, David Ma, and Nate LeBlanc on this week's look back at Digable Planets' 1994 album Blowout Comb. This record was the last official release for the Planets after their hit debut, Reachin' changed the sound of hip-hop briefly a few years earlier. Blowout Comb is another animal (i...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 310
Welcome to Dad Bod Rap Pod, a years-long hip-hop related conversation between three 40-somehting friends. This week the fellas Nate LeBlanc, David Ma and Demone Carter re-listened to Dare Iz A Darkside by Redman and were somewhat surprised by what they heard. In the 30 years since this record was released, Red has gone on to become a beloved character even outside of the rap realm, and we are huge fans of him and his work. That said, listening to this album with fresh ears, we found that we were...
Aug 01, 2024•54 min•Ep. 309
It's pretty rare for a rapper of Skyzoo's caliber to perform live in downtown San Jose where our podcast is based, so we made sure to not only attend the show but to hang out in the green room a bit and have a conversation with one of NY's finest. Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter and David Ma chat with the gifted lyricist about his recent record The Mind Of A Saint (Deluxe), a fascinating concept album that is based on the television program Snowfall. This is our second time interviewing Skyz...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 308
This week we stagger in the gathering to discuss Common's classic 1994 release Resurrection. This is an important record for DBRP hosts David Ma, Demone Carter, and Nate LeBlanc, who collectively cannot believe this album is 30 years old. We discuss the incredible synergy between rapper Common Sense (as he was then known), producer NO I.D. and scratchmaster Mista Sinista, as well as the relative merits of Common's father's outro contributions, some of the samples used, and so much more. Common w...
Jul 18, 2024•41 min•Ep. 307
T3 and Young RJ of Slum Village join us this week to talk about their new album F.U.N, their extensive history, their Detroit MC Mount Rushmore, and much more. Along the way we dive into the mythology of them rhyming to a click track early in their career, the musical fullness of the new record, and modern day roller skating jams. In the banter segments, we talk about the new LL Cool J song produced by Q-Tip, which winds into a long digression about Tip's musical legacy and who may be hip-hop's ...
Jun 27, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 306
*Note: This episode originally dropped on June 18th, 2020* This week we have a rangy interview with billy woods and Elucid, the members of group Armand Hammer, whose new record Shrines is among the year's best. They provide insight into the album's origins, artwork, and their trusted circle of collaborators among many other topics. In the second segment the fellas discuss the best rap records of the year so far, a check-in on the state of the art as we reach the halfway point of this chaotic but...
Jun 20, 2024•2 hr 9 min
It's a tale of two halves on Dad Bod Rap Pod this week. In the intro segment we take a look back at The Fugees' first album Blunted on Reality, released 30 years ago in the thick of one of hip-hop's best overall years, 1994. For now, let's charitably call it an uneven debut from a group still finding its voice. Please click play on the episode to hear a lot more of our thoughts. This album is full of baffling decisions, yelling, and very few cool moments. After the break, hosts Nate LeBlanc, Dem...
Jun 13, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 305
You wanna see a dead body? All you need to do is listen to this week's guest, one of hip-hop's most unique MCs, Brotha Lynch Hung. Hailing from the under-discussed rap bastion of Sacramento, California, Lynch is the creator of his own unique brand of horror-centric rap music, which he calls Ripgut. Lynch's music is extremely popular in the Bay Area where we grew up, and while we may not be everyday listeners to the music, we certainly respect his consistency, hustle, and vivid writing style. For...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 304
