Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (1:52). Music that strikes an emotional nerve is always my cup of tea, whether that emotion is fueled by the production, or the vocals. In the case of the album Incorruptible Saints , we don’t have to choose. The emotional impact is supplied in equal parts through rhyme, and instrumental. Honest introspection in the lyrics come from Nebraska rapper Sleep Sinatra, which were placed atop gorg...
Jul 12, 2023•47 min•Ep. 146
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:06). In 2022, roughly 49K songs were uploaded to Spotify each and every day. Therefore, amidst a flurry of music releasing to listeners on a daily, being able to command the attention of a listener in this day and age is tough. The way today's guest, Kenny Segal, acquires this attention is through creating music that simply cannot be found anywhere else. Kenny’s one-of-one style has enchanted list...
Jun 28, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 145
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (2:29). Styles of music such as jazz, R&B, soul, and funk, have all been inseparable elements in the fabric of hip-hop production since its inception. One particular form of music that has not played nearly as much of a significant role though, is rock music. That brings us to the subject of today's episode, Ritual , an album by Topeka Kansas rapper Stik Figa, and producer The Expert ba...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 144
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:05). Affable with Pointed Teeth , by YUNGMORPHEUS and eyedress, is an album I liked quite a bit, and loved in moments for years now. But then out of nowhere, as I prepped for my recent interview with YUNGMORPHEUS himself, the album completely hit a new level for me. There is a profound beauty that comes from instances like this, where months sometimes years later, a piece of music finally clicks. Since in t...
Jun 07, 2023•9 min
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (1:57). If you’re like me, and have found yourself marveling at how great a Backwoodz Studioz record is sounding, it is all but guaranteed that sound God Willie Green was behind the boards... fine tuning the sound to perfection. That standard of quality you’ve come to expect from a Backwoodz album has been cultivated by the sure hands of beatmaker and audio engineer, Willie Green. This is a man who’s...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 143
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (3:14). "I'ma keep it real with you, it's the things you can't undo/The past, the black Rubik's cube" "Payback always inexact but I be squinting over measuring spoons" For most artists, lyrics like this would universally be regarded as their all-time best moments. But for artists like billy woods though… lyrics like this are a dime a dozen… they're literally just Verse 2 off of a song called "Hangman...
May 10, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 142
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:33). New York's Wiki is what they call "a rapper’s rapper". Gifted as a lyricist, with a style that could exist within multiple eras of rap. Not even having reached his 30th birthday yet, Wiki has already received mass acclaim for his work as RATKING, and as a solo artist with revered projects that showcase his exceptional penmanship, remarkable versatility, and immensely deep passion for this thi...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 141
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:32). As a listener of hip-hop, the best rappers always have a way of drawing you in. This can be achieved through aesthetics, found in a cool flow or voice. It can also be achieved through the content of what someone is saying, found in slick wordplay, or interesting subject matter. Today’s guest, YUNGMORPHEUS, is a rapper who grabs my attention in both of the aforementioned ways. His voice is smo...
Apr 12, 2023•58 min•Ep. 140
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:05). “Close the door on what I tore apart, my heart is broken/Ball was in your court, I can't believe I left you open” This was the line in Navy Blue’s song “Alignment”, that first stopped me dead in my tracks, and made me have the thought... "I need to pay attention to this… this song was written for me”. Found on Navy Blue’s excellent personal classic of a record from 2020, Song of Sage: Post Panic! , "Al...
Apr 05, 2023•12 min
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (1:51). Hip-hop has been ripe with New York lore since the genesis of this art form. Albums like Illmatic , and The Cold Vein are shining examples of albums that encapsulate NYC life, from their own unique perspectives. King Vision Ultra’s SHOOK WORLD is the latest album to accomplish a similar feat, building a world that captures the raw grit and rich history of the city like no other. It ...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 139
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (1:53). With most success stories in life, it often comes as a result of remarkable talent, passion, and fortunate circumstances that align one’s innate gifts with the right environment to thrive. That’s precisely the situation that surrounds Child Actor. Child Actor is an artist that cut their teeth in the indie pop world, before transitioning to the world of rap through organic relationships with t...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 138
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (2:40). Rappers that are known for quote unquote “rapping fast” have almost developed a bit of an odd reputation in some underground circles. Where something that could be seen as an undeniably good thing, has instead been seen as a marker of potentially corny music, devoid of real substance. The downfall of later era Eminem, as well as artists like Logic, have played a big role in this. Ho...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 137
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:00). One of the primary reasons I decided to move to Toronto last summer, was the vibrant music scene in the city. So going to many shows was the extent of what I expected. However, what I was pleasantly surprised to see though was a solid community of underground rap fans that I kept seeing at many different rap events. Many of which were hosted by none other than the pride of Toronto’s hip-hop u...
Mar 01, 2023•58 min•Ep. 136
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (1:51). “It’s important to me to be an original human being. It’s not important to me to be original or different in my music. It’s important to me to be original and different in every single thing I do.” This is a direct quote from the upcoming interview with R.A.P. Ferreira you are about to hear, and I think that speaks for itself. As one of the champions of smart indie underground hip-hop for ove...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 135
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (3:10). *Internet connection was choppy, so excuse the questionable audio quality. We did our best.* Over the years, as someone who’s obsessed with music… I’ve observed a sort of left brain-right brain dynamic with many of the artists I’ve listened to closely. In the context of music, I feel there is a side of music-making that is left brain centered on structure, that is all about a thought-out inte...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 134
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:54). Experts have said recently our society is in a “general crisis”, which means that we are not just dealing with economic crises, ecological crises, political crises… but many types of crises occurring at the exact same time. So needless to say, music that speaks to the emotional and mental effects of these times has been really connecting with me in recent years. Today’s guest, Oakland’s Nappy...
Feb 01, 2023•45 min•Ep. 133
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Why I love talking about music (0:21) One of the greatest things about art is that it’s contextual… it’s temporal. Meaning that a particular album for example, could not only make different people feel different things, but could even make the same person feel different things, once the context surrounding their experience with the album changes. This dynamic is why I love talking about music, and why I hope you the listener choos...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 132
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Review (2:28). You may be thinking, why am I, an esteemed member of the rap journalism industrial complex… reviewing the music of an artist historically known as an R&B artist in SZA? You may want me to just shut up and dribble, and only cover what you consider rap enough… but I will not comply. Discussing SZA’s new album SOS is my god given right protected by the Constitution! I felt inspired to ...
Jan 11, 2023•20 min•Ep. 131
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:04). Relatability in art is often erroneously mistaken for this idea of “x artist explicitly talking about things that are directly relevant to my life, talking only about things I dealt with personally". Obviously this is a form of relatability, but I’d argue that relatability is a concept more broad and less rigid than that. Relatability to me is simply the idea of identifying with what an artist stands f...
Jan 04, 2023•15 min
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:04). Encountering music that you immediately feel connected to is akin to meeting someone cool for the first time. Where you say to yourself, “this person is going to be a part of my life moving forward, they’re good people”. Great music has the ability to give me that exhilarating feeling similar to when I make a new friend… it’s priceless, it gives me life. This is what I experienced when I first heard "L...
Dec 21, 2022•9 min
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (1:26). There are few rappers that I consider true aliens of the rap game. By aliens, I mean rappers who’s style feels one of one, incomprehensible, otherworldly. The kind of rapper that sounds good on any beat you throw at them. I was honoured to be joined by one of said rappers, Mutant Academy’s Koncept Jack$on, who gave us a peak inside the mind of one of rap’s most unique lyricists. Listen on to ...
Dec 14, 2022•47 min•Ep. 130
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (1:44). Weirdness and experimentation in music is a tricky thing. It’s very easy to go too far and make music that is so unlistenable to many listeners. It is also easy to make music that feels pushes musical boundaries, but to no meaningful end. Where the end product doesn’t come together into a cohesive statement that says anything coherent. Lucky for us listeners of Fatboi Sharif and nof...
Dec 07, 2022•45 min•Ep. 129
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Review (1:45). You know the saying of, “it’s not how what you say, but how you say it”. This is a point that is being proven time and time again, in politics and certainly in music. I think this dynamic applies very nicely to R.A.P. Ferreira. Although his witty philosophical musings have been present in his music since the beginning of his decade-plus long career, I don’t think his music has ever soun...
Nov 30, 2022•16 min•Ep. 128
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:10). Not only are topics like philosophy, spirituality, knowledge of self, difficult things to learn in and of itself... it’s an entirely different challenge to be able to communicate these topics with clarity. Not to mention with grace and humility to boot. Today’s guest, AKAI SOLO, does just that. Something I told AKAI, and what bares repeating, is that an idea sounds simple when it is presented...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 127
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (1:42). The Mutant Academy collective has been the launching point for many of rap’s most innovative creators over the past half decade. With uber-talented spitters such as Fly Anakin, and Koncept Jack$on, and captivating beatmakers such as ohbliv, Tuamie, Foisey, and our guest on today’s show... ewonee. ewonee has fueled the sound for not only Mutant Academy releases, but has also worked with the br...
Nov 09, 2022•45 min•Ep. 126
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Review (2:13). Vulnerability is an interesting concept. The more vulnerable you get, the likelihood of you achieving true happiness and connection rises... just as the likelihood you get deeply hurt and traumatized rises as well. In other words, vulnerability is a double-edged sword. This is precisely why I gravitate so strongly to music that is personal. It’s because that’s where the magic happens, b...
Nov 02, 2022•23 min•Ep. 125
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (2:27). When I first heard today's guest on the show on El-P's "Oh Hail No" off of Cancer 4 Cure … I was sold immediately. Even if it was just one feature, without me being aware of who this guy was and what projects he had under his belt, his flows, his bars, and his charisma were off the charts. The talent of Mr. Muthaf*****’ eXquire was undeniable. And luckily for me, he also had a catalog to back...
Oct 26, 2022•51 min•Ep. 124
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (1:30). In today’s political climate, music that speaks to real issues is something I gravitate to more than ever. If you add on wildly creative music to back said real issues, you’ve got me hooked. That’s exactly what we have with today’s guest on the show, Ghais Guevara. Ghais is a Philly rapper who is unapologetic about his strong communist beliefs, who’s music has quickly achieved strong critical...
Oct 19, 2022•55 min•Ep. 123
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (2:12). When I started this Album Alchemy series, I wanted to get laser-focused on the intricacies found in some of the best rap albums being made, with the artists themselves. So I feel like a series like this was tailor-made for the pair of artists we have featured in today’s episode. Lukah, Memphis MC, has been on a tear in the past couple of years, who’s approach to music is as well-tho...
Oct 12, 2022•52 min•Ep. 122
Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (0:49). The XXL Freshman Class is an annual collection of some of the most mediocre young (ish) rappers coming up in the game. Instead of re-hashing a tired idea, I collaborated with cool guys at Freemusicempire to have a different conversation. We flipped the conversation and discussed our favourite veterans in the game, in order to compile the first iteration of the RMPP x FME Senior Class. I hope you enjoy ...
Oct 05, 2022•1 hr 32 min
