Even without the machine of a major label behind him, Brooklyn rapper Kota the Friend has managed to release three EPs, three mixtapes, and two studio albums in the span of six years, earning him more than 200 Million global streams and co-signs from everyone from LaKeith Stanfield and Lupita Nyong’o, to SZA and Erykah Badu. Kota is even dropping another stu ... Show More
Mar 10
Your Creativity Needs a Good Stretch—and Riz Ahmed Is Here to Help
When Riz Ahmed feels lost in his creative endeavors, he asks two questions: Does it stretch me? Does it stretch culture? Those questions have guided Ahmed to an Oscar- and Emmy-winning acting career (The Long Goodbye and The Night Of, respectively), a boundary-pushing music catal ... Show More
34m 55s
Feb 3
Inside ‘Half His Age’: Jennette McCurdy on female rage, desire, and control
In 2022, Jennette McCurdy shook the culture with I’m Glad My Mom Died, a brutally honest memoir that spent more than 80 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 3 million copies, and is now being adapted as a series for Apple TV+. But more than anything, the bo ... Show More
42m 45s
Jan 2024
Logic on His "Farewell" Album and Retiring to Rural Oregon
Bobby Hall -- better known by his stage name Logic -- first started making waves in the rap scene with his 2010 mixtape "Young, Broke, and Infamous". In 2018, he blew up and received two Grammy nominations for a song he titled 1-800-273-8255, which is the phone number for the Nat ... Show More
55m 35s
Aug 2017
Episode 274 Side B: Jay-Z's Rap Radar Interview + Lil Uzi Vert
Armond & Doc continue on this week by discussing Lil Uzi Vert's new album before going in-depth on Jay-Z's Rap Radar interview - his spirituality, the debate over his catalog, the controversies, etc. Plus a random digression into Eminem's production discography, a conversation wo ... Show More
52m 7s
Mar 2023
Geoff Harkness, "DVS Mindz: The Twenty-Year Saga of the Greatest Rap Group to Almost Make It Outta Kansas" (Columbia UP, 2023)
99.9% of aspiring rappers never make it in the music industry. So why do we only hear the stories of the ones who do?
DVS Mindz might be the greatest rap group you've never heard of. Formed in Topeka, Kansas, in the mid-1990s, they developed a reputation for ferocious rhyming and ... Show More
49m 10s
Dec 2020
Chronic Issues: Dr. Dre vs. Eazy-E
Back in the late 1980s, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E were members of N.W.A., one of the most important and iconic hip-hop groups ever. But in the wake of their historic 1988 album Straight Outta Compton, the two fell out over business disagreements. Once Dre went solo, he proceeded to rip ... Show More
49m 23s
Mar 2019
Logic: Logic & Chris Zarou
In 2010, Logic the rapper, born as Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, released his first official mixtape titled "Young, Broke & Infamous." At 20 years old, Logic certainly was young and broke, and while crashing on a friend's couch, he poured himself into his music. Logic's career could ... Show More
1h 11m
Apr 2022
Rapper Denzel Curry On His New Measurement of Success: Peace of Mind
Denzel Curry brought his rage to rap. For years, he's been known for taking a crowd and turning it into a moshpit. It was his way of taking his internal pain and expressing it. These days, though, Denzel is looking inward and so is his music. Now his mission is to find peace, and ... Show More
22m 13s