Original Cover Art Designed by Nicholas Ma
Life is rarely easy and just as often unpleasant. When great art imitates life, great artists recreate the strength of life’s best moments with the pain and confusion of its worst. Some projects go above and…

Mastering the Art of Tension and Relief: Pink Floyd, Flying Lotus, and Childish Gambino

 This conversation between Chris Patrick and Brandon Hill was had on July 15. The full interview was also used to write the profile, Chris Patrick: It’s About Progression, Not Competition. Born and raised in East Orange, NJ, Chris Patrick is a young…

Conversation with Chris Patrick: “Speak what you want into existence”

On this episode we talk about 03 Greedo, an incredible west coast trap artist facing 20 years in prison for a nonviolent drug offense, the false sense of closure given by posthumous albums, and inequitable treatment of women (particularly women of…

[Podcast] Ep. 16 - 03 Greedo, Posthumous Albums and WAP 

In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are modern musicians who champion an art form that’s more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music…

Why We Like It: Jennifair’s “Living the Life” (Ft. Drum Mage)[ 4 minute read ]

In the second installment of our interview series, we sit down with TIDAL's Chief Content Officer and RapRadar co-host, Elliott Wilson, to discuss the music journalism industry with someone who has not just been a part of the evolution, but a leading…

[Podcast] "Start Saying It With Confidence" W/ Elliott Wilson

Happy 26th birthday to one of my all time favorite classic hip-hop albums. Biggie flows like no other over the combined sounds of '70s, '80s, and '90s hip-hop. The east coast gangster rap record explores the constant paranoia of a drug dealer in a…

[Instagram] The Notorious B.I.G. - 'Ready to Die' 

Why We Like It: Lo-Ke’s “Henny Nights”[ 7 minute read ]

 Red eyes, red eyes. Eyelids up before the orange sunrise. Sleepless nights spent chasing dreams. Long hard days you’ll never redeem. Fake a smile, give a greeting, a grin. Screaming inside for your shift to just end. Thinking ahead to the words…

Chris Patrick: It’s About Progression, Not Competition

DiCaprio 2 is the album that solidified J.I.D's star power. Coming off the debut project where he fleshed out his story of overcoming impossible odds, this whole album was crafted to make exceptional live show cuts. Even before the album, his live…

[Instagram] J.I.D - 'DiCaprio 2'

On this episode we bring an interview with Open Mike Eagle about balancing the evolving demands of a creative lifestyle during the pandemic, a beautifully written symposium on the unjust classification of Southern rap, and one of the latest episodes…

[Podcast] Ep 15: Open Mike Eagle, Southern Rap & Hot Ones

The second half of our interview with DJ Booth Senior Staff Writer Yoh Phillips is out now! We continued our conversation about Yoh's growth as a journalist and how the work of great writers can represent snapshots or windows into the self. We also…

[Podcast] "I Don't Take Selfies, I Write Articles" W/Yoh Phillips (Part Two)

Why We Like It: Jaylon Musa’s “Silent Tears”[ 5 minute read ]

This bonus episode of the podcast is our most exciting to date. In the first half of this three hour conversation with DJ Booth Senior Staff Writer Yoh Phillips, we learned about the culture of individualism nurtured in Atlanta, Yoh's journey from…

[Podcast] "I'm Still Trying to Stab You" W/ Yoh Phillips (Part One)

I love the folk lore analogy made at the start of this album. An old trick for hunting wolves is to stick a bloody blade into ice. The wolf will lick the blade thinking it's getting something to eat but will bleed out from cutting its own tongue.…

[Instagram] Benny the Butcher - 'The Plugs I Met' 

In this episode we get a deeper look at Lil Baby's life and inevitable rise to the top through Rolling Stone's August cover story, we break down the history of underground rap with the words of an underground rapper, and discuss how Tiny Desk has…

[Podcast] Ep 14: Lil Baby, Underground Rap & Tiny Desk

Why We Like It: Jay Wood’s “HEADHUNTER”[ 3 minute read ]

Lucky thirteen, my favorite episode of the podcast to date. This week we discussed how the difficulties of streaming revenue for artists has been massively impacted by the pandemic, an interview with Jonah Yano about the soothing melodies of his new…

[Podcast] Ep 13: Streaming Pay, Jonah Yano & Death

Why We Like It: Broughton’s “Role Model”[ 3 minute read ]

This is a science-fiction short story about the meaning of life and limits of humanity that I wrote a few years ago in a creative writing class. It's been lightly edited by myself but never really revised intensively. I would love to get back into…