Hip-hop discussion podcast from an MC, a writer, and a record collector featuring interviews with well-respected figures from rap’s past and present. A Stony Island Audio experience.
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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hip-hop” in the broadest sense, but that term has little meaning in the streaming economy, and is a somewhat outdated term aesthetically as well. As we were beginning to learn the lay of the land of who were the best abstract or “thoughtful” rappers of this era were a few years ago, we started calling the cluster of Backwoodz-associated rappers and their affiliates The Vanguard. The name didn’t stick, it’s probably too generic to describe the florid and intricate music that is being made. Pretty much everyone got mad when it was referred to as “Art Rap” in a piece in Complex written by friend of the program Shawn Setaro
that quoted DBRP host Nate LeBlanc several times. That leaves us, who pride ourselves on a keen ability to describe this music, without an effective banner term. And frankly, these artists are too independent-minded to fall into easy categories, that is part of the reason why we fuck with them.
However you try to define this sound, this scene, ELUCID is one of the premier artists of our time, a leading voice in this indescribable tangle of abstract MCs and Producers making challenging, interesting music that pushes hip-hop forward. We have interviewed ELUCID multiple times on DBRP in the past, and we have always found him to be engaging and willing to discuss his art on a bit of a deeper level than most other artists. Today we’re talking to him about his new album, Revelator. The album drops October 18th, and in fact we conducted the first interview about it, kind of an unofficial kickoff of the rollout of the record. We look forward to many more listens to this album soon, to unlock its mysteries. Hopefully this interview provides some helpful context for you to consider when you are able to hear it upon release.
This week’s episode also has a surprise bonus interview with the Previous Industries crew. DBRP hosts Demone Carter and David Ma were able to catch up with Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, and Still Rift at their show in San Francisco recently for a very loose conversation about their recent album Service Merchandise, one of our favorites of the year thus far. The rest of the audio can be found on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/dadbodrappod
DBRP is produced by Demone Carter. Theme song by Cutso and DEM ONE. Brought to you by Stony Island Audio
