Diggin' In The Digits

The Hip-Hop world bowed their heads on New Year's Day to commemorate the life of Memphis legend Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, better known as Gangsta Boo. Along with her membership in Three Six Mafia, The Queen of Memphis had her own career and her own legacy. We unpack that with this episode. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:05) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Nejma Nefertiti - Letters From The...

For the 16th edition of DITD Bites, we take stock of 2022 as a year. Mainly from a music perspective but we broach other topics. Thanks for listening. Below are the Social accounts for all parties involved. Music - "Pizza And Video Games" by Bonus Points (Thanks to Chillhop Music for the right to use) HHBTN (Twitter & IG) - @HipHopNumbers 5E (Twitter) - @The5thElementUK ChillHop (Twitter) - @C...

For this Hip-Hop Neighbours, we cover the work of British group Soul II Soul and their classic "Club Classics, Vol. 1"; and Blondie's seminal track that was a flashpoint for Hip-Hop, "Rapture". TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Little Simz - NO, THANK YOU IYAMAH - Sometimes, I'm Speechless (EP) Lyric Michelle - MUSE (EP) Lizzie Berchie - Under The Sun (EP) Vinocio...

As the year winds down, we decided to go through the Metacritic rankings for Hip-Hop album scores this year. Some make sense, some don't; some even warrant a conspiracy toward how Metacritic favour certain types of work over another. This was right before Simz dropped "NO, THANK YOU" so she doesn't appear, same with Ab-Soul. We also dropped a visual version of this which you can spin here . Thanks...

We get to "The Chef" Raekwon, whose solo work gives Raekwon a stage to really shine as a lyricist with layers and storytelling chops that rival the best. Weekly Music Roundup - (1:08) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) SAULT - 11 SAULT - Untitled (God) Dezron Douglas - ATALAYA Lyriqs - Hillman Jay Prince & Tiny Spys - Adventures Of You (EP) Kamaiyah - Keep It Lit (EP) Kool G Rap - Last Of A Dyin...

There aren't many artists that came of age in the 90s that continue producing high quality bodies of work. Ghostface Killah is rarely credited with a consistent discography, but that is exactly what he has. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (0:56) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) BlaQ Chidori - White Melodies Side B Cal Scruby - Casino Metro Boomin - Heroes & Villains Reuben James - Piano Lov...

We all have our dream festival line-up. We took it a little further and devised our own festivals. From how many days, to the locale, to the line-ups themselves; our festivals were so eclectic that we only had one artist on both line-ups. Let us know which one you'd rather hit and how much you'd pay. Because in our world, this is all for free.99! TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:11) (Ben = Bo...

Along with our new episode with Dr. Joshua Wright, we wanted to still do our Weekly Music Roundup; so we did! And slapped it in as a bonus ep. Enjoy. Projects spun: (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) 38 Spesh - Beyond Belief  Dave East x DJ Drama - Book of David Hus KingPin - My Beautiful Dark Wave Fantasy Vado - Long Run 3 Busta Rhymes - The Fuse Is Lit Apollo Brown & Philmore Greene - Cost of...

In a special episode of DITD, we have our first guest host joining! Dr. Joshua Wright is a professor at Trinity Washington University in Washington, DC, a graduate of Howard University; host of "Woke History", a new podcast series on NPR One and a two-time author. ( Wake Up, Mr. West: Kanye West and the Double Consciousness of Black Celebrity , 2022 & Empire and Black Images in Pop Culture , 2...

Originally starting out as Graffiti artists, the group to be known as Artifacts kept the elements of Hip-Hop close to their chest. With three high-quality albums, including a Golden Age classic debut, the New Jersey natives leave a legacy embodied by other NJ legends after them. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:10) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Nas - King's Disease III Black Panther: Wakan...

The Kid Cudi influence is often stated softly - but in just over a decade - Kid Cudi has changed the game when it comes to subject matter and sound. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (0:58) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) LeeV - LEAVE ME BE DUSTY LOCANE - NIGHTMARE ON DA FIFTH Lecrae - Church Clothes 4 Boldy James x Futurewave - Mr. Ten08 Backwood Sweetie x Furious Stylez - Sweetie Got Stylez Sk...

So now that we're seemingly out of the "Ye" storm, it's a good a time as any to take in maybe the most self-destructive month any public figure has done. This conversations covers a lot of ground and zooms in and out frequently so buckle in. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:23) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Baby Keem - The Melodic Blue Deluxe Duke Deuce - Memphis Massacre 3 Westside Gunn -...

To finish our #UKBHM miniseries for another year, we look at an artist in Estelle with realised talent early on, a truly timeless song in her discography - but looking past that - has a truly fascinating discography and career arc that, at this moment in time, feels like a satisfying full circle. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:02) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Snoop Dogg & DJ Drama -...

Continuing our UKBHM celebrations with a retrospective on one of the most visceral storytellers and lyrical visualisers of the modern era. It took Ghetts 15 years of ups and downs to create his magnum opus but it wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the unique road he travelled. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:55) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Lil Baby - Only Me G Herbo - Survivor...

We continue our UKBHM celebrations with a retrospective on one of the most authentic voices in music: JME. Along with his brother Skepta, (who we covered last year) JME has become a blueprint for any independent artists that want to do it all with their own imprint. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:02) YoungBoy NBA - 3800 Degrees G Herbo - Survivor's Remorse Side A Quavo & Takeoff - Only...

Happy October and happy UK Black History Month one & all! This is the third time we're doing this but for those not in the know. To celebrate UKBHM, we do retrospectives of four black UK artists. To kick it off, we go to one of the first female duos, Cookie Crew. A duo that clearly had talent along with pretty good rolodex, but questionable decisions seemed to sour their outlook and make their...

This episode is a special one for a couple of reasons: 1st, it's our first live recording via Twitter Spaces. 2nd, it was to kick-start our new off-shoot: Prompts. Me, Ben and you guys talking around two specific prompts and letting the conversation go where it goes. The two Prompts: "What artist with a classic album, has the worst debut album?" and "Who is the best one-album artist?" TIMESTAMPS:...

Even though Main Source only lasted officially for five years - with two albums dropped - they certainly made their imprint in Hip-Hop history within that half decade; most notably, the album "Breaking Atoms" & the track "Live At The Barbecue". TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (0:57) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Vic Spencer x August Fanon - Psychological Cheat Sheet 3 Nasty C - Ivyson Ar...

On the 15th edition of DITD Bites, we get into the world of morals & ethics in Journalism and a special conversation of wider media and the response to the death of The Queen. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:55) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Yeat - Lyfe NAV - Demons protected by Angels YoungBoy - Realer 2 38 Spesh - 7 Shots Black Soprano Family - Long Live DJ Shay Cappadonna x Stu Ban...

It's time for another edition of Hip-Hop Neighbours where we talk about non-Hip-Hop works that Hip-Hop fans love regardless. For this volume, we talk about the works of Tame Impala & KAYTRANADA. Weekly Music Roundup - (1:10) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Pi’erre Bourne - Good Movie Francesca Wexler - Cherry Fields Forever Yah-Rah - The Queen’s Gambit BIGBABYGUCCI - SUMMER OF REVENGE Madlib,...

It's time to explore the world of Hip-Hop in Australia and there's no better place to look than the most popular Hip-Hop act in Australia. Hilltop Hoods, a trio that needed a bank loan to fund their first album, to sold out tours and platinum plaques aplenty. But there's much more to see under the surface. Or... Maybe not. TIMESTAMPS:  Weekly Music Roundup - (1:22) (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics)...

If you were on a desert island and you had one artist's discography to spin, who would you pick? If you said your favourite artist, then sure. But think about a Shabazz Palaces where the music is so layered & diverse, you will be guaranteed to hear something different every time you spin. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:13) ( Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics ) Hot Chip - Freakout / Release...

If you ever need a story of resilience, look no further than the career arc of Camp Lo; who began with a classic debut, chose to go independent, have their work suffer because of it and at their lowest point, rise again with their best work since their debut. All in a space of 25+ years. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (1:26) ( Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics ) Megan Thee Stallion - Traumazine Y...

We get into another Bites where we talk about goings on in the Hip-Hop/music world. For this one we get into the Beyonce/Kelis/Neptunes sample controversy and looking into The Notorious B1, an artist from back in the day that claims The Notorious B.I.G. stole his iconic hit "Juicy". TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics) Nezi Momodu - The Pound Calvin Harris - Funk Wav...

In Volume 8 of Contemporary Cool: We look at the works of Rico Nasty, Megan Thee Stallion, Curren$y & The Alchemist and Kojey Radical. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (0:53) ( Ben = Bold / Charlie = Italics ) Beyoncé - RENAISSANCE Wiz Khalifa - Multiverse Lava La Rue - Hi-Fidelity Joe Armon-Jones & Mala - A Way Back Jazz Spastiks - Intomental Nasty - (12:22) Tina Snow - (30:58) Covert C...