Breaking Atoms: The Hip Hop Podcast

They say that time flies when you’re having fun. This week’s episode was originally recorded 18 months ago. We had some technical difficulties. Local files got corrupted and whatnot, but this episode was so nice, we edited it twice, and here we are.  Our guest is a friend of the show and a living legend in our culture. Shortee Blitz is one of the best DJs ever. His list of hits and accolades are l...

We're keeping the love local this week, and we're joined by one of the hardest working emcees on Planet Earth. Genesis Elijah pulls up, sits down and gets real about the highs and lows of the independent grustle (grind and hustle), working with the MOBOs, playing Basketball and more. In true emcee fashion, he asserts his position as one of the best on the mic device.    Follow Sumit   Instagram: h...

We travel to North West London to break bread and reason with Da Flyy Hooligan. Hooli is a friend of the show and a friend in real life. This conversation has been years in the making, and we made it count. We talked about his new project Ben Kingsley, his blood connection with Micall Parknsun, soap operas and more!    Follow Sumit   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiphopchronicle Twitter: ht...

Ladies first - from now until forever. We're honoured to be joined by Scotland's very own, Arusa Qureshi, Author of the amazing new book, 'Flip The Script: How Women Came To Rule Rap'. Arusa shares her Hip Hop come up story, putting the book together, the Scottish Hip Hop scene and the importance of women in Hip Hop, past, present and future.    Follow Sumit   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/...

We went deep beneath the muddy waters of Brownsville to find the Rockness Monsta for this week's episode. Rockness Monsta is the beast from the east who devours everything and everyone in his path - especially on record. Rock talks about his new 'Ether Rock' album with Ron Browz, the uniqueness of his voice, the 25th anniversary of 'Nocturnal' by Heltah Skeltah and unreleased Fab 5 music.    Pleas...

Real heads know what it means when February comes around. It's Dilla Month. It's only right that we recognise the man James Yancey by speaking to Author and Human Encyclopedia, Dan Charnas! In his first UK interview about his amazing book, Dilla Time, Dan waxes lyrical about documenting a loving ode to J Dilla, the city of Detroit and Black history.   Purchase Dilla Time here: https://amzn.to/3ANV...

We have a certain reverence for the past over here, but we also know it's important to look forward. This week's guest is one of our favourite emcees right now. Ty Farris is fresh from Detroit and has a story to tell that you need to hear. He's raw. Honest. Vulnerable. And he raps really well.   Follow Sumit   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiphopchronicle Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/hi...

You may not know the name, and you probably don't see the face. But we will bet our pension money that you know the music. This week's guest could co-opt the Most Known Unknown moniker from Three 6 Mafia. EZ Elpee has hits and classics and can drop as many of each as he wants at will. We found the Bronx Producer, and he pulled up to talk about his DJ roots, mentorship from Buckwild and Lord Finess...

This week's guests have done more than their 10,000-hour share in the culture. Anthony Marshall and Danny Castro are the founders of the legendary Lyricist Lounge, which recently marked its 30th anniversary. Ant and Danny reminisce on the impactful performances, mythical battles, and more through the platform they created. They also talk about helping lay the foundation for Rawkus Records, their r...

For our first episode of 2022, we spoke with a living legend in the world of music. Carl McIntosh is a name that kept coming up in our previous episodes, and even though we've always respected the levels, we had to find out why his name stayed on the tips of our guests' tongues. In this conversation, we talked about the early days of Loose Ends, Carl's admiration for Gang Starr, working with Pete...

We made it to the end of the year. We started out together so we're ending it the same way. We had a quick chat about some of our favourite albums, artists and producers of 2021. We also reminisced on some of our favourite moments on the pod, brought a little smoke for the opps, shout out our connects and make a special announcement at the end. Thank you to everyone who listened and supported us t...

This week, we're gonna hit you one time and it'll definitely be funky. We're joined by one-third of the Lords Of The Underground, DJ Lord Jazz, to talk about the group's history, come up and more. He talks about meeting Marley Marl, recording Here Comes The Lords, the influence of Mr Funkee and DoItAll, K-Def being slept on and other serious topics such as ageing in Hip Hop.    Follow Sumit   Inst...

We're celebrating another milestone today. This is our 150th episode and we are honoured to have Frank Nitt join us as our special guest.  Frank gets knee-deep into Detroit history. He talks about his early days being one of the D's Hip Hop kids, his brotherhood with J Dilla, working with Illa J as one half of the Yancey Boys and clarifies a link with Jay Dee and Jay-Z. Press play and enjoy.  Than...

Originally recorded for  The Hip Hop Chronicle in June 2009. To celebrate the release of Raekwon's new book, Staircase To The Stage , Sumit went to Shaolin and found this interview with The Chef right before the release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II. Raekwon speaks on making the album, working with his Wu-Tang brethren, Busta Rhymes connecting the dots with J Dilla, and working with Beanie...

We've not done an episode without a special guest for a minute, but recent events have called for a tag team chinwag. Last week, Apollo Brown dropped 'Blacklight' with Stalley which is his 25th official release on Mello Music Group. Since 2010, Apollo Brown has worked with O.C., Guilty Simpson, Skyzoo, Che' Noir, Planet Asia, Raheem DeVaughn, Ras Kass, Ugly Heroes and more. It's been nearly a deca...

Our esteemed guest this week has been in the game for a minute. Since the 90s actually. Wais P joins us to talk about his new album, 'T.A.P.A.S. 2' (to all playas and simps), which is one of the illest acronyms we've ever heard. We also talked about his debut on Jay-Z's 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life' album, relationship with Statik Selektah, bond with Ras Kass and finally getting on a track with Kxng...

We travel to the West Coast (via Zoom) to have a candid and open chat with Vallejo's own, LaRussell! The conversation is broad but focused as we discuss his latest music, cultural equity, monetising freestyles, retiring and remaking an E-40 classic.    Follow Sumit   💥 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiphopchronicle 💥 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/hiphopchronicle   Follow Chris   💥 Inst...

Khrysis on the boards with the heat! This week, we talked to Khrysis - the producer, engineer, emcee and long-serving member of the Jamla squad! He opens up about his early musical roots, pause tapes, meeting 9th Wonder, joining the Justus League and working with the Jamla roster. He also provides insight as to why his recently released debut, 'The Hour of Khrysis', took over a decade to see the l...

We're joined by one of the best producers on the mic this week. Hailing all the way from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bronze Nazareth checks in to talk about his new album with Roc Marciano, 'Ekphrasis'. We get into the making of the project, revisit his time on Think Differently Music, celebrate the 15th anniversary of his solo debut, 'The Great Migration' and explore his friendship with Apollo Brown....

You asked for it and we made it happen. Please welcome Shad to Breaking Atoms! Fresh off the release of his new album, TAO, we spoke to him about the making of his new project, the beautiful struggle called humanity, hosting Hip Hop Evolution on Netflix, the pros and cons of Black excellence and basketball references in his raps. Special thanks to Supastition and Newselph for helping to make this...

This week, we're joined by master wordsmith Mickey Factz! Earlier this year, he broke the net with his 'Wraith' diss to Royce 5'9", but we skipped over that to talk about his come up in the business, his new EP with Blu, The Narrative, working with Nottz and dig into some of his bars.  Follow Sumit   💥 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiphopchronicle 💥 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/hiphop...

For the first time ever in interview form, we have Author, Journalist and Mic Dropper, Kathy Iandoli in the building! She's just released her amazing book about the life and legacy of Aaliyah. We had the pleasure of speaking to Kathy about why she wrote the book, Aaliyah's influence on music, the way men and women are marketed differently and a lot more. Once again, grown folks are talking and you...

One of our favourite people in this whole world is Shawn Setaro and he definitely needs a 'friend of the show' shirt. Making his third appearance on the pod, he's back to talk about his new book, Dummy Boy, which details the rise and fall of 6ix9ine. It's not all about opps and shots though. We get into some deep conversation about the attention economy and how to avoid some of those same pitfalls...

This week's episode is with two emcees who have a knack for making everyday life sound fresh and relatable in their rhymes. Donwill and Von Pea of Tanya Morgan came up from the bottom and know what it takes to sustain a music career away from the glamour and glitz that so many fall victim to. We got to speak to them about their new album, not mixing their first album, some of their fan favourite c...

After a short little break, we're back with another weekly episode. This week's guest is someone who has been on our bucket list for a couple of years. Before the pandemic, he was constantly touring, so it was hard to pin him down, but we finally have Masta Ace on Breaking Atoms!   Ace shares stories about, concept albums, his memories of Biz Markie, career regrets and much more, as usual.   Follo...