Dad Bod Rap Pod

This week the guys interview author Nate Patrin whose new book Bring That Beat Back is an in-depth look at the history of sampling in hip-hop music and includes examinations of Grandmaster Flash, Dr. Dre, Prince Paul and Madlib. Next up we discuss whether a few southern MCs are over or under rated: Devin the Dude, Trick Daddy and Ludacris, who is back in the public conversation due to his recent I...

For our 118th episode we are debuting a new segment, our first time tackling an actual album review. Demone, Dave and Nate all listened to Mozzy's new album Beyond Bulletproof and rate it on a highly scientific yah/meh/nah scale. Next up we have an interview with DJ Preservation who has a record called Eastern Medicine, Western Illness dropping in a few weeks with many of today's best working MCs...

This week's show is a bit of a grab bag, with three distinct segments. First up our buddy, writer/DJ/producer Son Raw joins us at the virtual table for a discussion on the career of MC/producer/label head/activist Paris, a sometimes forgotten figure who played a big role in several strands of rap's history, particularly in our native Bay Area. Next up we have an interview with producer Animoss, an...

This week we have a special crossover episode with our buddies Alaska, Zilla Rocca and Curly Castro, MCs and hosts of the podcast Call Out Culture. All 6 of us submitted a hip-hop related "hot take" and then everyone had a chance to respond. We call it The Takeoff. It's intended to be a bit punchier than our usual winding discussions. Please click to listen to the rap nerd royal rumble and send us...

This week our hosts are joined by UK-based journalist Thomas Hobbs for a conversation about 2pac based on his recent "listeners guide" article in the Guardian and then they interview rapper/producer/animator Quelle Chris who has a new album this week called Innocent Country 2 with Chris Keys. Beats for this week's show were submitted by our friend EddouXL, check out his new tape Loops From the MP...

This week we have a lively show, up top our 3 co-hosts discuss hip-hop's best "comeback" albums, a term with a surprisingly wide range of interpretations. Then we have a great interview with Curly Castro and Prem Rock, who are best known as a duo as Shrapknel. They have a very good new self titled album out on Backwoodz Studios produced by Elucid and Willie Green. Beats on this week's show are pro...

Leading off the show is a discussion between Demone and Nate on the towering legacy of the great Bill Withers, then thoughts on the recent hip-hop adjacent albums from Childish Gambino and Thundercat. After that we have a conversation with triple threat MC/DJ/Producer J-Live on his career with a focus on his more recent output. Next up is a conversation with MC/Producer 38 Spesh out of Rochester,...

This week we have a brief check in with the three hosts via conference call, where we hear about Dave's interview with Conway and The Alchemist for Billboard about their new EP Lulu, and Demone tells us about being interviewed by NPR for a story related to his day job running a food bank. Next up we have an interview with MC Estee Nack, an incredibly productive rapper who releases excellent street...

Welcome back to week 2 of the slightly-reformatted Dad Bod Rap Pod as recorded under "shelter-in-place" conditions so we are not able to meet in person. This week all 3 co-hosts share what their lives have been like lately, what they've been listening to and watching to fill the time, and of course we get a little deep on some new rap releases including R.A.P. Ferreira's Purple Moonlight Pages and...

We are back with a double dose of DBRP. Our entire region of the Bay Area in California is under "shelter in place" orders so we do a quick check-in to see how people are passing the time and staying sane in these crazy times. Then we have a great and frankly inspiring interview with Count Bass D, whose debut album came out 25 years ago and his latest album CBD came out last week. The Count discus...

We are very excited to welcome this week's guest, Slug of Atmosphere. Atmosphere is a beloved indie hip-hop institution, with a wide range of projects and a reputation as one of the best live acts in hip-hop. On this week's show we are joined by their frontman Slug (we interviewed producer Ant on episode DBRP 29) about his life and career, touching a broad range of subjects such as balancing touri...

This week we are joined by MC/Producer/Writer/Artist and more Rhys Langston to talk about his new album Language Arts Unit. Rhys executed a new release with a book and some stunning visuals essentially by himself and he is here to tell us how he did it.

Little bonus mini-episode this week since we can’t stop talking about MF DOOM and his album Operation: Doomsday. We are joined by GENG aka King Vision Ultra, who attended and filmed DOOM’s first-ever performance. He tells us that story and a few others from the cypher-era New York underground hip-hop scene.

This week we bring you a Tim Hardaway caliber crossover, we teamed with the excellent UK-based hip-hop podcast Crate 808 to break down MF DOOM’s Operation: Doomsday. This album holds a special place for all of us as an unimpeachable underground classic. We talk about the songs, the skits, the art, and the samples with Kam, the effusive host of Crate 808.

This week we are joined by the multifaceted MC Fat Tony who has a new album out called Wake Up on Carpark Records. Topics discussed include smokiness levels in Mezcal, his experiences with Vice, the NY underground rap scene in the early aughts, comedy, and his need to connect personally with his producers. Tony is one-of-a-kind and we had a lot of fun talking with him. In the second segment we are...

This week we have a bit of a schizophrenic show. In the first segment we have a long conversation about Lil Wayne and on the back half we have a special interview with Yesh aka Yeshua DapoEd who created an indie rap masterpiece in 1996. The Visualz EP is legendary among backpack rap aficionados for its intricate wordplay, brazen song construction, and jazz-inflected beats. It is a personal favorit...

This week we have a very special interview. Our guest is MC Tree from Chicago. He does not normally grant interviews or play shows or do any of the promotional tasks one might associate with being a rapper. He simply records and releases his incredible Soul Trap music on his own terms. Tree had a monster year in 2019, releasing three full length records. We get to hear a bit about each of them and...

Great interview this week with author Adam Mansbach who provides insight on the life and career of the beyond-legendary hip-hop pioneer Phase 2. Adam has written several novels centered around hip-hop culture and written for and edited influential hip-hop publications but is best known for writing the “childrens’ book for adults” Go The Fuck To Sleep. In the other segments the fellas talk about th...

This week we are joined by the versatile and productive MC/Producer Evidence. Fresh off tour with Brother Ali (he produced Ali’s most recent album Secrets & Escapes) he talks through his career up to this point. Ev arrived on the scene as a member of Dilated Peoples, and has released a string of solo albums and collaborations since then. His 2018 release Weather Or Not was among his most acclaimed...

Short episode this week. The fellas discuss whether there should be a term for the most creative MCs pushing the genre forward. We workshop calling them The Vanguard. In the second segment we interview Vanguard member, MC/Producer Elucid. He is a creative force, in his solo work and his collaborations he is one of the most creative people in hip-hop and we were very pleased to be able to speak wit...

We are celebrating the milestone of reaching 100 episodes of Dad Bod Rap Pod by focusing our attention on one of the greatest rap groups of all time, A Tribe Called Quest. They are monumentally important to the development of hip-hop music and culture in general but also in our personal lives. First up, we have an in-depth interview with Hanif Abdurraqib, author of Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A...

We’ve got 99 episodes but a satisfactory accounting of the decade in rap isn’t one. This week each of our three co-hosts pick their top 5 albums of the decade. Tune in to hear what made the cut.

Very special episode this week, we go long on the year in hip-hop and hand out our 2019 Dad Bod Awards for our favorite releases of the year. After that we are joined by the intriguing MC billy woods, who released two of the best records of the year Hiding Places with producer Kenny Segal and Terror management. woods possesses a ferocious intellect and a reflective demeanor, and is answers are ful...

It’s a good old fashioned banter episode, the first time in a while we haven’t had a guest. Dave called in sick, so Nate and Demone discuss IRL interactions with hip-hop artists, whether podcasts are filing the void left by the disillusion of many hip-hop magazines, and the fiasco that was the Source Magazine’s Benzino years. Listen now, watch the movie we start writing the script for at some poin...

Every year we try to do a special episode for Thanksgiving and this year we landed on the theme of stories. We are all storytellers in some regard, and each DBRP co-host picked a song to tell a personal story about. Nate talks about his family through the lens of Action Bronson’s “9-24-11,” Dave reminisces about a particularly fruitful time in his career by discussing Lord Shafiq’s “My Mic Is On F...