Diggin' In The Digits

Certifications are confusing. Simple as that. A lot of us claim to know a lot about it but in reality, past platinum plaques, we know nothing. Charlie has been long done with the certifications ever since Nicki Minaj broke a record held by Aretha Franklin. Ben, as the numbers guy, stands on the other side of the fence but the two come together in acknowledging that these numbers, especially in the...

Well. Here we are. The number 1 Album of the Decade. Throughout the past few weeks, Ben & Charlie have been going through their individual Top 10 AOTD's. From albums about blackness, concepts, mental health, self-reflection and looks into worlds we haven't experienced before. Both lists are interesting in different ways. But at the end of the day, it all came down to, not just the Hip-Hop Albu...

It's time for Part 3 of our four-part series covering our personal Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of the Decade. On this episode, we cover our list from 4 to 2. TIMESTAMPS: Weekly Music Roundup - (2:27) Topic Intro/Charlie's No.4 - (23:53) Ben's No.4 - (36:05) Charlie's No.3 - (48:23) Ben's No.3 - (1:00:59) Charlie's No.2 - (1:10:49) Ben's No.2 - (1:22:49) Thanks for listening. Below are the Social account...

Our Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of the Decade continues! On this episode, we cover albums that are ranked 7 to 5 on our lists. This episode went so long that we had to, for the first time ever, cut our runtime. So our Lighter Note had to be snipped a little. But don't fear, if you want to catch the omitted section, tune into Episode 52 of "What's Good?" W/Charlie Taylor. You can find the show in the sam...

As 2019 and the 2010s winds down, the DITD duo begins a four-part series, counting down their Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of the decade. This episode covers numbers 10 to 8. These lists are 100% Subjective, this isn't about what album hits the hardest or the albums that sold the most or what was the most critically acclaimed. These are the albums that the duo loves the most, the albums that stuck to the...

The concept of a duo is an interesting one. You have one-time duos that catch a vibe and decide to make a project together. (The Throne, Drake & Future) You have homegrown duos that grow together (Eric B & Rakim, Mobb Deep, OutKast) and you have anomalies like Run The Jewels that just find the rare camaraderie that is as if they were homegrown. You also have the duos that rely on expertise...

Mixtapes, in the classic definition, is a thing of the past. But since the turn of the Millenium, Mixtapes have evolved to become more and more about the artist and nothing to do with the DJ/Producer anymore. So how did this happen? Did the DJ's fumble the bag? Has a fun essence of Hip-Hop gone away with the commercialisation of Mixtapes? Why does Charlie get so irked about Mixtapes sounding just...

Hip-Hop as a genre of music is always evolving, constantly changing, year by year. But what about those artists or those albums that kind of straddle the Hip-Hop sound but takes significant inspirations from other genres? The DITD duo talk about labels, (The things you stick on your chest, not the music ones...) genres and the foundations that Hip-Hop are built on. Is labelling something "Hip-Hop"...

Beefs are some of the greatest things about Hip-Hop culture, watching two (or more) artists go at each other on wax. It's a win-win for every Hip-Hop fan. Even more so if the tracks are genuinely fire. So the DITD duo looks at a couple of tasty rivalries that have produced some of the most ruthless tracks in music. We take a look at Ice Cube vs NWA (& Eazy vs Dre) and the recent beef that we s...

Hip-Hop indulges in plenty of things we can consider negative. Money, sex, guns, gangs to name a few. But none of those has been as contentious as the conversation around drugs. Back in the day, Hip-Hop were the sellers of them because that's what Uncle Sam forced them to do. Some outright denounced it, some made positives out of the negative. Now, Hip-Hop are the buyers, the users, and people hav...

In Part 2 of the DITD Mini-Series on "Dual-Disciplined Artists", the duo take a look at some notable D-DA's that have made the method their own.  We create three designations:  Producers who rap. Rappers who produce. "True Dual" Artists. This is a very fast-paced episode that tries to get through a lot of artists and we chop & change a few when we get to them so strap in and cover your ears wh...

In a 2-Part Mini-series of DITD. The duo explores the concept of the "Dual-Disciplined Artist". (D-DA) An artist that produces as well as raps. We all know that these days there are a plethora of artists that like to have a hand in the two most prominent stages of creating music. But what you might not know is that the late 80s/early 90s was stacked with D-DAs! Ben & Charlie take a little trip...

It's been over a decade now when in 2007, two of the biggest names in Hip-Hop literally went head-to-head, to see who was the commercial King. 50 Cent dropped "Curtis" and Kanye West dropped "Graduation". Kanye won in a landslide and at that moment, changed Hip-Hop. The DITD duo discuss the event in detail, looking at the albums themselves, the artists careers before and after the event and, of co...

"Trash" - Something that is of low quality. There's a lot of words in the Hip-Hop lexicon that are used freely & frequently. "Classic" & "GOAT" have been think-pieced to death in recent years, but what about "trash"? Whenever an album, EP or song drops, there is always somebody to label it "trash". But what do we really mean when we say "trash"? Do we mean it's the worst thing ever? The wo...

The DITD "Retrospective" series continues with Chicago's own Common. On the back of his latest Studio Album "Let Love", Common has long solidified his place in Hip-Hop history. Multiple classics, iconic songs and a model of consistency. Now, in recent years, he's evolved to become the signature lyricist to *sound* like he's pushing 50. Themes of Love, introspection & life experience has always...

Storytelling is a foundation in how we communicate. It gives us the ability to inform others of the past. But past that very basic understanding, we can use Storytelling to however we see fit. We can tell the outright truth, we can give a completely fabricated recount. We can make it funny, make it sad. It's all up to the storyteller. So imagine that ability to mould a story and then throw some be...

The DITD duo continues their "Retrospective" series with one of the most visible figures in Hip-Hop history. Snoop Dogg. There's plenty of ways to hail Snoop Dogg , from his music to his cultural ubiquity, to his business acumen, to his activism. Ben & Charlie cover all of these (In a "We are not worthy" fashion) and more as they figure out why Hip-Hop fans don't rate him as heavy in today's l...

Dr Dre is a consensus Top 5 Producer in Hip-Hop history. Where some try to cement their legacy by either being business geniuses or creative geniuses, Dr Dre has done both. A residency on Forbes' Hip-Hop cash kings and countless artists that have Dre to thank for their careers are testaments to that. Ben & Charlie continue their retrospective series with a breakdown of Dr Dre's accomplishments...

It's been a week since the release of Chance The Rapper's much-anticipated debut Studio Album "The Big Day". But the responses towards the album have been... Mixed, to say the least. There are people saying it's trash, (Ben) there are people that don't like it but can find positives in it (Charlie) and there are people that are ready to put on the capes to fight for their boy Chance. It's been a w...

If you're into Hip-Hop in any format, whether you follow certain artists, writers, YouTubers or even just your mate that's really into Hip-Hop, you know about the yearly content dump that is the XXL Freshman List. 10 artists who are on the come up get the opportunity to say "Hey World, I'm here!" They drop a quick freestyle, attend the Freshman Cyphers and of course, join together for a cover shoo...

Nas has recently dropped "The Lost Tapes 2", which is considered a breath of fresh air, especially after the terrible project that was "NASIR". So, in celebration of this, the DITD duo explores Nas' music that's not named "Illmatic". What are the best ones? Why doesn't Nas get respect from the "Genius Generation"? Is the tired "Nas picks terrible beats" comment the real reason why people don't put...

It's been a few months since Lil Nas X's explosion onto the mainstream. Since then, "Old Town Road" is now the longest-running No.1 Hip-Hop track on the Billboard Hot 100 and is quickly closing in on the All Genre record. Memes are the most fluid element of Social Media, which in itself is the most fluid form of communication. So what happens when that meme is based around an artist we've never he...

One of the most anticipated releases of 2019 has come & gone. "Revenge of The Dreamers 3", led by J.Cole, has been received very well. So well in fact, that it got Ben & Charlie thinking about the concept of "Label Albums" or "Collaborative Albums" to word it differently. If we look back at albums such as ROTD3, they're rarely remembered as being high-quality projects. They're more remembe...

With the 2010s edging closer and closer to its end, it is a consensus thought to say that Drake has owned this decade from a commercial standpoint. He came around just before the start of the decade and the (commercial) rise has been at a steady upward trend. But you know the deal, commercial success isn't everything. But unfortunately, the commercial success, for some reason, has gotten people co...

In Part 2 of DITD's mini-series "Major vs Independent", we finally get to talking about the side that we cherish so much. The Independents. As independent writers and Podcasters, we value the fact that we don't have anybody to tell us what we should do because it helps the bottom line. The thing that we forget is that Hip-Hop is, was and forever will be a culture & lifestyle. NOT a business. W...