Heat Rocks

When the Wu released their debut album back in 1993, fans were eagerly awaiting every member's solo record. Method's Man's Tical and ODB's Return to the 36 Chambers came out over the next two years and did not disappoint. Raekwon the Chef was up next , but no one was really prepared for what he was about to drop. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx stood out from from the crowd, not only because of the signat...

When Testimony Vol. 1 dropped in 2006, India. Arie was still riding the success of her previous album, Voyage to India , which helped bring neo-soul and acoustic R&B to the forefront. She stood out from her contemporaries with deeply confessional and introspective songwriting. India's lyricism was somewhat polarizing when Testimony Vol. 1 was first released, but something about it hit different, e...

On this week's Bonus Beats, Oliver talks about covers that are more famous than the original song and tells us his favorite crate digging story.   If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts,  do it here!

The Albums: Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) Peabo Bryson: Crosswinds De La Soul: De La Soul is Dead Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson: Winter in America Gino Vannelli: Brother to Brother We wrap up our Comfort Music miniseries with picks from you, our audience. Thank you all so much for sending in your picks and testimonials. We couldn't possibly get through every submission,...

Producer Thes One of People Under The Stairs talks about one of the most iconic samples of all time, "Summer in the City" by Quincy Jones. We discuss why the record is so ripe for sampling, how different artists have flipped this sample to fit different moods, and if that fantastic intro is off limits after The Pharcyde used it.   If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, ...

Innervisions marked a significant transition in Little Stevie Wonder's career. He began to move away from the Motown romantic ballads and towards a more conscious and experimental sound. He talked about poverty, racism, drugs, and Richard Nixon. It's an album filled with social justice anthems, made almost entirely by Stevie himself at 23 years old.   Culture critic and writer Nelson George sits d...

On this minisode, Oliver goes back to a few of his old reviews and discusses the extremely underrated and overlooked session musician James Gadson.  Ask us a question on Facebook or Twitter @heatrockspod and we might answer it in a future Bonus Beats episode!  Oliver's archived review of Dilated Peoples The Platform (Wall of Sound) Oliver's archived review of M.O.P's Warriorz (LA Weekly) James Gad...

We continue our Comfort Music series with Oliver and discuss his five favorite comfort albums. We talk about the often overlooked genius of Labi Siffre, the intimacy of Duke Ellington's compositions, and how Tribe helped Oliver get through the tough times. Show Tracklisting:  Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: April in Paris Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: Isn't This A Lovely Day? Ella Fitz...

On this special bonus ep, Oliver talks to writer Adam Mansbach to discuss the weird and wonderful world of reggae covers. They talk about their favorite (and least favorite) covers, why reggae and hip-hop share more in common than you might think, and what aspects of a song lend themselves to a good reggae flip. More on Adam Mansbach Go the F**k to Sleep Check out Adam's archived work on his websi...

The Albums: Earth, Wind & Fire - Spirit (1976) Vesta Williams - Vesta (1986) Anita Baker - Compositions (1990) Agent K - Feed The Cat (2002) Braxton Cook - Somewhere In Between (2007) We are kicking off our Comfort Music series this week with Morgan's five comforting albums. We discuss what exactly makes music comforting, Tower Records, and the power of pleasant voices.   Show Tracklisting: Earth,...

Oliver answers a couple of questions from fans on this special mid-week minisode! If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts,  do it here!

(This episode originally aired 03/28/2019)  The Album: Bill Withers :  +Justments  (1974) Despite the massive success of Withers's first two albums,  Just As I Am  and  Still Bill , label problems prevented  +Justments  (his fourth LP) from being released on CD until 2010. As such, it's been a sleeper of an album despite how good it is. Withers was never the most confessional of artists but this a...

Oliver answers a couple of questions from fans on this special mini episode to get you through the week. If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts,  do it here!

After the amazing success of Sade's previous album, Love Deluxe, fans were eagerly awaiting the band's next album. Fans had to wait for 8 long years before Lovers Rock dropped in the fall of 2000. And the wait was most definitely worth it. As the title suggests, the band moved more towards  soul, R&B, and, well, lovers rock. Producer/Remixer Trackademicks sits down with us to discuss Lovers Rock o...

Musician/composer/producer/songwriter/music director/legend Patrice Rushen joins us to discuss Minnie's debut solo album  Come to My Garden. We talk about the lush orchestration courtesy of Charles Stepney, Minnie's distinct voice, and Patrice's own journey with the album.  At around the 27:50 mark, Morgan incorrectly states Lynn Fiddmont's song was "I Love You", when it's actually "U R Loved"   M...

When Kanye West first announced the follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, The College Dropout, the biggest question on everyone's mind was "can he do it again?" And Kanye proved without a doubt that he can. He enlisted composer/producer Jon Brion to help create a much more lush and dense record. They dug through the crates and flipped some fantastic records and collaborated with some of the...

Björk's  sophomore album Post marked a significant change in the singer/songwriter's career. For one, it was heavy; the growl of her voice, the grittiness of the instrumentation on songs like Army of Me, the music videos directed by Michel Gondry. Post was also much more unpredictable that her first solo album Debut. Björk collaborated with a ton of different producers like Tricky, Graham Massey,...

We have reached the end of the Music and Popcorn series, where we invite folks from the world of TV and film to discuss their favorite soundtracks! This week, Drea Clark of Who Shot Ya (here on MaxFun) joins us to talk about the High Fidelity OST. We discuss how the film has aged over the past 20 years, the absolute absurd amount of placements in the film, and our favorite unexpected music moments...

We are nearly at the end of our Music and Popcorn miniseries here on Heat Rocks, where we talk about our favorite movie soundtracks with folks from the world of TV and film! This week, April Wolfe of the Switchblade Sisters podcast here on MaxFun joins us to discuss Whitney's showstopping performances, the iconic fits, and how a 2020 version of The Bodyguard might look like. More on April Wolfe He...

We are on week three of our Music and Popcorn miniseries and we could not be more excited to have The Ringer's own Sean Fennessey with us to talk about the soundtrack to the Ernest Dickerson classic, Juice. We discuss the importance of New York rap in the film,the unique place Juice has in the lineage of hip-hop movies in the early 90s, and the...let's say questionable portrayal of the art of DJin...

We are in the middle of our Music and Popcorn series, where we talk to our favorite folks from the world of film and TV about the soundtracks they love. This week, Renée Bever of the podcast Attack of the Queerwolf sits down with us to talk about the "Us" soundtrack and score.  We talk about the masterfully creepy Luniz flip, the infamous Ophelia/police scene, and whether Lupita Nyong'o was snappi...

This is the first of a five episode miniseries we're calling Music and Popcorn, where we talk to guests from the world of film and TV about great soundtracks.  This week, it's a special medley episode, featuring our past interviews with Eliza Skinner, Tre'vell Anderson, Luis Xtravaganza, and the folks from Heatbreak Radio discussing their favorite movie OSTs  And if you like these snippets, go bac...

When Manu Chao announced he would be releasing his first solo album, fans around the world were both elated and hesitant. Manu's previous albums with his band Mano Negra were both critically and commercially successful, but the band's breakup was ugly and Manu was running around Central/South America, playing bar shows for three years before he started work on the album.  Clandestino was initially...

The Album: D'Angelo  Voodoo  (2000) Tall Black Guy, AKA Terrel Wallace, has been making beats and remixing artists like 79.5, Stro Elliot, and Moonchild, for a long time. Listen to any one of his songs and you'll understand why he's one of the best producers out there and why we were so excited to talk to him. It's no surprise that his personal heat rock (and ours) was "Voodoo" by D'Angelo. Making...

It's easy to think of Nat King Cole as "that Christmas song guy" but his musical output is truly astounding, recording hundreds of songs with over a hundred of them becoming hits on the pop charts. The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio is by far the largest album we've ever discussed on Heat Rocks and we couldn't have asked for better guests to come break it down with us.   Nat...