Rebel Radio

This is one of those "don't judge a book by its cover" episodes. sKitz Kraven is a horrorcore rapper and has been called "the Marilyn Manson of rap," which either appeals to you or it doesn't. What we found out is that as an artist and businessperson, he's much more complex than that. Sure, he makes angry, dark, twisted music that has helped to settle the rage inside him and connect with the rage...

It's another episode of my ongoing debate with Dennis White about everything related to music, business, and culture. This time we're talking abou the issue of selling out, what it means and if it still matters and anyone cares. For once, it seems like we're on the same page. You can learn more about Dennis, aka Latroit, aka Static Revenger, in our very first episode ever, and also earlier this ye...

Music heads are going to love this one. Steingold is our latest guest representing Detroit. He's in good company. So far we've had Kenny Larkin, Latroit, Tuxedo, Rude Jude, Josh Glazer, Chris Denson, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. And yet, Detroit's contributions to culture run so deep, we've barely even scratched the surface. Steingold is the epitome of doing it for the love. He produces house...

Janet Varney is a boss. She's an actress on hit TV shows like You're The Worst, The Legend of Korra, and Stan Against Evil. She's the host of the awesome podcast, The JV Club where she talks to friends and other actors about how their childhoods shaped their adulthoods. She's co-founder of the SF Sketchfest sketch comedy festival, now in its 20th year. Plus all the projects she's developing that w...

James Andrews is the definition of a hustler. He moves with ease through music, technology, investment circles — collecting and connecting. He came through the studio to shed light on the launch of his new venture: The Authenticated, which is part members-only social network, part brand advisor and startup factory. He shares some great stories from his journey and helps us understand how hip hop h...

We're back once again with Dennis White aka Latroit aka Static Revenger. He was our very first guest ever, and came back a couple years ago and interviewed me. Links below. Since then he won a GRAMMY for best remix of Depeche Mode's "You Move," and today we're learning a bit about what that does for someone's career and how to leverage wins to keep the momentum going. This is a short episode, and...

Brent Rollins is one of the people responsible for the way our culture looks. He has been creative director at Complex and Ego Trip (including The White Rapper Show), designed some of your favorite album covers (Black Star?), and worked on iconic films with Spike Lee and John Singleton. Plus Nike. Plus Undefeated. Plus... He shares some strong opinions on where culture is going and where it's come...

If West Coast hip hop had its own Mount Rushmore, Too $hort would definitely be on it. The living legend was gracious enough to invite us into his studio — an amazing creative compound in DTLA — and share some insights into what it's like being an icon, how he keeps it funky decade after decade, and why being a cool ass person is a solid business strategy. Make sure you check the latest Too $hort...

Ryan Kavanaugh has been a controversial figure in entertainment. He built a very successful business at Relativity — perhaps the largest independent movie studio, plus management businesses in sports, music, and e-sports. He also made some enemies. He was critical of the Hollywood establishment, and took some beatings in the press for his innovations. Ryan came by the studio to tell us how he's ta...

Tayy Brown didn't set out to make music with a message, but sometimes the message finds you. "I got a DM from somebody, said that they was close to committing suicide, and they said that I helped them. That's when I knew I should be doing this." Tayy is a singer and rapper from Maryland, making music that bangs from his hood to Rolling Loud, to on tour with Ski Mask The Slump God. He came by the s...

John Lewis is what you get when you combine a corporate dude, an entrepreneur, and a motorcyclist. He's passionate, but tempered, realistic. He rode up to our studio to share some lessons he learned working at Nike, Burton, building his own coffee company, and consulting for the motorcycle industry. He's also probably the first guest who came prepared with notes of lessons he wanted to share. Here...

This episode is a master class in house music. Junior Sanchez is perhaps the youngest of the house music dons. He's at the tail end of the giants who defined the genre and set the pace for the generations to follow— guys like Kenny Dope and Louie Vega, Armand van Helden, Roger Sanchez, Todd Terry, Harry "Choo Choo" Romero, Kerry Chandler. Junior plays the kid brother, and in that role, he's the on...

DJ B-Hen comes by the studio to show us how it all matters: Not just the work we do, but how we present the work, how we talk about the work, how we sell the work. This dude has his game tight. He's bringing new dimensions to DJing — more dancing, more fun, exploring music from different places and genres. Lots to learn here. If you liked this one, check out our interview with Mr. Choc: https://so...

LP Giobbi is a busy woman. We were lucky to get a few minutes with her backstage at the Shrine before she opened for Sofi Tukker. In addition to a national tour, she's still producing and releasing music; and she's a co-founder of Femmehouse, a nonprofit that teaches women to produce electronic music; and she's the North American music director for W Hotels; and she runs the Animal Talk Collective...

24KGoldn came by the studio to tell us how he became an instant campus legend at USC, how he's building his career with music, marketing, and sneakers, and how he thinks about his future: "I want to create my own world. Basically, everything from the clothes you wear to how you interact with people, to the music you listen to, the films you watch the, the food you eat." We can dig it. EDM.com Trac...

Sneakertopia is a new experience launching this morning in LA, bringing sneaker culture, street art, music, and more under one roof. Plus shopping. Looks like fun, so we sat down with two of the founders to try to learn what we could about what to expect (they wouldn't give us a ton of details) and how they came together from diverse backgrounds to create something new. Check out the interview and...

This week's guest brought a surprise guest. Cito AKA Cito on the Beat is a producer on the rise. He already has tracks with some of today's biggest names: YG, TyDollaSign, Kevin Gates, Lil Skies, Troy Ave, Tory Lanez, Cardi B. And he's only just begun. Cito came through the studio and brought his artist Suigeneris aka Suie, a 16 year old trap rapper from San Jose. Suie's first single, "Now" featur...

Daniel Miller is a journalist at the LA Times. He's also the creator and host of the Larger Than Life podcast which chronicles the fascinating life of Big Willie Robinson, a leader in LA's street racing culture in the 70s and 80s. A Vietnam veteran Green Beret who stood 6’6” and weighed over 300 pounds, Big Willie was larger than life for real. The podcast takes us from his beginnings to becoming...

Kevin Allocca gets paid to do what most of us do for free: Watching YouTube videos. I caught up with Kevin at the YouTube beach club during Cannes Lions and he took a half hour away from speaking on-stage and advising the world's biggest marketers to tell us about his fascinating job as the head of trends and culture at YouTube. He and his team are responsible for helping their brand clients under...

I met up with Samantha Ronson at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and we sat on the rooftop of the FQ Lounge overlooking the Bay of Cannes. Not a bad place to talk to one of the world's most interesting DJs. The audio is a little funky because we're outdoors but our expert producer was able to make it sound pretty good. Samantha shared some details of her personal life — famous family, famo...

This week we sit down with DMC champion and Juno Award (that's like a Canadian Grammy) winner DJ Brace. If you look him up online, you'll learn pretty quickly that the term DJ doesn't really do him justice. Sure, he plays records, but he does so much more than that. There's one video where he's working both hands and a foot pedal and basically making up songs as he goes. He also produces music. An...

Join us for another ARTWORK REBELS episode in partnership with Guerilla One. Dave Navarro has done it all. He was a founding member of Jane's Addiction and then played with Red Hot Chili Peppers and then started his own bands Panic Channel and Royal Machine. He's been a TV host and a podcaster and a documentary filmmaker. He married Carmen Electra. Dave came by the studio with our occasional co-ho...

Josh sat down with the legendary DJ Z-Trip at the LA Times Festival of Books. Z-Trip shares his stories about his incredible journey as a DJ, producer, remixer, and some of the creative choices he's made along the way. We had a lot of fun mixing it up with him in front of a live audience. Check it out! If you liked this one, check out our interview with Ali Shaheed Muhammad: https://soundcloud.com...

Bob Moczydlowsky (aka Bob Moz) runs Techstars Music, a startup accelerator designed to help entrepreneurs solve problems for music. He sits at the very interesting intersection of music, capital, and technology, finding the talent who will redefine the mechanics — or economics, or social dynamics, or something — of music. "I'm a talent scout. I'm looking for people who are in love with a problem t...

People love to talk about how genres don't matter in music anymore. And yet, they do. Feed Me aka Spor aka Seventh Stitch aka Jon has been making underground hits across multiple genres for over a decade. Among other things, he's learned that a genre is a community — at least the makers but probably extending to the labels, promoters, and even some core fans — and has its own rules and ways of doi...