Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest this week is New York rapper Jay Cinema. We spoke about Downtown 81 and our mutual love for Basquiat, where his name came from, The Lion King movies, Treasure Planet, the pros and cons of going to concerts, being inspired by Tyler, The Creator, and the creative process behind his four projects from this year: Alchemy with Chow and its recent deluxe edition, Pure Magic with Alikho Igama, a...

My guest this week is author, former photographer, and event coordinator T. Eric Monroe. We spoke about Family Guy, Freakazoid, and the edifying power of cartoons, his relationship with Boyz n The Hood and Menace II Society, growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, how attending skateboarding events led him to photography, stories behind extremely rare rap photos from his collection, his career in...

My guest this week is Chicago rapper, producer, promoter, and all-around creative, Rich Jones. We spoke about food blogging, Saturday Night, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ghost Dog: Way of The Samurai, watching movies not made for kids as a kid, establishing himself as a rapper, producer, and promoter, bringing Chicago with him wherever he goes, his future in music, and the creat...

My guests this week are California rapper-producers Blu & Exile. We spoke about recent hits like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Poor Things, hip-hop cinematic classics like Krush Groove, Breakin’, and Wild Style, how DMX and Common inspired Blu to rap, a look back at Blu’s Her Favorite Colo(u)r and Exile’s work on Mobb Deep’s “Pearly Gates,” the Blu Note edition of their 2007 classic Be...

My guest this week is California rapper-producer Ovrkast. We spoke about freestyling on Sway In The Morning, Blink Twice, Shark Tale, Fruitvale Station and the work of Ryan Coogler, the beauty of Oakland slang, how his discography is its own anthology series, the diversity of California rap, and the creative process behind his latest project KAST GOT WINGS, produced in tandem with Texas producer C...

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper Wiseboy Jeremy. We spoke about Third World Cop, The Substance, reading, bootleg DVDs, the magic of renting movies and games, growing up with rap, R&B, and reggae, getting over his elitist hip-hop phase, early Soundcloud songs and motivations, and the creative process behind several of his projects, most notably last month’s Pumpkin Seeds, produced entire...

My guest this week is Ohio rapper-producer and one-fifth of The Karma Kids, Lt Headtrip. We spoke about the filmographies of Davids Fincher and Lynch, lucid dreaming, the magic of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, studying film in college, founding and preserving the Karma Kids, making concept records vs. rapping from the heart, why depression doesn’t lead to great art, and the creative process behind his latest...

My guest this week is New York singer-songwriter Yolanda Watson. We spoke about Good Times, the Friday series, the work of Denzel Washington, Yolanda’s current favorite books, leaving the world of publishing to pursue music, the difference between recording a song and playing it live, bringing disparate influences together to create with producer BeatsGotDan, singing background vocals for Armand H...

My guest this week is Baltimore rapper John Wells. We spoke about The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Bel-Air spinoff, The Lion King, the pros and cons of drive-in movie theaters, the Wayans family, putting on for Baltimore, the video for his single “No Drugs In Heaven,” making his late father proud, and the creative process behind his upcoming project whole world burnin’ down. Come fuck with us....

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper and co-host of Strangers Live, ‘89 The Brainchild. We spoke about Deadpool & Wolverine, Elektra, 2000s-era Marvel movies, Purple Rain, why people don’t love musicals anymore, mixtape culture, the similarities between the New York and New Jersey indie music scenes, and the creative process behind his latest project Night Lives, out now via Fused Arrow Rec...

My guest this week is New York producer, engineer, and one-ninth of Mutant Academy, ewonee. We spoke about The Wayans Bros, King of The Hill, Ray, The Pianist, our respective G-Unit and Dipset phases, having hip-hop parents, the creative process behind beat tapes like his Aux Tapes series and ‘73, and some words about the upcoming Mutant Academy album Keep Holly Alive. Come fuck with us. ewonee's...

My guests this week are rapper Alaska and producer-engineer steel tipped dove. We spoke about Longlegs, Kinds of Kindness, Halloween, several of our favorite horror movies, growing up as music encyclopedias, how he and dove met and gel’d as a duo, growing old in hip-hop, and the creative process behind their two projects—2023’s The Structural Dynamics of Flow and this year’s Reverberations of A De...

My guest this week is Illinois-born singer, rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Phoelix. We spoke about Supacell, Deadpool & Wolverine, the pros and cons of 4DX, Blazing Saddles, singing and playing instruments in church, how working on Noname’s “Shadow Man” boosted his self-confidence, working with partner Kari Faux, music as a tool for centering yourself, and the creative process beh...

My guest this time is North Carolina MAVI. We spoke about the themes, pros, and cons of the 1992 horror classic Candyman, the importance of love, the creative process behind his great new album shadowbox, and a few tour stories from special guest Ovrkast. Come fuck with us. shadowbox is available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Follow MAVI on Instagram and Twitter (@mavi4mayor) and Ti...

My guest this week is Rhode Island producer, composer, and MPC expert, araabMUZIK. We spoke about the scores for Jaws, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and Scarface, pioneering finger-drumming on the MPC, transitioning from producing for rap icons like Cam’ron, Styles P, and Jay Electronica to embracing trance and dance music, the pros and cons of scoring a film for the first time, and the creative pr...

If you're in the Brooklyn area, I'll be hosting the fourth Reel Talk movie night at LoudmouthBK tomorrow, Thursday, August 8 (sorry for the short notice). Our guest this time is North Carolina rapper MAVI, and we'll be watching the 1992 horror classic Candyman, followed by a short interview and Q&A. Doors at 6, film starts at 7:15-ish. Advance tickets are $5 online via Partiful, $10 at the doo...

My guest this week is New Orleans rapper Countess. We spoke about House of The Dragon, Downton Abbey, the Lupin The 3rd series, Beasts of The Southern Wild, combining her love of pop culture with her love of music, the art of archiving and discovery, playing different characters in her music, and the creative processes behind her latest EP Con Art. Come fuck with us.   Con Art is available whereve...

My guest this week is New York journalist, filmmaker, and creator of Hoodwear Diaries, Aishamanne. We spoke about season 3 of FX’s The Bear, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Kinds of Kindness, the allure of horror movies, being inspired to direct by Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight and Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love, the intersection of film, hip-hop, and fashion, how Black cultural influence will outlast us all,...

My guest this week is Chicago rapper, producer, label head, and MIT professor, Lupe Fiasco. We spoke about True Detective, being inspired by his father’s record and film collections, practicing martial arts and African drumming, references and concepts in his music, creating across eras, the art and pros and cons of criticism, his bond with producer Soundtrakk, and the creative process behind his...

My guest this week is Michigan rapper and co-host of The SwordCast, Noveliss. We spoke about Aliens, The Power Rangers Movie, Zatoichi and his other favorite samurai films, X-Men 97, the future of the MCU, how both rap and martial arts helped him appreciate discipline, coaching his son’s UAA team, how producer Hir-O convinced him to not quit rapping, and the creative process behind their latest al...

If you wanna hear me in the studio with artists more often, book yourself a podcast, DJ, or studio session at Pirate using my code DYLAN534686, and you and I will both receive a free $25 credit to our accounts. Try it out today! My guests this week are Connecticut-via-New York rapper-producer Polo Perks, Atlanta producer-rapper FearDorian, and Milwaukee rapper AyooLii. We spoke about their recent...

My guest this week is New York rapper-producer S!lence. We spoke about Scavengers Reign, Wild Wild West, Silence of The Lambs, the filmography of Kevin Smith, the musicality of Biggie’s Ready II Die, how his friends and his photography inspire his music, being a member of Tase Grip, and the creative process behind several of his projects, including his latest, AGUADURA. Come fuck with us. AGUADURA...

My guest this week is California journalist and founder of Lucky Seven Magazine, Nia Coats. We spoke about The Iron Claw, I Saw The TV Glow, the Friday series, The Princess Diaries, being from the east coast and watching west coast movies, moving from starting her own blog to starting Lucky Seven magazine, the stories behind her favorite articles and covers, the future of music journalism, and the...

My guest this week is rapper and one-fifth of the collective No Label, Yo OG. We spoke about Buddhism and spirituality, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Belly, Dope, the ritual of going to the movies, juggling different projects, coming up listening to And1 mixtapes and Joey Bada$$, how he came to make music and help form No Label, and the creative process behind his projects Burgundy—produced entirely by...

My guest this week is Maryland-based rapper Foggieraw. We spoke about the Planet of the Apes movies, Michael Jackson music videos, Kill Bill and the films of Quentin Tarantino, the music of DMX, Andre 3000, and Lupe Fiasco, figuring out his sound in college and turning rap into a career, and the creative process behind his music videos, his breakout single “Psalm 62,” and his latest single “Stay A...