Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest this week is Queens rapper-producer-engineer Wavy Bagels. We spoke about Monkey Man, The Creator, Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit, Snow Day, Power Rangers, how his work as a behind-the-scenes sound man for movies informs his work as a rapper, producer, and engineer, how he moved from just producing and engineering to rapping, and the creative process behind a handful of projects, most not...

My guest this week is Peckham, London-based rapper-producer Jadasea. We spoke about the importance of categorizing projects, his love for sci-fi and anime, hooligan films, American Gangster, Interstellar, The Matrix and Animatrix, starting his career with King Krule, balancing being prolific with taking his time, approaching 30 as a rapper, joining up with MIKE and 10k, and the creative process be...

My guests this week are California producer klwn cat and New York rapper Sunmundi. We spoke about Poor Things, Oppenheimer, Ponyo and the greater Studio Ghibli filmography, Max Keeble’s Big Move, the influence of Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, Dilla, and Ka, finding their creative voices, coming together, bending to suit each other’s styles, and the creative process beind their debut collaborative al...

My guest this week is New York producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Anysia Kym. We spoke about Poor Things, bonding with her brother over the Barbie movie, the hype of Timothee Chalamet, Child’s Play, local movie theaters, growing up on the music of Raven-Symone and Ty Dolla $ign, transitioning from playing the drums to producing drum and bass, the idea of genre, working with MIKE and 1...

My guest this week is New Orleans-via-Brooklyn rapper Cavalier. We spoke about the French film Baise-moi, Monkey Man, The Last Dragon, DVD collections, the filmography of Spike Lee, Fresh, 90s urban dramas, growing up as a first-generation Caribbean-American, moving from New York to New Orleans, the art of crafting albums, the value of music, his come up with Quelle Chris, and the creative process...

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper, poet, producer, and singer MoRuf. We spoke about Top Boy, I May Destroy You, Higher Learning, the filmography of Spike Lee, going from battle rapping and poetry to pursuing music full-time, why he waited a decade to fully commit to making music his career, the power of community building, and the creative process behind his latest project Tiny Mic Raps Vol....

My guests this week are New Jersey-via-Massachusetts rapper-producer NAHreally and Dublin producer-engineer The Expert. We spoke about Netflix reality shows, Severance, Tropic Thunder, Silo, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, He Got Game, Above The Rim, the legacy of Stones Throw and Madvillainy, their respective journeys through rap, joining forces creatively, and the creative process behin...

My guest this week is Houston rapper jerrard, fka Danny Watts. We spoke about Dune Part 2, finding beats on YouTube and Twitch streams, the Look Who’s Talking series, Baby’s Day Out, Powder, downloading music on Limewire, coming up on east coast hip-hop, quitting his job to work with California rapper-producer Jonwayne, and the journey from his debut album Black Boy Meets World to adopting the nam...

My guests this week are New Jersey rapper OneShotOnce and producer Driveby. We spoke about Quiet On Set, Loudermilk, Dune 2, Mystic River, Love Lies Bleeding, Bound, their respective come-ups in Jersey, what they have to offer to the Jersey scene and rap at large, the beginning of their creative partnership, and the process behind their two projects, 4WD and 6WD. Come fuck with us. 6WD is availabl...

My guest this week is Florida-based vlogger, critic, and interviewer, Eric The Young Gawd. We spoke about May December, Joker, Drumline, AirPod conspiracy theories, his interview style, Snow on tha Bluff, our respective relationships with Boosie Badazz, Florida and New Orleans rap, some of Eric’s best and funniest interviews, and his interest in the intersection between journalism and psychology....

My guest this week is Montreal rapper Chung. We spoke about Killers of The Flower Moon, Titanic, Netflix’s Griselda, our respective favorite R&B and hip-hop albums growing up, the pros and cons of coming up in the Montreal hip-hop scene, working with producers Nicholas Craven and Cotola, and the creative process behind her three latest projects—2022’s See You, When I C U, and both entries in s...

My guest this week is New York rapper-producer shemar. We spoke about Mo’ Better Blue and the films of Spike Lee, Shark Boy & Lavagirl, Spy Kids, and the films of Robert Rodriguez, listening to Kendrick, Tyler, The Creator, and Earl Sweatshirt growing up, transitioning from poetry and beatmaking to rapping, labels and boxes within underground hip-hop, and the creative process behind his two la...

My guest this week is New York rapper-producer LIFEOFTHOM. We spoke about Poor Things, WALL-E, Inception, his love for anime, particularly the show Bakuman, environmental conservation, the versatility of his discography, and the concept and creative process behind his projects Floor 11 and Room 44. Come fuck with us. Floor 11 and Room 44 are available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. F...

My guest this week is California rapper-producer BbyAfricka. We spoke about Saltburn, Joker, A Clockwork Orange, how she transitioned from producing to rapping, the difference between being funny and being real, how her battle with Stevens-Johnson syndrome changed the way she makes music, and the creative process behind her last two albums—2022’s The Art of Geekin’ and this year’s The Rapture. Com...

My guest for the season four premiere is Brooklyn rapper and model Ms. Boogie. We spoke about Prison Song, City of God, voyeurism and representation in media, finding herself in the music of Missy Elliott, Lil Kim, and Sisqo, coming out as a woman in Paper Magazine and transitioning in 2018, the importance of being queer, particularly trans, in rap and being seen in the right way, and the creative...

My guest for the season 3 finale is Los Angeles rapper Domo Genesis. We spoke about Leave The World Behind, our mutual love of horror movies, The Lion King, John Q, his start as a founding member of Odd Future, how his Alchemist tape No Idols was ahead of its time, maintaining consistency in his music over a decade, becoming a big brother to the Mutant Academy collective, and the creative process...

My guest this week is New York rapper Lord Sko. We spoke about Violent Night, The Big Lebowski, King of New York, New York pizza, food in LA, bridging age and subgenre gaps in rap music, taking his first two projects off the internet, his general creative process, and the making of his breakout projects—2022’s Museum and this year’s United Palace. United Palace is available wherever music is sold,...

My guest this week is North Carolina-based rapper, producer, and head of the I’ll Never Die collective, JUNE! We spoke about Loki season 2, the highs and lows of the MCU, Friday, Hitch, Soul Food, Lucy, M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, Split, and Glass, Andre 3000’s ambient album, the impact of Earl Sweatshirt’s Some Rap Songs, the history of I N D, JUNE!’s viral remixes and sample flips, working...

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper, producer, and photographer Da$h. We spoke about being a father, working with ANKHLEJOHN and Mac Miller, Beau Is Afraid, Killers of The Flower Moon, risk-averse Hollywood studios, tour stories, dealing with addiction, why he’s particularly inspired by the late actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, embracing photography, physical media, and the creative process behi...

My guest this week is New York rapper-producer and instrumentalist Gabe ‘Nandez. We spoke about Pusher, his relationship with the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, the pros and cons of modern-day cinema, the art and value of music videos, how being multi-lingual influences his writing style, making his 2019 album Diplomacy during one of the toughest moments of his life, and the creative process behind his...

My guest this week is California rapper and producer Maxo, live from the Abrons Arts Center in Manhattan. We spoke about Being John Malkovitch, 3 Ninjas, Steel, white guilt movies, why Tubi is the best streaming service, the process behind a handful of his music videos, whether he experiences fear while making music, and the creative process behind Lil Big Man, Even God Has A Sense Of Humor, and D...

My guest this week is Ohio-based rapper and producer Kipp Stone. We spoke about Where The Wild Things Are, the Transformers franchise, Soul, Little Bear, being inspired by his surroundings, how long it took him to find his musical style, joining up with, leaving, and re-joining Closed Sessions, the art of saying more with less words, and the creative process behind his latest album 66689 Blvd Preq...

My guest this week is Ishmael Butler, one-third of Digable Planets and the center of Shabazz Palaces. We spoke about the Amazon Prime original series Them, Afrosurrealism, Superfly, the role blaxploitation soundtracks played in the early days of sampling, his love for horror movies, transitioning from Digable Planets and Cherrywine to Shabazz Palaces, the group’s creative process, his views on rap...

My guest this week is Massachusetts-based rapper, producer, streamer, and toymaker Pink Navel. We spoke about our favorite reality TV, the pros and cons of internet culture, their relationship to the Star Wars movies and the filmography of Kevin Smith, forging their own path as Pink Navel, connecting with R.A.P. Ferreira and Ruby Yacht, the creative process behind How To Capture Playful, their col...

My guest this week is Roper, one-half of the New Jersey-based production duo Roper Williams. We spoke about the Western film Bone Tomahawk, the times we’ve walked out of movies, cult horror films like Await Further Instructions, Chopping Mall, and Skinamarink, the jazz anime Blue Giant, how he and his partner Sanz first met, came up with their name, and their creative process, highlight a handful...