Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest this week is North Carolina rapper, writer, composer, and podcast host Phonte. We spoke about Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Ted Lasso, Prince’s Purple Rain, acting as an extra in The Color Purple, A Soldier’s Story, putting on for North Carolina, his evolution from Little Brother to his solo work, making May The Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story with Rap Portraits, and how his time in mus...

My guest this week is Queens-based rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer deem spencer. We spoke about Natasha Lyonne’s Poker Face, watching movies by yourself vs. with other people, Chris Rock’s Down To Earth, Baby Boy, how Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory changed his life, his debut project sunflower, taking constructive criticism, what it means to be an album artist in 2023, trusting h...

My guest this week is Buffalo, NY rapper, producer, and designer Ché Noir. We spoke about the Creed series, Ozark, Imitation of Life, Carlito’s Way, binging TV shows vs. watching them weekly, why Lauryn Hill and Nas are among her favorite storytellers, coming up under Benny The Butcher and 38 Spesh, a handful of her best storytelling songs, how she almost quit rap music before she truly began, and...

My guest this week is Texas singer-rapper-producer Liv.e. We spoke about Reasonable Doubt, CB4, the legacy of Charlie Murphy, Team America: World Police, Eve’s Bayou, Jason’s Lyric, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the work of Ari Aster, our favorite rap comedy skits, how she was inspired by the horror film Ganja & Hess, and the creative process behind her latest album Girl In The Half Pearl. Girl In...

My guest this week is Oakland rapper and co-founder of the label Lucid Haus, Nappy Nina. We spoke about touring Australia for the first time, the perfect grilled cheese, the 2022 Oscar nominees, Flubber, Jumanji, Medicine for Melancholy, how The Fugees’ The Score changed her life, how her name translates to international audiences, how COVID impacted her creativity, and the creative process behind...

My guest this week is singer, rapper, and designer Lucille Ghatti. We spoke about Run Sweetheart Run, Mo’nique, horror movies, Song of The South, Cleopatra, Elvis, singing in the choir, her musical journey from the blog era to now, the pros and cons of being ahead of the curve, her relationship to plugg&b, and the creative process behind her latest album Tears of A Clown, produced entirely by...

My guest this week is D.C. rapper and label head ANKHLEJOHN. We spoke about Power, 50 Cent’s legacy as a rapper and a TV producer, Lightyear, reliving his favorite movies through his son’s eyes, how go-go music inspired his rapping style, the history of his Shaap Records label, the power of being yourself on record, and the creative process behind several of his albums, including he and producer L...

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper Rasheed Chappell. We spoke about Everything Everywhere All At Once, It’s A Wonderful Life, seeing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with his late father, how movies play to both escapism and reality, New Jersey’s place in hip-hop, the relationship between New Jersey and New York, his early career, why praise from your friends hits different, and the creativ...

My guest this week is New York producer, rapper, and writer Radicule. We spoke about anime—specifically Chainsaw Man, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Cowboy Bebop—The Banshees of Inisherin and the work of Colin Farrell, Undercover Brother, A Goofy Movie, SMACK DVD, his producer newsletter Thoughts Beyond The DAW, similarities between music and journalism, and the creative process behind his S-Rank Sl...

My guest this week is producer, rapper, DJ, professor, label head, and cultural ambassador Suzi Analogue. We spoke about the adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred, Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, Menace II Society, The Color Purple, Ice Spice, teaching hip-hop at a college level, finding meaning in music, and the process behind her latest album Infinite Zonez. Infinite Zonez is available wherever music is...

My guest for the season 3 premiere is New York-based rapper-producer MIKE. We spoke about Park Chan-wook, Skinamarink, Nigerian cinema, Paid In Full, Belly, the importance of tragedy in art, growing up in London, Philly, and New York, healing, a brief retrospective on his career, and the creative process behind his last two albums Disco! and Beware of The Monkey. Beware of The Monkey is available...

My last guest of the season is D.C.-based rapper-producer WifiGawd. We spoke about Tubi’s exhaustive selection of hood classics, the Sticky Fingaz rap opera, the impact of movies like Beat Street and Princess Mononoke had on him, the pros and cons of civil rights movies, his love for martial arts movies, his earliest concert memories, producing for himself vs. producing for others, and the creativ...

My next guest is Virginia rapper-producer Koncept Jack$on. We spoke about the Avatar movies, reality TV, Black sitcoms of the 90s, Lovecraft Country, coming up on Big L, Kool G Rap, and early 2000s freestyles, the importance of video game soundtracks, perfecting his flows, the art of stretching a rhyme scheme to its breaking point, and the creative process behind his latest project HTR Vol. 1: The...

My guests this week are New York rapper-producers Lungs and Phiik. We spoke about NBA Street, Ghost in the Shell, transhumanism, The Digimon Movie, growing up on Long Island, how they joined up with East Grip, their working relationship, how movies inspire Lungs’s beats as LoneSword, the creative process behind their Another Planet series, Phiik’s latest album Chainlink, and their now infamous app...

My guest this week is California-based producer and archivist Mars Kumari. We spoke about Squishmallows, Xavier: Renegade Angel, the timelessness of Adult Swim, the Earl Sweatshirt short film Nowhere, Nobody, piracy, how her transition influenced the way she creates music, the pros and cons of musical archiving, and the creative process behind a handful of her projects, including her upcoming albu...

My guest this week is South Carolina-born producer, vocalist, and composer Contour. We took a critical look at Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the MCU and spoke about The Brave Little Toaster, the 2001 Japanese film Pulse, the pros and cons of Letterboxd, the art of film scoring, combining sample-based beats and traditional instruments to find his sound, and the creative process behind his late...

My guest this week is Atlanta-via-Richmond rapper, producer, and co-founder of Mutant Academy, Fly Anakin—our first returning guest in 80 episodes. We spoke about fashion shows, identity in hip-hop, the ending of Atlanta, being an introvert, working through anxiety, food, the creative process behind his latest album Frank and Skinemaxxx, his upcoming full-length with producer Foisey, and more stor...

My guest this week is Florida-based rapper and producer Gat$. We spoke about money, songs in movie trailers, a spoiler-filled breakdown of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the malleability of horror, making music videos based on his favorite movies, building his career and rebuilding it from the ground up twice, a brief tour of his discography, and the creative process behind his latest albums Robb...

My guest this week is Chicago-born rapper, author, writer, chemist, and activist Psalm One. We spoke about Abbot Elementary, The Muppets, growing up as the child of a journalist, when older favorite movies don’t age well, how chemistry applies to real life, the #BoycottRhymesayers movement, battle rap, and the creative processes behind her latest album Bigg Perrm and her memoir Her Word Is Bond: N...

My guest this week is Virginia-based producer, DJ, animator, and director Dirty Bird. We spoke about The Bear, Drive My Car, Austin Powers, the work of Maasakai Yuasa, the beauty of animation, our love for anime, how racism and orientalism can ruin your favorite movies, creating his own animation studio, how Chief Keef and Odd Future inspired him, his journey through rap and dance music, and the c...

My guest this week is New York rapper Wiki. We spoke about Smile, the Netflix documentary Descent, the early work of Martin Scorsese and Harvey Keitel, the musical and cultural diversity of New York, being consistent over a decade-long career, a selection of his best songs, starting out young, being ahead of your time and paying it forward for the next generation, and the creative processes behind...

My guest this week is North Carolina rapper and regular human Mavi. We spoke about The Woman King, Bullet Train, Nope, Paid In Full, Menace II Society, Lilo & Stitch, discovering music through video games and movies, the creative process behind his latest project Laughing so Hard, it Hurts, how producers monte booker, Wulf Morpheus, and Dylvinci helped bring the vision together, processing emo...

My guest this week is producer Wulf Morpheus. We spoke about all things anime—our old and new favorites, the impact of Toonami, anime’s growing presence in pop culture, and its mix with hip-hop culture—Max Keeble’s Big Move, Disney Adventure magazine,Cartoon Network, the lo-fi aesthetic, being inspired by every form of rap music, why Knxwledge is a GOAT’d producer, his placements with Chuck Strang...

My guest this week is artist manager, independent label head, streaming account manager, and former DJ Soko. We spoke about Atlanta, Ghostbusters, Batman, the art of collecting, growing up in Michigan, the greater Detroit rap scene, his work with Journalist 103 and Apollo Brown as The Left for their 2010 debut album Gas Mask, the life, death, and rebirth of his indie label Left Of Center, and how...

My guest this week is Baltimore rapper Brian Ennals. We spoke about the MCU, Doctor Strange, why Robocop is a perfect movie, House Party, being influenced by Stevie Wonder and Pusha-T, his early rap career, valuing the art of writing over the art of technical rapping, connecting with producer and multiinstrumentalist Infinity Knives, and the creative process behind their latest album King Cobra. K...