Reel Notes w/ CineMasai

My guest this week is North Carolina-based rapper, producer, and label head Cheeno Ghee. We spoke about Kanye West, jeen-yus, the power of a good music documentary, true crime, Belly, the legacy of Hype Williams, growing up between Atlanta, Brooklyn, and North Carolina, what it means to freestyle in 2022, the art of battle rap, founding GCE Tha Label, and the creative process behind her projects C...

My guest this week is rapper, businesswoman, boxer, and healthcare worker Chanelle Kazadi. We spoke about Love Is Blind, Baking Impossible, horror movies, the nuance behind villains, Jeen-Yus: A Kanye Trilogy, being a first-generation immigrant, falling in love with the music of Mos Def and Common, starting her Harvest Hooligang clothing company, the trials of being an independent artist in 2022,...

My guest this week is Kansas-born rapper and podcast host Stik Figa. We spoke about Ozark, Euphoria, the Super Bowl Halftime Show, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, American Beauty, the art of appreciating art, how Kansas became a mixtape hub for several different kinds of rap, whether Kendrick Lamar is an all-time great, and the creative process behind several of his projects, including the August Fanon-p...

My guest this week is New Jersey rapper, producer, and DJ Brainorchestra. We spoke about Batman, growing up playing real-time strategy and role-playing games, The Black Cauldron, myths about life in New Jersey, our mutual love for survival movies, how playing instruments influenced his beatmaking, turning his love of rap into a business, and the creative process behind a handful of his projects, i...

My guest this week is Florida-born rapper-producer Liiight. We spoke about Don’t Look Up, Bee Movie, Cowboy Bebop, dubstep, brief histories of Yung Lean and the Sad Boys, Lucki, and Childish Gambino, how Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick Push” changed their life, giving your all while recording, and the creative process behind their latest projects Dwunk and Blacklight. Dwunk and Blacklight are available wherev...

My guest this week is Chicago-based rapper, producer, and poet Semiratruth. We spoke about astrology, Dexter, Euphoria, South Side, Spike Lee, growing up listening to MF DOOM, mortality, her time in the YouMedia program, developing her craft, the pros and cons of oversharing, the influence of Sun-Ra, and the creative process behind her latest album I Got Bandz For The Moonlandin’ I Got Bandz For T...

My guest this week is Phoenix duo By Storm—formerly known as the trio Injury Reserve—consisting of rapper/producer RiTchie and producer Parker Corey. We spoke about Tiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang, Pig, Nicholas Cage, Danny Trejo, Point Break, their chemistry as a group, the creative process behind a handful of their videos, the response to their latest album By the Time I Get to Phoenix, and, o...

My guest for the Reel Notes season finale is Pitchfork staff writer and music journalist and critic Alphonse Pierre. We spoke about the show Harlem, Miami Vice, Black sitcoms, growing up in the age of Dipset, our favorite rap movies of all time, embracing his love of film in high school, his writing career, navigating the always crowded world of rap music, and journalism’s place in the music lands...

My guest this week is Brooklyn rapper Curly Castro. We spoke about The Harder They Fall, the art of auteurism, Eternals, Dune, Spike Lee, the journey from being a hypeman to becoming a rapper, his work with members of the Wrecking Crew, the creative process behind his latest album Little Robert Hutton, afrofuturism, and all things Marvel Cinematic Universe. Little Robert Hutton is available wherev...

My guest this week is journalist, author, and podcast producer Shawn Setaro. We spoke about the movies Annette, E.T., and Altered States, falling in love with hip-hop, his time as the editor-in-chief of Rap Genius and as a senior writer and podcast producer at Complex, the importance of beat journalism in 2021, his time covering the Tekashi 6ix9ine trial, and the creative process behind his first...

My guest this week is Oklahoma City-based rapper, director, photographer and clothing designer Grand National. We spoke about The Criterion Collection, Nat’s experience working on the set of a Martin Scorsese movie, the origins of his clothing line Ca$h Only, how Nipsey Hussle inspired his work ethic, Oklahoma hip-hop, participating in the creation of the Fire In Little Africa album, and the creat...

My guest this week is Florida-via-New Jersey producer, DJ, and teacher Dana J. We spoke about Squid Game, Disney movies, chiptune music, growing up in northern New Jersey, how scoring a documentary changed his perspective on music, how being a DJ has informed his work as a producer, the art and skill of creating a compilation album, and the process and concept behind his latest project Commercials...

My guest this week is St. Louis-based producer Sovren. We spoke about BMF and the 50 Cent Cinematic Universe, Dexter, Weeds, M. Night Shyamalan’s Devil, moving from playing the violin to beat-making, her history with Limewire, being inspired by the worldbuilding on Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), her production process, her growing discography, and linking with Westside Gunn and Griselda to creat...

My guest this week is journalist, author, record label head, and founder of blog Passion of The Weiss Jeff Weiss. We spoke about a lot, including Succession, The Sopranos, the lack of comedies in Hollywood, why Field of Dreams makes him cry, his extensive history as a music journalist, and the value of using POW, his print publication theLAnd, and his record label POW Recordings to put on for the...

My guest this week is Florida-born rapper, producer, singer, songwriter, and content creator ToBy. We spoke about Netflix, anime, Cowboy Bebop, the filmography of Andy Samberg, cancel culture, the legacies of Childish Gambino and Odd Future, mainstream rap’s renewed interest in the pop-punk aesthetic, genre-blending, his varied musical background, his work for BuzzFeed, and the creative process be...

My guest this week is Baton Rouge rapper Quadry. We spoke about PinkPanthress, You, The Sopranos, New Jersey Drive, how film has influenced his storytelling, Lil Wayne, Chief Keef, gentrification, the pros and cons of living the hood, working with the producer Tuamie, the art of the concept album, and the creative process behind his latest album They Think We Ghetto. They Think We Ghetto is availa...

My guest this week is journalist, author, podcast host, and former teacher Shea Serrano. We spoke about Dune, Shea’s love for Jean-Claude Van Damme, the original Mortal Kombat movie, and Jason Statham, why Above The Rim is the best movie soundtrack of all time, the indescribable perfection of Warren G and Nate Dogg’s Regulate, the process behind his latest book Hip-Hop (And Other Things), and the...

My guest this week is Philadelphia rapper, writer, member of the Wrecking Crew, and co-host of the Callout Culture podcast Zilla Rocca. We spoke about The Green Knight, Marvel Comics, the birth of superhero movies, the differences between seeing a movie in theaters pre-New Millenium and now, his relationship with Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The 36 Chambers, and MF DOOM x Madlib’s M...

My guest this week is California-via-Florida rapper and producer YUNGMORPHEUS. We spoke about the differences between Florida and California, the HBO mini-series The Night Of, James and The Giant Peach, Spawn, the magic of the drive-in theater, how the anime Samurai Champloo put him onto the work of Nujabes and Fat Jon, working with Pink Siifu on Bag Talk, the ins-and-outs of being a rapper-produc...

My guest this week is rapper, producer, model, skateboarder, and graphic designer Navy Blue. We spoke about Sister Act 2, the Queen Latifah movie Beauty Shop, growing up on VHS tapes, being a goofball, Ghost of Tsushima, what makes a “conscious” rapper, how Ka, Earl Sweatshirt, and Alchemist have inspired his artistry, the difference between producing for yourself and producing for others, the cre...

My guest this week is New York rapper, singer, producer, and artist RaFia. We spoke about the legacy of Michael K. Williams, The White Lotus, our mutual love of IMAX and children’s movies, growing up with a filmmaker father, the importance of post-production sound effects, how her college career as an artist transitioned into taking music seriously, having an art piece broadcast on billboards in T...

My guest this week is New York rapper/producer/engineer YL. We spoke about Parasite, Hercules, mafia movies, Spike Lee, movie samples in rap songs, our mutual love of Bow Wow, his relationship with collaborators Roper Williams and Starker, playing shows in Japan, the ethics of rhyming over your own vocals when performing live, mixing and mastering his own songs, and the creative process behind his...

My guest this week is Minnesota-based rapper-producer payforluv. We spoke about Final Fantasy, Persona, Suicide Squad, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, his favorite music videos growing up, growing up in Minnesota, how attending an HBCU in New Orleans inspired his music, the ethics of turning trauma into music, the importance of a good rap name, and the creative process behind his latest project if...

My guests this week are Tanya Morgan, the duo made up of Cincinnati-born rapper-producer Donwill and Brooklyn-born rapper-producer Von Pea. We spoke about The Suicide Squad, Fast 9, the works of Quentin Tarantino and David Cronenberg, their fascination with the next generation of hip-hop, how the internet’s relationship to music has changed over the last 20 years, the legacy of their 2009 breakout...

My guest this week is Detroit rapper Bruiser Wolf. We spoke about Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Color Purple, the filmography of Adam Sandler, his short-lived career as a football player, the importance of movie soundtracks, JAY-Z’s discography, how rapper Fat Ray helped him link with Danny Brown and Bruiser Brigade, Michigan’s surging street rap scene, his writing process, and creating his breakou...