The Rap Music Plug Podcast

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:04). Relatability in art is often erroneously mistaken for this idea of “x artist explicitly talking about things that are directly relevant to my life, talking only about things I dealt with personally". Obviously this is a form of relatability, but I’d argue that relatability is a concept more broad and les...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:04). Encountering music that you immediately feel connected to is akin to meeting someone cool for the first time. Where you say to yourself, “this person is going to be a part of my life moving forward, they’re good people”. Great music has the ability to give me that exhilarating feeling similar to when I m...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (1:26). There are few rappers that I consider true aliens of the rap game. By aliens, I mean rappers who’s style feels one of one, incomprehensible, otherworldly. The kind of rapper that sounds good on any beat you throw at them. I was honoured to be joined by one of said rappers, Mutant Academy’s Konc...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (1:44). Weirdness and experimentation in music is a tricky thing. It’s very easy to go too far and make music that is so unlistenable to many listeners. It is also easy to make music that feels pushes musical boundaries, but to no meaningful end. Where the end product doesn’t come together in...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). Main Body of Review (1:45). You know the saying of, “it’s not how what you say, but how you say it”. This is a point that is being proven time and time again, in politics and certainly in music. I think this dynamic applies very nicely to R.A.P. Ferreira. Although his witty philosophical musings have been present in...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (2:10). Not only are topics like philosophy, spirituality, knowledge of self, difficult things to learn in and of itself... it’s an entirely different challenge to be able to communicate these topics with clarity. Not to mention with grace and humility to boot. Today’s guest, AKAI SOLO, does just that....

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (1:42). The Mutant Academy collective has been the launching point for many of rap’s most innovative creators over the past half decade. With uber-talented spitters such as Fly Anakin, and Koncept Jack$on, and captivating beatmakers such as ohbliv, Tuamie, Foisey, and our guest on today’s show... ewone...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Review (2:13). Vulnerability is an interesting concept. The more vulnerable you get, the likelihood of you achieving true happiness and connection rises... just as the likelihood you get deeply hurt and traumatized rises as well. In other words, vulnerability is a double-edged sword. This is precisely w...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (2:27). When I first heard today's guest on the show on El-P's "Oh Hail No" off of Cancer 4 Cure… I was sold immediately. Even if it was just one feature, without me being aware of who this guy was and what projects he had under his belt, his flows, his bars, and his charisma were off the charts. The t...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (1:30). In today’s political climate, music that speaks to real issues is something I gravitate to more than ever. If you add on wildly creative music to back said real issues, you’ve got me hooked. That’s exactly what we have with today’s guest on the show, Ghais Guevara. Ghais is a Philly rapper who...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (2:12). When I started this Album Alchemy series, I wanted to get laser-focused on the intricacies found in some of the best rap albums being made, with the artists themselves. So I feel like a series like this was tailor-made for the pair of artists we have featured in today’s episode. Lukah...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (0:49). The XXL Freshman Class is an annual collection of some of the most mediocre young (ish) rappers coming up in the game. Instead of re-hashing a tired idea, I collaborated with cool guys at Freemusicempire to have a different conversation.   We flipped the conversation and discussed our favourite veterans...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (1:47). Turning nothing into something, overcoming your surroundings, exhibiting incredible perseverance, have all served as major components to the stories of hip-hop's greats throughout the years. Today I am joined by someone who absolutely fits that bill. Someone who has succeeded with his integrity...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Review (1:42). 2022 has been a year of marquee albums coming to fruition in hip-hop. After 20+ years, we finally got another album from Black Star. billy woods and Preservation, two artists that were a match made in heaven together, blessed us with Aethiopes. Danger Mouse and Black Thought came through...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (2:03). Album artwork and the visual side of hip-hop has always played a key role in how music lovers engaged with the art form. In today’s episode we are joined by someone who’s work has provided visuals for some of rap’s finest. From legends such as Prodigy, Clipse, DJ Premier, The Alchemist, and mos...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (2:00). Few albums build an entirely fresh and distinct musical universe quite like ShrapKnel’s Metal Lung.  Within seconds, the duo of PremRock and Curly Castro bring you on a 40+ minute journey that features a combination of A1 lyricism, and production that is wildly psychedelic and atmosph...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (2:03). Whether it was back in 2005 when I was first starting to develop a distinct affection for the art form, or even now, a whole 17 years later. When I look at the artists that soundscape so much of my life that I admire, who I lean on to process trauma, to escape my day to day, to instill some fun and confi...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (1:56). As a fan of music, one of my favourite things to witness is an artist that I love have their breakthrough moment... where their peers, or listeners truly give them the respect they deserve. For BLOODBLIXING and his latest album, NBA STREETZ: GANGSTA EDITION, it was a little bit of bot...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Review (2:16). Lupe Fiasco, is a stalwart in the hip-hop game, having made music for roughly two decades now, to very good and often great results. The Chicago MC has returned with his 8th studio album, and decided to create this latest on in an entirely different way than he has made any other album pr...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Plug (0:21). The Interview (1:43). Picking the brain of the artist who created Paraffin, Save Yourself, Haram and most recently I Told Bessie, would’ve sounded like a pipe dream just a year and a half ago... But now, off the strength of the love and support you the listener have provided me, I was able to sit down with South Jam...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Discussion (1:33). In Ep. 114, we debut the first instalment of a new series on this show, Album Alchemy, which deep-dives into some of rap's best albums, with the creators themselves. This instalment spotlights the fiercely aggressive MIGHTYCANNONS, discussing the ins-and-outs of its development with i...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). The Interview (1:21). *Note: Internet connectivity issues caused some audio/video issues that could not all be corrected in post. The ever-thoughtful and intelligent Nebraska MC, Sleep Sinatra, joined the show to dive into his upbringing and worldview that informs his music, such as this year's BRAINSTORMZ and Spiri...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING The Hook (0:21). Main Body of Review (1:57). Since the stock of Armand Hammer and the Backwoodz Studioz name has risen exponentially in recent years, this latest album from E L U C I D presented a real opportunity for him. A prime opportunity for E L U C I D to solidify his perch in rap lore as one of the best artists of his generat...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (1:04). Here is the second edition of the Conversation Pieces series where I present my case for Mach-Hommy on Pray for Haiti, as my favourite Mach rap performance ever. If you want cool content like this, months earlier than when you're getting it now, become an RMPP patron today, and obtain access to many form...

Video animation by: Big Flowers Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING Beginning of Episode (0:49). In Episode 111, I am joined by a beloved musical act from Chicago, Rich Jones, who’s thoughtful and diverse talents have really impressed me over the past couple years. His most recent achievements include 2020’s How do you sleep at night? with Montana Macks, 2021's Blue Beach with Killer Kane, and his l...