Episodes

Welcome back to Episode 10 of the Record Report! This week, we're reviewing Freddie Gibb and Madlib's first collaborative album, Pinata. With the album dropping reasonably early in March of 2014, it quickly became a standout gem in a very buzzing year in music. Pinata garnered critical acclaim thanks to a surprising blend of raw street rhymes from Gibbs with eclectic beats made by Madlib coated with Blaxploitation-themed skits and clips. From hustling out the streets of Gary, Indiana to build...

Welcome Back to the Record Report! For this episode, we're taking the train to Queens with our guest DJ Rugby Segal to review Nas' sophomore project It Was Written. Dropping in 1996, It Was Written reached both critical and commercial success thanks to a blend of beats from household names like DJ Premier, Trackmasters, and Dr. Dre, as well as Nas' ability to tell vivid street stories. As always, we choose their top three tracks, Howard talks about the album's immediate impact, and Vance talks...

Welcome back to the Record Report! This week, we're going back in time to listen to a Funky classic. We're talkin' about Maggot Brain, the 3rd studio album by Funkadelic. Dropping 2 years before Hip Hop was born in 1971, this album would later inspire the next generations in the genre. The 7-track LP is completely produced by George Clinton and is a journey through cosmic keys, crazy guitar riffs, and aggressive drums but with a savory soulful undertaste. While it managed to come out strong w...

Welcome back to the Record Report! This week, we're taking a trip inside the mind of a musical genius. There are a lot of different opinions about Mac Miller. His original brand was polarizing in the Blog Era, but his musical growth always remained intact throughout his career. That seems to be how he made Faces, his 11th mixtape that was released on May 11th, 2014. Compared to many other albums, this one takes a serious dark turn. The Pittsburgh artist managed to blend jazz with modern sound...

Welcome back to the Record Report! This week, we're going overseas to hear a rebel's sound. We're talking about British artist M.I.A.'s 2013 Matangi to be exact. M.I.A's career was at a very weird period in the later part of the Blog Era. While the artist's diverse array of sound helped contribute to the early rise of international influence in the 2000s, her success also made her a target for controversy. Fortunately, Matangi was both a daring response to her criticism while still also managi...

Welcome back to the Record Report! This week, we're gonna take you back to 1996 with Tupac's first posthumous album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. When this album dropped, it was a very confusing point in time for the music world. It dropped two months after Tupac's death, and it wasn't even with his actual stage name. This was the first (and last) album under the moniker Makaveli, and for many fans, The Don Killuminati started the spreading of rumors that speculated Tupac was alive. H...

Welcome to Episode 3 of your favorite music podcast, The Record Report. This week, we'll be taking a BUS RIDE (all puns intended) through Kaytranada's debut studio album, 99.9%. Following a slew of SoundCloud flips to get people to the dancefloor in the early 2010s like his flip of Teedra Moses' track "Just Wanna Be Your Girl," Kaytranada was on a steady rise in the music industry. The hype only kicked into a second gear when he signed to XL Recordings in 2014 and the label eventually announce...

Welcome back to the Record Report Season 3! Episode 3 is a real homecoming. We're reviewing Goldlink's debut studio album, At What Cost. This project was pivotal to the DMV for many reasons. On paper, "Crew" is currently certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA and even earned a Grammy nomination in 2018. But each song on the 14-track LP provides a different side to the city through versatile sounds and a slew of talent from the area from Lil Dude to Mya. We also have our special guest DJ Marauder i...

Welcome back to the Record Report We've made it to season 3, and thank you all for staying with us! For this episode, we'll be diving into Chance the Rapper's sophomore mixtape Acid Rap. When Chance the Rapper dropped Acid Rap in 2013, music was in a transitional period. It was a time when Chicago already had its lead star in Kanye West, who made mainstream headlines for My Dark Twisted Fantasy, and the growth of the GOOD Music record label. The Chi also had a budding internet music scene tha...

Welcome back!! After a too log break Vance and Ahmad are back for season 3 of The Record Report Podcast. They detail on the things they have been working, the LOST episode, what took so long and recap their favorite music moments of 2021. We're happy to be back!

In the early 90s Ice Cube was in a transitional period in his career. The soon-to-be Los Angeles icon had just left NWA, and while his creative freedom was awaiting, the rapper was still facing animosity from group members and fans for departing. Fortunately, Cube confidently came through with his debut project Amerikkka's Most Wanted and it was a project that showcased the rapper's raw rhymes with militant production through himself, Sir Jinx, and the Bomb Squad. Along with immediate success an...

Kehlani got robbed of a great summer wave. When she dropped her sophomore LP It Was Good Until It Wasn't in 2020, many listeners had to listen to the album from home due to the CoVid-19 outbreak. However, not only did have an album that supplied a surplus of music gems that could fit a playlist for the whip or the bedroom, many of the relatable tracks opened up about the Oakland singer's personal life as she continued to pave her way into making music at the highest level. With production from J...

2011 was such a great year for the blog era of music. Don't believe us? That year includes debut releases from future superstars like Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, and The Weeknd. However, it was also another year of consistency from an artist that is the poster child for this characteristic in Hip Hop. We're talking about Curren$y the Spitta and one of his most highly acclaimed mixtapes in his rather large catalog, Covert Coup. Not only was this a critical project for the Louisiana rapper's m...

This week, we take it back to 91 with a debut album made by one of the most influential Hip Hop groups OF ALL TIME. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is an essential album that introduced the vibrant sounds of A Tribe Called Quest. Armed with a plethora of obscure jazz samples and ambitious beat-breaks, the collective created a new sound that would skyrocket its members into music stardom while creating another sub-genre of rap music in the term "conscious rap." Those terms ma...

After the successful release of Krit Wuz Here ,which led to a deal with Def Jam, and many appearances on blog favorites in 2010, Big K.R.I.T released Return of 4eva, March 28th 2011. At the time the XXL Freshman had a major buzz built around the him and his next project was anticipated, and he deliver with R4. With soulful backdrops such as American Rapstar that served as a the background to the story of how is art is greater than the greed of label execs or the drums beating down the block on "...

Sometimes, music can bring together old ties that never break, and this week, our guest (@waxfroetic aka @aticketfortwo) was a friend from Morgan who experienced the rise of the greatest music collective of the 2010s, Odd Future. When the OF Tape Vol. 2 dropped back in 2011, the project showcased a much brighter and popular Odd Future compared to their previous projects while maintaining the darkness that artists like Tyler, the Creator have established with Bastard. It was also the only collect...

This week, we go back to listen to one of the greatest Hip Hop runs from a collective in the early-to-late 2000s. With Cam’ron coming off of his 3rd LP Come Home With Me, the Harlem MC wanted to dedicate a project to his prospective homies under the widely known collective, The Diplomats. With dope samples, rough lyrics, and bangers like “Dipset Anthem,” the debut LP from the Diplomats was a precursor to an era of culture inspired by a rather rambunctious group, but with the talent to match. Wit...

Following a few popular online singles in the previous years, St. Louis artist Smino has been able to establish an audience thanks to his slurred hometown accent and fresh beats made by Chicago producer, Monte Booker. In 2017, He dropped Blkswn, an album that not only had some speaker-worthy bangers, but managed to add a sense of humanity to a city still healing three years after a summer of trauma. The critical success of Blkswn has made Smino a standout in the late 2010s and he continues to gr...

The early 2010’s were a tumultuous time for Rick Ross. Although these years featured intoxicating highs like the success of albums like Teflon Don with the help of classic bangers like BMF, Ross also faced problems outside of the studio from losing major fashion deals because of cringy lyrics to dodging death after being shot at in his home city. However, 2014 was a year to wrap up such an odd period, and he capitalized his arguably most LP Mastermind For this week’s episode, We choose their top...

This week, we’re heading back to the 90s for Master P and TRU’s TRU 2 Da Game. The collective’s fourth LP together documents the talent of No Limit’s hottest including a young Silk Da Shocker, a lyrically destructive Mia X, and a dark figure in C-Murder among many other artists under the Louisiana-based label. For many people, Master P’s sound and rambunctious attitude on wax were a little too much. For others, his project tales and dope bangers made by Beats By The Pound helped elevate No Limit...

In 2011, Frank Ocean was at an “odd” yet motivational stage in his life. He was a part of this obscure musical collective called Odd Future. Unfortunately, he was also shelved by a label that wasn’t taking him seriously. With the help of online distributor DatPiff, Ocean was able to push out his debut project Nostalgia, Ultra to much acclaim. Ever since its release, the New Orleans artist has been an unofficial beacon of light for independent artists. Not only did he release two of the best alte...

With its upcoming 25th anniversary, Vance picked a childhood classic in The Fugees’ sophomore album The Score. While he and his sisters would listen in to tape the back of their family's burgundy Jaguar Xj6, the world was truly beginning to realize the true talent that all three members possessed. It was a time where the group was questioned following their album Blunted Reality and had something to say about the critics, our government, and our country. However, due to issues that festered, we ...

Although the underground rap scene is one that transforms frequently as the industry changes, it’s one that many rappers go through before making their rise in the mainstream. However, Sean Price had not only built a fanbase from being one half of Heltah Skeltah, but his solo career is one that made him a great in this amongst other artists like MF Doom and Madlib. For this week, we go back to Price’s sophomore album Jesus Price Superstar, a pivotal album that pushed Price in popularity thanks t...

For our Season 2 premiere, we’re taking it back to the rise of TDE. This was a time when Kendrick was attracting ears with the acclaimed mixtape/album “Overly Dedicated,” and TDE was making a name for itself in the blog era of music. ScHoolboy Q wasn’t the star we know now in 2011, but Setbacks built the foundation for the artist that he has become. With its diverse sound, visceral lyrics, and outstanding features, Setbacks was yet another project that showed the depth on TDE’s roster as well as...