Diggin' In The Digits

Happy October and happy UK Black History Month! Our first of four retrospectives this month is dedicated to two sisters that fused Hip-Hop with the burgeoning UK House/Acid House movement of the late 80s/early 90s whilst also paying homage to their Caribbean roots through the music and most notably their memorable name.

TIMESTAMPS
Weekly Music Roundup - (0:52)
Charlie:

• She Who Won't Be Named - From She With
• nineteen...

Hello DITD listeners! Charlie here. Just wanted to drop you my latest interview with upcoming Alt-R&B artist Kairos The Writer off the back of his recent EP release "AND STILL I LOVE". Enjoy!

Intro Music - "Baxter" By Brock Berrigan
Interlude - "Remedy" By Dezaulait
ChillHop Music

Other Podcasts Under The 5EPN:
"What's Good?" W/ Charlie Taylor
In Search of Sauce
Black Women Watch...
5EPN Radio
The Be...

The Brooklyn-based Hip-Hop group Stetsasonic were one of the premier innovators of the 80s. At any given moment you could hear live instrumentation, sampling and beat-boxing. You could also hear elements of Jazz, R&B, Reggae & Rock. Considering their era, the creative foundations they laid is undeniable.

Weekly Music Roundup - (0:42)
Charlie:

• Kairos The Writer - AND I STILL LOVE
• FloFilz - Hagaki
• Ol' Burger Beats...

The 00s was a unique moment in Hip-Hop history and American culture at large. A lot of the hallmarks of 00s Hip-Hop could be seen through Harlem's own DIPSET, led by Cam'Ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana & Freekey Zekey.

TIMESTAMPS:
Weekly Music Roundup - (1:02)
Ben:

• Cardi B - Am I The Drama
• Destroy Lonely - </3

Charlie:

• Meduulla & Ethan Hill - Tabula Rasa
• The Last Artful, Dodgr - databreachO01: Mr. I D...

On this edition of Contemporary Cool: Charlie gets to the bottom of why he's not that into Freddie Gibbs by spinning his debut album and Ben invites torture by having us talk about supergroup Slaughterhouse's poorly aged sophomore effort.

TIMESTAMPS:
Weekly Music Roundup - (0:54)
Ben:

• Ice Cube - Man Up
• Jermaine Dupri - Magic City

Charlie:

• Yoni Mayraz - Dogs Bark Babies Cry
• Steven Bamidele - THE CRASH!
• Venna - M...

The brothers in Prince Be & DJ Minutemix that make up the duo P.M Dawn have been - in hindsight - a marketing casualty. They forever hold the record of being the first African American Hip-Hop act to get No.1 on Billboard. But whilst that track & their debut album traffic in a Hip-Hop fusion, their works after that lean much more into R&B, creating a discography built on fluidity, deep lyrics and unfortunately,...

In the Gang Starr/Guru/DJ Premier universe, there are plenty of artists that have made a name for themselves, some that haven't, and then in the middle is Group Home. With a classic debut and iconic tracks on said album, what did they muster up without Preemo on speedial?

TIMESTAMPS:
Weekly Music Roundup - (0:50)
Charlie:

• UMI - people stories
• Danni Baylor - Things About The World That Burden Me
• NOTORIOUS N.I.Q. - Man...

Another WG interview for you to step to! For this truly special conversation, we talk to Jazztronica multi-instrumentalist and Hip-Hop fan Anna Stubbs, AKA Kinzoogianna ahead of her album "The Clique Of '86" dropping 12th September.

This nearly 90 minute conversation spans from her beginnings, living in California; being exposed to music early on and never looking back; taking Jazz in University; her career up to this point...

We finish our Boot Camp Clik exploration with the talisman of the supergroup and co-founder of Duck Down Records: Buckshot. Covering his one and only solo record and the varied collab albums he produced in the 2000s/early 2010s.

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Weekly Music Roundup - (0:49)
Ben:

• Offset - Kiari
• Ghostface- Supreme Clientele 2
• BigXthaPlug - I Hope You're Happy
• Earl - Live Laugh Love

Charlie:

• The Other Guys - Summer '92
• KYE...

The trio of O.G.C. - Starang Wondah, Louieville Sluggah and Top Dog - never really had the highs of their Boot Camp Clik counterparts. But just because they never dropped a stone cold classic, doesn't mean they didn't drop quality music.

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Weekly Music Roundup - (1:09)
Ben:

• JID - God Does Like Ugly
• Gunna - The Last Wun
• DJ Premier & Roc Marciano - The Coldest Profession
• Chance the Rapper - STAR LINE

C...

We have an interview for you to step to! For this one, we talk to long-time Music Industry leader and currently Intercept Music’s Vice President of Artist and Label Partnerships Jesse Flores. We talk about his beginnings in the industry, the state of the industry as a whole; the steady rise of independents; his Lighter Note & his Top 5.

Thanks for listening. Below are the Social accounts for all parties involved.

Music -...

With the duo of Smif-N-Wessun, Tek & Steele started off as worthy members of the Boot Camp Clik, delivering a great debut album. And even with roadblocks galore holding them back over the years, they have produced a solid discography, maturing gracefully as a Hip-Hop duo.

TIMESTAMPS:
Weekly Music Roundup - (0:55)
Ben:

• Metro Boomin - A Futuristic Summa

Charlie:

• Homeboy Sandman & Sonnyjim - Soli Deo Gl...

It's time for another edition of Hip-Hop Neighbours where we talk about albums not Hip-Hop, but close to it. For this one, we get into Roots Manuva & Wrongtom's Danchall/Dub remix album "Duppy Writer" & Katy B's debut "On A Mission".

TIMESTAMPS:
Weekly Music Roundup - (0:58)
Ben:

• Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo 2

Charlie:

• Heno. & Mad Keys - Healing Out Loud (EP)
• A. Billi Free & The...

The group that started it all for the Boot Camp Clik, the trio of Black Moon - led by Buckshot - came in with a quintessential Hip-Hop Golden Age debut and sporadically dropped after that, with not much of a drop in quality compared to a stone-cold classic.

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Weekly Music Roundup - (0:59)
Ben:

• Raekwon - The Emperor's New Clothes

Charlie

• Ryder & Sengi - LONG RIDE HOME
• Farah Audhali & Blue Lab...

The duo of Rock & Ruck (Sean Price) make Heltah Skeltah, giving us yet another Boot Camp Clik membership that created a consistent quality discography! Not many misses when it comes to one of the best voices in Hip-Hop and a Sean Price that grows into himself as the years go by.

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Weekly Music Roundup - (0:58)
Ben:

• Jackboys 2
• Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out
• Boldy James x Nicholas Craven - Late to my Own Fu...

The six-man supergroup Boot Camp Clik has - from day 1 - been a unique blend of talent, culminating in four decent-to-great albums and poses to be in the mind for whenever we cover the groups/individuals that make the group.

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Weekly Music Roundup - (0:49)
Ben:

• JID - GDLU the Preluxe
• Smoke DZA - On My Way to Berlin

Charlie:

• SAMSON - UNDERSTOOD!?
• Madison McFerrin - SCORPIO
• The Doppelgangaz - Still Left
• ...

On July 2nd we will be exactly halfway through the 2020s! And whilst it's been an objectively terrible decade in many ways, there are some Hip-Hop gems that have come out. So, we decided to make our individual Top 5 Hip-Hop Albums of the Half-Decade and for once, we have NO overlapping works! So buckle in as we gush over 10 albums in a nearly 2 hour special!

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Honourable Mentions - (3:54)
Charlie's No. 5 - (...

One of the mainstays of the burgeoning Hip-Hop Underground of the 00s and beyond, Sean Price was a reality rapper with plenty of humour, iconic one-liners and a discography that have aged pretty well.

TIMESTAMPS:
Weekly Music Roundup - (0:49)
Ben:

• Memphis Bleek - Apt 3D
• Che Noir - The Color Chocolate 2
• Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon - Come As You Are
• Dave East & Young Chris - Fine Dining
• Daz Dillinger - Retaliat...

At 60 years old, Slick Rick dropped his 5th Studio Album and his 1st since 1999. He's a master storyteller, respected by everyone. So how TF is he still underrated?!

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Weekly Music Roundup - (1:07)
Ben:

• Lil Tecca - Dopamine

Charlie - 

• Karl Benjamin - To What End?
• MRCY - VOLUME 2
• Jords - Mixtape J
• edbl - Archives Mixtape
• Syf of Talking Knots & Sir Nebula - Gravity
• A-F-R-O - Crimson Fury
• Kamaiyah - Fir...