Podcast

"If you've never walked through the woods listening to Nobody Beats the Biz then you ain't never heard hip-hop."

The above quote is from one of multi-talented poet/rapper/actor Saul Williams' earliest released tracks, but it could just easily serve as a thesis statement for this podcast. This week DBRP hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc are thrilled to present a thought provoking conversation with Williams. We touch on his recorded work, his training, his acting in movies like the recent phenomenon Sinners, and his general artistic outlook.

Saul is a deeply reverent hip-hop head who grew up in the genre but is also not afraid to experiment in an attempt to transcend its strictures. We found his responses to be enlightening, and we hope you feel the same.

As always, if you would like to hear an extended version of this episode with music clips for the tracks referenced, please consider joining our Patreon at www.patreon.com/dadbodrappod

DBRP is a proud member of the Stony Island Audio podcast network, run by another charismatic multi-hyphenate. Catch Open Mike Eagle on tour now in a city near you!

Episode 328 Sour Times with guest DJ Haram 

Show notes from the bleeding edge…

Far beyond the genteel pop music stylings that comprise our day-to-day listening environment, there exists a world of sound that refuses to be refined, restrained, or easily defined. This is the space that New York–based DJ Haram inhabits: her experimental style blends bass, Middle Eastern percussion, noise, and elements of indie rap. You can hear this in her collaborations with the boundary-breaking artists Armand Hammer and Moor Mother.

On this week’s episode of the Dad Bod Rap Pod, we talk with DJ Haram about her new album Beside Myself, out now on Hyperdub Ltd. She opens up about her musical evolution, personal politics, and reflections on mortality in an illuminating conversation.

The DJ Haram interview is framed by our intro and outro segments, where we highlight some of our favorite fringe and obscure records. Wade into the deep end with us.

Produced by Demone Carter, aka DEM ONE.

Theme song by Cutso, with lyrics by DEM ONE

Dad Bod Rap Pod is a proud member of the Stony Island Audio Network

Tracks mentioned in this episode:

• Sometimes Care Looks Like Leave Me The Fuck Alone — Small Bill

• Rounds — Four Tet

• Murmations — Flock

• Snaeha (Bang Bang) — Pan Pon

• How Great Thou Art — Sensational Saints

• Last Days of Being A Wanker — Lolina

Serious question: Where does the time go?

It feels like just yesterday I was nursing a New Year’s Eve hangover and wondering what 2025 would portend for rap releases. Now the year is three-fourths done, the holidays are around the corner, and there’s already a slew of music to talk about. On this week’s episode of Dad Bod Rap Pod, the three bad brothers you know so well share their favorite rap records of 2025 (thus far). Think of it as our mid-year retrospective, except we’re submitting it three months late, real high school vibes.

The big takeaway is this: rap music is alive and thriving in 2025, especially indie rap. Did your favorite new album make the DBRP top nine? Tune in to find out, fam.

Spoiler alert: the album of the year is still billy woods – Golliwog. But we also break down nine other releases from this year that are damn good, if not great.

Program note: We recorded this episode about three weeks ago, before excellent records like Evidence’s Unlearning Vol. 2 and Earl Sweatshirt’s Live, Laugh, Love dropped. So you won’t hear us talk about them here, but trust we’ve listened and will have plenty to say by year’s end. If you’re the type who likes to keep up week by week, I invite you to join our Patreon at Patreon.com/dadbodrappod. That’s where we post weekly bonus segments that are more topical.

In any event, I hope your year is going well, all things considered.

-DEM

This week’s episode was produced by Demone Carter (a.k.a. DEM ONE).

Theme song by DEM ONE and DJ Cutso. Dad Bod Rap Pod is a proud

member of the Stony Island Audio Network!

We've got a really big show for you this week. We have had the pleasure of interviewing Slug (and Ant, but never both together) of Atmosphere a few times. Atmosphere never quite got bigger than The Beatles (or breast implants) but there is no denying that over the last 30 years they have proven themselves to be one of the most consistent and prolific independent hip-hop groups of all time. Both gentlemen display a deep musical knowledge in their work, and on today's program we chat with Slug about his "easter egg" references, his connection with the storied concert venue Red Rocks, wellness on tour, and of course Atmosphere's next album, Jestures. Though the album will not drop for a few weeks, we preview its unique development process. Ant and Slug "gamified" their production on this record, making one song for each letter of the alphabet, one at a time, A-Z. Inspired by this approach, DBRP hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc recorded their longest intro segment ever, riffing on 26 rappers and their careers, also in alphabet (aerobics) order. I think it's pretty safe to say that you have never heard a podcast episode quite like this. Huge thanks to Slug for joining us, it was a real pleasure to speak with someone so thoughtful and self-deprecating while also being pretty darn successful in this niche of hip-hop that we we care about. Please catch Atmosphere on the Dank Days of Summer Tour with Cypress Hill, Lupe Fiasco and the Pharcyde, coming soon to a town near you.

Dad Bod Rap Pod is bought to you by Stony Island Audio, the podcast network that values being "underground" for so long that the term loses all meaning.

Sometimes the curatorial bent of this show comes from a deep curiosity about the people behind the music we love. The question “What’s their deal?” often sparks the journey toward a great interview. Patience is also part of the process because tracking down the artists we want to pepper with questions isn’t always easy, and it doesn’t always fit neatly into our recording schedule.

This week’s interview with producer August Fanon has been a long time coming, and it was well worth the wait. He was gracious and open as he spoke with us about his journey as a producer, his creative process, and the sources of his inspiration.

In the intro, we share some of our favorite August Fanon productions, and in the outro, we discuss the best Fanon-plus-rapper collaborations. We hope you enjoy this conversation with one of the most interesting figures in indie rap.

If you want to hear the deluxe version of this episode, please consider subscribing to our Patreon!

patreon.com/dadbodrappod

Every once in a while we are lucky to enough to be able to speak to a true hip-hop legend, and today is one of those occasions. Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts David Ma, Demone Carter and Nate LeBlanc are thrilled to be talking to and about Lord Finesse on this week's episode.

Lord Finesse made three highly influential albums as an artist in the 90's and continues to impact the culture as a respected DJ and producer today. He is here to promote his latest album The SP1200 Files: Sounds & Frequencies In Technicolor. We caught up with Ness in his studio where he was busy working on remastering his classic debut The Funky Technician. As always, we also dive into his history, we think even a dedicated DITC head will learn something new from this interview.

An extended version of this episode, along with hundreds of hours of bonus commentary, playlists, mixes, and a thriving community of rap nerds is available on our patreon: www.patreon.com/dadbodrappod

DBRP is brought to you by Stony Island Audio.

Please note: A better, longer version of this episode with sound clips for every song mentioned is available on the Dad Bod Rap Pod Patreon. Go to www.patreon.com/dadbodrappod and use promo code BEASTIE to get your first month's access for only $1

From Pollywog Stew to Hot Sauce Part 2, we have officially covered the Beastie Boys' legendary career. We are wrapping up our miniseries this week with a special episode where DBRP hosts Nate LeBlanc, David Ma and Demone Carter draft their top 5 Beastie Boys songs. In between segments we have exclusive voicemails from friends, listeners, artists and indie hip-hop podcast royalty breaking down their favorite tracks as well. Though we had some pretty tough criticisms over the last few weeks, today's episode is a celebration of everything we love about the Beasties, an iconic American band that spanned genres, eras, and mediums in a unique and inspiring way.

As we close out this series, we want to thank everyone who helped us along the way, especially guest commentators Dante Ross, Sean Kantrowitz, Kenny Segal, and Open Mike Eagle. Huge thanks to Rory Simms for the art, Stephanie Barajas for the photos, Defcee for writing and recording our theme song, we appreciate your talents.

But most of all, we have to thank Cutso aka Producer Cutso aka P Monetary for joining us on this journey. Cutty is an amazing DJ, a great producer in the creative and technical senses of the word, and a great friend. Please give him a follow and listen to his music and mixes and consider getting DJ lessons from his new venture, First Wav Preservation Society.

We are going to take a quick break and then be back with our regularly scheduled programming of banter, puns, jokes, interviews with hip-hop creators and legends, and more very soon. Sincere thanks to everyone who tuned in, reached out, and participated in this project in any way. We give thanks to the Beastie Boys for all of their great music and for giving us so much to talk about. RIP MCA, an inspiring person.

3 Bad Brothers, A Beastie Boys Breakdown is a production of Dad Bod Rap Pod

Hosted By Demone Carter, David Ma, and Nate LeBlanc

Executive Produced by Nate LeBlanc

Produced by Demone Carter and Paolo “Cutso” Bello 

Edited by Demone Carter and Nate LeBlanc 

Engineering and Post-Production by Paolo “Cutso” Bello

Artwork by Rory Simms

Photography by Stephanie Barajas 

Youtube version produced by Paolo “Cutso” Bello

Theme song written and recorded by Defcee and Produced by Cutso

Dad Bod Rap Pod is distributed by Open Mike Eagle’s Stony Island Audio

It's summertime, the living is easy, and we figured why not play a doubleheader? Today on Dad Bod Rap Pod, hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc with help from Producer Cutso break down the final albums in the Beastie Boys' Catalog.

First up is the Mix Up from 2007, the only official instrumental LP in their catalog, since In Sound From Way Out is a compilation. The Boys established a dress code and payed homage to their favorite wordless acts and we have thoughts about it. Is it "classic material" or "placid material?" There's only one way to find out.

Then we turn our attention to 2011's Hot Sauce Committe pt 2, the Beastie Boys' last album. In some ways it is a return to form, bringing back their signature processed vocals and combining eclectic musical styles in the way that only they can. We also spend some time discussing the elaborate record nerd mythology they attempted to establish in the liner notes.

While we have discussed, dissected, debated and ranked every Beasties album, we are not quite done yet. Tune in next week for the Beastie Boys song draft, a celebrations of a great rap group, featuring selections from our hosts and calls form friends of the program from around the world.

This week Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter, David Ma, and Nate LeBlanc alongside Producer Cutso, are breaking down the Beastie Boys' fifth album, To The 5 Boroughs. Where their previous few records had been eclectic mixes of jammy, loungey instrumental songs, punk egergy, and hard-hitting leftfield hip-hop, for this album the Boys decided to approach early 2000s America with an old-school hip-hop sensibility. As you will hear, we are not fans of this choice.

Since we didn't really care for this record, we devote a lot of this episode to talking about Grand Royal, the Beastie Boys' magazine and record label. The magazine is an important and now quite rare document of the Boys' hipster sensibilities that shined a light on a lot of creative people. It's probably one of the coolest things that a major band could have done for their listeners in a pre-internet age. The record label was a bit more hit and miss but also a worthwhile endeavor that shut down just as it was starting to get interesting by signing some fascinating underground MCs.

Thanks to everyone who has joined us on the album-by-album look into the Beasties' fascinating career. Please consider joining our patreon at patreon.com/dadbodrappod for more bonus content, banter episodes, curated music, and playlists. Use promo code BEASTIE to get your first month for just $1

3 Bad Brothers, A Beasties Boys Breakdown is a production of

Dad Bod Rap Pod

Hosted By Demone Carter, David Ma, and Nate LeBlanc

Executive Produced by Nate LeBlanc

Produced by Demone Carter and Paolo “Cutso” Bello 

Edited by Demone Carter and Nate LeBlanc 

Engineering and Post-Production by Paolo “Cutso” Bello

Artwork by Rory Simms

Photography by Stephanie Barajas 

Youtube version produced by Paolo “Cutso” Bello

Theme song written and recorded by Defcee and Produced by Cutso

Dad Bod Rap Pod is distributed by Open Mike Eagle’s Stony Island Audio

*Please note: This is an edited version of the episode, we have been forced to remove the interstitial music that is part of what makes the show unique*

In the pivotal fifth installment of our Beastie Boys miniseries, the Boys have moved back to New York and they are hopping around different studios demoing ideas that will eventually lead to their album Hello Nasty, a sprawling and eclectic work that fuses all of their previous modes into one sound that we call the "Beastie singularity." Rather than jamming and finding ideas in the edit, this time around they are fusing their record collections, old school hip-hop sensibility and guest vocalists into one well-produced mix which many BB fans and the band themselves hold as their best album.

Joining DBRP hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc to break this all down is iconic rap artist, podcaster, and hip-hop commentator Open Mike Eagle. One of hip-hop's most astute observers, Mike details his longstanding relationship with Hello Nasty in his inimitable smart, funny way. Be sure to pre-order his new album Neighborhood Gods Unlimited ahead of its release on July 11th.

Big shouts to our main man Cutso for joining us on the mic for this album, he helps us understand the vital role that Mixmaster Mike played in re-energizing the Beastie Boys live experience right as their hair began to gray. All in all, this is a really fun episode about an album that we admire but have a few of our customary quibbles with, especially with its length and sequencing. Please share your feedback in the comments.

3 Bad Brothers, A Beasties Boys Breakdown is a production of Dad Bod Rap Pod

Hosted By Demone Carter, David Ma, and Nate LeBlanc

Executive Produced by Nate LeBlanc

Produced by Demone Carter and Paolo “Cutso” Bello 

Edited by Demone Carter and Nate LeBlanc 

Engineering and Post-Production by Paolo “Cutso” Bello

Artwork by Rory Simms

Photography by Stephanie Barajas 

Youtube version produced by Paolo “Cutso” Bello

Theme song written and recorded by Defcee and Produced by Cutso

Dad Bod Rap Pod is distributed by Open Mike Eagle’s Stony Island Audio