Helio-Tropes

Latest Episodes:

Vivian Medithi Jun 03, 2024

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Vivian Medithi is resident rap corrrespondent at The FADER who has bylines at Pitchfork, NoBells, HipHopDX, Los Angeles Review of Books and more. We talk about Milwaukee rapper Myaap whose excellent song "MLK" and new project produced by Nedarb of Gothboy Click fame is a hidden gem (for now). We break down the details of Atlanta rapper Slimesito and Surf Gang honcho/producer Evil Giane's collab tape titled 'Evil Slime.' Is Lazer Dim 700 commercially viable? Does he need to be? We have the answers. The Atlanta phenomenon is taking the internet by storm and we go in on what makes him so captivating to his rapidly growing, rabid audience like self-deprecating bars, and recording songs on his phone via the Bandlab audio app. We debut a new segment called 'Drafts' and get into Vivian's Top 5 songs of the moment including heat from Tomu DJ, ZAYALLCAPS, Baby Osama and more. Listen and maybe learn.

Jayson Buford May 20, 2024

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Jayson Buford is a journalist from Harlem, NY covering culture, music, and sports who has written for publications like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Vanity Fair, Stereogum, and more. He joins us today to talk about our beloved Knicks and all things endemic to the greatest city in the world. Our expert analysis leads us to the conclusion that Donté DiVincenzo could have easily been Jackie Junior's mans in The Sopranos or sold ecstasy in real life. We discuss a story he wrote on Cap USA, a black-owned storefront that sells a plethora of hat styles including fitted hats and streetwear in the heart of Harlem — which also serves as a longstanding cultural hub despite a myriad of uncontrollable challenges negatively impacting family-owned businesses. We talk about Ghostface's new album, Chief Keef's excellent 'Almighty SO 2' album, and a buzzing Atlanta rapper with a seemingly encrypted name, 2Sdxrt3all (2S-Dirtball). Jayson also lists his New York restaurant recommendations including where he would split a chicken with anybody. He breaks down Trump's unintentional low-brow, chaotic sense of humor and graces us with his Top 5 songs at the moment, including highlights from Detroit's Baby Money and Future. Go New York Go New York Go.

Franz De Los Reyes May 13, 2024

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Franz De Los Reyes is a music executive and Senior Vice President of Marketing at SALXCO (The Weeknd, Nav, Metro Boomin and more) who has previously held positions at three major labels including Def Jam, Epic and Warner Records. He shares how he broke into the music industry by being the squeeky wheel and building lasting relationships along with some digital savvy that major labels were farming in the blog era. He stayed down to come up and now lives in Los Angeles attempting to perfect his golf swing at the range at the Wilson Harding Golf Club in Griffith Park where I coincidentally ran into him this morning as he was taking his golf lesson before mine —straight out of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. We talk shop about the marketing campaign for Metro and Future's 'We Don't Trust You Album' (which he worked on) and how the ripple effect of the #1 single "Like That" led to a beef between two raging, aging rappers that we pray is over by now. We dissect how a good rap diss track functions differently than a great song, and how the latter may not matter if one of them becomes a hit i.e. Kendrick's "Not Like Us." We talk about comedian King Willionius' AI song "BBL Drizzy," the original sample source for Metro Boomin's viral diss-beat with the same title, and corporate America's cringey effort to get in on the action. All of the above and more on this one.

Alphonse Pierre Apr 28, 2024

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Alphonse Pierre is a music critic and journalist at Pitchfork. He joins us from home base in Canarsie, Brooklyn where an ice cream truck soundtracks our conversation about the Knicks and the 76ers round 1 playoff bloodbath. We talk about Ice Spice's timely verse on Cash Cobaine's "Fisherr" remix and how an independently released song can get ratcheted up with the help of a huge feature and some major label muscle. We talk about Tupac's estate issuing a cease and desist to Drake (when it's convenient) for the AI powered "Taylormade Freestyle," and just how much Future is too much sauce across multiple albums. He breaks down his review of rapper Xaviersobased's latest mixtape which received the coveted "Best New Music" status at Pitchfork, and why a healthy dose of outside influences on the internet coupled with real life uptown swagger make for a thrilling ride. We also get into the wild and emerging Milwaukee rap scene comprising unhinged twerk, slap, and low-end subgenres. All of which are underscored by the song of the moment, JP's "Bad Bitty," to go along with Alphonse's experience in the Wisconsin city's underbelly with several rappers including Munch Lauren and 414bigfrank. Of course we had to shake him down for his Top 5 songs right now (all of which came by way of SoundCloud links) as we proceed to bring you what you didn't know you needed on this special episode.

Yash Apr 15, 2024

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Fresh off of Coachella weekend and his day of birth Yash is back with a solo pod talking about the rare sites that the annual festival has to offer with takes on performances by Lana Del Rey, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Justice's return and more. He also gets into the lame rap "beef(s)" of the moment and the dominoe effect Kendrick's "Like That" verse on Metro and Future's 'We Don't Trust You' album has had on the industry; including J. Cole's boring apology, Drakes halfway decent clap back and Rick Ross's hilarious and very good "Champagne Moments." He also gets into why Dune 2 was simultaneously cool and annoying along with sharing some new heat by Roc Marciano, MIKE & Tony Seltzer, and Big Moochie Grape.

Sowmya Krishnamurthy Apr 01, 2024

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Sowmya Krishnamurthy is an accomplished journalist based in New York, originally from Michigan. She is the author of 'Fashion Killa: How Hip Hop Revolutionized High Fashion,' available now from Simon and Schuster / Gallery Books. Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone, XXL, Essence, Complex, Highsnobiety, Playboy, The Village Voice, and Time. We dive into the intersection of fashion and hip-hop and the impact they have had on each other, starting in New York City over the past 50 years. She breaks down the importance of Harlem's own Dapper Dan, luxury laws, how the hustlers were the first street fashionistas/micro-influencers, what 'Ghetto Fabulous' meant, and rap's relationship to luxury. We explore the questionable but undeniable sartorial impact of Jay Z along with Yash's Rocawear velour jumpsuit era...all the way to rappers wearing dresses, the Lo-Life's, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger's fall from grace, Karl Lagerfeld, and Lil Kim's 'Hardcore' provocative fashion influence. We take a closer look at Tupac's Versace drip, the irony of Camron's pink fur, and Biggie's lowkey hypebeast roots as one of the first rappers to be photographed wearing BAPE. All of the above and more on this special episode.

Claire Bogle Mar 18, 2024

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Claire Bogle is a music manager, entrepreneur, and hypnotherapist from New Mexico with exquisite taste. She is the co-founder of Scoremore Productions which is responsible for throwing the first-ever tours and shows for artists like Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, and more. We talk about her rise to success behind the scenes driven by pure passion; including volunteering to drive her beat-up Lincoln and used 5 Series for artist tours in the early days of the blog era. She elaborates on how she and her partner Sascha Stone took the legendary Illmore party at SXSW from a poppin' house jam to one of the most lit events at the festival where peak-Lil Wayne and the entire Young Money would eventually perform for free. She breaks down the evolution from promoter to a music manager role and her client roster as co-founder of Art Dept. (her artist management company), and drops many more gems on the subjects of finance and why she rides so hard for mental health. She lays down exactly what every artist needs to do with their money immediately upon signing a record deal and what kind of bust-down diamonds are actually an investment. She also brings her Top 5 songs of the moment to the table from artists like Pale J, Holy Other, and Dear Cupid, and describes why the energy in the music is right and exact.

Peter A. Berry Mar 11, 2024

Show notes

Back at it with Peter A. Berry, writer and editor at large who has bylines in XXL, COMPLEX, Pitchfork, Okayplayer and more. We talk about how we connected via my reaction to an Uncle Murda video clip that Peter put a wild spin on and how it lead to this unique episode diving into one album that has made a significant impact this year already which is Schoolboy Q's 'Blue Lips.' We expand on Peter's review of 'Blue Lips' for Stereogum and the singular themes that show up on the project (that typically don't show up on rap albums). We break down what makes it special on several levels; whether or not the lack of an anthemic single matters, and Peter flexes his basketball-stat expertise to make a case for how Q is the rapgame Jimmy Buckets. We also get into how Q is a weirdo in the best way possible and why an album of this caliber is a biproduct of time in the game without becoming a crotchety old man.

Chris Atlas Feb 26, 2024

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Chris Atlas is more than meets the eye. An extra popped episode with the accomplished music executive and Bronx-native who tells us about his earliest hip-hop memories running around NYC including a life-changing performance from Public Enemy at a small club in the meatpacking district. We dive into his first opportunity in the music industry as an intern at the legendary Tommy Boy Records where he cut his teeth in College Radio promotion before moving into A&R. He tells us about his time at the label promoting tracks at radio from seminal artists like House of Pain, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, signing Tony Touch and his involvement in working with Penalty Recordings artists like Capone N Noreaga under the same umbrella. We chop about his time at Cornerstone Agency, Buzzfeed's recent sale of COMPLEX to NTWRK and how his near decade-long tenure at Def Jam was basically graduating with honors from the school of hard knocks. From SVP to EVP of Marketing at Def Jam, he waxes poetic on career-defining album roll-outs and marketing campaigns from the biggest boss Rick Ross and a young Kanye. And even gives us the scoop on the reference for an iconic Earl Sweatshirt moment during his time as EVP of Urban Marketing at Warner Records. As if his resume isn't deep enough, he tells us how he diversified his bonds outside of the music game by becoming a partner in a lifestyle boutique in NJ selling apparel and sneakers called Hush Life. And was generous enough to share his keys to maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Now if he only shared the keys to the G-Wagon...

CAL-A of Free Bread Intl. Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

CAL-A is a Grammy Award-winning producer, artist manager, and DJ from the Bay Area who owns and operates Free Bread Intl., a company helping brands and businesses create experiences to benefit their communities and the kids in them. He breaks down his contribution to Killer Mike's album 'Michael' which received three Grammy's including Rap Album of The Year. We get into South by Southwest's fall from grace and its potential resurgence, his recent trip to the Phillipines with P-Lo, his penchant for vacation flexing, and the 2022 documentary 'We Were Hyphy.' He explains the impact the Bay Area's countercultural mentality had on rap in the city (and the country), and how copping both the G-Unit sneakers and the S. Carters exemplify his unwaivering loyalty to the game. We also talk about Free Bread's recent collab with Rodericks Barbecue in Oakland and his latest top 5 songs of the moment including tracks by SPIRITSAVER, Zach Frenes, Bast, Wyatt Woodley and Swank Mami.

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