The Cipher

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152: Elzhi Apr 25, 2016

Show notes

Elzhi got his start as an emcee in the now-famous Detroit rap scene of the 1990s, going to shows and open mics alongside some of the city’s great talent like Guilty Simpson, Royce da 5’9”, Phat Kat, Invincible, Proof, Eminem, and Slum Village. In 2001, Elzhi would join Slum Village after J Dilla left the group. He would remain with them for nearly a decade, leaving in 2010 amidst drama with the other members and their record label.

In 2011, Elzhi released an album-length reinvisioning of Nas’ Illmatic, entitled Elmatic, which met great critical and popular success. His brand new album, inspired by his struggles with depression, is called Lead Poison.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/152/ for full show notes and comments.

Allah B at the Allah School in Mecca, in front of a portrait of Allah — **151: Allah B of the Nation of Gods and Earths** Apr 18, 2016
Show notes

Allah B is a longtime member of the Nation of Gods and Earths, formerly known as the Five Percenters. He grew up in Harlem in the 1950s and 60s, a time when the Nation of Islam had huge influence thanks to its minister, Malcolm X. Clarence 13X Smith was an NOI member who became disenchanted with the group around 1963, and formed his own organization the following year. Clarence quickly became known as “Allah” or “The Father,” and most of his early disciples were teenage boys, Allah B among them.
The group, originally known as the Five Percenters and now as the Nation of Gods and Earths, grew steadily until Allah’s murder in June 1969. It would have a rebirth in the 1980s and 90s, as many of the young children raised in the group’s beliefs would go into hip-hop and spread Five Percenter beliefs, slang, and practices far and wide.
If you’ve ever listened to Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, or the Wu-Tang Clan, said “Peace” or “word,” or stood in a b-boy stance, you owe a huge debt to the Gods and Earths, whether you realize it or not. Allah B has been there for the group’s whole history, and shares it with us in this interview.
See http://theciphershow.com/episode/151/ for full show notes and comments.

150: Fat Joe & Remy Ma Apr 11, 2016

Show notes

Fat Joe and Remy Ma are longtime friends and collaborators who have been making music together since the heyday of their crew The Terror Squad in the early 2000s. Their 2004 Grammy-nominated smash “Lean Back” was number 1 for three weeks and became one of the most popular songs of the decade.

But as any hip-hop fan knows, both of their stories go much deeper than that. Joe first came on the scene in the early 1990s as part of the powerhouse Diggin’ in the Crates crew. Joe’s first verses were on DITC member Diamond D’s classic 1992 debut Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop, and Diamond would produce most of Joe’s own debut record, Represent, the following year.

As Joe’s career developed, he started his own crew called the Terror Squad, which came to include Remy and her mentor, the late Christopher “Big Pun” Rios.

Pun’s death in 2000 took a toll on crew morale, and the group gradually split apart. By the time of Remy’s 2006 debut There’s Something About Remy: Based On A True Story, Joe and Remy had fallen out completely.

In July 2007, Remy was arrested for shooting an acquaintance outside a Manhattan nightclub. She served six and a half years behind bars, and was released in August 2014. A reconnection with Joe soon followed, and the two began working together again. Joe and Remy’s latest hit single is “All The Way Up,” and they have a duo album coming out very soon.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/150/ for full show notes and comments.

149: Cambatta Apr 04, 2016

Show notes

Cambatta was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He decamped for Florida at 18, and quickly released several successful mixtapes, The Visionary and The Visionary 2, shortly afterwards. They showed off his incredible writing skills and already top-notch wordplay.

But it wouldn’t be until 2013 that Cambatta would really come into his own. He changed his way of thinking – with some chemical help – and created the powerful and trippy Smoke & Mirrors series, a three-mixtape collection that was released between 2013 and 2015. The trilogy took on mystical themes and melded them with reflections on childhood to create a voice that didn’t sound like anything else.

Cambatta’s latest release is Smoke & Mirrors DMT: (Definitive Metagod Trilogy), a collection of some of the best songs of the series plus previously unreleased material.

As we said in the episode, to enter the contest for the Cambatta t-shirt and USB business card, write the answers to the three questions we gave you in the intro and email them to contest@theciphershow.com by noon EDT on Monday April, 11, 2016.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/149/ for full show notes and comments.

148: Idris Goodwin Mar 28, 2016

Show notes

Idris Goodwin is an award-winning playwright, poet, rapper, essayist, and spoken word artist. His plays have been put on all over the country, and he has performed on HBO, Discovery Channel, and even Sesame Street. His book of poems and essays, These Are The Breaks, was published in 2011.

Idris’ most recent project has been a series of “breakbeat plays” - works of theater that are influenced by and reflect both the content and the form of hip-hop music and culture. His latest breakbeat play The Realness is at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, Massachusetts through April 10th.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/148/ for full show notes and comments.

147: Anton Pukshansky Mar 21, 2016

Show notes

Anton Pukshansky’s name may be unfamiliar to hip-hop fans, but you definitely know his work. He was a key person at Power Play Studios in Queens, New York, and was deeply involved as an engineer, musician, and producer on classic performances by Kool G. Rap and Polo, Main Source, Eric B. and Rakim, Organized Konfusion, Akinyele, and more.

He also got a front-row seat to the development of soon-to-be iconic talents like Nas and Mobb Deep, who he worked with at the very beginning of their careers. Anton worked hand-in-hand with one of hip-hop’s greatest producers, Large Professor, and has also won Grammys for his work with Santana and Ozomatli.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/147/ for full show notes and comments.

146: Phonte Mar 14, 2016

Show notes

Phonte Coleman is best known for his work with the pioneering rap group Little Brother, who came straight out of North Carolina in the early 2000s and garnered praise from fans and artists alike by giving a new spin to classic hip-hop. Phonte was a standout, with his witty, dense rhymes - packed with sometimes obscure allusions - and his powerful singing.

With supporters like ?uestlove and Pete Rock, Little Brother gained enough attention to garner a deal with Atlantic Records for their 2005 record The Minstrel Show. While the deal itself was short-lived, the group continued to release material up until they disbanded in 2007.

While Little Brother was still extant, Phonte met the Dutch producer Nicolay, and the two began collaborating as The Foreign Exchange. That group is still going strong, with their latest album Tales From The Land Of Milk And Honey coming out just last year.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Coleman has released his own solo album, 2011’s Charity Starts At Home, and a follow-up is due later this year. Most recently, he played a key role in the VH1 movie – soon to be a series – The Breaks, a story about the hip-hop industry in 1990.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/146/ for full show notes and comments.

145: Ruste Juxx Mar 07, 2016

Show notes

Ruste Juxx is a long-time affiliate of the Boot Camp Clik, the long-running underground rap powerhouse collective. His work solo and with producers like Marco Polo, VS the Best, and Kyo Itachi has helped to keep BCC’s rough, powerful, and smart aesthetic alive and vital.

Ruste also served for years as onstage foil to one of BCC’s key members, the late Sean Price. Ruste toured with Sean all over the world, and had a bird’s eye view of his memorable - and often unpredictable - performances.

Ruste has two new projects - Meteorite, with the producer Kyo Itachi, and Def By Stereo, with the Beat Bruisers and Pawz One.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/145/ for full show notes and comments.

144: Adrian Miller Feb 29, 2016

Show notes

Adrian Miller is the manager of Anderson .Paak, the rapper/singer/musician who rose to stardom after his show-stopping appearances on Dr. Dre’s new album, Compton: A Soundtrack By Dr. Dre. But there’s a whole lot more to Adrian’s story than helping to guide Anderson from obscurity to overseas tours and late-night television appearances.

Adrian was at the epicenter of the Los Angeles rap scene throughout the 1990s. He played a key role in the rise of acts like Coolio, Freestyle Fellowship, Funkdoobiest, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, The Pharcyde, and many, many more. His time in LA reads like a who’s-who of artists, producers, executives, and even movie moguls. After helping to get the L.A. rap scene on its feet, Miller took a job at Warner Brothers as the Senior Vice President of A&R, working directly under legendary executive and manager-to-the-stars Benny Medina. We talked to him about his entire crazy journey, from getting his first real radio job in Oklahoma all the way to making deals with Dre.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/144/ for full show notes and comments.

143: The Grouch & Eligh Feb 22, 2016

Show notes

Eligh Nachowitz and Corey Scoffern, a.k.a. The Grouch, are rappers best known for their affiliation with the Living Legends crew. The group, which also included our recent guest Murs, were pioneers in the independent West Coast rap scene in the 1990s. Eligh began his career with Murs and fellow future Living Legend member Scarub in a group called Three Melancholy Gypsys while still a teenager. That crew joined with another group called Mystik Journeymen, picked up a few members including The Grouch, and formed the Living Legends. Their lo-fi albums, made initially on four-tracks, plus their self-booked international tours, set a template that independent rappers follow to this day.

Eligh and The Grouch began releasing music as a duo in in 1998, and have released a number of albums together, most recently 2014’s triple album The Tortoise and the Crow. Together, separately, and with the rest of the Living Legends, their sprawling discography is one of the finest of the era.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/143/ for full show notes and comments.

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