The Cipher

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142: Saul Williams: MartyrLoserKing Feb 15, 2016

Show notes

Saul Williams is a man of many talents - an actor who has starred in hit movies and Broadway shows; a poet who made a huge impression on the spoken word and poetry slam scenes and has published multiple volumes; and a musician who has recorded five albums with collaborators like Trent Reznor and Rick Rubin.

It is this last talent that brought him to us for this episode. Saul has a brand-new album called MartyrLoserKing that brings together many of his career-long themes into its story. The record, along with an accompanying graphic novel and film, both in the works, tells the story of the titular character, a cyber hacker living in the East African country of Burundi. He builds a Frankenstein’s Monster-like super-computer from the parts of abandoned desktops, teaches himself how to code, and develops an online cult following. He’s in love with a transgender woman named Neptune Frost and hosts a cryptic and anarchist podcast. His eventual hacks into Google and the Pentagon turn him into Public Enemy No. 1, a kind of militant Edward Snowden. We talk to Saul about how the story came about, where it’s going, and his thoughts on recent events from David Bowie’s passing to the Paris terrorist attacks.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/142/ for full show notes and comments.

141: Quelle Chris Feb 08, 2016

Show notes

Quelle is a rapper and producer who originally hails from Detroit – though he’s also passed through St. Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, and more. He got his start with Detroit’s Wasted Youth crew, teaming up with artists like Denmark Vessey, Big Tone, and even Danny Brown, the last of whom used two of Quelle’s beats on his breakthrough album XXX.

Quelle’s music runs the gamut from banging rap beats to experimental synth pop, and his subject matter from raunchy humor to conversations with God. His most recent solo album, last year’s Innocent Country, is his most powerful and wide-ranging work yet.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/141/ for full show notes and comments.

Beans and Shawn, circa 2000 and 2015 — **140: Beans** Feb 01, 2016
Show notes

Beans is an underground rap legend, best known for his time as a member of the group Antipop Consortium. He grew up in White Plains, New York and developed a unique abstract, wordy style that made him equally suited to both rap and the thriving New York City spoken word scene of the mid-1990s. Antipop released their debut album *Tragic Epilogue* in 2000, and followed it up with several other influential and critically beloved releases, including their best known, 2002’s *Arrhythmia*.
After leaving the group, Beans kept on releasing solo records, while also continuing a career-long habit of collaboration. Over the years, he has worked with the likes of Vernon Reid, DJ Shadow, Arto Lindsay, and many more.
To see a playlist Beans made exclusively for *The Cipher* of songs that influenced him heavily when he was growing up, click here.
See http://theciphershow.com/episode/140/ for full show notes and comments.

139: Torae Jan 25, 2016

Show notes

Torae Carr has been a mainstay on the underground hip-hop scene since his debut mixtape, 2008’s Daily Conversation. Since then, he has released a number of excellent and varied projects, both solo and with collaborators like Marco Polo and Skyzoo. He also hosts his show The Tor Guide six days a week on Sirius XM satellite radio.

Torae’s superb brand-new album is called Entitled. We talk about that, but also take it way back to his earliest raps, his wild ride through the record industry, and much more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/139/ for full show notes and comments.

138: Raqiyah Mays Jan 18, 2016

Show notes

Raqiyah Mays is a journalist, radio personality, author, and activist. She has been a major voice in hip-hop on the airwaves, on the page, and behind the scenes, and has now turned her attention to fiction. Her debut novel The Man Curse was just published by Simon and Schuster Digital.

Raqiyah began her career at Vibe, working closely with then-editor in chief Danyel Smith during the magazine’s Golden Age. She then became a freelance journalist, before moving onto radio, where she worked for both of NYC’s giant hip-hop stations, Power 105 and Hot 97.

The Man Curse, released this past November, chronicles the struggles of a young woman who works at a suspiciously familiar-seeming urban magazine under a glamourous EIC, as she attempts to become the first woman in her family to find true love.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/138/ for full show notes and comments.

137: The BreakBeat Poets Jan 11, 2016

Show notes

This week, we talk to Kevin Coval and Nate Marshall. Kevin and Nate, along with Quraysh Ali Lansana, are co-editors of the new poetry anthology The Breakbeat Poets. The book is billed as being “the first poetry anthology by and for the Hip-Hop generation,” and features the work of 78 different poets, representing several different generations of hip-hop fans and practicioners. The book is a first step in creating a Breakbeat Poet movement – a way of bringing the poetics and aesthetics of hip-hop into the world of poetry.

Kevin, who longtime Cipher listeners may remember from his appearance on Episode 52, is the author of many book including Schtick, L-vis Lives: Racemusic Poems, Everyday People and Slingshots: A Hip-Hop Poetica. He is the founder of Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival, Artistic Director at Young Chicago Authors, and teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Nate is the author of NAACP Image Award-nominated book Wild Hundreds. He is a founding member of the poetry collective Dark Noise, and is also a rapper.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/137/ for full show notes and comments.

136: Paris Jan 04, 2016

Show notes

Oscar “Paris” Jackson Jr. is a rapper, songwriter, and producer who has been a militant voice for justice in the rap world since the 1980s. He came out of the Bay Area’s small but diverse and creative hip-hop scene towards the end of that decade, and made a splash with his 1990 debut album The Devil Made Me Do It, which mixed innovative musical choices with Black Panther-inspired politics and a Nation of Islam-influenced spiritual bent.

But it was his second album, 1992’s Sleeping With the Enemy, that really brought Paris to the notice of the masses. A song from that album called “Bush Killa,” about assassinating then-President George H.W. Bush, and another one about revenge killings of police officers called “Coffee, Donuts and Death,” got him attention from the Secret Service and dropped from his label.

But that didn’t stop Paris, who continues to release albums, including this fall’s Pistol Politics, and to rail against injustice in his rhymes.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/136/ for full show notes and comments.

135: Mack Wilds Dec 28, 2015

Show notes

Mack Wilds is best known for his acting work on TV shows like The Wire and 90210, and most recently his starring role in Adele’s “Hello” video. But he’s also a Grammy-nominated singer and rapper who is putting his own spin on r&b and rap. He brought his passions for acting and hip-hop together in VH1’s upcoming TV movie about the music industry in 1990, The Breaks, which airs on January 4th. Mack plays Dee Vee, an aspiring producer and DJ who finds a talented artist to work with, but may have bitten off more than he can chew in the process.

We sat down with the Staten Island native on the eve of The Breaks to talk about acting, music, his home borough, and much, much more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/135/ for full show notes and comments.

134: An Ill Badler Christmas 2015 Dec 21, 2015

Show notes

It’s that time of year! We sit down with Bill to talk about this year’s edition of his world-famous Christmas music mix Xmas Jollies 2015, which you can stream EXCLUSIVELY from us here.

We also discuss how Bill’s extensive hip-hop archives ended up at Cornell University, despite the wishes of his pal Lyor Cohen; why you’ll soon see his photos at the Smithsonian; and the story of how a noted civil rights activist was outed as an FBI spy.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/134/ for full show notes and comments.

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