History. So many good anecdotes I never heard before.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gravediggaz-rza/id1520209791?i=1000479415548

Love the premise of it.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

Great listen, appreciate it...

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Artistry...

That’s my shit

www.twitter.com/seandammit

Open Mike has a great delivery as a host.

Paul is entertaining as ever and does a GREAT impression of RZA lol

I agree with Mike...that second album is definitely the one I like better.

The first one is dope but I was never a fan of the horrorcore shit so it didn’t connect with me.

The second one was perfect for the time it came out and it was interesting hearing the idea behind it and how that helped to make it what it is. Giving the production to hungry producers like 4th and True Master proved to work out well as it helped frame the album better for fans like myself and gave Poetic a better canvas to prove himself as an MC like Paul said he wanted to do.

This is now my favorite podcast. I'm almost afraid to listen to them too quickly...ha.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

Have a link for Prince Among Thieves podcast?

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Artistry...

also I hope he talks about the making of de la soul is dead and buhloone mind state at some point.

Paul talks about working with 3rd Bass, DOOM, and Paul Barman.

As usual, really fucking interesting. And hilarious.


Side note/spoiler for the ep: Um, the Popmaster (aka the Black Italiano) is real person? All these years I legit thought it was Paul doing a funny voice.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

I hope this podcast goes in seasons, and every season they spend time with ONE person doing interviews like this. Cause I really need 2 more episodes of Prince Paul talking about:

_ End Of De La
_ Handsome boy Modeling School

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

That's a top two or three album for me, so I was really into this episode.

Lots of good stuff here, as they talk about how it was a "mean" album, had a lot going on thematically (at least three different "storylines" going on), and how hard some of it was to make/record. And they still barely scratch the surface talking about it.

Also, if you peep, it seems like they recorded all of this stuff back in 2019. Which leads to believe they've recorded most if not all of the stories already and he's going to be slowly putting them out.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

definitely need to check it out. is the album its on worth listening to?

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Just-Say-No%C3%ABl/release/1020429

Can't wait for the Buhloone episode. I hope he gets into deeper detail about why he and DLS parted ways. I know they've all *sorta* discussed it over the years but I don't feel like we ever got the full story.

And I agree with whoever above said Open Mike Eagle is a great host - he's got the perfect tone and disposition for this type of podcast.

And Paul just seems like a fucking really, really great dude.

I hope this continues for a while. But then also hope Mike does this with other artists/producers for subsequent seasons. Love the format, and Mike asks great questions.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Just another co-sign on how good this podcast is. To the degree that, as fun as it is to listen to, it also feels a bit like a historical document. It could be typed up, edited, and published and be just as good as a book, and not dissimilar to those volumes of conversations between Peter Bogdanavich and Orson Welles or Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock (except hip-hop, obviously).

It makes me think about how much hip-hop history exists in the experiences of the people who lived it and how, as those individuals pass, there may be a lot of information lost if it isn't successfully archived. It's not like we don't have plenty of good books about the subject, but each book can only cover a limited scope, depending on the context. Paul is super-interesting as an individual and for the sake of his own work, which is far more stellar than his self-deprecation would have you believe, but he also offers tons of good insights and information on others he encountered along the way. And that's *so* valuable.

Others have been saying how good of a host Open Mike Eagle is, and this is true. Paul's interesting in his own right, but Mike's interest and enthusiasm for the subject - with well-placed, knowledgeable prompts - influences the appeal of the show. Dry-ass overly-amateur podcasters can kill even the most interesting of subjects.

-------

http://soundcloud.com/ajiav
http://www.last.fm/user/ajiav

Games without front ears / born without ears

>Just another co-sign on how good this podcast is. To the
>degree that, as fun as it is to listen to, it also feels a bit
>like a historical document. It could be typed up, edited, and
>published and be just as good as a book, and not dissimilar to
>those volumes of conversations between Peter Bogdanavich and
>Orson Welles or Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock (except
>hip-hop, obviously).
>
>It makes me think about how much hip-hop history exists in the
>experiences of the people who lived it and how, as those
>individuals pass, there may be a lot of information lost if it
>isn't successfully archived. It's not like we don't have
>plenty of good books about the subject, but each book can only
>cover a limited scope, depending on the context. Paul is
>super-interesting as an individual and for the sake of his own
>work, which is far more stellar than his self-deprecation
>would have you believe, but he also offers tons of good
>insights and information on others he encountered along the
>way. And that's *so* valuable.
>
>Others have been saying how good of a host Open Mike Eagle is,
>and this is true. Paul's interesting in his own right, but
>Mike's interest and enthusiasm for the subject - with
>well-placed, knowledgeable prompts - influences the appeal of
>the show. Dry-ass overly-amateur podcasters can kill even the
>most interesting of subjects.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

Well said.

Paul just basically confirmed what I already knew.
Fantastic episode.

The popularity of podcasting has grown exponentially and has reached a 2nd (or 3rd) growth in the last 5 years. You'd be hard pressed to not find multiple podcasts on any subject. In no way do I think Open Mike Eagle is reinventing the wheel with "What Had Happened Was", but to me this podcast feels like an album.

Yes, I'm aware of all the crime and documentary podcasts out there. Yes, those are a collection of episodes that tell a story. This is different. This was a curated music discussion, and the first season was built like an album. Outside of maybe The Music Snobs, I can't think of a music discussion podcast that has had a consistent theme and focus like this. I think what Open Mike Eagle has created here is an amazing debut album.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

Easily my favorite De La album and I don't say "easily" lightly. I love every one of their albums but this one has always stood out.

I hope they dive into why they broke off from Prince Paul. He was Plug 4 !

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Mike asks all the right questions, but I gotta give Prince Paul credit.
Dude seemed open and honest about how he felt during that time.
You'll want to go run Buhloone Mindstate immediately after listening.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

>Mike asks all the right questions, but I gotta give Prince
>Paul credit.
>Dude seemed open and honest about how he felt during that
>time.
>You'll want to go run Buhloone Mindstate immediately after
>listening.

I don't think I could possibly hear that album enough.

Some albums, like Illmatic for example, I've listened to so many times that I very rarely need to hear them. Buhloone isn't one of them. That album continues to blow my mind no matter how many times I hear it. The production is just - *WHEW*. And the lyrics are among DLS' best.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

if i think on it yeah it does seem more of a pos album than a balanced one.

i will need to give it a listen soon lol

i figured it was him but it was just hard to tell lol

to find out that Paul wasn't on the Midnight Marauders cover !!!

Like WTF. I would've been "fuck QTip for life" mad if I were him. Paul is a far far better man than I.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

especially with there being 3 versions with different people on them. couldnt find one spot for paul???

i wonder who the people were that paul was shocked to see instead of him.

If you had asked me if Prince Paul was on the Midnight Marauders cover, I'd have said "Of course" without even thinking of it.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

>If you had asked me if Prince Paul was on the Midnight
>Marauders cover, I'd have said "Of course" without even
>thinking of it.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

having never heard their albums or any of Open Mike Eagle's music, and I STILL enjoyed the heck out of it. OKP puts me up on dopeness yet again.

...
http://opsfromchi.bandcamp.com/

appreciate the post.

i actually listened to the 3 ft high episode first thinking it was the first one. went looking for the second episode and saw the gravediggaz one. on it now.

will there be video versions? i think i saw some clips on youtube but no full episodes.

for like $1 million for the stetsasonic records. i think it was the whole group not just prince paul getting invoiced.

not only does de la supposedly owe tommy $2 million stetsasonic owes $1 million too??

tommy boy gets the gas face

Getting into all the stuff that didn't happen was really interesting. The stories about Dew Doo Man Records and almost working with Run-DMC were really interesting. The cartoon stuff was cool (though I doubt it would still be on now). I feel like he covered the Biggie thing on the actual Prince Among Thieves episode.

All in all, a great and fascinating season. They didn't discuss a some stuff I wanted to hear about; after how much Paul talked about the Psychoanalysis album, I figured there had to be an episode about it. Plus, nothing about Itstrumental, Dyno 5, Baby Elephant, The Dix, Negroes On Ice (considering how much talked about his son, it would have made sense to talk about it), and a bunch of work with Big Daddy Kane. Still, it seems like they covered most of the meat everyone wants to hear about, so it was a capper for the conversation.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

They're kind of the De La Soul of alt. rock.

And we know OME loves TMBG.

TMBG also has a lot of varied projects and has worked with interesting people.

------------


Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

... I had a similar thought, that he could possibly take a complete left for the next season just based on what I know about his diverse musical tastes.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

i know i said i would listen pretty much no matter who but yeah lol

wouldnt be mad at him for doing it. i might just wait for the next one.

Even though there's some stuff that the didn't cover (as I mentioned above), I don't imagine there's going to be another Prince Paul-centered season of this. So, does Open Mike keep this as a one-off? Or should he try to talk to someone else? And who?

Finding someone else to do all these in-depth interviews is likely going to be hard. Prince Paul worked because 1) he's a great interview, 2) Has a sense of humor and doesn't take himself too seriously, and 3) is willing to talking about both his successes and failures in very open and honest way. He's not self-aggrandizing.

So, I think the field of producers is pretty narrow of who Open Mike could successfully pull this off with. I think Premier, if he could get him, is the best choice. He keeps it buck and likes to talk about the process. Pete Rock would be awful (he's not an interesting interview at all). RZA is always in self-promotion mode. Large Pro could give a lot of insight, but every interview I've seen with him is kind of dry. I don't think Marley Marl would talk honestly about what he did and didn't do. Maybe Q-Tip could work?

If he wanted to do a rapper instead of a producer, you run into the same pitfalls. KRS would either be great or a disaster, no in-between. Redman might be able to pull it off. I could see LL being interesting, but he might be too "big" for this.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

... for future seasons just because he's such a great personality and he and Open Mike have such tremendous chemistry.

I'd like to see Mike continue this pod as well, he's a great interviewer as a few of us were discussing above.

I wouldn't say he necessarily has to only stick to producers, tho I like some of the ideas you had i.e. Rza. But he can do MCs and/or groups as well, and probably have a similarly quality podcast. He just needs to be selective about which artists he chooses. It'll be hard to follow after PP, for the reasons outlined above and many more.

That was a super fun podcast to listen to. Hope for more.


>Even though there's some stuff that the didn't cover (as I
>mentioned above), I don't imagine there's going to be another
>Prince Paul-centered season of this. So, does Open Mike keep
>this as a one-off? Or should he try to talk to someone else?
>And who?
>
>Finding someone else to do all these in-depth interviews is
>likely going to be hard. Prince Paul worked because 1) he's a
>great interview, 2) Has a sense of humor and doesn't take
>himself too seriously, and 3) is willing to talking about both
>his successes and failures in very open and honest way. He's
>not self-aggrandizing.
>
>So, I think the field of producers is pretty narrow of who
>Open Mike could successfully pull this off with. I think
>Premier, if he could get him, is the best choice. He keeps it
>buck and likes to talk about the process. Pete Rock would be
>awful (he's not an interesting interview at all). RZA is
>always in self-promotion mode. Large Pro could give a lot of
>insight, but every interview I've seen with him is kind of
>dry. I don't think Marley Marl would talk honestly about what
>he did and didn't do. Maybe Q-Tip could work?
>
>If he wanted to do a rapper instead of a producer, you run
>into the same pitfalls. KRS would either be great or a
>disaster, no in-between. Redman might be able to pull it off.
>I could see LL being interesting, but he might be too "big"
>for this.
>
>Anyway, just some thoughts.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

get to see a full picture of those albums and delve into their catalog after. i feel like he would need to interview someone unrelated first though.

doom could be cool to get some information on his process. no idea how receptive he is to interviews though lol

to be honest, if he does another one i probably wont care who it is with. ill probably listen just based on this one.

I do think it would be nice to get De La's perspective on the final days w/Prince Paul, as well as a deep dive into all their albums, whether next season or some future season.

Yea I really hope Mike keeps this going.


>get to see a full picture of those albums and delve into
>their catalog after. i feel like he would need to interview
>someone unrelated first though.
>
>doom could be cool to get some information on his process. no
>idea how receptive he is to interviews though lol
>
>to be honest, if he does another one i probably wont care who
>it is with. ill probably listen just based on this one.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Not after we just spend x amount of episodes of Paul talking about De La.

I'd like them to spend S2 with another musician.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

agree on q-tip. thats expanding on native tongues but not as close to prince paul.

... what he's brought here, his podcast, and his book, I don't think those of us who've been around this site for a long time would get too much from having him be the next season. I think we basically know most of the stories he'd end up telling.

That's not to say he can't have more, I'm sure he does. I just have to imagine he put all the best ones in the book and such.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

He really opened up - and in a lot of his stories he was the "sucker duck" - I'm not sure Q-Tip could be that open.

Who else with a long career could be? Surely not Dre. Not Puffy. Who??


?uest might be able to - but then again there are quite a few ex member of The Roots that really don't get talked about much publicly. Paul had the advantage of not really being in a group since De La in 93.

This might be a one-time-only type of podcast where no one else could possibly fill it.

------------


Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

Prince Paul worked because 1) he's a
>great interview, 2) Has a sense of humor and doesn't take
>himself too seriously, and 3) is willing to talking about both
>his successes and failures in very open and honest way. He's
>not self-aggrandizing.

Yeah, this is a huge reason the podcast worked so well.
I also think Paul had/has such an interesting career outside of De La.
I think Q-Tip would fit in that same mold as his music has taken him a lot of different places.

But honestly, whoever they get for S2 I'm down to listen now.
Open Mike Eagle and the brand of WHHW is almost just as important as the guest.

@dseals | @digife
https://digife.com

>Even though there's some stuff that the didn't cover (as I
>mentioned above), I don't imagine there's going to be another
>Prince Paul-centered season of this. So, does Open Mike keep
>this as a one-off? Or should he try to talk to someone else?
>And who?
>
>Finding someone else to do all these in-depth interviews is
>likely going to be hard. Prince Paul worked because 1) he's a
>great interview, 2) Has a sense of humor and doesn't take
>himself too seriously, and 3) is willing to talking about both
>his successes and failures in very open and honest way. He's
>not self-aggrandizing.
>
>So, I think the field of producers is pretty narrow of who
>Open Mike could successfully pull this off with. I think
>Premier, if he could get him, is the best choice. He keeps it
>buck and likes to talk about the process. Pete Rock would be
>awful (he's not an interesting interview at all). RZA is
>always in self-promotion mode. Large Pro could give a lot of
>insight, but every interview I've seen with him is kind of
>dry. I don't think Marley Marl would talk honestly about what
>he did and didn't do. Maybe Q-Tip could work?
>
>If he wanted to do a rapper instead of a producer, you run
>into the same pitfalls. KRS would either be great or a
>disaster, no in-between. Redman might be able to pull it off.
>I could see LL being interesting, but he might be too "big"
>for this.
>
>Anyway, just some thoughts.

He'd be more likely to open up IMO. And considering the talent he's worked with they could prolly do like 50 episodes and still not cover it all lol.


>>Even though there's some stuff that the didn't cover (as I
>>mentioned above), I don't imagine there's going to be
>another
>>Prince Paul-centered season of this. So, does Open Mike keep
>>this as a one-off? Or should he try to talk to someone else?
>>And who?
>>
>>Finding someone else to do all these in-depth interviews is
>>likely going to be hard. Prince Paul worked because 1) he's
>a
>>great interview, 2) Has a sense of humor and doesn't take
>>himself too seriously, and 3) is willing to talking about
>both
>>his successes and failures in very open and honest way. He's
>>not self-aggrandizing.
>>
>>So, I think the field of producers is pretty narrow of who
>>Open Mike could successfully pull this off with. I think
>>Premier, if he could get him, is the best choice. He keeps
>it
>>buck and likes to talk about the process. Pete Rock would be
>>awful (he's not an interesting interview at all). RZA is
>>always in self-promotion mode. Large Pro could give a lot of
>>insight, but every interview I've seen with him is kind of
>>dry. I don't think Marley Marl would talk honestly about
>what
>>he did and didn't do. Maybe Q-Tip could work?
>>
>>If he wanted to do a rapper instead of a producer, you run
>>into the same pitfalls. KRS would either be great or a
>>disaster, no in-between. Redman might be able to pull it
>off.
>>I could see LL being interesting, but he might be too "big"
>>for this.
>>
>>Anyway, just some thoughts.
>

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Marley Marl comes to mind as someone who has had contact and work with a wide swath of MCs, so I feel like he'd be interesting - possibly. I haven't ever heard an interview with him, so I'm not super sure what he's like personality-wise. I doubt he's as dynamic as Paul, but on paper it seems like he should have enough stories for multiple episodes.

The Beatnuts to me have a lot of production credits to their name in addition to their own work - all over the place in terms of connections. PLUS they seems like they have a strong sense of humor and would be fun to listen to.

Madlib could surely sustain an entire season, but obviously a different era. Beyond that, I would be interested in a lot of those semi-underground dudes from the West Coast, thinking about all the Hieros, Freestyle Fellowships, etc - if one could identify a central figure from that world.

-------

http://soundcloud.com/ajiav
http://www.last.fm/user/ajiav

Games without front ears / born without ears

sure, he doesn't have the "name" of other cats, but dude has had a pretty wide-ranging career and has worked with a lot of artists.

you'd get stories from potentially all of Stones Throw's earlier artists, Madlib stuff, Dilla stuff, Now Again/reissue stuff, DOOM stuff, Freddie Gibbs stuff...

plus he seems like a forthcoming guy who wouldn't have the ego or barriers some artists would.

also: I'd be totally down for Redman, as someone else mentioned

...
http://opsfromchi.bandcamp.com/

Kind of left field, but just thinking of someone that
1) has been around forever
2) worked with a ton of people
3) not a wide catalogue of interviews
4) isn't uber popular (ex. Puff, Dr Dre)

I don't know if any of y'all have seen D. Dot interviews in the last few years, but I think he would make a great guest/topic. Great memory, funny, knowledgeable...
He could cover Bad Boy/Hitmen/Puff/Big/Kanye etc.

... stopped working w/him after "Death is Certain." To that point that was *easily* his best album and he seemingly just forgot about him altogether even after big upping him a couple times on that very album as "his" producer.

6 laced that album with some of the best beats Royce ever rhymed over IMO. Especially at that point in time, that album was a revelation.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

It's called 'Can't Knock the Shuffle,' and it takes an interesting approach that I've never seen done before in the hip hop interview space (or any interview space, actually):

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3027364&mesg_id=3027364&page=

www.twitter.com/seandammit

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Perfect. Someone with lots to talk about, but also close enough to Mike's orbit and style that (hopefully) they can have some of the chemistry that made the Prince Paul series so great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYQHRvVuGIY

----
I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

I feel like I've forgotten about a lot of El-P music from back in the day by now so, like Prince Paul, this will force me to revisit a ton of great shit from the early days.

So excited.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

just like Paul, El-P is someone whose work I'm not really that familiar with. but that didn't stop me from loving season one, so I'm all in!

...
http://opsfromchi.bandcamp.com/

but on the strength of the first season i need to at least listen to one episode. id say im definitely more of a fan of his production than his rapping.

>id say im definitely more of a fan of
>his production than his rapping.

I'd hope and expect that to be the primary focus.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Honestly, I think this is a really good choice.

Easy to forget how long he's been in the game (mid-90s) and the many roles he's had: not just rapper/producer but also his founding role at DefJux. He's worked at the edges of the genre and with folks outside of it. He's been a part of tons of critical records beyond his own solo career. He's a lot like Prince Paul, in a way.

My only worry is whether his personality will open up enough for a podcast. When I've listened to him in interviews he sometimes comes across as a bit reserved. Hopefully Mike can draw him out (if needed, I may have just seen the wrong interviews w/el-p, too).


-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

He's a lot like
>Prince Paul, in a way.
>
>My only worry is whether his personality will open up enough
>for a podcast. When I've listened to him in interviews he
>sometimes comes across as a bit reserved. Hopefully Mike can
>draw him out (if needed, I may have just seen the wrong
>interviews w/el-p, too).

Big part of why Prince Paul's season was so good was because of his big personality. He's just such a jolly, goofy dude so you got a ton of really good stories, and had fun listening to it.

Hopefully, like you said, Mike can get El-P to open up more than he typically does. I'm confident he will.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

ive heard some projects but i definitely have a lot to go through. i felt i was fairly familiar with prince pauls work before the podcast but there was so much dope new information they talked about.

it will be interesting to go into this one not knowing too much. maybe ill listen to the albums they talk about after each respective episode.

>maybe ill listen to the albums they talk about after each respective episode.

I might take this idea.

...
http://opsfromchi.bandcamp.com/

>Honestly, I think this is a really good choice.
>
>Easy to forget how long he's been in the game (mid-90s) and
>the many roles he's had: not just rapper/producer but also his
>founding role at DefJux. He's worked at the edges of the genre
>and with folks outside of it. He's been a part of tons of
>critical records beyond his own solo career. He's a lot like
>Prince Paul, in a way.
>
>My only worry is whether his personality will open up enough
>for a podcast. When I've listened to him in interviews he
>sometimes comes across as a bit reserved. Hopefully Mike can
>draw him out (if needed, I may have just seen the wrong
>interviews w/el-p, too).
>
>
>-thebigfunk
>
>~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Yeah, this was a good choice. Right depth and length of experience, plus good personality and excellent at bullshitting with folks - first episode was good, looking forward to the rest.

-------

http://soundcloud.com/ajiav
http://www.last.fm/user/ajiav

Games without front ears / born without ears

On Can Ox and the start of Def Jux was really good. I realised I hadn't heard the B-side of The F Word. Crazy!

The stuff about Run DMC's appeal is great. He does discuss his rapping, but luckily he's great at rapping and only cretins would want him to steer away from talking about that.

----
I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

On point...EL is great MC...topics, out of the typical box type rhymes, political, self deprecating at times, and more than anything, a thinker...legend...

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Artistry...