Sunday Oldskool

Sam and Cray play catch up after their time off. They round up hip hop news from the last few weeks: is Dee-1 being persecuted by his own label? Native American culture meets hip hop. Mac Miller as an extension of human brokenness. Are songwriters under appreciated in rap? Drake as understood by college kids.

And finally, Cray gets grumpy about a pet peeve and the k-os track “Crucify”.

Josh Niemyjski Is Putting the Hip Hop in “Christian” Hip Hop – Christ and Pop Culture

Native American Rap is the Most Authentic Rap We Have Today – Mic.com

Mac Miller Talks Religion, Relationships, And The Risk Of Relapsing In Part 2 Of CRWN – Watchloud.com

Chicago rap artist Rhymefest not upset with Kanye, despite report – Chicago Tribune

In part two, Doc breaks down the bulk of Scarface’s “Deeply Rooted” album with us, which crescendos on the interesting if incoherent track, “God.”

Doc on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doc_beats

Clock Radio Speakers: http://clockradiospeakers.com/

Scarface’s “Deeply Rooted” lyric annotations at Rap Genius: http://genius.com/Scarface-deeply-rooted-cover-art-and-tracklist-lyrics

Mary McCampbell joins the show to look back at the legacy of soul music and Stax Records, finding similar currents of black spirituality and commercial appeal that run through hip hop today.

Here’s a playlist of the songs Mary recommends our listeners check out:

Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”

Otis Redding’s “Respect”

Sam Moore & Dave Prater’s “Soul Man” (co-written by Isaach Hayes)

Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”

The Staples Singers’ “When Will We Be Paid?”

Jesse Jackson reciting “I Am Somebody” at Wattsax in 1972

We continue our examination of Kanye West’s album, The Life of Pablo, with plenty of questions to walk through. Is Kanye torn between worldly and holy living, or is he burying his old life in Christ? Is there anything edifying about processing Kanye’s misogyny? And why is Saint Kim Kardashian, a ridiculous thought?

Check out the “Terror of Monogamy” article we referenced in the show:

The Life of Pablo and the Terror of Monogamy – The Atlantic

In the first part of our deep dive on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, we stand back in awe of the beauty of “Ultralight Beam” and argue that it illuminates the rest of West’s album in a gospel-centric light.

For great insight into the album and the public evangelism of West, don’t miss Clock Radio Speakers’ episode from last week: https://soundcloud.com/clockradiospeakers/episode-216-side-b-kanye-wests-the-life-of-pablo