The Almanac of Rap

Digable Planets helped redefine the possibilities of hip-hop in the early 1990s, blending jazz, funk, political consciousness, and a distinctly cosmic sensibility into a sound that resisted easy categorization. More than three decades later, Ishmael Butler (Butterfly) and Craig Irving (Doodlebug) join Donwill backstage at Brooklyn Bowl to revisit the group's unlikely beginnings, from three artists representing Seattle, Philadelphia, and Maryland to a Grammy-winning collective that made Brooklyn its creative home. They reflect on the success of Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), the complicated cultural politics of winning a Grammy in hip-hop's early years, and how their revolutionary upbringing informed the music and visual identity of Blowout Comb.  Digable Planets break down: The origins of Digable Planets: How three MCs from different cities found one another and built their creative foundation in Brooklyn. The making of Blowout Comb: How Black Panther Party newspapers, revolutionary family histories, and live musicians shaped the group's second album. The Grammy paradox: Why winning Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was both a milestone and a complicated achievement in early-'90s hip-hop. Why rap groups are disappearing: How social media, individual branding, and changing ideas about community have transformed hip-hop's collaborative culture. Beyond the jazz rap label: Why the group resisted genre restrictions, how their music found new life through Snoop Dogg and E-40 samples, and what keeps their catalog relevant across generations. Be sure to check out Ladybug Mecca's episode on Blowout Comb, too! 🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️ Follow Donwill for fun hip-hop history, cultural commentary, and more. Substack: New Music Tuesdays Instagram/Threads: @donwill Mixcloud: Donwill Website: Donwill.me Follow:  Digable Planets   Instagram: planetsdigable    Facebook: OfficialDigablePlanets Web: Officialdigableplanets.com Created and hosted by award-winning artist and cultural commentator Donwill, The Almanac of Rap is Areya Media’s living archive of hip-hop history, told by the people who made it. Through deeply researched interviews, cultural deep dives and conversations with artists, producers, DJs and architects of the culture, the series connects hip-hop’s past to the ideas shaping its future. A two-time Webby Award winner and three-time w3 Gold Award winner, The Almanac of Rap approaches hip-hop with the curiosity of music journalism and the intimacy of conversation documenting the stories, sounds and cultural details that deserve a permanent place in the record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before Digable Planets helped redefine the sound of alternative hip-hop, Ladybug Mecca was a young artist absorbing Brazilian music, jazz, and the rhythms of her family's home. Three decades after Blowout Comb became a cornerstone of jazz-inflected hip-hop, the pioneering MC joins Donwill to discuss her latest chapter as a recipient of Harvard University's Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship. Her research traces the connections between hip-hop and Afro-Brazilian traditions, from Candomblé drumming to capoeira, challenging the idea that hip-hop simply arrived in Brazil rather than finding a culture already connected through rhythm, movement, and shared African ancestry. Ladybug Mecca reflects on her Brazilian parents, the influence of MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, and the enduring relevance of Digable Planets' Blowout Comb. She opens up about navigating hip-hop as a young woman, her friendships with Guru and Bahamadia, her collaborations with Prince Paul and Brookzill!, and why documenting Black creativity is increasingly urgent in an era of cultural erasure. Still an avid music discoverer, Mecca also shares her excitement for a new generation of women MCs and explains why her next creative chapter is as much about recovering history as making it.  Ladybug Mecca breaks down: How the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship is helping her investigate connections between Afro-Brazilian culture, hip-hop, and the Black Atlantic. Why the Blowout Comb continues to resonate across generations and how “Black Ego” has taken on new meaning amid cultural erasure. Collaborating with Prince Paul on Brookzill!, building friendships with Guru and Bahamadia, and hearing her voice sampled on Snoop Dogg's “Candy.” Why archival research, music discovery, and the rising generation of women rappers remain central to her creative life. 🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️ Follow Donwill for fun hip-hop history, cultural commentary, and more. Substack: New Music Tuesdays Archival Episodes of Almanac of Rap: Almanacofrap.com Instagram/Threads: @donwill Mixcloud: Donwill Website: Donwill.me Follow:  Ladybug Mecca   Instagram:  @ladybugmecca     Facebook: Ladybug Mecca    Created and hosted by award-winning artist and cultural commentator Donwill, The Almanac of Rap is Areya Media’s living archive of hip-hop history, told by the people who made it. Through deeply researched interviews, cultural deep dives and conversations with artists, producers, DJs and architects of the culture, the series connects hip-hop’s past to the ideas shaping its future. A two-time Webby Award winner and three-time w3 Gold Award winner, The Almanac of Rap approaches hip-hop with the curiosity of music journalism and the intimacy of conversation documenting the stories, sounds and cultural details that deserve a permanent place in the record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that the Almanac of Rap is up for 3 Signal Awards? Vote for Donwill today, click the links below and let your voice be heard 🏆🏆🏆: Type Beats feat Jake One| The Almanac of Rap in the Genre - Conversation Starter Category Official Listing Rap Snacks feat Bun B| The Almanac of Rap in the Genre - Music Category Official Listing Rap Snacks feat Bun B| The Almanac of Rap in the Video Podcast - Best Video Podcast Host Category Official Listing Now, for this week's episode: Before independent rap became a business model, Too $hort was already selling tapes hand-to-hand in Oakland. More than four decades later, Short Dog sits down with Donwill to trace the improbable longevity of a career that helped establish the Bay Area as its own hip-hop universe. He revisits hiding his earliest rhymes from his mother, producing his own records, documenting Oakland when New York and Los Angeles dominated rap's geography, and the run of albums that culminated in Gettin’ It (the record he considers the peak of his original sound) and the moment he got to work with his childhood hero, George Clinton.  Too $hort explains how relationships with The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, UGK, Eric Sermon and Lil Jon expanded his reach without disconnecting him from the Bay and how “Blow the Whistle,” released deep into an already historic career, effectively bought him another 20 years. Along the way, he talks “raunchy rap”, censorship, protecting young artists from the streets and what it means to be 60 in a genre that once wasn't expected to survive long enough to have senior citizens. For Too $hort, the answer has been sitting in the title of his earliest project all along: don't stop rapping.  Too $hort breaks down: How selling tapes independently in Oakland became the foundation for a 40-plus-year career Why Gettin’ It represents the peak of his original Bay Area sound and what working with George Clinton meant to him How Biggie, Jay-Z, UGK, Eric Sermon and Lil Jon helped open new chapters without changing who he was Why “Blow the Whistle” became the late-career anthem that gave him another 20 years What hip-hop can learn about longevity, protecting the bag and growing old without leaving the culture behind 🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️ Follow Donwill for fun hip-hop history, cultural commentary, and more. Substack: New Music Tuesdays Archival Episodes of Almanac of Rap: Almanacofrap.com Instagram/Threads: @donwill Mixcloud: Donwill Website: Donwill.me Follow: Too $hort  Instagram: tooshort    Facebook: tooshort Tik Tok:  tooshortofficial ⁠  Created and hosted by award-winning artist and cultural commentator Donwill, The Almanac of Rap is Areya Media’s living archive of hip-hop history, told by the people who made it. Through deeply researched interviews, cultural deep dives and conversations with artists, producers, DJs and architects of the culture, the series connects hip-hop’s past to the ideas shaping its future. A two-time Webby Award winner and three-time w3 Gold Award winner, The Almanac of Rap approaches hip-hop with the curiosity of music journalism and the intimacy of conversation documenting the stories, sounds and cultural details that deserve a permanent place in the record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before breaking became a global industry, and long before it became an Olympic event, Ken Swift was helping define what the dance could be. A longtime Rock Steady Crew member and one of the form’s most important second-generation B-boys, Swift joins Donwill on The Almanac of Rap to revisit the late-’70s and early-’80s New York scene where DJs, concrete floors, gymnasiums and neighborhood crews turned movement into a new language. He explains why “breakdancing” was always a media invention, how Rock Steady expanded across boroughs, and why early breaking was as much about character, rhythm and community as athleticism. Swift also looks back on the films that exported breaking to the world (from Wild Style and Beat Street to the now-iconic Flashdance sequence) and weighs what happens when an underground culture becomes a global institution. He talks candidly about breaking’s Olympic debut, why he chose to watch and judge it from home, and why the future of the form depends less on spectacle than on education, tradition and teaching young dancers how to exist inside the culture, not just battle inside it. Ken Swift breaks down: How Rock Steady Crew’s second generation came together across the Bronx and Manhattan Why “breakdancing” was never the language the culture used for itself What Beat Street, Wild Style and Flashdance got right (and wrong) about early hip-hop How he really felt about breaking becoming an Olympic sport Why education and cultural memory matter more than ever for breaking’s future 🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️ Follow Donwill for fun hip-hop history, cultural commentary, and more. Substack: New Music Tuesdays Instagram/Threads: @donwill Mixcloud: Donwill Website: Donwill.me Follow Ken Swift Instagram: @realkenswift   Website: www.breaklife.com Created and hosted by award-winning artist and cultural commentator Donwill, The Almanac of Rap is Areya Media’s living archive of hip-hop history, told by the people who made it. Through deeply researched interviews, cultural deep dives and conversations with artists, producers, DJs and architects of the culture, the series connects hip-hop’s past to the ideas shaping its future. A two-time Webby Award winner and three-time w3 Gold Award winner, The Almanac of Rap approaches hip-hop with the curiosity of music journalism and the intimacy of conversation documenting the stories, sounds and cultural details that deserve a permanent place in the record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maiya the Don spent three years figuring out what she actually wanted to say. After Hot Commodity introduced a Brooklyn rapper capable of moving between drill, pop and straight-up bars, touring with Flo Milli and building an audience that first knew her as a beauty creator, Maiya found herself confronting a harder question: what does her music sound like when she's no longer trying to prove she can do everything? On this episode of The Almanac of Rap, she talks to Donwill about creating The Fine Print Club, her book club built around reading, community and creating space for Black women; recommends everything from S.A. Cosby to DMX; and hilariously puts her literary knowledge to the test against some of urban fiction's wildest book titles.  Between books and bars, she also makes a case for independence, explains why artists shouldn't run from being content creators and delivers a warning to anyone tempted to underestimate her pen: Precious Cargo (her new album) may be personal, but Maiya the Don still came to rap.  Maiya the Don breaks down: Why Precious Cargo became the coming-of-age album she needed three years to make Turning a beauty-content following into the foundation for a rap career Why independence gives her control over both her artistry and narrative Building The Fine Print Club and creating literary community for Black women Why “TSA” is her answer to anyone questioning a woman rapper's pen 🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️ Follow Donwill for fun hip-hop history, cultural commentary, and more. Substack: New Music Tuesdays Instagram/Threads: @donwill Mixcloud: Donwill Website: Donwill.me Follow: Maiya The Don  Instagram: @maiyathedonn     Album: Precious Cargo  ⁠  Book Club: @fineprint.collective Created and hosted by two time Webby Award-winning host Donwill, The Almanac of Rap is produced by Okayplayer, a division of AREYA MEDIA Inc. Originally launched in 1999, Okayplayer is the original progressive music site and maintains its position as the premier digital destination for music and culture connoisseurs worldwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices