Both the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival and Hot 97’s “Summer Jam” released schedules and lineups in past days. Manny Faces provided a breakdown of the artists set to perform, as well as — particularly in the case of the multi-day Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival — information regarding other events scheduled to take place.

The episode’s sponsor, aside from New York hip-hop’s #1 website and event calendar, BirthplaceMag.com, was End of the Weak, a staple of underground and independent hip-hop music and culture in New York City. Running for more than 15 years, and having branched out to multiple countries throughout the world, EODub continues to be the standard-bearer for hip-hop showcases and talent competitions. The next End of the Weak is Sunday, April 30, 2017 at Bowery Electric in NYC.

Lastly, in his “Words I MannyFest” segment, Manny called out Common and other hip-hop elder statesfolks, for missed opportunities when addressing media about the state of “consciousness” in hip-hop music. While it is easy to critique “mainstream,” and give props to the “go-to” notable artists who are bucking the mainstream trend, like Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper, to sum up hip-hop’s entire counter-culture, social justice, black empowerment and self-love to merely these two artists, does a gigantic disservice to the thousands of hip-hop-related artists and organizations that are fighting that good fight.