Diggin' In The Digits

On our 20th Contemporary Cool we get into what could be considered the quintessential album of the Griselda era and an album that led the charge in a fusion of sounds that have since become the norm.

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Charlie:

One of New York's many voices of the streets, Cormega's jail stint and on/off professional relationship with Nas stunted his 90s but in the 00s he went independent, came out swinging and is still swinging to this day.

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Charlie:

In a new yearly series, we take a look back to 2016 and give our Top 10 albums of 2016 (in different ways) and talk about 2016 as a whole from the sounds to the releases.

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We finish our #UKBHM celebrations with Krispy 3, a Lancashire trio that actually took their work past the early 90s and became a bridge of sorts between the 1st generation of UK Hip-Hop artists and the 2nd.

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Our UKBHM series throughout the month of October continues with rapper, producer and DJ Overlord X who used his background in the latter to fully produce and rap on two studio albums with inventive sample usage and energetic Hackney-based (tinged with American) delivery.

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Charlie:

Continuing our UK Black History Month retrospectives: Outlaw Posse were yet another UK Hip-Hop outfit that went down the American accent route, albeit on very comparable early 90s production. Whilst they sounded better than other examples we've covered in previous years, it really takes away from their potential USP of sounding British on comparable-to-US Hip-Hop production!

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We kick off our 2026 edition of UK Black History Month retrospectives on an artist that recently left us. Derek "Sway" Dasafo was making waves in the UK in the early/mid 00s, winning awards before he even dropped his debut album. Staunchly independent from start to finish, Sway was deft in flow and mixed deep subject matter with humorous concepts within his works.

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Charlie:

Hip-Hop was not just built by Black people, there was also a Latin contingent that had a hand in the foundations of Hip-Hop. Enter Mellow Man Ace, Cuban-American pioneer of Latin Rap with a bilingual USP, wearing his inspirations on his sleeve and being an inspiration to many others, even the entire genre of Reggaeton.

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With a fresh aesthetic and all the support you could want, Busta Rhymes took his solo opportunity and ran with it, becoming one of the most in-demand Hip-Hop voices of the late 90s/early 00s along with a visual track record that holds up to this day. However, being in-demand as a feature meant his albums followed the trend of the day, for better or worse.

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Leaders of the New School - the group that now historically serves as the proving ground for a future Busta Rhymes solo career - was a peppy bunch of rappers with great chemistry. Surprising considering the creative differences that would eventually cut their existence short.

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A foundational member of the Native Tongues collective - releasing two of the first three albums under that collective umbrella - Jungle Brothers were sonically ahead of their time and have kept steady up until this decade.

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The duo of Dres & Mr. Lawnge nailed a balance of ATCQ's production language with De La Soul's lyrical humour with their debut album. But after creative differences, the name was carried by Dres into the 21st Century, to mixed results.

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The story of Chi-Ali is one containing a few but ultimately pivotal highlights: Brought up as a talented teenage rapper - within the most notable collectives in Hip-Hop history - dropping one album before his career was derailed by label BS. One can wonder, what if he was better treated after his one & only release, would he still end up on the America's Most Wanted List? (Twice!)

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There's certain names in music that bridge the gap between one era and the next. Greg Nice & Smooth Bee were one of those. Taking fun-natured Hip-Hop of the old and mixing it with new production practices: heavy on sampling and occasionally fusing R&B into their work.

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Before Jaz-O's legacy was watered down to "the guy who put Jay-Z on", Jaz-O had a career of his own and highlights of his own that deserved be looked at with a fresh lens.

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Topic Intro/Ben's Research House - (10:33)

It's our 15th edition of Neighbours where we talk about records that aren't technically Hip-Hop but either share elements or are influential in Hip-Hop circles. This edition, we go full British, getting into a Trip-Hop essential and a Downbeat classic. 

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Initially under the wing of KRS-ONE, the duo Channel Live made minor waves in the mid-90s but due to lack of sonic identity, their three albums all feel drastically different, even if their lyrical content contained a healthy amount of substance & social commentary.

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Topic Intro/Ben's...

We're officially halfway through 2026, so it's time for our Mid-Year report where we take stock of the year so far - from the music dropped to some of the stories that transpired - and look forward to the rest of the year! 

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Revisiting Hip-Hop Media - (8:45)
Notable Projects So Far - (31:11)
Projects We're Looking Forward To - (1:07:51)
Lighter Note...

In our Geto Boys double bill, we now get into the most notable artist in the group: Scarface. One of the least talked about legends in Hip-Hop history where Scarface acolytes can make a case for him being the GOAT. So, does the discography warrant such praise?

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Hailing from 5th Ward, Geto Boys went through a few line-ups before settling on the three we consider the full cast: Willie D, Bushwick Bill and Scarface. But a whole lot of music happened in the nearly 20 year run and a whole lot of movement between them and a supporting cast happened as well.

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What began as a Grammy Award-winning group out of the gate, Arrested Development - led by rapper/producer Speech - are still the same in their ethos even though many members have come & gone and the mainstream binned them after their sophomore album. Nearly 40 years later, they're still creating accessible Hip-Hop with positive and incisive commentary.

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Goodie Mob is one of those interesting entities that make you ask yourself: Do I like [artist] evolving their sound & style? When it comes to Goodie Mob, for Ben it's yes, for Charlie, it's no. Who's right?*

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The duo of Blu & Exile came together out of orbiting similar circles in an 00s Underground that didn't have a 1 MC, 1 Producer duo of note. They in turn created a cult classic out the gates. Now - after an eight year hiatus in the middle - they're creating what could be considered their best work.

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For our 19th edition of Contemporary Cool, we get into the third instalment of Kid Cudi's "Man On The Moon" series and the most Bomb Squad sounding album from Chuck D in decades.

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In a DITD/WG double up, I talk to DJ & author Amani Roberts off the back of his book The Quiet Storm. In this talk, we get to know his background, his roots in DJing; how the book originated from a thesis, R&B and Hip-Hop groups; African-American Media and we finish off with a Lighter Note and a Top 5! 

Don't say I don't spoil you!

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After covering Organized Konfusion last week & Pharoahe Monch the week before, we finish our OK explorations with the other half of the duo: The unsung Prince Po. 

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After exploring Pharoahe Monch last week, we now get into his pre-solo life with Prince Po as the duo Organized Konfusion. Three albums with unfaltering production, dexterous lyrics and flows that need to be heard to truly understand how good these two were as a rap duo.

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If you're like most people and only familiar with Pharoahe Monch when "Simon Says" is played, you're actually missing one of the clearest paths of evolution from a rapper in terms of subject matter and maturity as an artist.

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RZA has always been a busy man and it was no different in the 90s where he featured in supergroup Gravediggaz - birthed by at-the-time veteran of the industry Prince Paul - unleashing a Horrorcore group with an essential debut, only for the 2nd & 3rd albums to change up in subject matter and in the end only containing Poetic & Frukwan that kept the group alive.

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We finally get to Part 2 of our J. Cole retrospective. (Listen to Part 1 here) Whilst the first half of his discography speak for themselves, Cole finishes his stretch of solo albums with a litany of appearances outside of the albums that unfortunately colour his works, culminating in a discography that - whilst unmistakably Cole - is riddled with artistic potholes. 

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On April 10th, we celebrated our 7th anniversary! To celebrate - emphasising the education we've given ourselves over the years - we picked seven albums that we probably would've never spun if it weren't for the Podcast.

Happy birthday to us! And whether you've been here for this episode, the first or any in between, we appreciate you.

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Continuing our Women's History Month celebrations (We know it's April, let it ride) with a duo in BWP - Bytches With Problems - that only had one album but with the content so brash, in your face and to the point, it's sad that this isn't a work that is celebrated more.

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Continuing with our Women's History Month, an eventual casualty of a mans brief but beautiful light. Tied on the rocket that was MC Hammer, Oaktown 3.5.7 - comprised of backup singers Sweet L.D. Terrible T & Lil P - was purposefully similar sonically to Salt N Pepa. Whilst they had a couple of hits, one of them departing after their debut led to Oaktown 3.5.7 ending just as quickly as they began.

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Continuing our WHM celebrations, we take a look at 00s Underground talent Apani B. Fly. Where the mainstream was going one way, Apani & her cohorts in the Polyrhythm Addicts shunned the commodification of Hip-Hop, staying sonically in the 90s whilst producing riveting lyrics.

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The 1st woman to put out an album under Def Jam, Nikki D seemingly had one of the biggest labels of her time behind her; with an absurd 10 album deal on deck. So why was only one album released?

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With the one and only Jermaine Cole now "retired" (We don't believe in artists retiring) after the release of The Fall Off, we thought we'd contextualise Cole's career as a whole. From the mixtapes to the albums, we take it all in.

(We are aware it's March and we should be doing Women's History Month retrospectives. We'll start next week and go through to the 1st week of April!)

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We wrap up the C-N-N coverage we begun all the way back in 2020 to take a look at Capone's solo work: A smattering of authentic storytelling & run-of-the-mill gun talk wrapped in very, very 00s production.

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Topic intro/Ben's Research House - (11:43)
Pain, Time & Glory - (19:35)
Menace 2 Society - (29:26)
Revenge Is a Promise - (36:21)
Lighter Note - (46:11)

Whilst the music of C-N-N was pretty straight forward, N.O.R.E's solo work skews a little different. From mainstream 00s Hip-Hop to Reggaeton, N.O.R.E took his solo work as an opportunity to be more personal.

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Onyx were trailblazers in various ways. From their grimey style to the bald heads, Onyx had an iconic aesthetic from the outset, a classic album out the gate and bangers everywhere you look.

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Hey DITD listeners! Charlie here with another WG interview that I thought you'd enjoy. I talk to producer Kiyan Foroughi as he embarks on the release of his debut concept album "inner light. OUTER SPACE" which drops 27th February. In the meantime, here is my WG interview with him.

Thanks for listening. Below are the Social accounts for all parties involved.

Intro Music - "Baxter" By Brock Berrigan
Interlude - "Break The Beat" By Bassti
ChillHop Music

HHBTN (Twitter & IG) - @HipHopNumbers
5E (Twitter & IG) - @The5thElementUK
ChillHop...