KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

Hip Hop

Jeen-Yuhs

Confucius and Fresh discuss the Kanye West documentary “Jeen-Yuhs” and talk about The Game’s comments about Kanye and Dr. Dre.

In this week’s installment of  Hip-Hop Facts, you’ll learn interesting tidbits about the Young Gunz song “Never Take Me Alive,  the Connection between 50 Cent’s album The Massacre, and The Game’s record The Documentary, who was actually in Kanye West’s hip-hop bear mascot and more.

Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that there are no hip-hop superstars outside of Kendrick, J Cole, and Drake.

And Confucius talks about the president’s State of the Union, the beef between NBA Youngboy and Lil Durk, the war in Ukraine, and more.

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

RiRi is Prego!

This week on The Breaks Confucius and Fresh discuss the importance of owning the things you create and talk through Nicki Minaj’s run-in with City Girls. They tell you Hip-Hop Facts about the beat to Camp Lo’s “Luchini AKA This Is It,” the truth behind the title of  Drake’s hit “Marvin’s Room,” how a person gets a Roc-A-Fella chain, and more. Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that if Nicki Minaj releases a record it will be the record of the year. And Confucius talks about Rihanna’s pregnancy announcement, Biden’s announcement that a U.S. operation killed the leader of ISIS, the recent freeze in Texas, and more in his Confucius Reads the News segment.

Listen to the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

 

All About Samples

This week on The Breaks:

  • Confucius and Fresh take a deep dive into samples and hip-hop. You’ll hear about the samples in  MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” Big Krit’s first two albums, Joe Budden’s “Pump it Up,” Sisqo’s “Thong Song,” Puff Daddy’s “Been Around the Word,” Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life,” Biggie Small’s “Juicy,” and more!
  • Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that Frank Ocean’s cover of the Isely Brothers of “At Your Best (You Are Love)” is better than Aaliyah’s cover of the same song.
  • In his Confucius Reads the News segment, Confucius talks about Cardi B’s recent legal win, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement announcement, the recent SWAT raid on NBA Youngboy’s house, and more!

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

Confucius Talks Depression

In this episode of  The Breaks

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show

5 Years of The Breaks

This week on The Breaks:

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

Ben Buck & BoomBaptist: “Gene Wilder”

No one can deny how taxing 2021 was, and though we can’t make any guarantees for 2022, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize some gems that made the Winter season a little less bleak. Case in point: two of Austin’s most outspoken hip-hop creators, Ben Buck (who’s had a fruitful solo career as a rapper-beatboxer-producer on top of endeavors with Aux Cutter and Big Wy’s Brass Band) and BoomBaptist (a sample-based producer who’s taken Bandcamp by storm with his Rick James and NBA Jam themed beat tapes in addition to his work as one half of The Vapor Caves).

Both masters of their craft in their own right, these equal-and-opposite personalities collided once again for last year’s The Marquee, a seven-song balance of bops, braggadocio, overall a cavalier conquest of their preferred musical styles. The Marquee is short and sweet, but still packs plenty of firepower from these two B.B.s, enough to get you out of your 2021 stumble and somersault straight into the new year just like “Gene Wilder”!

DJ Hella Yella Speaks!

This week on The Breaks:

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

J Soulja Speaks!

On this episode of The Breaks

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

Top 5 Hip-Hop Songs

This week on The Breaks:

  • Confucius and Fresh list their Top 5 Hip-Hop songs of all time.
  • the hosts discuss the TV show BMF and talk about the positive influence 50 Cent is having as a television producer at Starz.
  • In this week’s installment of Hip-Hop Facts you’ll learn interesting things about Method Man and ODB, 50 Cent and Young Buck, Kendrick Lamar, Biggie’s song “Sky’s the Limit,” and Pimp C.
  • Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion  that there is no best Hip-Hop record of 2021.
  • Confucius encourages listeners to let go of the idea that they can save the world in his Confucius Says segment.

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

rajinee: “Catcall & Response” (feat. Ol Black Stooge)

The blight of male-propagated verbal harassment is universal but is sadly, especially common in metropolitan settings such as our fair city. Songwriter rajinee knows this all-too-well, and has transformed her experiences with unsolicited comments into an absolute banger, one that also marks a significant departure from her historically acoustic material.

But that’s not to say she’s entirely ditched the six-string aesthetic, considering that she performs solo this Friday for Backyard Film Fest at Live Oak Brewing. You’ll be treated to a myriad of music videos, including the take-no-guff visual counterpart to rajinee’s latest empowering record, featuring Ol Black Stooge, “Catcall & Response“!

Mega Ran: “Live 95 (Basketball Diaries)”

Since the genre’s earliest days there’s been a fruitful relationship between hip hop music and basketball, a legacy that’s soon set to continue with Philadelphia’s Mega Ran. The rapper’s dressing out for the NBA’s 75th season with his upcoming 11th album, Live 95, a loving tribute to this unique intersectionality of sports, music, and urban life that features some of Mega Ran’s finest verbal athleticism to date.

Live 95 struts onto the court next Friday and Mega Ran celebrates with a scrimmage next Tuesday at Empire Control Room, where we’re pretty sure he’s only going to be shooting threes with no unnecessary dribbling. So score some extra hoops this hump day with the title track’s just-released music video, “Live ’95 (Basketball Diaries)”!

The Breaks Live at ACL Fest 2021

This week on the Breaks:

  • Confucius and Fresh were out at the Austin City Limits Festival for weekend 2.  You’ll hear their interviews with Austin artists Mike Melinoe and Sheila, recorded live at the ACLfest Bonus Tracks stage.
  • In this week’s installment of Hip-Hop Facts, you’ll hear about the surprising connection between Megan Thee Stallion and Q-tip, how 50 Cent passed on Freddy Gibbs,  Aaliyah’s intro to 4 page letter, how Rick James felt about MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” the story of Prince and Michael Jackson’s Bad and more.
  • Confucius and Fresh discuss OG Ron C’s assertion that DJ Screw didn’t actually chop and screw beats.
  • Fresh puts forth the Unpopular Opinion that Texas Hip-Hop deserves more appreciation than it is currently getting and should get its flowers now!
  • In his Confucius Says segment Confucius says that even though he’s been a fan of comedian Dave Chappelle he thinks the comedian needs to shut the hell up.

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

Mike Melinoe: “Vacation” (feat. JaRon Marshall)

Born in Detroit and based right here in Austin, polymath painter-producer-vocalist Mike Melinoe is a must-see for this weekend of ACL Fest. The psychedelic-minded model enjoys an enigmatic aura and incorporates the best bits of pop, rock, and R&B into his genre-inclusive hip-hop style, conquering each new venture with remarkable verbal skills and outstanding flow.

Mike Melinoe performs at Austin City Limits Music Festival a quarter past noon at the Vrbo stage and to transport you right out of that mid-work-week mindset, indulge in “Vacation” featuring co-producer JaRon Marshall!

Riders Against the Storm: “Flowers For The Living” (feat. Clarence James)

Whether you’ve attended those legendary Body Rock ATX dance parties, celebrated the official RAS Day (August 29th), or seen their name pop-up on KUTX’s playlists, chances are you’ve heard of Riders Against the Storm. Since their 2013 eponymous EP, this eclectic hip-hop duo has continued to defy any expectations of the genre by incorporating a variety of worldly sounds, most recently on this year’s feature-stacked full-length Flowers For The Living.

These three-time Studio 1A performers and previous My KUTX hosts take the Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage 1:30pm this Friday at Austin City Limits Music Festival, so in this proverbial calm before the storm, you can bloom alongside the boom on Flowers For The Living‘s title track!

Deezie Brown: “Amplifiers”

Though the bulk of his studio output has been relatively recent, Bastrop-born/Austin-based producer/vocalist Deezie Brown‘s already proven plenty of potential. Following up 2018’s Judith, Brown was a contributor on ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Lockdown and makes up one half of the R&B/hip-hop collaboration Geto Gala.

Deezie Brown’s got some new material in the works, and hopefully he pulls some of that stuff out when he performs 12:15pm on the Miller Lite Stage this Sunday at ACL Fest. Until then, you can tide yourself over with a real measure of Deezie Brown’s multifaceted power on “Amplifiers”!

Rest in Power MKW

This week on The Breaks:

  • Confucius and Fresh pay tribute to actor Michael K. Williams.
  • The hosts discuss the upcoming Verzuz between Jah Rule and Fat Joe.
  • In this week’s installment of Hip-Hop Facts you’ll learn interesting tidbits about Jay Z’s “The Blueprint,” Nas, the time the Lox almost stabbed Mike Tyson, Beanie Sigel’s album “The Truth” and more.
  • After Tidal’s recent tweet, Fresh and Confucius answer the question “Would you rather have $500,000 or a dinner with Jay Z.”
  • After finding out that an Austin artist obviously bought streams, Confucius uses his Confucius Says segment to encourage aspiring artists to fake it ’til they make it…within reason.

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

Kendrick Speaks!

In this episode of The Breaks

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

Dipset Debacle

This week on The Breaks:

You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks Saturday night show.

 

Anastasia Hera: “Ceiling”

Regardless of which city you live in, the ubiquity of home studios and social media has made the R&B market incredibly competitive. But Austin native Anastasia Hera seems to thrive off of that energy, growing bonds in her local community while excelling at her half-rapped/half-sung style, and opening for the likes of Dead Prez, GZA and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan, Boosie, and Geto Boys’ Scarface. During the mononymous portion of her career, Anastasia dropped by Studio 1A to promote her women-empowering non-profit CAKE, right around the same time she released her remarkable 2016 album of the same name.

Since then, Hera’s brought even harder-hitting performances to the table, heard most recently in May on This Is Anastasia, and EP that showcases both ferocity, tenderness, and everything in between. Last weekend Anastasia Hera got a chance to celebrate that EP release (and her birthday) at Geraldine’s, and we have a feeling she’s on a fast track to become an international superstar, thanks to her charismatic confidence on tracks like “Ceiling”!

Adee Lifshitz + SaulPaul: “Just Be”

For the past thirty-two Februarys, Folk Alliance International has hosted a conference in an effort to expand the community of folk musicians across the globe. This year however, ascribing to quarantine conditions, FAI opted for the all-virtual Folk Unlocked, a five-day event that included panels, showcases, and more. They also produced a series of collaborative music videos reflecting on the pandemic, that despite their remote nature and filming of artists in the comfort of their own homes, are still inherently international.

Today FAI added another video to the roster with the help of Israel-born/Manchester-based singer Adee Lifshitz and Austin Studio 1A/My KUTX veteran SaulPaul for a lighthearted reminder to appreciate the moment, whatever it may contain, on “Just Be”!

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