The Culture Cypher Radio September Chart: Celebrating a year on the radio with some DJ Shadow, De La Soul, Sun Ra Arkestra, and more
September marks the one year anniversary of Culture Cypher Radio on WXPN. The experience of putting together the show and sharing it has been exciting and inspiring. Having grown up on FM radio, I can say that there’s nothing like the feeling of knowing that my voice and the music that I’ve selected are being broadcast in cars, and homes across the city and beyond.
In my formative years, Hip Hop mix shows like DJ Ran and Colby Colb’s Radioactive on Power 99, and Bahamadia’s B-Sides, J. Michael Harrison’s Jazz and avant-garde explorations on WRTI, the indie-rock and assorted flavors of The Sarah & Laurie Show and Michael Hopkins’ electronic music show on WPRB, helped broaden my tastes and fed my curious ears. There’s a powerful sense of connection and shared experience that radio provides and its importance cannot be overstated, especially today, as we navigate the isolation that comes along with city-wide mandatory lockdowns and social distancing.
As always, I wanted the music selected for this month’s show to have a hopeful and optimistic tone. The show opens with a live version of “Poetry” by Boogie Down Productions taken from their 1991 live album Live Hardcore Worldwide. It seemed fitting to open the show with a great and exciting live recording, as a sort of tribute to all of the shows we’ve missed over the past few months. The show includes lots of new music from Botany, The Sun Ra Arkestra, Jyoti, AMANI & King Vision Ultra as well as classic cuts from Slick Rick, Dizzy Gillespie, and a mini DJ Shadow set played in celebration of the 24th anniversary of his debut, Endtroducing. So, with this month’s show, we celebrate one year of Culture Cypher Radio. Much love and appreciation to the WXPN staff for helping out with this and most importantly, shout out to everyone who has given the time and attention to listen! It means more than you’ll ever know.
Listen to the September show and check out this month’s Culture Cypher Radio Chart below.
1. DJ Shadow – “Midnight in a Perfect World” (Mo’ Wax)
2. Apollo Brown & Che Noir – “’94” (Mello Music Group)
3. Sun Ra Arkestra – “Angels & Demons at Play” (Strut)
4. Botany – “Aya” (Western Vinyl)
5. Slick Rick – “Hey Young World (demo)” (Def Jam)
6. AMANI & King Vision Ultra – “Guillotine” (PTP)
7. Nuyorican Soul – “I Am The Black Gold of The Sun” (Talkin’ Loud)
8. Liquid Liquid – “Cavern” (99 Records)
9. Fantastic Negrito feat. E-40 – “Searching for Captain Save a Hoe” (Cooking Vinyl)
10. De La Soul – “Sunshine” (Tommy Boy)
Boogie Down Productions – “Poetry”
Fermented Spirits feat. Ethel Cee and Reef The Lost Cauze – “Water Ice (Emynd remix)”
Ludacris, Nas & Doug E. Fresh – “Virgo”
Blu & Exile – “Requiem for Blue”
A Tribe Called Quest – “Excursions”
Sun Ra Arkestra – “Angels And Demons at Play”
Intergalactic Force Band – “Space Dust”
Ohio Players – “Funky Worm”
Billy Paul – “Let The Dollar Circulate”
Donald Byrd – “Wind Parade”
Lupe Fiasco & Kaelin Ellis – “LF95”
Apollo Brown & Che Noir – “94′ mmmm”
Quelle Chris & Chris Keys – “Black Twitter”
Rolled Gold feat Ai-Que & Reef The Lost Cauze – “Night Owl’s Theme”
8 p.m.
Blackalicious – “Swan Lake”
DJ Shadow – “Midnight in a Perfect World”
DJ Shadow – “The Number Song”
DJ Shadow – “Changeling: Transmission 1”
Fantastic Negrito feat. E-40 – “Searching for Captain Save a Hoe”
Botany – “Aya”
Melvin Bliss – “Synthetic Substitution”
Eugene McDaniels – “Supermarket Blues”
Dizzy Gillespie – “Matrix”
yotaro – “Floating Move”
Slick Rick – “Hey Young World (demo version)”
Q-Tip – “Gettin’ Up”
Soul Connection – “In and Out of Love”
Jyoti – “Ra’s Noise”
Jyoti – “Mama You can Bet!”
Ol Dirty Bastard – “Brooklyn Zoo (Lord Digga remix)”
9 p.m.
AMANI & King Vision Ultra – “Guillotine”
AMANI & King Vision Ultra – “Shaft in Africa”
Aceyalonen & Abstract Rude – “We Like Breakbeats”
Ground Floor – “One Two”
Davu Flint – “God Got Rhythm”
Jacob Colliber – “All I Need”
Quelle Chris & Chris Keys – “Living Happy”
Grooveman Spot – “Untitled No. 3”
Nuyorican Soul – “I Am The Black Gold of The Sun (4Hero remix)”
Sampa The Great – “Heaven”
Liquid Liquid – “Cavern”
De la Soul – “Sunshine”