Culture Cypher Radio | photo by DL10 | @_d1l0_
The Culture Cypher Radio October Chart: Autumn vibes from Witch Prophet, Lil Dave, Bjork, Namir Blade and more
October is here, it’s spooky season and it seems like we’ve all been inundated with a wealth of great music. I took a trip down Baltimore to get some writing done for a book, and I made it a point to spend an obscene amount of money on vinyl (s/o to the good folks at Protean Records & Books for letting me hang out after hours and raid their stock of rare joints in the backroom). In addition to the older gems that I’ve dug up like Blue Mitchell’s wonderful Jazz-Funk joint Graffiti Blues, I’ve enjoyed new Hip Hop albums from veterans like Black Thought’s Streams Of Thought Vol. 3: Cain And Abel and Arrested Development’s fantastic return to form, Don’t Fight Your Demons. There have also been some great, full-length releases from younger, up and coming artists like H31R (Ve.Loc.i.Ty) and Namir Blade (Aphelion’s Traveling Circus).
As always, Culture Cypher Radio’s October episode is packed with hip-hop, but also heavy on Jazz, Funk, and whatever else tickles my fancy. Every month, there is one song that serves as the emotional center of the episode, its brain and heartbeat, and core thesis so to speak. This month, that song is “Last Night” by Sach Illpages (former member of 90s rap duo The Nonce). Reminiscing on the perpetual “last night”, Sach paints a vivid picture of his life in Hip Hop culture. At times he bemoans performing in front of jaded, unenthusiastic crowds, and other times he exalts the joy of discovery that music can bring a young, impressionable spirit. It’s a lovely and nostalgic little song that is in a way, the spiritual descendent The Nonce’s 1995 single “Mixtapes”, an underground rap anthem in which Sach and his late partner Yusef Afloat share tales of their lives as young Hip Hop heads rocking parties and trading tapes. “Mixtapes” like “Last Night” gets at the heart of what music in general and hip-hop specifically has meant to me for my entire life. These songs are a place where imagination, curiosity, and shared cultural connection can live and grow without impediment.
1. Sach Illpages – “Last Night” (Self-Released)
2. Jay Electronica – “Real Magic” (Feat. Ronald Reagan) (Roc Nation)
3. Yameen – “Cosmosis” (feat. Amp Fiddler) (Self-Released)
4. H31R – “accountability (feat. Nappy Nina)” (PTP)
5. Blue Mitchell – “Yeah Ya Right” (Mainstream)
6. Arrested Development – “Becoming” (Vagabond Productions)
7. Black Thought – “Magnificent” (Self-Released)
8. Namir Blade – “The Mind (feat. Brian Brown)” (Self-Released)
9. Theo Parrish – “Hambone Cappuccino” (Sound Signature)
10. Visionaries – “If You Can’t Say Love” (Up Above)
7 p.m.
Black Thought – “State Prisoner”
Black Thought – “Magnificent”
Daddy Kev ft. Micah 9 – “First Things Last”
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Brooklyn Zoo (Lord Digga Remix)”
Ohio Players – “Funky Worm”
James Brown – “Escapism”
Lightning Rod – “Sport”
Mr. Complex – “Why Don’t ‘Cha”
Gorillaz ft. Leee John – “The Lost Chord”
Gorillaz ft. Skepta and Tony Allen – “How Far”
Kwest Tha Madd Ladd – “What’s The Reaction”
A Tribe Calle Quest – “Oh My God”
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth – “Check It Out”
Witch Prophet – “Ghideon”
Lil Dave – “Eye For An Eye”
DJ Shadow – “Stem / Long Stem”
8 p.m.
DJ Shadow – “Transmission 2”
Funky Four Plus One More – “That’s The Joint”
Treacherous Three – “New Rap Language”
Treacherous Three – “Feel The Heartbeat”
Sequence – “Funk You Up”
Heliocentrics – “99% Revolution”
Quakers ft. SageInfinite – “A Myth”
Sun Ra – “Rhapsody In Blue”
H31R – “Accountability”
Noname ft. theMIND – “Sunny Duet”
Madlib – “Soul Searching”
9 p.m.
Divine Styler – “Free Styler”
Sach – “Last Night”
The Nonce – “Mix Tapes”
The Nonce – “Keep It On”
Sach – “R.G.Y.”
Tom Scott and the California Dreamers – “Today”
Sampa The Great – “Freedom”
Bjork – “I Miss You (Dobie Rub Remix)”
The Jaywalkers – “The Language of Music”
Prince – “Let It Go (Sherm Stick Remix)”
Namir Blade – “Space Ghost”
Visionaries “If You Can’t Say Love”
Grover Washington Jr. – “Mister Magic”