Culture Cypher Radio March Chart: Reflections and sounds from one year in a global pandemic

March 2021, marks one year since COVID lockdowns were first announced in the U.S. After a brief hiatus, Culture Cypher Radio came back to WXPN’s airwaves in July 2020 and since then, I’ve produced the show remotely from my home in South Philly. Part of what makes broadcast radio so great is the spontaneity and shared connection that comes from playing music live over the air and getting instant feedback, responding, and adapting on the fly; it makes the whole thing feel like a conversation.

Needless to say, producing the show at home, by myself has been a challenge. Without that live feedback and the excitement of selecting and playing songs in real time, Culture Cypher Radio is different from what it was in the past and what it will be in the future, once I’m back in the studio playing live on the air.

Oftentimes, I think about how CCR’s tone and selections would be different if the show were presented under different circumstances. This month, we feature new music from lojiii, Dec4, Rolled Gold, and The Bul Bey & Corey Bernhard as well as classic joints from Arrested Development, Digable Planets, Neneh Cherry, and more. Certainly, I’d play all of these artists if we were live, but maybe I’d mix or arrange them differently? I can’t say for certain, but I can say that these selections are perfect for the show as it is, and that way we get to continue our ongoing monthly conversation, despite the less than ideal circumstances that shape it.

1. Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – “So Incredible (Robert Glasper version)” (Loma Vista Recordings)

2. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – “War” (Phleelco Entertainment)

3. Made Kuti – “Free Your Mind” (Partisan Records)

4. Carrtoons – “Taurus” (Carrtoons)

5. Dec4 – “Growth May Leave Me Dead” (Dec4)

6. SPAZA Bass – “Find A Way” (Papercutt Music)

7. Rolled Gold – “Mysterious Ways” (Rolled Gold)

8. AMANI – “The Cravings” (AMANI)

9. The Bul Bey & Corey Bernhard – “Hiii Society Freestyle” (The Bul Bey)

10. lojiii – “under$core” (lojiii)

Playlist
Andres – “Soul Brother, Never Be Another”
Statik Selektah feat. Lil Fame, Smoke DZA & Rim Da Villain – “No More”
Statik Selektah feat. Hailie The Supreme, Marlon Craft & KOTA The Friend – “Welcome to the Game”
Breeze Brewin – “The Application”
Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger – “The Creator Has a Master Plan”
monomono – “Awareness is what you Need”
Carrtoons feat. Julia Zivic – “TUARUS”
Carrtoons – “GIMME YOUR LOVE!”
Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – “So Incredible (Robert Glasper Version)”
Cazal Organism – “Synthony”
The Roots feat. Truck North & Peedi Crakk – “Web 20 20”
Prince Paul feat. De la Soul – “More Than U Know”
Tom Misch feat. De la Soul – “It Runs Through Me”
The Bul Bey & Coreybernhard feat. Jill Ryan – “Well Rested”
The Bul Bey & Coreybernhard – “Hiii Society Freestyle”
Blu & Exile – “Music is my Everything”
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – “War”
Arrested Development – “Tennessee”
Made Kuti – “Free Your Mind”
Femi Kuti – “As We Struggle Everyday”
Westside Gunn feat. Your Old Droog – “Vivian At the Art Basel”
Neneh Cherry – “Feel It (Dobie remix)”
AMANI – “The Cravings”
AMANI – “Come Through (I Already Did)”
Rolled Gold – “Mysterious Ways”
Saun & Starr – “Look Closer”
Domo Genesis feat. Anderson Paak – “DAPPER”
SPAZA BASS – “Find A Way”
SPAZA BASS – “Fall in Love”
The Mighty Bop feat. Louise Vertigo – “Je N’ai Pas Le Choix”
Botany – “Quiet Down”
Madlib – “Theme De Crabtree”
Digable Planets – “Where I’m From (remix)”
Uzo – “2000 Elephants (Cosmic Rocker remix)”
Aphex Twin – “Windowlicker”
Icognito – “Step Into my Life”
Dec4 – “Growth May Leave Me Dead”
lojii – “under$core”
The Pharcyde – “Passing Me By (Fly As Pie mix)”
A Tribe Called Quest – “Midnight”
Sach – “Last Night”
YL & Roper Williams – “Group Therapy”
Wino Willy feat. Calamity – “Suis Generis”
Azymuth – “Manha”
Black Star (Yasiin Bey & Talib Kweli) feat. Common – “Respiration”