Remake, Remodel: Listen to Honeychile’s Philly hip-hop favorites

Becca Graham, aka Honeychile, has made eclectic and expansive contributions to the local hip-hop scene, both through her time in the nine-piece soul/jazz/funk/rap collective Hardwork Movement, and her own visionary work as a solo artist. So it makes sense that her Philly hip-hop favorites lean on artists who take the building blocks of the genre, break them down, mash them up and turn them into something new.

On the WXPN Local Show’s Hip Hop 50 special, she shares one of Hardwork’s songs that evolved out of a fluid instrumental jam with her bandmates, inspired in part by Solange’s A Seat At The Table. She chooses a cut from Moor Mother’s Jazz Codes rooted in transformative poetry as much as futuristic sound design. She shines a light on LGBTQ+ contributions to the scene with a surreal selection from Savan De Paul, and highlights her work as a teaching artist with PNB Rock’s “My City Need Something,” a song that once led to a fruitful discussion with a class of students — Philly’s next generation of beatmakers, singers, and MCs.

Listen to Honeychile’s guest DJ set in the player above, check out his playlist below, and stream an archive of the entire WXPN Local Hip Hop 50 special here.

Setlist

Hardwork Movement – “Becca’s Jam”
Moor Mother – “RAP JASM (ft. AKAI SOLO & Justmadnice)”
PNB Rock – “My City Need Something”
Savan De Paul – “Full Metal Boa (ft. Ishtar Sr.)”

Honeychile – “Fine”