Hometown Heroes: Listen to Toya Haynes of Philly Soul Now’s Philly hip-hop favorites

Philly journalist Toya Haynes grew up just across the bridge in South Jersey, but as she puts it, “We claim Philly”…so whenever she saw a Philly star rising, she paid attention. Today, Haynes runs the music and culture website Philly Soul Now, celebrating the sounds of the local scene, and this week the music aficionado joined us on WXPN Local’s Hip Hop 50 special to talk about her favorite moments in the local rap scene.

She shares her love for Three Times Dope and Tuff Crew as prime musical exports of her youth, and celebrates Freeway’s “What We Do” as an official local anthem (“if that comes on, wherever you are, people rise for it the way they rise for the National Anthem”). She also talks about more recent voices on the scene, like Chill Moody and his collaborator Beano, and throws us a wild card with an artist who isn’t discussed enough as a Philly breakout: Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC, who grew up in the Logan section of Philly.

Listen to Toya’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

Three Times Dope – “Greatest Man Alive”
Freeway – “What We Do (ft. Jay Z and Beanie Sigel)”
Chill Moody – “What’s For Breakfast (ft. Beano)”
Tuff Crew – “My Part of Town”

TLC – “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”