Q-Tip, Money Mark, and producer Mario Caldato Jr. reflect on the making of the Beastie Boys’ classic album Ill Communication. The process of making the Beastie Boys fourth album, Ill Communication, began on the tour for their third album, Check Your Head, in...
This one is exciting, my first full production: a cover of the classic Lightnin’ Hopkins tune “Baby Please Don’t Go” by Kam Franklin and Kareem Samara. You may know Kam from being the lead singer of The Suffers, or know Kareem from his work with...
Frank Ocean just released a new song, “DHL,” and I couldn’t help but think it sounded a lot like a cut off an old DJ Screw tape, so I had to make my own (Frank) Ocean of Funk mix out of it. The song is...
The story of how Leon Bridges and Bun B linked up to perform the UGK classic “One Day” at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is one I’ll probably have to save for the memoir, but to hold you over until then I put together...
SMNTCS founder Sama’an Ashrawi has launched his new storytelling series, The Nostalgia Mixtape, as a streamable podcast. The podcast’s concept is simple and almost universally relatable: the stories of memories tied to music, told by notable names. The...
Sama’an Ashrawi returns to Nardwuar the Human Serviette’s radio show on CITR for round 2, this time to discuss his new podcast, The Nostalgia Mixtape, and play some nostalgic tunes. Below is an abridged, annotated version of our conversation. Listen to the...
Beto O’Rourke, U.S. Senate Candidate from El Paso, Texas, threw a voter registration rally in Houston with Bun B and told his constituents to “keep it trill” in an interview with Sama’an Ashrawi of SMNTCS. With the help of hosts Bun B and...
Kamasi Washington sat down with SMNTCS to tape his episode of ‘When I Create’ which turned out to be an introspective and revelatory journey. Kamasi opened up about what he feels when he’s on stage, when he feels the most free, and what creation is...
When SMNTCS sat down with Kamasi Washington, we picked out two records we thought he might be into, and asked him to get existential in talking about them. For this installment, we picked Sun Ra’s Space Is The Place and Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz...
SMNTCS founder Sama’an Ashrawi guested on a live taping of Am I Allowed to Like Anything? (AIATLA) at SXSW 2018, being interviewed by host Darian Harvin. Darian has a strong moral foundation that guides her infinite curiosity, it’s what makes her such a...
