This week Sissòn joins us to talk about some of the influences that shaped his identity and the things that inspire him most. Hailing from Arizona and now based in Los Angeles, Sissòn is a multi-disciplinary artist whose paintings and works have graced galleries and museums worldwide over the past decade. In our conversation, he discusses the intrinsic relationship between art and music in his world, particularly with how he depicts the Black experience. He tells us about Arizona being more gangster than people are aware of, and his personal transition from a life of crime to fine art. From portraying Sociopolitical subjects to capturing the spirit of 4PF on canvas, his range knows no bounds. We talk about how lack of representation in his youth was a driving force in the development of his subject matter, and the overlooked importance of Lil Baby personifying the American dream. He explains how French composer Eric Satie along with Philip Glass provide the soundtracks to concentration, and describes Jay-Z's significance in his life and work. He also breaks down how 'fake humble' is the least genuine form of humility and a lesson he may have learned from Mk.Gee.

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Fresh off the scorching BET Awards red carpet Yash is back with special guest Suzy Exposito AKA Brujacore. Suzy is a New Jersey born, Miami raised, and LA based freelance writer and editor who has bylines Rolling Stone, LA Times, Vogue, Elle, NPR, Remezcla, Revolver and more. We get right down to business about all girls band camp, how Goth is no longer exclusive to Goths and abuelas with crazy visions. We get into Charli XCX's return to form on 'BRAT,' her PC music past, and the time it takes for popstars to bake. We also talk about Coi Leray twerking herself out of her XXL Freestyle and Lana being a Larp Goddess. Of course we get into At The Drive In's impact and the lack of a contemporary post-hardcore wave — but we remain hopeful. Spotify raised its prices again? the rich get richer, the artists don't, and Suzy explains why she switched sides. We dig in on Nourished By Time, Eyedress, Lil Yachty and James Blake plus Suzy shares her Top 5 songs of the moment including entries by Girl Ultra, Omar Apollo, Nia Archives, Angelíca Garcia, and Juggler on this holiday week episode.

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Smack in the middle of a heatwave Yash returns from a trip to New York with even more flames. We talk about a forthcoming Clipse reunion album and the prospect of a Re-up Gang come back, opting out of Kendrick's 'The Pop Out' show, 2Hollis' excellent 'boy' album, Wu Tang's long lost album that has now somehow been converted to an $1 NFT, and the the factors at play when an artist/band cancels an arena tour due to low ticket sales. We talk about major labels WMG, UMG and SONY taking legal action against artificial intelligence companies Suno and Udio for alleged copywright infringement by using licensed music as source material to train their models. As AI start ups continue to hatch their insidious plans with big funding in attempts to usurp real human creativitiy, we at Helio-Tropes are welcoming the AI revolution with open arms and pockets. Yash also lets his Top 5 songs ring off with entries from Chicken P, MCVERTT, Lucki, NXCRE & The Villains, Joanne Robertson, and Lelo.

Matthew Ritchie is a music, culture and sports writer who is also a contributor at Pitchfork and has written stories for GQ, Chicago Reader, Rolling Stone, Passion of The Weiss, and others. In this episode we try our damndest to focus on one body of work and cannonball directly into Mach-Hommy's #RICHAXXHATIAN album which Matthew reviewed for Pitchfork. We talk about how an 8.0 is the "peoples champion" score even if it's not given the Best New Music championship belt. We break down why the title track is the most streamed song on the album and how streams aren't indicative of the qualitative factors that must be considered when it comes to Mach Hommie lore. Could this album have come out on the now defunct, storied Rawkus Records label? Definitely. are we talking Grammy album? possibly. Is the bar low in the 'real hip-hop alert' space? probably. We discuss. We also break down how Mach enlists the top dogs in this lane to deliver guest verses including features from Roc Marciano, Black Thought, Your Old Droog, The God Fahim and more. We tap into the urgency and revolutionary nature of the music fueled by pointed lyrics on the current social and political turmoil in Haiti. We conclude that it's totally fine to like what hasn't aged well like the 1989 cult classic Wrestling movie No Holds Barred. And before it's too late Matt gives us his top 5 songs of the moment, which turn out to be in the name of love (for the most part) with choice cuts from Ghostface, Crime Mob, Michael Urbaniak, and more.

Vivian Medithi is resident rap corrrespondent at The FADER who has bylines at Pitchfork, NoBells, HipHopDX, Los Angeles Review of Books and more. We talk about Milwaukee rapper Myaap whose excellent song "MLK" and new project produced by Nedarb of Gothboy Click fame is a hidden gem (for now). We break down the details of Atlanta rapper Slimesito and Surf Gang honcho/producer Evil Giane's collab tape titled 'Evil Slime.' Is Lazer Dim 700 commercially viable? Does he need to be? We have the answers. The Atlanta phenomenon is taking the internet by storm and we go in on what makes him so captivating to his rapidly growing, rabid audience like self-deprecating bars, and recording songs on his phone via the Bandlab audio app. We debut a new segment called 'Drafts' and get into Vivian's Top 5 songs of the moment including heat from Tomu DJ, ZAYALLCAPS, Baby Osama and more. Listen and maybe learn.

Jayson Buford is a journalist from Harlem, NY covering culture, music, and sports who has written for publications like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Vanity Fair, Stereogum, and more. He joins us today to talk about our beloved Knicks and all things endemic to the greatest city in the world. Our expert analysis leads us to the conclusion that Donté DiVincenzo could have easily been Jackie Junior's mans in The Sopranos or sold ecstasy in real life. We discuss a story he wrote on Cap USA, a black-owned storefront that sells a plethora of hat styles including fitted hats and streetwear in the heart of Harlem — which also serves as a longstanding cultural hub despite a myriad of uncontrollable challenges negatively impacting family-owned businesses. We talk about Ghostface's new album, Chief Keef's excellent 'Almighty SO 2' album, and a buzzing Atlanta rapper with a seemingly encrypted name, 2Sdxrt3all (2S-Dirtball). Jayson also lists his New York restaurant recommendations including where he would split a chicken with anybody. He breaks down Trump's unintentional low-brow, chaotic sense of humor and graces us with his Top 5 songs at the moment, including highlights from Detroit's Baby Money and Future. Go New York Go New York Go.

Franz De Los Reyes is a music executive and Senior Vice President of Marketing at SALXCO (The Weeknd, Nav, Metro Boomin and more) who has previously held positions at three major labels including Def Jam, Epic and Warner Records. He shares how he broke into the music industry by being the squeeky wheel and building lasting relationships along with some digital savvy that major labels were farming in the blog era. He stayed down to come up and now lives in Los Angeles attempting to perfect his golf swing at the range at the Wilson Harding Golf Club in Griffith Park where I coincidentally ran into him this morning as he was taking his golf lesson before mine —straight out of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. We talk shop about the marketing campaign for Metro and Future's 'We Don't Trust You Album' (which he worked on) and how the ripple effect of the #1 single "Like That" led to a beef between two raging, aging rappers that we pray is over by now. We dissect how a good rap diss track functions differently than a great song, and how the latter may not matter if one of them becomes a hit i.e. Kendrick's "Not Like Us." We talk about comedian King Willionius' AI song "BBL Drizzy," the original sample source for Metro Boomin's viral diss-beat with the same title, and corporate America's cringey effort to get in on the action. All of the above and more on this one.

Alphonse Pierre is a music critic and journalist at Pitchfork. He joins us from home base in Canarsie, Brooklyn where an ice cream truck soundtracks our conversation about the Knicks and the 76ers round 1 playoff bloodbath. We talk about Ice Spice's timely verse on Cash Cobaine's "Fisherr" remix and how an independently released song can get ratcheted up with the help of a huge feature and some major label muscle. We talk about Tupac's estate issuing a cease and desist to Drake (when it's convenient) for the AI powered "Taylormade Freestyle," and just how much Future is too much sauce across multiple albums. He breaks down his review of rapper Xaviersobased's latest mixtape which received the coveted "Best New Music" status at Pitchfork, and why a healthy dose of outside influences on the internet coupled with real life uptown swagger make for a thrilling ride. We also get into the wild and emerging Milwaukee rap scene comprising unhinged twerk, slap, and low-end subgenres. All of which are underscored by the song of the moment, JP's "Bad Bitty," to go along with Alphonse's experience in the Wisconsin city's underbelly with several rappers including Munch Lauren and 414bigfrank. Of course we had to shake him down for his Top 5 songs right now (all of which came by way of SoundCloud links) as we proceed to bring you what you didn't know you needed on this special episode.