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We all love hip-hop, why else would you be listening to this podcast, but there are times when you hear something and go full Black Rob "like, Woah!" This episode is about all those moments when you've been shaken to your core by something so new or so amazing. Those moments change your life and make you see things differently. From albums, tracks, or even just a beat drop, these are the moments that stick with you forever. Sunny and Marcus pick some of their favourite wow moments and explain why it had the impact it did. The Spotify playlist for this episode is something special, and we can't wait to see what you add to the Collaborative playlist (or listen to it). Hit us up on Twitter or Instagram if you want to join the conversation. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

Nope, this isn't episode looking at the sporting prowess of athletes turned hip hop stars, this is a weird thought experiment where we try to match the personalities, styles and technical abilities into our imagined hip hop football (soccer) and cricket (like baseball but with more cream teas) XI. Sunny and Marcus go through their criteria and thoughts to come up with their own XI, and eventually agree on a combined team for both sports. We know the Venn diagram for people who like hip hop, football and cricket is largely a bunch of independent circles, but we enjoyed it. Who will be our crazy left back? Who will be the star striker? Who will open the batting? Find out in this episode. Remember we have Instagram and twitter if you want to tell us we are wrong, and we've got Spotify playlists (ours and collaborative) for you to enjoy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

In this episode, we take a closer look at one of the most underrated and important albums in hip-hop, dead prez's 2000 debut 'Let's Get Free'. Although the lead single, Hip Hop, is well known - even making it into a VW advert - but the rest of the album is embarrassingly slept-on. Sunny and Marcus pick through the tracks and explore some of the themes within what is initially a straight-forward album, and discover layers of complexity and depth. Let's Get Free is dead prez's debut album, released in 2000 by Loud Records. It is unapologetically militant, socialist and pan-Africanist in nature. It is also a complicated, sometimes contradictory album. Although it could be argued that sometimes the music lets it down, and M1 and stic.man are not the best MCs (note: they're still damn good), this album is one of the most important releases in music. Of all genres. Don't agree, or want to join the conversation, then let us know on twitter or Instagram (@hostilerecon). And check out the album in full on Spotify. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

Following on from episode 14, where we looked at Small Town Rap, we started to dig deeper into some of the reasons why there was such a paucity of rappers from outside the metropolises of the US. Sunny managed to mention all his favourite philosophers (including himself). This is a long one, but hopefully an enjoyable one. Hit us up on twitter or instagram, and remember to check out the Spotify playlist from this episode, or contribute to the collaborative Spotify playlist. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

When we think of hip-hop and rap, it is often inextricably linked to place. Most often, these places are the densely populated urban areas in America; after all, hip-hop was born in those places, and they contain all the ingredients needed to create the environment for hip-hop to report on. In this episode, we look to those small towns, the ‘other’ places were hip-hop has grown and flourished. We are still limiting ourselves to USA, but we look at a number of artists from smaller towns and analyse their music and their impact. As usual, instagram and twitter are there to continue the conversation. Listen to the music from the episode or add tracks from your favourite ‘small town’ rapper to our collaborative playlist. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

They fell off, they came back harder. This episode looks at artists whose careers took a turn and celebrates their triumphant return to form/status/notoriety. In this episode, we try to look beyond the typical examples of Nas, Common and Dr Dre, and focus on some less obvious examples. We hope you enjoy it. If you want to join in the conversation, remember that we have twitter and Instagram, we’d love to hear your feedback and comments. As always, we have our Spotify playlists too, one of the tracks in the episode (if you prefer the music without our voices over the top) and one where you can add your own comeback hits! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

Remember when you heard that one track, and immediately rushed out to get the album? (Or set about saving your pennies in order to buy it). Well this isn’t an episode about that track. No, this is about the hidden gold on those albums. First of all, you listen to the big track on repeat until you know every word, you feel every drum beat, and absorb each sample. Then you start exploring the rest of the album, and after a few listens, other tracks catch your attention. As you listen more, you are drawn in, until you realise that it soon becomes your favourite track on the album. In this episode, Sunny and Marcus explore some of those ‘second hand love’ tracks – of varying quality. Sunny’s tastes were of a slightly higher quality, maybe. Want to reach out to us and join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter or Instagram, listen to our playlist or add your own tracks to the collaborative Spotify longlist. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

In this episode we follow on to a conversation on twitter, where someone claimed Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince was the ultimate summer hip hop track. Others (Dart Adams, et al.) said Fight the Power by Public Enemy was the epitome of Summer.  We take a step back, and make some suggestions for the most apt track for each of the four seasons (in temperate climates – apologies for our lack of flexibility on this issue). So what is it that makes a track ‘summer-y’, and what on Earth is an ‘autumn’ track? We don’t have answers, but we have some suggestions. Let us know your thoughts on twitter or Instagram. As always, check out our playlists, and add your own suggestions. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

“Hello everybody. Recording Live from somewhere…” After a discussion about the Fugees’ The Score as a classic album, we started to consider what other albums released afterwards could be deemed as classics. So this is the first in a mini-series we are calling ‘the last great hip hop album’. When Mos Def and Talib Kweli first appeared on some early Rawkus releases, you could see the talent both held, but ‘Fortified Live’ and the freestyle on Soundbombing didn’t compare with what was to come 29 September, 1998, when their eponymous first (and to this date, only – c’mon Madlib) album dropped. Starting with a weirdly chilled out intro, with the sample: “We feel that we have a responsibility… to shine a light… into the darkness”, we already knew that this was the antithesis to the Bad Boy pop-rap or the Gangsta aesthetic. By the time the thesis was laid out in ‘Astronomy (8th Light)’, we were prepared for what came next… Looooooooord… Lord have mercy We then witnessed an aural, pan-African tour de force. Seamlessly blending a complex message, delivered accessibly through some of the most intricate and precise delivery you could hear. Backed up by production from Ge-ology, Shaun J. Period, Da Beatminerz, 88-Keys, J. Rawls, and Hi-Tek (who delivers six of the 13 tracks, including most of the big ones), this is an education, a call to action, and a celebration of blackness. Is Mos Def and Talib Kweli are… the last classic hip-hop album? We’d love to hear your views, so hit us up on at @HostileRecon via Twitter or Instagram, or via the comments section. As usual, here are our playlist, and your playlist. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

Dear Lord, I know I don’t pray, and I don’t really believe, but I’m invoking Pascal’s Wager and asking you to get rid of crappy skits and pointless introductions to hip hop albums, and give us something awesome straight off the bat. Amen. For far too long, artists don’t seem to have a clue about how to start their albums (a few notable artists aside who build albums like castles), so this is an episode dedicated to those who hit hard from track 1. Be it a bona fide classic (like Straight Outta Compton – NWA), to an album that begins creating the mood (like Be – Common, and to be fair, NWA did create a mood right there…). As usual, hit us up in the comments below, via Twitter (@HostileRecon) or Insta (@HostileRecon). Don’t want to hear our conversations? Then enjoy (most of) the tracks we discuss on our Spotify shortlist. And if you want to add your suggestions, then check out our collaborative longlist. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

So what does it mean to be underrated in hip-hop? Is it a lack of commercial success, widespread notoriety, or a lack of respect from your peers? In this episode we discuss some of the artists who we feel failed to get the recognition their talents probably deserved. From individuals as part of a collective, e.g. Posdnous from De La Soul or Treach from Naughty by Nature, who are somewhat hidden by the brilliance of their groups, to solo artists who never quite made it – whatever ‘making it’ is. Basically, we just wanted to talk about some of our favourite artists who never get close to making it onto various ‘greatest ever’ lists. Want to continue the conversation, we’re @hostilerecon on twitter and Instagram. And check out our playlists – disagree with our list, then add to the collaborative list. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message

Who is the best MC? Who has the best bars? Best tracks? As fans of hip-hop, these are often the questions we ask each other. And everyone has an opinion. In this episode, we consider the most consistent – a subtly different question altogether. Throughout artists’ careers there defining moments (see Common’s Resurrection) and huge drop-offs (see Common’s Universal Mind Control). Over long careers and multiple releases, we often see a fluctuation in quality, whether this is because of loss of hunger, not landing a reinvention of the artist’s style, or something else. As fans, we are invested in our favourite artists delivering the music we love. Sunny and Marcus walk through some of our thoughts about who is the most consistent artist in hip-hop, and I’m afraid we’ve got the answer. Apologies to everyone else who wants to debate this subject, it’s already been decided. If you disagree (but why would you), you can join in the discussion on twitter or instagram. As always, we’ve pulled together some playlists too. One of our choices, and another where you can add your favourite tracks. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hostilerecon/message