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Thirty years ago, a 300-copy vinyl order changed everything. Professor Pablo, a lifelong friend and one of the original architects behind Jedi Mind Tricks, joins the show to mark the anniversary of the Amber Probe EP. The conversation goes back to basement letterheads, pay-to-play compilations, broken samplers, and the moment a homemade release started shipping coast to coast. It’s a look at what it took to build an independent label in mid-’90s Philly with no blueprint, no backing, and nobody to call for help.

The comments section had a lot to say about last episode, so the crew responds: what was misunderstood, who clearly didn’t finish listening, and why the conversation still matters. Then it’s all Halloween, with horror picks worth your time, overhyped flops to skip, childhood trick-or-treat mischief, and costume plans for the 31st. 📬 [email protected] 📸 IG: @popthetrunk.pod 🛒 Merch: VinniePaz.com

Brooklyn’s own Goretex of Non Phixion, aka Lord Goat, joins Vinnie and the guys on this week’s episode. Vin and Gore are two road dogs who go back decades and swap stories that never made it into interviews: haunted hotel rooms in Germany, a dinner in Italy that turns into a time warp, lost luggage that defies the odds, and a backstage night in Oslo nobody should’ve survived. Then it’s back to Canarsie and Flatlands, where Gore grew up around some of the neighborhood’s darkest lore. All that and more on Episode 35 of Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz. 📬 [email protected] 📸 IG: @popthetrunk.pod 🛒 Merch: VinniePaz.com

The guys tackle whether white boys are guests in hip-hop, and the answer is more uncomfortable than yes or no. It starts at the roots: rock and roll, doo-wop, the Great Migration, and who was actually in the room when this culture was built. They talk about the kids who wore the gear and borrowed the slang, then grew out of it. They cover the ones who swapped rap for pickup-truck country, and the self-proclaimed heads whose top five doesn't include a single Black MC. Plus a birthday, a brewery wrestling show, and a long-overdue reckoning with rap's biggest culture vulture.

De La Soul gets the full Pop the Trunk treatment. With one seat empty this week (and a suspect excuse behind it), the crew heads back to Amityville to trace the group from pause tapes to one of the most defiant catalogs rap has ever produced. Along the way, a firsthand account of how they really got signed, a local's view of the Long Island they came up in, and a tribute to Dave that lands close to home.

After years of turning down Insane Clown Posse's invitations, Vinnie finally agrees to play the Gathering of the Juggalos and finds himself learning the culture's unwritten rules in real time. Billy and Brendan get the full story: trailered between Scarface's Ghetto Boys and KRS-One, watching KRS destroy the stage right before his set, bonding with Scarface over shared metalhead roots, and getting schooled on Faygo showers — where getting hit with stuff on stage is a compliment, not a threat.

Twenty years later, Vinnie looks back on the album that carried Jedi Mind Tricks' momentum further than it had ever gone — a record that pushed the group to new heights while staying true to the sound that built them. From the writing to the guest verses to the reaction it got once it hit the road, Vinnie walks through what made this one land the way it did, and why it still holds up two decades on.

Planetary — one half of OuterSpace and a longtime member of Army of the Pharaohs — becomes the first guest to make a return trip to Pop the Trunk, picking up round two of tour stories with Vinnie and the guys. Between promoter run-ins that still don't make sense, road food battles, and shows nobody saw coming, this one's for anyone who's ever wondered what actually happens between the van and the stage. Of course, with two decades of shared stages behind them, Planetary fits right into the guys' banter like he never left — Episode 30, Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz.

Vinnie and the guys revisit Legacy of Blood, JMT's fourth album, 22 years after it dropped. Vinnie walks through building the record from the ground up in Philly — the studio flood that nearly wiped out the sessions, the cover art story, and how the loop-hunting obsession shaped the sound. Billy and Brendan dig into the details with him — the almost-censored track that nearly got them dropped from the industry, how the featured verses came together, and the road stories from a 26-year-old still figuring out if anyone outside Philly and New York was listening.

Vinnie and the guys dig into the anniversary of Visions of Gandhi, tracing how the record came together. From a makeshift studio to Chung King in New York, it's a rare look at the making of a record straight from the source. The group also gets into the usual off-topic detours, so stick around for the stuff that has nothing to do with the album too.

Vinnie and the guys tackle one of hip hop's most loaded accusations: what actually makes someone an "industry plant"? They lay out the real definition, argue over where the line is between a plant and a straightforward nepo baby, and put some names under the microscope to see who holds up. The conversation swings from the self-made billionaire myth to Malcolm Gladwell to comedy's own version of the plant debate. Tune in for it all on Episode 27 of Pop the Trunk!

Comedian Joe DeRosa joins Vinnie and the guys for Episode 26, and the group digs into Joe's early days of hip hop — including who his "cheat code" was, the one that got him hooked on the culture in the first place. From there the conversation moves into Joe's early comedy days, the influences that shaped him, and how he found his own voice on stage. As always it wanders well beyond that too, hitting career stories, some unexpectedly honest reflection, and a run through the Five Spot questions to close it out. Of course, Joe joins right in on the typical banter with no topic being too ridiculous. Check out Joe’s new special, Never Promised You a Rose Garden, on Netflix.

Episode 25 gets into where Vinnie's fascination with the occult and conspiracy theories actually started, how deep it pulled him in over the years, and how it eventually found its way into his writing. It's a rare look at the research behind the references fans have picked up on for years, told from the source. From there the conversation wanders through everything from childhood habits to internet rabbit holes and heated debates that go nowhere, plus another Dear Vin reading that goes about how you'd expect.

Today’s episode is a full breakdown of how "Uncommon Valor" actually got made — twenty years after it dropped, still one of the most talked-about concept records in hip hop. The making of that song, the friendship with R.A. the Rugged Man that had to exist before it could happen, and the real history and personal stakes behind the writing. Plus the usual detours you come here for.

In Loving Memory of Kristine Barlam aka “Krissy”. Before diving into the main event, Billy has some explaining to do after coming back from a three-day meditation retreat. Then, the guys jump into Jay-Z's record-breaking Yankee Stadium residency, the surprise guests, an old beef finally squashed, and what it means for hip-hop's legacy artists getting their touring moment. Plus: Michael Bay movies, crying at Armageddon, and whether Wu-Tang can still sell out anywhere. Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz streaming on all DSPs and your favorite podcast app. @popthetrunk.pod