Tea & Converse

Al-Doe & Spanish Ran have been on quite a run the last couple of years. I've been familiar with Al-Doe since I saw his Boiler Room performance in 2013. He's always rapped at a high level. Hearing him lock in with Spanish Ran for the Dona Blanca trilogy and The White Tape and Michelin Stars from the tail end of 2019 into 2020 felt different though. It felt more focused and momentous even. Al-Doe seemed reinvigorated. To confirm those thoughts, I reached out to Spanish Ran to see if I could secure interview with him and Al-Doe. After several attempts, we eventually figured out a date and time and during our sit down, it didn't take long for Doe to corroborate my feelings that he and Ran's current output wasn't the same as his past works. "I actually think it's the best shit I've ever done in my career. I feel like I'm born again type shit." So with that, I present to you the latest episode of Tea & Converse, Al-Doe & Spanish Ran. Artwork by Tony Coppin Beats by DGTL

At the time of this sit down Radamiz & CRIMEAPPLE & UFO Fev all had projects forthcoming. For Radamiz it was what went on to become Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes. For CRIMEAPPLE it was his collaborative effort with DJ Muggs titled Medallo. And for UFO it was Emigres with DJ J Hart. Here, we discuss their respective projects and take questions from some of the audience members that were in attendance to end the discussion.

When I reached to Montez Press Radio to see how I could contribute to their monthly radio programming, I wanted to use the space and platform to to talk about things and explore topics that I couldn’t with my current Tea & Converse set up or non-set up for that matter. Fresh on my mind at the time was the Latino MC. I’d just not too long before taken in a showing of Evolution Of A Sonero, a one man show in which Flaco Navaja uses his musical influences to weave together an autobiographical coming of age tale. In addition to that, around the same time I came across a cover of Industry Insider Magazine that contained a feature titled, Hip Hop’s Minority: Latino Artists Unite & Speak Out. And the cover was just a beautiful collection and show of solidarity of a great deal of the Latino MCs that were active at the time. Seeing that cover inspired me and I thought to myself that I’d like to do an updated version in podcast form. So with that, I reached out to CRIMEAPPLE & UFO Fev & Radamiz and we discussed language and ethnicity and stereotypes and expectations and appearance and business and their respective forthcoming releases among other things in front of a live studio audience for almost two hours on a day in May 2019 at Montez Press Radio. Artwork by Tony Coppin.

In April of 2019, I flew down to Atlanta for an interview with Mach-Hommy. This is the first part of that conversation. The remainder of the conversation exists as the B-side on the Wap Konn Joj! physical releases which can be found at Mach-Hommy.com. Thank you Tony Coppin for the artwork. Thank you Darron Burgos + Theravada for the audio assists.

Mach-Hommy was a man of few words the first two times I encountered him. But what I've learned since those early encounters is that he just doesn't like to waste words; he's not big on small talk. He'd also like the art and the music to speak for itself. As a result, he doesn't make many appearances, do many interviews or have a constant social media presence, so when I submitted my request for a sit down, I wasn't sure he would agree to it. But then he did. He let me know that he was going to be in town supporting the folks at KRAVAT for their product launch but we could talk afterwards. And we did. Less about music, mostly about Haiti and being Haitian, his grandfather and how that all shaped who he is today and what he's working toward. Through that came insight about the artist that he is and why HBO was rolled out and distributed the way that it was among other things. Ladies and gentlemen . . . Mach-Hommy. casadelowrey.com presents Tea & Converse Hosted by @tyrondeharlem Featuring @haitianbodyodor Recorded at Gansevoort Park Avenue, New York, NY Mixed by Paul Murray at 1st Floor Studios, New York, NY