The album: Freestyle Fellowship: To Whom It May Concern (1991)

Brian Cross, better known to most as B+, is one of the most important photographers of the hip-hop generation to ever emerge out of the West Coast. A transplant from Ireland to California, Cross began documenting the L.A. rap community throughout the late '80s and early '90s, producing one of the great books about the region's hip-hop scene, It's Not About a Salary. He's also a founding partner of the music/events organization Mochilla. Just this year, Cross finally published his first book reflecting on his career in photography, Ghost Notes: Music of the Unplayed. For his episode with Heat Rocks, Cross took us back to 1991 and the release of To Whom It May Concern, one of the greatest West Coast hip-hop albums of all time...and one that most people never got to hear back in the day because of its limited distribution at the time. Better late than never; don't keep sleeping.

More on Freestyle Fellowship and To Whom It May Concern

• Kevin Beacham's review of the album for Fifth Element.
• Patrick Taylor's review of the album for Rap Reviews.

More on Brian "B+" Cross

• Oliver's interview with Cross from 2011.
• Max Bell's interview with Cross for Noisey in 2018.
• Mochilla's Website | Twitter | Ghost Notes website

Show Tracklisting (all songs from To Whom It May Concern unless indicated otherwise):

• ”Here I Am”
• Cypress Hill: Cypress Hill “How I could Just Kill A Man”
• AMG: Bitch Betta Have My Money “Bitch Betta Have My Money”
• ”Good Life”
• ”7th Seal”
• ”120 Seconds”
• ”Jupiter’s Journey”
• ”For No Reason”
• ”We Are The Freestyle Fellowship”
• ”Sunshine Men”
• ”Dedications”
• Ornette Coleman: This Is Our Music “Humpty Dumpty”
• ”5 o’Clock Follies”
• Gang Starr: No More Mr. Nice Guy ”Manifest”
• Jon Hendricks: Freddie Freeloader “Freddie Freeloader”
• ”Convolutions”
• ”7th Seal”
• ”Legal Alien”
• ”We Will Not Tolerate”

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428 S Hewitt St
Los Angeles, California 90013

Heat Rocks will be doing a live show as part of The Voyager Institute: a lecture series on movies and music. FREE-ADMISSION, RSVP here.

The show includes:

A live taping of Heat Rocks on the topic of Michael Jackson's HIStory, featuring special guest Justin Simien of "Dear White People.

The Search For "The Weirdest Band In The World" (presented by Andy Hermann and Rico Gagliano).

The Maysles Brothers' TV Commercials (presented by Sean Savage, Academy Film Archive)

The album: Main Source: Breaking Atoms (1991)

MC extraordinaire Pharoahe Monch was no stranger to the trio known as Main Source (Large Professor + DJs K-Cut and Sir Scratch) back in the early '90s: Monch and Large Professor came up under the tutelage of the same mentor: producer Paul C. Though C was tragically murdered in 1989, both his proteges would go onto have banner years in '91 as Large Professor saw Main Source's Breaking Atoms released to critical fanfare while Monch enjoyed the same just a couple of months later when he and Prince Po released their debut, self-titled LP as Organized Konfusion.

Monch sat down with us to talk about the experience of buying Breaking Atoms on tape from Hot Waxx in Queens and having it blow his mind on that first listen as well as what he's learned from the album in the 25+ years since. Listen to this episode live at your BBQ...

More on Main Source and Breaking Atoms

• Stephanie Smith-Strickland's interview with the group on the occasion of the LP's 25th anniversary, for HighSnobiety.
• Andrew Winistorfer's breakdown of the album's samples for VinylMePlease.
• The original 4.5 mic review of the album in The Source. 

More on Pharoahe Monch

• An interview with Monch in The Believer. 
• Monch discussing his PTSD album with Red Bull Music Academy
• Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |Bandcamp

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Breaking Atoms unless indicated otherwise):

• “Large Professor”
• Pharoahe Monch: Internal Affairs “Simon Says”
• “Vamos A Rapiar”
• “Looking At The Front Door”
• “Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball”
• Lou Donaldson: Pretty Things Pot Belly”
• “Just Hanging Out”
• The Honeydrippers: "Impeach The President"
• Sister Nancy: One, Two “Bam Bam”
• Jesse Anderson: Thomas “Mighty Mighty”
• “Peace Is Not The Word To Play”
• “He Got So Much Soul”
• Bob James: One “Nautilus”

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The album: Eugene McDaniels: Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse (1971)

When we approached Bardo Martinez of Chicano Batman, we figured he'd go with a left-field album choice and he did not disappoint. Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse was a cult LPs for years, one of the most overtly political albums of the entire '70s (least of all on Atlantic Records!) and might have been wholly forgotten if not for '90s hip-hop producers rediscovering it and using it as sample fodder. However, all groovy groove aside, Headless Heroes is also an astonishing album in regards to McDaniels' explicit politics regarding everything from the U.S. treatment of Native Americans to blue eyed minstrels to Watergate. It was supposedly blacklisted by no less than the Vice President of the U.S. (Spiro Agnew). As Chicano Batman are no strangers to merging message and music, it was the perfect LP for Bardo and us to dig into, least of all in this current political moment.

More on Eugene McDaniels and Headless Heroes

• The late McDaniels website
• Mark Anthony Neal on McDaniels' legacy
• Testimonials about Headless Heroes

More on Bardo Martinez and Chicano Batman

• Alex Piveysky's interview with Bardo
• Oliver's review of Chicano Batman's Freedom is Free
• Band Website | Twitter | Bardo's Instagram

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Headless Heroes unless indicated otherwise):

• “Jagger The Dagger”
• Chicano Batman: “Freedom is Free” Freedom Is Free
• “The Parasite”
• “Supermarket Blues”
• “Lovin Man”
• John Lennon: “Instant Karma”
• Gene McDaniels: “Tower of Strength” Tower of Strength
• Eddie Harris & Les McCann: “Compared to What” Swiss Movement
• Eugene McDaniels: “Cherrystones” Outlaw
• “Susan Jane”
• “Freedom Death Dance”
• Eddie Harris: “Freedom Jazz Dance” The In Sound
• “The Lord Is Back”

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