Justin Staple
Helio-Tropes
Justin Staple is for the culture. A journalist, director, and documentarian, Justin’s days at VICE led him to shoot his 2020 Hulu documentary American Rapstar, where he chronicled a rebellious new wave of young rappers who used SoundCloud to build intense stan armies — from XXXTentacion to Lil Peep. We get into how this era turned internet fame into million-dollar record deals and opened the door for a whole new generation of artists. We also talk about the producer F1lthy and his huge impact on modern rap, going back to the SoundCloud days and working with everyone from Matt Ox...
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EricTheYoungGawd
Helio-Tropes
EricTheYoungGawd is a media personality and journalist with bylines in COMPLEX and a YouTube channel that you should definitely subscribe to. We get right down to business, unpacking the return of Clipse, their new deal with Roc Nation, and how Pusha T is using familiar tricks to stir up controversy. We also talk about Brooklyn rapper MIKE and Tony Seltzer’s impressive collaborative album Pinball II and the way MIKE has turned underground buzz into a fledgling rap career. We dive into Lil Wayne's epic brick Tha Carter VI; the disconnected nature of the music and the unexpected...
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Stephen Malbon of Malbon Golf
Helio-Tropes
Stephen Malbon is a golf addict who will never recover from it. The founder of Malbon Golf joins us to talk about his interest in music and art—starting from the days of co-founding FRANK 151 to building a golf brand inspired by whatever lifestyle interests cross his mind. We get into his history growing up in Virginia and the early sounds and brands that helped shape his identity. Yash explains how he was captivated by the Futura2000 collaboration with Malbon and what it meant to those in the know. Stephen shares the backstory of how a failed collaboration ended up leading to a collab with...
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Anna Zanes
Helio-Tropes
Anna Zanes is the editor in chief of Alternative Press Magazine. She joins us to talk about honoring the magazine’s legacy while driving it forward—diversifying coverage, spotlighting new voices, and pushing the envelope beyond the sausage fest of yesteryear. We also chat about Corbin's very good new album 'Crisis Kid' and some of the history Yash has with the artist formerly known as Spooky Black. We break down Deafheaven’s stellar new album Lonely People With Power—what makes it so powerful, their leap from indie to major label, and how they've stayed true to heavy music without...
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SAD PRT
Helio-Tropes
On this week’s episode our guest is the founder of SAD PRT, a platform based on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube that showcases emerging underground artists. We talk about how the platform highlights artists and storylines that often don’t appear in traditional media, and the ways in which they’ve successfully built a community of passionate followers around niche music. We get into the rise of 2Hollis and his polarizing major label debut album star, the intentions behind how albums are crafted, and how clips of crowd reactions at live shows have become a critical marketing tool in...
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Kieran Press-Reyonlds
Helio-Tropes
Kieran Press-Reynolds is a writer with a weekly column at Pitchfork called "Rabbit Holed," exploring songs and scenes at the intersection of music and digital culture. He has written for publications such as The New York Times, Business Insider, No Bells, and more. This episode of HT is a journey into the sprawling world of ASMR, as documented in one of Kieran's latest stories on the topic. Yash admits he is an ASMR truther, while Kieran expands on the many layers and complexities of the styles he has encountered in his everyday life—and those thriving beneath the surface. We also discuss...
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Andrew Matson of Finals
Helio-Tropes
Andrew Matson is the co-founder of Finals, a music blog that is rumored to be among the best. He joins us to talk about J Critch and long-time producer cohort Laron's expansive collaborative album titled Plus Ultra and the evolution of both their sound and chemistry, which has history that pre-dates college and record deals. We go deep into contemporary New York rap and how pre-drill artists have had a hard time staying relevant as rap shapeshifts in the city. We also get into Fish Narc's excellent new album Frog Song and how his GothBoiClique roots with Lil Peep don't define him but inform a...
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Will Schube of The Hobbyist
Helio-Tropes
Will Schube is The Hobbyist—a writer and music critic based in New York with bylines in GQ, FLOOD, Pitchfork, Passion of the Weiss, and many more. He joins us from Austin following the launch of his aptly titled newsletter, The Hobbyist, to talk about the best hobby we both indulge in: Golf—with a capital G. We discuss how the culture has co-opted golf in the fashion space while somehow leaving music out of the equation. We also dive into Life Is Beautiful—the new album from Larry June, The Alchemist, and 2 Chainz—and how 2 Chainz steals the show by design. We explore the...
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Steffanee Wang
Helio-Tropes
Steffanee Wang joins us today to talk about 67th GRAMMY Awards that aired earlier this month and more. She is a New York City-based professional editor, writer, and reporter who currently is an associate editor at The FADER. She previously served as the music editor at NYLON, has written for Teen Vogue, The FACE, Billboard, NPR Music, and other notable publications. We talk about the best looks at the GRAMMY's, Kanye and Bianca's shenanigans on the carpet, Rap Album of The Year nominees, Chappell Roan's controversial speech, world-building via performances, YouTube's algorithm vs Spotify's,...
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Jane Marie
Helio-Tropes
This is the first podcast of 2025 and we're calling it Monetizing Hope with Jane Marie, an award-winning podcaster, podcast producer, writer, and author of Selling The Dream: The Billion Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans. Jane joins us from her home in LA, just after the devastating wildfires had somewhat subsided. This episode was recorded a few weeks prior to its release. Jane shares stories from her formative years in Michigan where she grew up, including her experiences seeing Nirvana live at The Blind Pig, watching LL Cool J hump women uncontrollably on stage, Insane Clown Posse, and...
info_outlineMatthew 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.