Can't Knock the Shuffle

SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://smarturl.it/8rjx39 As some of you may know, Can't Knock the Shuffle host/creator Sean Kantrowitz also hosts a live hip hop trivia game show called The Questions – and now that show is available in podcast format. Each week, Sean connects with hip hop's biggest fans – rappers, DJs, producers, writers, comedians, actors, and everything in between – to te

Dante Ross isn't an artist in the traditional sense, but the music industry exec/A&R/producer/engineer had a hand in dozens of classic records and is responsible for helping to cultivate the careers of some of hip hop’s biggest names. In the 90s, Dante was hired by Elektra Records as the first hip hop A&R man – not just Elektra’s first, but the record industry’s first. Dant

As a member of the Newark, New Jersey group Artifacts alongside Tame One and DJ Kaos, El Da Sensei is responsible for some bona fide 90s hip hop classics, including "C'mon with the Git Down” and "Wrong Side of da Tracks," the group’s homage to the art of graffiti. After Artifacts split up following their second album 'That’s Them' in 1997, El went on to have a prolific solo c

In this episode I’m joined by Sage Francis, a rapper who was independent before claiming indie was cool. A veteran of the underground battle scene in which he won the Scribble Jam emcee battle in 2000, Sage was early in adopting a tour-heavy business model that found him relentlessly doing shows and hitting smaller markets in the 2000s. From the jump, Sage has never been afraid t

Simply put, Tre Hardson aka Slimkid3 is a legend. Hip hop was forever changed in 1992 when his group the Pharcyde emerged onto the scene with their classic debut album 'Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde.' The group brought a decidedly animated and imaginative element to their songwriting and presence on the microphone – and Tre definitely stood out with his distinct melodic voice; you

We're back with the rest of the conversation with singer/songwriter Esthero. In this episode, we talk about her work with Kanye West on his 808s and Heartbreak album, the making of her classic debut Breath From Another, and how she decided to only release a trailer of her new music on streaming services rather than put the whole thing online – a seriously revolutionary move that

Since the release of her debut album Breath from Another - which she co-produced with producer Doc McKinney in 1997, Esthero has definitively held the title of “your favorite singer’s favorite singer,” inspiring audiences and artists alike with the seamless blending of musical styles in her music as well as her captivating, incredible voice. Her second album Wikked Lil Grrls

After first making noise on a national scale through early collaborations with Danny Brown, Quelle Chris kicked off a prolific solo career of his own, including acclaimed albums such as Innocent Country with producer Chris Keys, his 2018 album ‘Everything’s Fine’ with his wife and fellow polymath Jean Grae, production work for some of indie rap’s finest, and most recently c

Originally hailing from the Netherlands, Nicolay launched his career as we know it in the early 2000s, when he was sharing files over the Internet with Phonte Coleman from Little Brother. Their remote international collaboration resulted in the group Foreign Exchange, an ahead of its time side project that eventually brought Nicolay to the states and would lead to several albums, c

Houston rapper Fat Tony popped onto my radar in the early part of the last decade from his appearances on mixtapes by both ASAP Rocky and Das Racist, and since then he’s had a wildly prolific career, dropping albums at a steady clip and constantly tweaking his sound. His most recent album – 2020's Exotica – finds Tony embracing the role of the griot with a concise collection