Sage Francis and B. Dolan are both from Providence, are both rappers who have roots in spoken word, have toured and sporadically recorded together for years, and even share a label—the Sage-founded Strange Famous Records. But it has taken them until 2018 to release a full project as a duo: the Epic Beard Men.

Sage is a beloved underground rap veteran who has been releasing albums of his smart, introspective, and emotional music consistently since 2002, and touring the universe maniacally to support them—all while running Strange Famous. B. Dolan is an equally talented wordsmith whose solo work is as likely to give new life to old union hymn as it is to pay tribute to the Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The group has a new EP, Season 1, and an album on the way.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/234/ for full show notes and comments.

The Arsonists were a crew formed in Bushwick in the early 1990s. D-Stroy, who began his rap career in his early teens alongside famed DJ Tony Touch in the duo Touch and D-Stroy, helped to solidify a group that would come to consist of, among others, Freestyle, Jise One, Swel Boogie, and Q-Unique. After putting out several early singles, the group was the first hip-hop act to sign to Matador Records, a label better known for indie rock. They released their debut album As the World Burns in 1999.

An intense touring schedule and its attendant stresses put pressure on the crew, and it splintered after the 2001 follow-up Date of Birth. But the Arsonists are back with a new album, Lost in the Fire, and a reissued version of their debut. Lost in the Fire features a mix of old but previously unreleased material alongside new songs.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/235/ for full show notes and comments.

Jean Grae was our show’s first-ever guest back in 2012. She is one of the finest rappers out there, and a great producer as well. But in recent years, she’s expanded her horizons even further, pushing into comedy, sitcoms, instructional albums, audiobooks, talk shows, variety shows, and even her own church.

Quelle Chris joined us in 2016. Since then, he’s released the acclaimed album Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often and the instrumental project Lullabies for the Broken Brain.

Now Jean and Quelle have joined forces for the incredible new album Everything’s Fine. The project has been met with critical raves from pretty much everywhere, and rightly so. It shows Jean and Quelle in absolute top form: rapping, singing, producing, and playing on a group of songs that respond to today’s often-frightening world with humor, sadness, and a reminder that when we tell people that everything’s fine, we almost never mean it.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/236/ for full show notes and comments.

MC Paul Barman first started making songs in the late 1990s, during his time at Brown University. His wild rhymes about topics like a slacker college student who becomes half man, half goat in order to become a star quickly caught the ear of legendary producer Prince Paul, who produced Barman’s 2000 EP It’s Very Stimulating. That project introduced Paul Barman to the hip-hop masses as a guy as likely to drop a reference to a Polish filmmaker as LL Cool J, and to write lyrics that incorporate elaborate rhyme schemes, acrostics, and even Morse code.

Since It’s Very Stimulating, Barman has released two full-length albums and several mixtapes. His brand-new album (((echo chamber))) is out Friday, May 18th on Mello Music Group.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/238/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, we talk to a man who needs no introduction, Big Daddy Kane. Kane tells us about his legacy, dissing Erick Sermon, who really produced his first album, and tons more. This is a Cipher-ized, improved version of an episode that originally ran in 2013.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/239/ for full show notes and comments.

Kalyn is a rapper and the leader of the eclectic Denver-based group Wheelchair Sports Camp, who have garnered critical acclaim for their music and their energetic live performances almost since their founding in 2009.

Wheelchair Sports Camp - named after a real camp that Kalyn, who has brittle bone disease and has been in a wheelchair her whole life - used to attend, is a group that pushes the boundaries in sound and subject matter. Most performances consist of Kalyn, drums, and trumpet, and their latest album No Big Deal explores everything from gentrification to the pressure artists put on themselves to important social issues.

In addition to being a great rapper, Kalyn is also an activist, and now a politician. She participated in a big protest against the repeal of the ACA that had her and other activists taking over a senator’s office. And now she’s running - or rather, as she puts it, rolling - for Mayor of Denver.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/240/ for full show notes and comments.

Soundset is a festival in the Minneapolis area put on by the Rhymesayers label. It’s been running since 2008, and has grown from a show in a warehouse to a day-long outdoor event featuring some of music’s biggest acts.

This past May, we went to the festival to hang out and talk to the performers, and on this episode and the next one, you’ll hear the results. This time, you’ll find conversations with Rapsody, Grieves, K-Salaam, Sa-Roc, and Prof. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the first half of The Cipher’s Soundset special.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/241/ for full show notes and comments.

Soundset is a festival in the Minneapolis area put on by the Rhymesayers label. It’s been running since 2008, and has grown from a show in a warehouse to a day-long outdoor event featuring some of music’s biggest acts.

This past May, we went to the festival to hang out and talk to the performers, and and this is the second of two episodes where you can hear the results. This time, you’ll find conversations with Murs, Nikki Jean, OG Grip, and Evidence. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conclusion of The Cipher’s Soundset special.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/242/ for full show notes and comments.

Joan is a writer who got her start in the 1990s, helping to create what came to be known as “hip-hop journalism” with her articles at places like Vibe and the Village Voice. Whether she was writing about the Mike Tyson trial, profiling TLC, or investigating the sex trade in Jamaica, Joan brought her keen, Bronx-raised sensibility to everything she touched.

Joan pioneered hip-hop feminism—and came up with the phrase “black girl magic,” to boot—in her classic 1999 book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down. And now she has a brand new book, a reflection on Ms. Lauryn Hill’s classic debut album. It’s called She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/243/ for full show notes and comments.

Glen “Daddy-O” Bolton is a rapper, producer, executive, and all-around hip-hop Renaissance man. He formed the ground breaking Stetsasonic in 1981, and the group went on to release several classic albums and become the first great hip-hop band.

As a producer and remixer, he worked with everyone from Audio Two to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to They Might Be Giants. He was an executive at MCA and Motown, and continues to consult with a number of companies. And he’s still releasing music to this day. Daddy-O’s latest album, released this past May, is No Tablecloths.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/244/ for full show notes and comments.

Nick, as you undoubtedly already know, is a musician, actor, comedian, TV executive, and all-around entertainer. He got his start doing stand-up comedy while still a teenager. He parlayed that into work at Nickelodeon, where he wrote for and starred in now-classic shows like All That, Kenan & Kel, and the appropriately-named Nick Cannon Show. He moved from that into starring in movies like Drumline and Love Don’t Cost a Thing, putting out several stand up specials, and even hosting America’s Got Talent.

But, as you’ll hear, Nick has always thought of himself as a musician first. He has released numerous albums and mixtapes, written and produced for other artists, and has worked with everyone from Biz Markie to Gucci Mane to the Neptunes to Kanye West. And, of course, he combined his loves of hip-hop and improv comedy into the long running hit TV show Wild ‘N Out. Nick’s latest musical project, released earlier this year, is Calling All Models: The Mixtape.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/245/ for full show notes and comments.

K-Salaam is a producer and DJ who, both by himself and with his production partner Beatnick, has made beats for some of your favorite artists. A short, by no means complete list includes Nas, Freddie Gibbs, Talib Kweli, Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, Murs, Bun B, Sizzla, and Young Buck.

K-Salaam got his start in Minneapolis, where he was an integral part of the early years of the Rhymesayers label. He DJ’d for many of the label’s acts, as well as for their signature radio show. In recent years, he and Beatnick also worked extensively with Ms. Lauryn Hill, and even had one of their tracks featured in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/246/ for full show notes and comments.

Jericho Jackson is a group made up of producer Khrysis and rapper Elzhi. Khrysis is best known for his work with the rap collective the Justus League, which counts among its members 9th Wonder. He is currently a member of 9th’s production team the Soul Council. In addition to his North Carolina crew, Khrysis has produced for Sean Price and Heltah Skeltah, Jean Grae, Evidence, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, and many others.

Dedicated Cipher listeners will remember Elzhi from our talk with him on episode 152. The Detroit rapper came to a lot of fans’ attention during his time as a member of Slum Village. He followed that up with a staggering series of solo albums, including the Nas reinvention Elmatic and the deeply personal Lead Poison.

Khrysis and Elzhi’s recent joint album is called Khrysis and Elzhi Are Jericho Jackson.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/247/ for full show notes and comments.

Mid90s, which opened this past Friday, October 19th, is a film Hill wrote and directed about a group of skateboarding friends in—you guessed it—the mid-1990s. The incredibly authentic period piece features plenty of nods to the skateboarding scene and the music of the time period, including songs from the Pharcyde and the Gravediggaz, and a memorable cameo appearance by Del the Funkee Homosapien.

This is Jonah’s first film as a writer/director. He has, of course, starred in tons of films, from Superbad to Moneyball to The Wolf of Wall Street. For this interview, Hill was joined by Sunny Suljic, who plays Stevie; Na-kel Smith, who plays Ray; Olan Prenatt, who plays Fuckshit; Gio Galicia, who plays Ruben; Ryder McLaughlin, who plays Fourth Grade; and Alexa Demie, who plays Estee. To rap fans, Na-Kel Smith’s name and voice may sound familiar—he has a music career of his own, and has appeared on songs with Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/248/ for full show notes and comments.

Masta Ace is a legendary rhymer whose career began with the Juice Crew and has continued through a series of beloved solo and group albums. Marco Polo is a Toronto-born producer who moved to New York City in the early 2000s, and took his adopted hometown’s traditional boom-bap aesthetic to heart. Marco has brought his rugged sound to Torae, Pharoahe Monch, Ruste Juxx, Sean Price, Vinnie Paz, Rah Digga, and many more.

Now, Marco and Ace have joined up for a new album. A Breukelen Story combines a set of incredible songs with a series of skits that follow Marco’s journey from Toronto to NYC—an Ace-written storyline that both mirrors and features people from the producer’s real life.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/250/ for full show notes and comments.

Every Christmas since 2013, we’ve sat down with Bill—who is the former head of PR at Def Jam, among numerous other accomplishments—to talk about his world-famous Xmas Jollies mix. Bill spends the whole year scouring record stores, flea markets, the internet, and everywhere in between to find the perfect batch of great holiday music, and then shares it with his select mailing list, and with us. Now, we talk to him about some of this year’s selections.

You can hear Bill’s mix in its entirety at our Soundcloud page.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/251/ for full show notes and comments.

As many of you know, The Cipher is going on an indefinite hiatus following this episode. For more information about why, visit us on Twitter or Facebook, or just listen to this episode. But in short, we have no plans to make any more new episodes after this one. Our archives, however, will still be available and free on our website, on iTunes and other podcast apps, and on SoundCloud.

For this goodbye episode, we called up our friend and episode 201 guest Jay Smooth to interview The Cipher’s host Shawn Setaro and its producer Josh Kross. Jay, as you’ll hear, did an amazing job, and got us to touch on so many aspects of the show’s history, and of ways we thought about it over the years.

So here’s the end of the road, for now. Thanks for listening.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/252/ for full show notes and comments.

What better way to celebrate the potential arrival of warmer months than with a Halfmoon Walking & Writing Workshop over Cannock Chase.

The University of Birmingham is set to host its first Arts & Science Festival to showcase the wealth of ideas, research and collaboration across its campus.

“Maximising your Return on Investment from a Good Idea”

With the age of literary correspondence dying, it seems more important than ever to provide spaces of warmth and comfort in which writers can not only retreat

Leaders from some of Europe’s largest companies will be gathering in Birmingham to discuss the role that open innovation and collaboration can play in boosting the economy

Madin walking tour led by Alan Clawley Starting at Five Ways Station, 10.30 am, 22nd June 2013

Financial advisers from across the West Midlands attended a course on auto enrolment yesterday – the new regime for workplace pensions that has begun to roll out.

How Welsh National Opera is helping city music students

The Midlands based rail champion, Campaign for Rail will be holding its inaugural Annual General Meeting tomorrow at the Atrium, Moor Street Station

Birmingham conference aims to improve arts access for disabled youngsters.

Birmingham-based Cure Leukaemia has announced record financial results that will see the charity double the amount of funding for research nurses in the West Midlands.

Local ambulance chiefs are reminding bikers not to turn a minor mishap into something more serious.

A Birmingham based medical charity is giving you the opportunity to double your donation and help save lives around the world

A charity concert has raised £700 for the Edgbaston-based charity Ammalife.

Donors needed at Birmingham Donor Centre due to low stocks.

Richard Lutz remembers Mike Wakelam, a major force in medical research who died suddenly of a suspected Covid-19 infection.

"Help us to help you get the treatment you need across Birmingham and Solihull."

Joey and Lee talk about everything from cats, sports and music. Joey's childhood friend Loubs calls in. Originally aired 9/3/12. 

Joey and Lee chat about music, comedy, tv and life. Mr. T, one of Joeys teachers calls in.

Originally aired 09/05/2012.

Joey and Lee get ready for the first week of the NFL season, and more important betting season. Joey tells us about something great he saw at the ATM drive thru. And childhood friend Greg calls in. 

Streamed 09/09/2012

Joey and Lee talk about the anniversary of 9/11, techniques for losing weight and Joey tells a story about when he hid in a dumpster all day.

Joey's ex - girl friend Devan calls in. They talk about their crazy days in Seattle.

Recorded live 09/10/2012

Joey and Lee talk about his betting days, his days as a thief, and Joey gives dating advice to Albert, a 50 man from Boston.

Tim, the driver in the Jewlery store heist calls in to talk about the upcomming anniversary. 

Live Streamed on 09/10/2012.

Joey and Lee talk about Joey's trip to the mid west, people standing on line, stinky people on planes and much much more. 

Get it together!

Recorded 09/17/2012

Joey and Lee talk music, the best comedy movies, and about the character of the people in this country. Joey's childhood friend Martin calls in for one of the best conversations so far. 

Live streamed on 09/19/2012

Joey and Lee talk about UFC 152, the NFL games, and more childhood stories. Joey's friend, who also happens to be named Joey, calls in to talk about growing up in North Bergen and Joey Diaz' best friend and the other Joey's cousin,  Darren. You won't want to miss this conversation.

Recorded live on 09/23/2012

Joey and Lee talk about living life to the fullest, what it was like robbing gas stations, and why he cant go back to Seattle. Joey's friend since summer school, George, calls in.

Streamed Live on 09/24/2012

Joey and Lee talk with his friend Mike who was with Joey in Colorado durring the cocaine "explosion." Listen to find out what kind of animal tranquilizer Joey used to take to relax. 

Streamed live on 09/26/2012

Joey and Lee talk about his time in Baltimore, how lucky he is to have his group of friends, and how to live your life without caring how other people think. Joey's friend Steve calls in to talk about music and the Pink Floyd Story.

Streamed Live on 10/01/2012

Joey and Lee talk about Joey's upcoming blood test, other "medical tests." and some of the teachers Joey had as a kid. Joey's friend Uncle Mike called in to talk about their days as "running partners" in Boulder and later in Los Angeles. And you'll never guess who contacted Joey on Facebook.

Streamed live on 10/03/2012

Joey and Lee talk about what it means to have character, how to be confident and what confidence can do for you. Also, even though Joey is from New Jersey, you may be surprised to find out how he feels about the Boston Red Sox. Joey's adopted brother Mike calls in and they talk about their days living in Mike's basement.

Streamed live on 10/05/2012

Joey and Lee talk about fake people, being upfront with people and what Joey thinks people should know when looking for a new car. Joey's friend from North Bergen, Guy, calls in and talks about music and growing up in North Bergen.

Live Streamed on October 8, 2012

Joey and Lee talk about how much going home can help someone in need, what it means to have a women in your life and weed stories. Speaking of which, George calls back to tell us what happened when he left a pot cookie out at his 91 year old grandmother's house.

Streamed live on 10/10/2012

Joey and Lee come together on a Special Sunday edition of The Church of What's Happening Now. They talk about UFC 153, weight loss problems and tips, and people on twitter. Joey tells the story of when he first got interested in the UFC and met Anderson SIlva and his manager.

Streamed live on 10/14/12