Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael are journalists at NPR, but they could be rap history professors. And they have a thesis: emo rap is not a new phenomenon. They say it’s always been a part of the culture. In fact, they think that a lot of the all-time greats, like Jay Z and Biggie and Scarface, were writing emo raps long before the genre went mainstream. On this episode, we go back to the roots ...

In the late 90s, there was plenty of awesome tv to watch after school; but for Eric Eddings one program ruled them all: Rap City Tha Basement on BET. Every day, Rap City picked Eric up off of his couch and dropped him right into the world of hip hop, where he could rub elbows with huge names--we’re talking about Ludacris, Cam’Ron, Nas, and more. On this episode of The Mogul Mixtapes we’re bringing ...

JPEGMAFIA is an experimental rapper with a knack for creating genre-bending beats out of the internet’s weirdest sounds. He’s sampled everything from Nicki Minaj’s rants on Queen Radio to the sound effects of Mortal Kombat; and on this episode of the Mogul Mixtapes he’s taking us back through it all--from the sample that sparked his interest in production, all the way up to his newest track.