Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Link Shares His Record Collection | Ear Biscuits Ep. 472

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

It’s a very special Ear Biscuits! In this episode, Link is flying completely solo, as he goes through some of his record collection, talking about the ones that mean a lot to him, a few favorites, but all with a story and a connection. It’s his happy place, and we hope it’s yours, too! Check out the special playlist HERE. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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is my record collection. I am really, I just continue to get into it more and more. Shopping for records, listening to records, accumulating my collection. And yeah, I thought it would be a super laid back way for us to hang out and have an episode. If it sounds boring to you, maybe just hit no one for you, but if you're into hearing about some of my favorite records, which I'm gonna do a little show and tell for the video version.

Hey. I'm in, if you're in. Yeah, I wanna get right into showing a record and then maybe I'll talk more about just what I'm learning about record collecting and how it makes me happy as as I go through it, so I

had this idea yesterday, and I went by the creative house got my I I, the Creative House, got my, I usually carry this crate in the car because I'm moving records between the Creative House and my house, sometimes Lando's room, sometimes to other places if I'm playing records somewhere else. So I always try to keep this there. But I didn't plan too much. I just thought, okay, these resonate with me, these are things that I wanna share some stories or my perspective or where I got these or where I got them. But not too much crafting in terms of what I'm picking here.

And one last thing before I get into the first record, I think what I'm gonna do is post a playlist that I'm gonna make on Spotify, where I make my playlist. You make your playlist wherever you want, no judgment. And so I'm gonna post that, so if you wanna listen to some of the songs from these records that I'm highlighting, I guess the best way to get the link is, you know, wherever this episode is posted and shared. Also, my Instagram bio has links to my Spotify playlist in them, so you can find it that way. And, you know, if you want to be super duper helpful and be the one to create a playlist on the, if you're on a different music stream and you wanna duplicate my playlist somewhere else

and then post that, we'll try to share it. So it's not just for Spotify listeners. Okay, this is a good one to start with. This is DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Princes third album. I always thought it was their sophomore album because that's how I experienced it growing up. This album's called And In This Corner. It came out in 1989. It's the follow-up to the album that really made Jeff and Will famous. He's the DJ, I'm the rapper. I'll talk more about this, but the cool thing about it is you gotta look at the back if you wanna see the Fresh Prince. This has got parents just don't understand on it. This is the

first record that I discovered of theirs and was like 11 years old. Let's see. 11 years old when this one came out and in this corner. Yeah. So that's like a formative time. I wasn't buying records then I was buying tapes. And I didn't have a television in my room. I would just go into my room as an only child and I would just listen to my room. I would just go into my room as an only child and I would just listen to my tapes. I would just pour over these tapes. And after he's a DJ on the rapper, like being my favorite tape,

I just couldn't wait for the follow-up album to come out, which the single off of this is, I think I Can Beat Mike Tyson, which is... A lot of the songs that he was writing at the time, I mean, he was probably Super funny, story-based. I gotta be honest, this album is not that great. I don't know how well this album holds up, but for me, it was important that I own it because I remember pouring over this record. It wasn't a question of, is this good, will I like it? It's, these are my favorite guys on the planet. I wanna be DJ Jazzy Jess. So I had this allegiance to it and I memorized and listened to every single part of it. So the first song, Then She Bit Me, I can't even tell you what that's about. I think it's, she's a vampire, he's dating a vampire.

Everything that glitters ain't always gold. I think it may be a little problematic with its tribal references and tropish stereotypes that are at play here. But he and his girlfriend take a cruise to an island, and then they get abducted, and it's like, it goes very Indiana Jones. So again, it's a ridiculous story where he impersonates tribal language in a way that's probably problematic these days. But when I was 11 years old, I just thought it was completely silly.

There's a song called Who Stole My Car. It's the story of his car being stolen, but then he decides to call the car phone and he has an altercation with... This is what you get with Fresh Prince back then. It's like fun stuff, but the song that's most special to me is track three on Psy 1, Jazzy's Groove. When Rhett and I were in middle school, there would be the middle school dance. And if this was like the prime opportunity

to have your first kiss, I was petrified about that. And I actually wasn't dating anyone at the time anyway. So the thing that was most important to me was the lip sync contest. And of course, Rhett and I were going to perform together. So this, in 1989, we decided to perform Jazzy's Groove, which, again, this is like, this is a deep cut off an album that nobody cares about. I think I Could Beat Mike Tyson was the only song that anyone ever really heard.

It had a music video and who knew that all these years later you could probably, they could have used that song for the Jake Paul fight. I don't think they did. They could have. They could have. We should have, Rhett and I should have chosen Can I Kick It by Tribe Called Quest. I think we would have won the lip sync battle

because there were two rappers, two of us. I actually think Linwood Campbell ended up doing that one with Maurice Cameron. And I think they won. So we chose this Jazzy's groove and Rhett was Will and I was DJ Jazzy Jeff. And I'm pretty sure I had just like a fake DJ board, and the whole song is dedicated to how good of a DJ Jeff is, which he was and still is absolutely amazing. He was, I mean, one of the big reasons that, and to hear Will Smith talk about it, one of the big reasons that their career took off was because Jeff was such a talented DJ. And he would, they would go to like these

national and international DJ competitions. And he came out of nowhere and won. And then, so then that gave them a lot of opportunity. And it actually goes to show you why on their previous album, Jeff's the one on the cover. Will Smith's not even on the cover. He's on the back. He's the DJ, I'm the rapper. You need to know who's who. And we're equally important. I resonated with that a lot. So when we chose this song, it's got this part, and we've told this story before where Jeff is scratching mathematical equations, or at

least simple math. Like you'd have James Brown saying, One, two, three, give an account. And then he would, on another record, he would have somebody say, plus. So he would have one, plus one is two. And then he would cue up a response to that. And then he would have two plus two is four. You play it on the radio. So like, it's actually pretty amazing when you listen to Jazzy's groove and you can think of him using two turntables and two records with these samples and actually performing this routine live or live to tape for this, but as part of a competition. So when I found this, I found this in Burbank, actually. I had to get it.

Parents Who Just Don't Understand was absolutely huge for me as a 10-year-old. This was 1988. This was the first Grammy winner for the rap category when it came out. And it's hard to argue with that. But the tape that I had was black and white, and I bought it at the chicken shop where we would, my nanny would go, well my nanny didn't drive, my aunt Vicki would go and get gas. Sometimes my mom and I would go there and get gas and I'd get a tater wedge and some fried chicken.

And at the counter, they were selling tapes and Parents Just Don't Understand was there. So I got it. And what I didn't realize for many, maybe years, was that it was a bootleg tape that somebody just made and sold at the T-Mart. And it was only... Alright, so this record... There's two. There's two records. There's two records here. And of course, by buying the tape, the bootleg tape, it was only one of the records. It was only the first half of the album. I didn't even know it. I mean, it had what I wanted on it. It had parents

just on their sand. And I worshiped this record, not knowing that I was only listening to half of it. Forever. I think Rhett's brother Cole got it. that I was only listening to half of it forever. I think Rhett's brother Cole got it, and I was looking at it at his house one day, and I think that's how I realized it. But when we were on tour in Philly, which is where DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince are from, I was digging through crates. And this is one of the best things about, there's a lot of great things that I love about record shopping, but digging through what a particular

record store has and finding something that you didn't know you wanted. And if you're in Philadelphia and you're looking through the hip hop bins and you see the original pressing with the original artwork of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's first album. Before parents just don't understand, you have to buy it. And you know what, I've kept it in the... I don't keep them in the plastic. They say you're supposed to keep them in the plastic, but I know this one's in the plastic, but as a policy, I don't keep my records in the plastic because I

like to touch them, I like to mess them up, I like to use them. I paid $75 for this record, I'm gonna be honest. And I know that because price tag's still on the back. But the interesting thing about this is it's got... Girls Ain't Nothin' But Trouble. It's got the UK mix on it. After the success of Parents Just Don't Understand, and they were signed to Jive, they re-released this album, Rock the House,

with a different cover. And the thing I learned by listening to Jeff being interviewed on Questlove's podcast, Questlove Supreme, was that he actually hates this album cover. Jeff does. Because it's a complete ripoff of Run DMC's album King of Rock. Because they're, I don't know who the guy was, they're like executive investor, like record label, small record label. He was like, you guys need to do, like that worked for Run DMC, you need to do the same thing. So they literally did the exact same record cover, which is, yeah.

I understand why you don't like it, but I'm really happy to have it because when Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble, it uses the sample from I Dream of Jeannie. And I found it after, while I was waiting for this album to come out, and in this corner, I found this, and it was like, it was brand new to me. So, then you just sit around, you're waiting for the tape. Again, I didn't have any of the records. I only had the tapes, but... It just goes to show you from being a 10-year-old, I was always attracted to what DJ Jazzy Jeff was doing. And still am. Took his course. He's the guy I wanna meet. So, Jeff, you're the guy I wanna meet. So Jeff, you're the guy I wanna meet. You know, when it comes to your financial future, the smallest steps forward that you make now

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gonna be this one. It's gonna be... I can't remember what it's called right now. It'll come back to me. But it's the one after this one. It's got the hits on it. But this one is good to listen to from start to finish, and it's very... it kinda takes you on this... onto an astral plane for weeks at a time. Maybe that's why he called it that. But let's see. This came out... The main thing I remember about this album... I can't remember when it came out, early 70s maybe, was I got into this right when me and Christy first got married. And this is the album I was listening to when we got back from our honeymoon.

And we were house-sitting for a couple, and we had the whole place to ourselves, and they had this big old bathtub. And here I am, newly wed, having an unexpectedly large bathtub. I bought a bottle of rum, brought it back from our honeymoon in Jamaica. I shouldn't use an accent. Jamaica. And I got in that tub, I put on this record, and I drank... I know I didn't drink the whole bottle of rum. That would have been impossible. But I got very, very sick. And it's the reason why I can't drink rum.

So I can still listen to this record and I don't feel the room doesn't spin, but it kinda does. It's kinda good. Van Morrison, Astral Weeks. That's good. If I'm gonna pick one song off of this... It's really about the album. I'm not gonna pick a song, but I will have put one on the playlist. Alright, let's go further back. I found this on my trip to Seattle. This is James Brown. There it is! This came out in 1972. It's got a nice illustration of the godfather of soul. On the back here. I was really happy to get this because it has my favorite James Brown song on it,

and I just wanted some James Brown. You have to have some James Brown in your collection, right? But I don't like to buy records. I'm at a point now where I'm buying... I have to have a connection to everything, which is I guess why I knew I could just bring a stack of these in and talk to you about them, because I buy things for my reasons. And the reason why I bought this was it has a song, he didn't write it, he and the band wrote the music. It's called King Heroin. Now, back in the days when I would buy lots of BMG,

I had the BMG subscription where it's kind of like Columbia House where you can get 10 CDs for a penny. And then they start charging you every so often, every month when they mail you one, and if you don't mail it back, they'll charge you probably more than it's worth. And that's probably their business model. But you can cancel after the 10. And I think one of the 10 I got was, I was

thinking the same thing that I was just telling you. I gotta get into James Brown, so I got like this double CD, like best of James Brown, and it's what you would expect. Except for two songs, which ended up being my favorite songs, not because they're the best, but because they are the most outlier for James Brown, but still really good. And one's called Down and Out in New York City, which I'm looking for that record, which is on a soundtrack for a movie called, I can't remember, I have it written down in my

discogs. But when I found this one, it had King Heroin on it. It's a spoken word, slower song about the dangers of heroin. But it's heroin, the drug, itself speaking as a person to you, giving you a warning, talking about how, what it's gonna be like when you go to prison and you have to go in, you have to suffer from withdrawals from your heroin addiction. And how heroin is saying, oh don't worry, when you get out, I'll be standing there at the gate. And so it's this cautionary tale from heroin itself to not do heroin.

I mean, Leonard Skinner's Needle and the Spoon is a really good song, but I'm sorry. I think this is the best song about heroin. This is such a good song about heroin. I love it. I love the song, not heroin. I hate heroin. And yeah, the reason why is in this. But this is a good album in general. It's got There It Is, Part One and Two. It's got lots of stuff that's

been sampled, like James Brown saying things, or like his backup singer saying, Oh, there it is! So I kind of have this idea that I'm gonna put this record on just to kinda scratch in my own James Brown samples. And that's another, I mean, once I've started playing more of my vinyl for my friends and at like little kickbacks and little parties. I've discovered that I've started expanding what I'm buying. I'm always looking for new reasons to buy records,

but I always have to have reasons. And sometimes those reasons are, this will fit in a set that I wanna start, that I wanna play for people. Matter of fact, this next one does that as well. So I'll tell you what I have in mind there. This is Feist's first album. I'm pretty sure I talked about this on the podcast. Jamie, didn't I tell Rhett that when I went to, that I found this unexpected album, I don't know, it doesn't matter if I did, but I think I mentioned this to

Rhett, either on the podcast or otherwise. This album represents one of the biggest thrills that I experience with this hobby. And that is going to a record shop and going to the new arrivals, meaning these are albums that are most recently sold back to the record store. So they're all used. Some of them can still be unopened. And what you'll do is you can find things that they're not categorized usually. So you're looking through a bunch of random stuff,

but it hasn't been picked over. I had on my list, this is always, for like 20 years, when did this come out? Yeah, 2004. This album came out in 2004, this is a 2018 pressing, but or used. And I've always loved this album. Feist's follow-up album called The Reminder has 1, 2, 3, 4 on it, but this one has Gatekeeper. This one's... Every song is great on this album. She's Canadian. I'm just warning you. This is funky. It's very... It feels... It's well produced, but it also feels small, and each song is very unique from the one before and after it. So it takes you on a nice little trip. Love Her Voice. And like I said, finding this thing, I wasn't looking for it, but I had always been looking for it. I'd been looking for it so long that I forgot that I was

looking for it. And a matter of fact, the version that I had on CD, the cover was black and white, but I didn't buy it at T Mart, and it wasn't bootleg. But I think this, because it's a special release, it's in color, so when I first saw it, I was like, hold on, is this what I think it is? And so it wasn't an immediate, yes, it was like, hold on, is this, and so it slowly dawned on me as I pulled it out and looked at it, that I was having the best experience as a vinyl collector I had ever had.

Which was starting to think and hope that this was what it was, and take it out and look at it and read the back and realize that it was. And then Lando was there with me and I was like, Lando! I just, it just happened. The thing that you search for hours and months and years going to record shops forever for that feeling. I'm having the feeling right now. And I'm yelling across the record store to him, because he's in the soul section. Love this album. So I'm looking for the reminder. And I'm also looking to see Feist, because I had a friend who met Feist on the street in Highland Park.

So sometimes I walk around Highland Park just seeing if I can find me some Feist. I did find Walter Goggins. Walton? Walton. Wal Walter Goggins. Walton? Walton. Walton Goggins. That's amazing. Yeah. He was walking down the street over there. That was many, many years ago. That was probably six years ago.

I think I said hey, but I didn't talk to him. Anyway, this, the song that I'm gonna play, that I put in the playlist is Inside and Out. Funky little song, great song, always loved it. And what else do I have? Let me see, there's one that goes with this that I need to find, hold on. Hmm, what happened? Did I lose it? Okay, yes, I found it. I try not to be too precious with my records. This is the Bee Gees immaculate album, Spirits Having Flown.

Spirits Having Flown is not, yes, it is a song on this album. I got into the Bee Gees over the pandemic. There's an amazing documentary that back during the pandemic, when we were doing recs all the time, I wrecked... I can't remember what it's called. I think it's on Apple. An Apple documentary. Such a good story. And they wrote so many songs, and you discover so many songs. My favorite song, like when I got into Bee Gees, my favorite song of theirs became Too Much Heaven. Something about that song, like the groove of that song is just funky but comforting and the harmonies are amazing and it gets a little repetitious but then

they change the harmonies a little bit. So just when you're thinking you got it down, there's a little spice to it. So I'm gonna throw that on the playlist too, but at a certain point, and I think it might have been when I bought this album, I realized that the Feist song inside and out that I had been obsessed with was a cover of the Bee Gees. And that's also on this album. It's an amazing song. It is slower, a little slower than the Feist version. So I feel like what I need to do is I have to figure out how to play these

together in a set. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Because I took Christie and Lando over to the Creative House and I was basically DJing for the two of them. Like, Christie's, I brought Christie's records over, I brought some of Lando's and I know what he's into. So I'm like playing music for them. And he said, dad, play that Fife record, cause I love it. And it's like, of course you do, cause you have great taste, son.

And I play it for him and then when I get to inside and out, then without him knowing, because he was on his phone, I started playing this version and I'm just kinda watching out of the corner of my eye to see if he realizes what's happening. And he did. And I could see him like, I could see him go through the process of like the eyebrow squinch

and then he kinda looked up and then he looked at me and he was like, is that? And I was like, it's the Bee Gees, man. And he was like, so the Bee Gees, who covered who? I was like, Feis covered the Bee Gees. That was, hers is in 2004. So, but the fact that the song is so good and it's, you know, that's one of the things about like,

well, just to finish that thought before I start waxing about wax. Yeah, I like coming up with little DJ challenges that can kind of tell a story. So figuring out how do I, is it best to transition from Bee Gees into the Feist version? I think so.

Because it's, the production's 2004, it's louder. It's got, I don't know, it's just, and it's, the production's 2004, it's louder, it's got, I don't know, it's just, and it's faster. So I can, I can slow it down, trying to kind of beat mash it a little bit, and then ramp up and bring the energy up for the five second, but I gotta figure out how to do that. The great thing about it is that it will work. You know, you got this song from 1979, and then you go to 2004, and the reason why she covered it is because it's a great song, and it's still a great song. And I think listening, like having this, I'm not really big into original pressings. Like, people would be like, well, original pressing of something that's worth something

is worth more and it's harder to find, so as a collector, you might be into that, but I don't worry about that too much. But the timelessness of that's communicated by having the record. To know that somebody was grabbing and holding and removing this record and, like, playing it somewhere in the world, but when I was born. And then, all these years later, I found it. I can't remember exactly where I found this one. I think this is outside of Joshua Tree. Probably paid $7 for it. Special. This is one of my favorite albums. My favorite packaging of an album. I'm obsessed with the hip hop producer, The Alchemist.

I mean, I think it's safe to say that he's probably my favorite artist right now. And this year he's extremely prolific. I mean, he's been around for decades. He does like for decades he does like sample-based hip-hop so it kind of like it's easy for an old head, someone who likes older hip-hop to to get into it but he works with like a lot of up-and-coming rappers and like or underground rappers. And he will release records through his own label. And limited pressings and charging a lot of money. But if you can find one out in the wild, it's more difficult for that reason. Because they're only sold on his website. And this one in particular, from 2022, I found this one in North Carolina. Before I went back to... I was flying back home and I had a few hours and I went to one of my favorite record stores in Raleigh called Sorry State. And I found

an Alchemist record and I was like, well I want this. And he was like, well you know what, I got one more over there. And it was this. And this was like the one I dreamed of finding. So I'll never forget the feeling of finding this album. Of course it comes in a bag. It's called as if you were buying a sandwich. And then... Because what he did was he released an EP called The Meat, and then he released one called The Cheese, and then he released one called The Bread. And then he put this out when he released all three together and called it The Alchemist Sandwich. So you get like a... it's a sandwich bag. And then there's different versions, so

this is the Milano and salami version. So when you take this out, it's... The sleeve is fruit... it's cheese! The sleeve is cheese! Swiss cheese and look, it's got the holes! And then, when you pull this out, the record is... you guessed it! The salami! I mean, there's one that's roast beef and it's kinda ugly looking, but... Let me turn my mic. You might be into the roast beef, you know? I understand. I'm into the roast beef. The flappy beef. Oh crap, y'all. And look. But I had to get the salami. And then there's the... Of course you got the lettuce! So there we go. All of it together. Picture disc, lettuce.

It made me so happy when this existed. People will crap on picture discs saying that they're not... they don't sound as good, but... When it's this packaging, I mean, you can't argue with that. And I don't even know if that's true. I'm not that much of an audiophile that I can tell, but like... And then, part of the experience is just sitting down, dropping the needle, then sitting down and just looking at the packaging. I just spent hours in a perfectly curated environment of my listening room at the creative house. And I just, it's my happy place.

It makes me so happy. So finding these and then actually being able to handle it, go through it, it helps you handle life, you know? It's your me time. You can go out, you can spend a lot of money on records, but you can also spend a reasonable amount of money on records. But if you really get into it, you're gonna spend at least $200 on a record player. Probably $250. That's gonna be worth it. And then you gotta buy speakers and I don't know, it can get away from you.

So you need to watch out, but... The Hot Honey McCrispy is so back at McDonald's. With juicy 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken, shredded lettuce, crispy jalapenos, and that completely craveable hot honey sauce, it's a sweet heat repeat you don't want to miss. Get your Hot Honey McCrispy today. Available for a limited time only at McDonald's. Spring is here and you can now get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Only at McDonald's. food production, BHP is building one of the world's largest hot ash mines in Canada. Essential resources responsibly produced. It's happening now at BHP, a future resources company. And yeah, so I paid $100 for this record. I think when he originally sold it on his website, it was $100. So, very

fairly priced. And it's got Rock Marciano, Westside Gun, Kanye the Machine, Action Bronson, Benny the Butcher, Boldy James, Black Thought, Earl Sweatshirt, Schoolboy Q. That's the other thing with like producer records is that you get all the artists they work with. So it's like, I discovered that with Metro Boomin when he released Heroes and Villains 2 that like, I really like this because as an experience, it's very cohesive because the producers sequenced it and like

thought about not only the beats but also the transitions and so you have this album experience but you don't get worn out or burned out from it because there's so many different artists on it, you know. I love all these artists. So basically, the Alchemist is my gateway into all the rappers that I love, the chief of which being Freddie Gibbs. This is my favorite album. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. And I bought this in a strange way. This is De La Soul's sophomore album, Balloon Mind State. And this is, I mean you can tell that it's got, this one's been worn a lot. This is used. Now, when I'm... So inside of this...

This is the only record that I order from overseas. Like, I've had those for a couple of years now. But, I like to buy things in person. I like to go to the record shop and experience everything that the record shop has to offer. It's like, it's a soup to nuts experience for me. So I don't like short-circuiting that with ordering something online. But this was early on in my collection, and would I do it this way now? Maybe, because this is really, really hard to find. And there's like, so if I had to do it again, I would, but so I bought this from like somebody in,

I don't know, Norway or something. I probably paid 70 bucks for it, but it was the only way to listen to this album at the time. De La Soul, their first album, Three Feet High and Rising, was a groundbreaking hip hop masterpiece with like almost uncountable number of samples, which they ended up getting in a lawsuit and that's over the clearance for one of the samples,

and it got caught up so much that it changed the trajectory of how samples were, people worked with samples and charged for samples, and the whole business of using samples in hip-hop, they were like the whipping child. Whipping post, what's it called? They were the scapegoat. From a litigation standpoint. And then in the process, this album came out in 19... Let's see. I graduated, it's not on here. So I graduated in 96. This is 92. I think it was 92. So their first album, Three Feet High Rising, was like... was all the sample problems. But then their whole collection never went on

streaming as a long-term residual of the rights not clearing. They didn't repress anything, they didn't distribute anything on streaming, because it all got hung up in rights issues. So the only way for me to get this favorite album, which I remember listening to this tape my freshman year in high school. This was like, this is my freshman year in high school. Like on the bus, listening to the tape of my Walkman going to the soccer games that I had to warm the bench for. And so I kinda had to own it, and that's why I was willing to pay as much as I paid for it,

because it didn't exist any other way. And then within six months later, they announced that they had worked through all of the rights and the albums were coming out. The albums were put on streaming and then they were released. They re-released the album. So you're like, I can get, I'll probably buy a new version of this, because this one, the biggest thing buy a new version of this, because this one, the biggest thing off this is Break It Down, which samples Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album.

If I didn't, I'm curious what you would think of this album, listening to it for the first time now, because like so much of it, it's tied to my experience but it is an amazing album. It's not just me. Shout out to True Goy the Dove who passed away.

I think right around the time that they were re-releasing their albums, and they were coming out everywhere, he passed away, which is sad. And shout out to Prince Paul, who was a producer on this, and I've talked to him on Instagram. Maybe I'll meet him. Are you bored? Are you still with me? Are we still going? Super laid back? Okay. Here's another... here's a rap album that I think is beautiful. The cover is beautiful. And the album itself is beautiful. This is another alchemist find out in the wild. There's a record store called The Underground in Little Tokyo.

And they... I can't go in there. I can't allow myself to go in there because every time I do, I'll buy a $100 record. And it's the only place that I've done that. But it's because they have alchemist stuff. I mean, someone goes in there and sells these things and This one I'm so glad I bought it the elephant man's bones is a collaboration album between rock Marciano who's like this Word Smithy Rapper I Mean, it's like the beats are so bare bones and it just creates this environment for you

to appreciate that this guy is using words in a way that is relevatory. Very laid back. Not a lot of features on here. But he does have a spoken word feature from Ice-T on the horns of Abraxis. The song that I'm gonna play on the playlist is track number two, Daddy Kane featuring Action Bronson. Action Bronson is very funny. You never know what he's gonna say. And he's just wild. And so entertaining. And he's so different than Rock Marciano. That's such a fun song. He starts... It may be my favorite start to

a verse that I can think of right now. Maybe I'll make a list, but this is the only one on the list, but it's gonna be hard to beat it as number one. Action Bronson says, uh, well shit, what does he say? I can't remember the verb. I peel my face off and reveal the same face. That's the start of his verse. And I always think of it like those Mission Impossible masks, you know, where like Tom Cruise is wearing the mask in that one and then it's like, it's the reveal that it's Tom Cruise. Well, think about that, but it's somebody who you think is Action Bronson. And then he reaches down and he pulls off the mask, and it's just him again. It's like... I think that is so badass. Like, I am in disguise as myself. Pretty sweet. And the

beat for that one is very accessible. But look at this album cover. Isn't this beautiful? First of all, it's got this, I don't know what you call this, but it's called something. It's like, oh, it makes you think that it's an additional sleeve thing that's like, oh, this is an internet, I got this in Japan. You know, this is the international version. I got in a little Tokyo, but... This is a photograph of a sculpture that just looks like a bunch of... Who knows what. But then if you look on the back, there's another picture of this. Well, let me see what's on the inside. This is how

I play with it. So I'm listening to it and I'm looking at it. I'm like, what is this? This is amazing. I love the colors. It's beautiful. It makes me appreciate the music even more. And then, oh, this doesn't open. It's not a gatefold, but someone thought it was and ripped it. Then you look at the back and you see that it's a human head. It's a human head. And then it's actually turned. See, like, that's his nose, right? There's his nose right there. And then if you turn his nose up and then you zoom in here, then that becomes the back. There's the nose right there. There's the nose. This is what I'm doing when I'm listening to this record. Oh! There's the nose! There's the nose! You found the nose, dude! Good for you!

Good for you, man. Say those things to myself. At one point, I talked about... I made the mistake of saying that I might, like, live stream my DJ sets, and then it's come up a few times, and you know what I've concluded? Me time is for me. Sometimes I'll take pictures of stuff that I'm listening to, and I might post some stories. But I think that's as far as I'm gonna go. Oh shit, look at this. Okay. All right. So back to James Brown, my favorite song being King Heroin. Spoken word. He doesn't even sing.

I was digging in Joshua Tree. Christy was digging around the corner. She found this and gave it to me. And she was like, "'Freddy Gibbs, you like him?' I'm like, "'Yeah.'" So this was a DJ pressing 12-inch, meaning it's a single. And I was like, I already have this album, but I don't know. It's $11. I'll buy it. And I bought it. It's got... This is from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib album called Pinata, which is an amazing

album. I'm pretty sure it's Pinata, not the other one. Could be wrong. Anyway, this album has a single on each side, then an instrumental of the song. And I like instrumentals because I have weird records that are spoken word stuff, like this right here. I found this record called Hi God! And an ecumenical program based on the human growth and development of children and all who are open to love.

It's actually pretty weird. It's this couple and they it's like children's songs, but like folksy, 1973 and there's like weird spoken word stuff about God. So I like to take hip hop instrumentals and then put spoken word shit about God over it, or any weird stuff that I find. So I can say, go for, Hi God, 2. I didn't bring that one in. So I'll use that for the instrumental. Deeper on side, a Harold's. Harold's has got a beat. But then there is a song, there's a third bonus track on either side.

That's just a Madlib production. Madlib lost his house in the Altadena fires and a lot of his personal record collection. The guy is a, he's a musical hero. The way that he samples things. He and the Alchemist are like two peas in a pod, best ever. And I'm listening to this record for the first time and I'm like, you know what? I get these two Madlib tracks that I've never heard and that are maybe exclusive to

this record. And I listen to it and I'm like, this is King Heroine. This is James Brown singing King Heroine. And Madlib chops up my favorite James Brown song into something completely new. And the thrill of discovering that just by listening to an album that my wife found me because she knows I like Freddie Gibbs, it's like I feel so seen, you know? And then I'm like having this experience with James Brown and Madlib and Freddie Gibbs. It's like I'm hanging out with my favorite people, and they're doing something that just deeply resonates with me, and I discovered it.

For myself, as a complete surprise. There's also a sticker in here from Sound Off Records, which is in Joshua Tree. I'm gonna take this sticker and I'm gonna put it on the back of my DJ booth upside down so that when I bend over to read what the stickers say, I can read it. And it kinda lets me know what record stores I've been to. I'm deep in my happy place. Y'all watch out now. If you're still here, I guess you are, then you know I gotta have the obligatory Dochi. I'd like to thank Dochi for giving me a multi-million view TikTok. Thank you, Dochi. You know? Rhett's talking about spirituality. I'll just be over here listening to Dochi. You know? Rhett's talking about spirituality. I'll just be over here

listening to Dochi. I meant every word of that. So... But this album's beautiful. I mean, her style. Just, like, everything around the music is amazing, but the album is incredible. The album is incredible. There's a poster in here. Obligatory Dochi poster. Here it is. But this is what you really want to see. Dochi with an alligator bike scar. Dochi, you're an inspiration to all of us.

You deserve all the love and flowers that you are receiving and I hope to never meet you because I Would be too nervous But I would love to meet your stylist and if that's just you Then I guess we'll have to talk I'll put that together later And if that's just you, then I guess we'll have to talk. I'll put that together later. We did an episode of Good Mythical Morning where we had to give ourselves

goosebumps. And we couldn't play the song in the room for rights issues, but we played the song in our headphones just so then you could get a close-up of the hair standing up on my arms. I can't remember any more about it, but I do remember the song that I chose to give me goosebumps. And this is it. This is the 12 inch single of Philip Bailey's Easy Lover with Phil Collins, originally of Genesis. So, Phil Collins produced this song. This is on Philip Bailey's album, which I don't own. I don't know that... I'm not a huge fan of Philip Bailey besides this song, so when I found the 12-inch, I was like, this is perfect. It's a little bit cheaper, and it is the one song that is guaranteed to always give me

goose bumps. I paid $10 for it. I paid $10 for it. But it has an extended, since it's a single, it has the extended dance remix of Easy Lover, so I can have the, what's it called? Goosebumps are called like Frisian? Frisian? Frisian? I think the word is Frisian. Frisian. I love this album cover. Average White Band. This album is special because I inherited it from my mom. You reach a certain age, like I said,

when you're listening to tapes, and you go from just like the little jam box that you can carry around to like, okay, you go over to your friend's house and like his older brother's got a big stereo system. It's like stacked up and the speakers are big. It's like then you ask for one of those for Christmas, and you get one not so big, but it's got the tape deck, the radio, and the record player on top, even though I'm buying tapes, I'm not buying records. So, my mom said she had a few records, so I dug up some of her records that she kept for all those years, and they became my records. This average white band record is from 1974.

It's got Pick Up the Pieces on it, which is an instrumental. This is a Swedish or Norwegian band. You know, they played like funk and soul. Their name is self-deprecating because they are playing black music and they are doing it very well. I think Questlove's parents who were artists, musicians, successful band, I think they made him memorize the drums to this entire record.

The story goes something like that. Pick up pieces is the only thing said in that instrumental, which... Rhett and I, this became the soundtrack backdrop for our first screenplay, Gutless Wonders, which we started filming before we finished writing it. And the song, The song... Dink, dink, boom, boom. Telephone ring, bad connection.

I think whichever song that is, that's the opening song to our movie that we never completed. Average White Band. I've got more. I've got so much more. I don't want wanna test your patience. I'm gonna end with something expected, but very special. Lionel Richie Can't Slow Down, his sophomore solo album, which came out after his self-titled debut album, once he left the Commodores.

So this is like, I don't know, 86 and 85, 84, something around there. Of course, this pose will always be super special. And of course, this will always be worth showing. But if you look closely at this, you'll see that there's a hole right here. There's a hole right here. And then in this one, there's a hole in both corners of this one like this. These were two of the albums that were hanging on

our set for the longest time before the lawyers told us that we didn't need to have Lionel Richie on the set. So I'm happy to say that I actually still have the records that were hanging on the GMM set once it became, yeah, in its, you know, in its current iteration, right? Once we moved from Rhett's garage. So I only know these are them because of the holes, and I'm just glad I still have them because they mean a lot to me. So much so that when we evacuated due to the fires, Christy was like, are there any records you wanna get? And I was like, no, no, no, we'll be fine.

I wanna get a record. Don't wanna get any records. And then I like, I took a beat and then I realized, now I wanna get all my records. So then I got, I don't know, it was like four boxes at the time. Things have changed since then. I don't think I could get them. I don't think I could move them all at once now. Because now I have a problem. I have an addiction. But it's my joy, and I thank you for sharing it with me today.

And I just wish a similar level of joy for you today. For you to find something that gets you in touch with what you're passionate about, what makes you light up inside. What reconnects you to something pleasant from your childhood. You know, getting in your body with it, sitting there, touching the things, having your ears vibrate with the exact same rhythms and frequencies that your 10-year-old self started to build his identity around. Or whatever floats your boat. We'll talk at you next week. Hi! I just wanted to say that I love you guys so much. And we've been fans for like eight years?

Probably ten years, honestly. And we've heard your voice more than our heart bothers. Love you, bye.