From Takoma Park, MD to the Bay to L.A, Yihenew Belay (known as Heno.) has lived his life infatuated by the potential of what life could be once acknowledging the known unknown as inevitable. He’s lived through the streets, addiction, depression, hypersurveillance and the trials of forging one’s path as an independent artist. Death was the only guarantee, and that granted him the freedom to be. A dark utterance on a train ride became his album’s namesake: Death Ain’t That Bad. And as Heno. speaks with Michael — our host, and an artist grappling with that question all his life — the Maryland comrades send a beacon out for nomads, for Black folks, for dreamers gazing into the void and taking steps nonetheless.

Good Convo

Episode 36: Heno.

To witness the gifts of serpentwithfeet is to witness an immeasurable gratitude to the legacies before him, and an incomparable style emanating from himself. His voice commands the room, his melodies haunt and delight within seconds, and his star’s rising with every dazzling performance. He’s also an Old Bay advocate and a purveyor of the power of corniness. In this episode, Michael and serpent connect for the second time (first published — Michael lost their first interview to tech errors three years ago). Within, the duo discuss DEACON, the necessity of community, and how to balance love and rage.

Episode 35: serpentwithfeet on Good Convo

The cheerleader: a symbol of power, femininity, even purity should she be coated in porcelain. She’s despised and desired, and according to Mia Berrin, this image colored her formative girlhood experiences as a pillar of something unattainable. Pom Pom Squad became her project: a reimagining of the figure and an ongoing examination of the vulnerability of otherness via race, gender, and queerness. On this episode, Mia checks in with Michael to discuss how her youth paved the road to this project and her upcoming full-length debut Death of a Cheerleader. The pair also discuss the whitewashing of Black music, the power and money behind modern indie aesthetics and how to walk in one’s pain to power something beautiful.

Episode 34: Mia Berrin (Pom Pom Squad)

Kevin Rhomberg’s well-accustomed to the whirlwind of what a music career can be: He’s been on the broke hustle in L.A., been on the radio, and won a Grammy just to end up back in the dingy apartment where he got out his dreams. Knox Fortune’s already took us to Paradise with his otherworldly pop sensibilities, and when the world needed him… he faded to the background. Now, he’s in New York with his lover, fresh off the COVID album cycle of Stock Child Wonder. On this episode, Knox talks to Michael (for the second time) about what he’s done in the years between records, the perception of artist/producers, the shifting meaning of home, and how memory informs the warmth of his music.

Episode 33: Knox Fortune

‘Twas a simple recommendation (before recording our ARTHUR episode) that initiated our host into the otherworldly nature of 454. Almost a year later, and the artist born Willie Wilson is poised for a breakthrough by making hyperdriven rap influenced by everything from footwork to early Rvidxr Klvn. His 4 LIFE mixtape served as introduction for many fans and tastemakers, but Wilson’s shy and humble aura glows through the screen from his Bushwick bedroom. For every smile, there’s a shade of the darkness he endured that molded his purpose. In this episode, 454 and Michael detail how place informs his process, the transition from Orlando to NYC, and everything that fuels him in chasing the unknown for all to enjoy.

Episode 32: 454

What’s life for the Lil Scammer That Could? Ask Oakland’s own Guapdad 4000, and it looks like a feature on a platinum record, a hefty Lyft budget, several durags, and L.A. weather. Gone are the days of his Dior Deposits, but not the pain that came from it; when one inherits a hustler’s bloodline, one’s never too far from chaos. That’s what makes the fabric of Guap and !llmind’s collab album 1176, and it’s the fabric of this episode as well. Within, Guap and Michael discuss the Bay’s impact on music and culture, the way Guap maneuvers between clout and creativity, and the choices Guap made throughout his life to stand on his own ten no matter where you place him.

Episode 31: Guapdad 4000

Fana Hues is a Black woman from Pasadena: known for the Rose Bowl, yet small enough for everybody to know one another. Whether shows with the family band or volunteering in her neighborhood, her entire life thus far has given her the foundation for an artist with a deep care for community. She contains many methods to speak, only strengthened by the time in life where she couldn’t; a childhood flurry of illnesses hushed her voice to a whisper, carving space for her to find her strength inside and out. Now, her star turn: this episode (her first podcast ever!) finds Fana chatting with Michael about the California she comes from, what prepared her to release her first collection Hues, and building the framework for all her artistic selves to belong to.

Episode 30: Fana Hues

What happens when the theatre kid/music nerd earns a life-changing role that marks him as the next All-American Boy Next Door? If you’re Joe Keery, that means your teenage stans call you Steve from Stranger Things, and a pizza company fashions you like Ferris Bueller. From a sleepy Massachusetts town to the Chicago indie rock scene to Hollywood, this episode finds Michael talking to Joe while he’s isolated in Atlanta while shooting. The pair discuss how Joe’s rise to fame found him adjusting to reality while circling his passion back towards doing what he loves on his terms. Together, they unpack the circumstances behind the first Djo album Twenty Twenty, dissect the Boy Next Door mythology, and offer a new portrait of Joe Keery with no red carpet attached.

Episode 29: Djo (Joe Keery)

There’s a common thread in being thoroughly accomplished, yet feeling like you still have plenty to prove. Enter the life of Ricky Reed: Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, Billboard veteran, reformed indie rocker, and EDM hybrid artist in a past life as well. Movie themes, #1 records, deep cuts… chances are, Ricky’s laid hands on something you love. He’s a man of many breakthroughs, but his second album started via live breakdown: The Room came to him and his collaborators as a COVID salve and a divine return to the purpose he couldn’t evade. From the basement of his new home, Ricky walks Michael through the work behind the victories, his principles for staying productive, and what the industry should do to stand by its marginalized talent.

Episode 28: Ricky Reed

Erick Arc Elliott (known as the Architect) has spent the past decade as one-third of the beloved NYC crew Flatbush Zombies, leaving a collective legacy as one of the most energized live acts in hip-hop. Solo, Elliott’s built a discography as one of the most versatile producer-rappers of all time. They’ve never signed the paperwork, so the books are written differently; nevertheless, the Architect’s paving his own waves no matter what. On this episode, Erick chats with Michael about the moments that brought Erick from label marketing rep to underground legend to festival act. The two also reminisce on 2010s blog rap, and decode the concepts behind Future Proof, Erick’s new EP and album and a framework for survival and self-improvement.

Episode 27: Erick the Architect

The journey of Jacob Allen took him from demo versions at the BRIT to tours around the world as Puma Blue: a shape-shifting multi-instrumentalist delving into the depths of romance, heartbreak, and pain. It made him a lo-fi indie darling with millions of streams, but who is Puma Blue in his mid-20s? No longer an insomniac, much more in control of his emotions, and deeply in love from London to Atlanta. Ahead of his debut album In Praise of Shadows, this episode brings Jacob Allen in high-definition like never before: moving through the blue, growing past perception, and leaving the character behind to be who he truly is.

Episode 26: Puma Blue

Be it pure fate or by design, Michael always manages to talk with fellow Aquarians during Aquarius Season. This conversation with Love Mansuy is no different, chronicling Love’s journey-in-progress as a passionate overthinker with heavy attention to detail. He’s Canada-born Haitian from Jersey who grew up infatuated with music, and followed his intuition all the way to L.A., tryna make a way with his partner and their son in tow. To date, he’s done it all independently, runs his own company, and got a Wayne feature. This is a dialogue about commitment, divinity, self-belief, and owning one’s mistakes. And like we said, these are two Aquarians talking about being Aquarians… so you know the good game’s imminent.

Episode 25: Love Mansuy

This uncut two-hour episode features an intimate portrait of VMP's 2021 Hip Hop ROTM “Killer” Mike Render: rapper, businessman, thinker and debater. Many know him as one-half of Run the Jewels, or from his days in the Dungeon Family, but this episode finds Mike (our guest) giving Michael (our host) a tour through the familial and musical histories behind his critically-acclaimed album R.A.P. Music. But it is not these two Mikes’ first encounter... just the first on record. After combing through the album’s finer details, the two Mikes engage for a spirited intergenerational debate on the innards of capitalism, surviving (or dismantling) the state, and some key moments from Killer Mike’s 2020. Come for the details, stay for the discourse. There is no Killer Mike interview like this anywhere else.

Episode 24: Killer Mike

Rapper, abolitionist, Soul Train line conductor: Ric Wilson’s kept busy as a Chicago rising star making funk-laced bops for the dance floor and the protest. (Sometimes, they’re the same place.) Still reeling from a Summer from Hell, Ric checks in with Michael for their second interview, a passionate exchange from the left side of the aisle. Ric details how he’s remained sane and productive: releasing a collaborative EP with Terrace Martin, showing up to demonstrations, his steady climb as an indie artist, and many more clues towards the future of Disco Ric.

Episode 23: Ric Wilson

There’s a myriad of ways to describe SIR E.U, and a shortage of words that do the 27-year-old DC native any justice: idiosyncratic, innovative, relentless Aquarian leaning contrarian. As a multimedia artist, he’s spent over half his life designing sound, specializing in rap music and performance that shapeshifts on his whim and refuses to landlock itself. E.U’s been heralded, swagger-jacked, and still overlooked in the deep lineage of the D.C. underground. On this episode, Michael chronicles his best friend: the hour offers a mere glimpse into E.U’s journey, his musings on art in our world, and a snapshot into the duo’s ilived history as confidants and collaborators.

Episode 22: SIR E.U

Good Convo is a music interview show that puts content in context, no cap necessary. Presented by Vinyl Me, Please.

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Good Convo

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