Explore every episode of the podcast Beyond the Lyrics 604

The first episode from the new room, and an in-depth interview with Vancouver Rap Legend Junk.The name is an acronym — Just Understand Nobody Knows — and it comes from the Junkie Juggler, a jester. That turns into the frame for the whole conversation: the jester was the only one in the court allowed to tell the king the truth. Junk has been doing a version of that for twenty years.The history is remarkable. Hitchhiking across the lake as a young teenager to host hip hop nights in Nelson, getting into clubs underage on a rule that let you stay if you stayed on the stage. First MC from Vancouver to battle at King of the Dot in Toronto. Third at the End of the Weak world finals in Paris. Quitting construction. Then COVID took 70 booked shows in 24 hours, and he had to face a career with no live music in it at all.What he built instead is the useful part. Going fully independent, learning every job before hiring any of it out, vinyl and CDs as a way of taking power back from streaming, and Household — an East Van crew that turned into a real business doing clothing, show production and festivals. Five years sober. And a genuinely blunt closing exchange about what he owes the city and what it owes him.Recorded at The Chop Shop, Vancouver BC.#vancity #hiphop #rap #independentmusic

0:00 Beyond the Lyrics 2.0: new set

1:37 Bastard Barbecue with Flipout

2:45 Giving flowers to the culture

3:59 Why 'Junk': the acronym

7:01 The jester tells the king the truth

8:24 King of the Dot: first from Vancouver

9:17 End of the Weak finals in Paris

11:51 Hitchhiking across the lake to Nelson

14:53 Keeping the hunger; show production

17:00 I Am No One to Stupid and Ugly

19:47 No industry here: learning DIY

22:24 Going independent; COVID kills 70 shows

24:23 Lion Eats Goats with Young Stitch

25:40 A career without live shows

26:46 Five years sober

28:18 Soul vs multisyllabic rhyme lists

31:21 Gallery of Saints; Horrible Pleasures

33:13 Taking the power back from streaming

34:55 Rating the legends, 1 to 10

38:43 Household: East Van crew to family

41:16 The Cartems donut shop cyphers

46:48 Household as a real business

48:37 Building platforms for other MCs

51:51 Learn every job before you hire out

54:10 The hardest hat: marketing

57:43 What Vancouver hip hop needs next

59:53 What he owes the scene

1:04:49 Shout-outs, releases and tour dates

The fullest room the show has had — seven voices, and it moves through three distinct halves.

First the card. Trewth on how the Neighborhood Kids video blew up and turned into a tour, then Red Shirt Mike arrives to break down Set the Bar's Ascension event: why the battlers aren't trash talking this time, the undercard, the rookie class, and what the league needs to get from 80 people in a room to 200. Mike Wiald talks facing Danny Myers in his first Canadian battle — a year off, the Ellipsis battle behind him, and what it means to be the face of a league. His message for Danny is twenty seconds and worth the whole segment.

Then LOCA returns, and the episode changes register completely. Raising a teenager, caregiving, 'Low Again' and the song she wrote coming down. Sobriety, step work, writing down resentments. Learning to sing after a mother who told her she couldn't. It is the most open anyone has been on this show.

Tiago Vasquez closes it — the DJ Slink single, the EP with Evan Smith, playing bass, starting his own business, sobriety and mindset, parenting teenagers, and wanting to make a Spanish and dancehall record.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: breaking into the studio

1:50 New album, and an F on promo

2:43 An entrepreneur course; Skillmatic

4:47 Bib Gang merch and Ascension

5:33 Trewth on the Fortune cypher

6:51 How Neighborhood Kid blew up

9:08 Tickets and a four-hour cypher

12:00 Red Shirt Mike arrives

13:11 Why battlers aren't trash talking

14:30 Ascension card: Little Q vs Bear

15:54 setthebar.com and filling the Turf

18:09 Tangent: entrance music

20:06 Why Mike Wiald vs Danny Myers

21:51 Vancouver's battle rap talent pool

24:21 The atmosphere of a live battle event

26:50 What Set the Bar needs next

28:53 Scaling from 80 to 200 people

31:31 The website and who's next

35:25 Mike Wiald on facing Danny Myers

36:59 A year off, and being the face

41:58 Prep, angles, no low-hanging fruit

44:02 'Have Mercy' EP and the Kolka feature

48:47 Undercard: Gobi and A.A. Ron

51:30 Beach Tits, Dully Nuff, Bossman

59:09 Bear vs Lil Q; the rookie class

1:02:02 Shiva, Tobin and Snow Leopard

1:05:13 LOCA returns, and 'Low Again'

1:07:24 The Real Ones EP

1:12:47 Sobriety and step work

1:15:10 Youth work up north, and nature

1:19:50 Learning to sing; Limerence

1:26:31 Dating another artist

1:30:17 LOCA's shows and where to find her

1:33:46 Tiago Vasquez and the DJ Slink single

1:36:30 The EP with Evan Smith

1:39:26 His own business, and mindset

1:43:11 Parenting teenagers

1:44:25 Spanish and dancehall records

1:45:58 Writing on the road: Barcelona, Egypt

1:49:08 Tiago's custom builds, and closing

The guests cancelled, so Kavawon starts solo and turns it into the most personal opening the show has done — how he preps, the ten-year gap in the Chasing Destiny trilogy, starting young, the vices, and the album versions that got shelved. The FOMO that cost him a record.

Tobin joins at 15:05: Set the Bar battler, cameraman, and the person who shoots and edits the whole event. Longboard videos to film school to freelance, discovering battle rap at 15, and filling in for a dropout. The stretch on Dizaster vs Canibus — and what that collapse cost Canibus — is the best thing in the episode; Kavawon's read on it is that the man was never the same again.

From there it is craft. How acting training helps performance and memory, why non-fans need the beat, what shooting a full battle event actually involves, and how every shot keeps getting shorter. Then a genuinely level-headed conversation about using AI as a tool without wrecking your brand — testing beats with Suno, hearing another voice on your own work — that avoids both the hype and the panic.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Technical difficulties and solo start

2:43 How Kavawon preps the show

4:51 Chasing Destiny: a 10-year gap

5:56 Starting young; shelved albums

9:30 The Destiny series and 'No Cap'

13:25 K-Ski's 'From Barcelona With Love'

15:05 Tobin joins: battler and cameraman

16:53 Longboard videos to freelance film

18:45 Discovering battle rap at 15

20:01 Formative battles: Dizaster, Rone

22:25 How acting training helps battling

24:44 The Canibus collapse

27:48 KOTD peaks: Pat Stay, Daylyt

29:16 The Vancouver scene and Icon

32:21 Callouts: A.A. Ron, Chiva, Billy Shakes

34:11 Weddings, screenplays, short films

37:25 Shooting a battle event; the venue

39:03 Growing Set the Bar with promo

41:27 Battling Shadow Eclipse

43:18 Pitching a Vancouver hip-hop doc

46:32 Why non-fans need the beat

49:04 Tobin Media goals

50:59 Using AI without wrecking your brand

53:26 Testing beats with Suno

56:03 The Okanagan and Big Valley Battles

58:18 Matchup ideas: Channel 5, Raptor

1:01:53 DAWs, Final Cut and FL Studio

1:05:31 Hooks that work; film school

1:07:18 Beach Tits, Droleen, the Jubiles

1:10:01 Comedy sets and variety formats

1:11:47 Closing: Bib Gang is a heel faction

Three conversations in one, and the first is the one people will send to each other.

Kavawon opens on creative burnout — the funk after a big push, peaks and valleys, giving yourself grace, and the argument that anxiety is trapped energy that needs somewhere to go. Procrastination, self-worth, notification overload, and 'Eat the Frog'. K-Ski turns up with a broken hand from a slip outside the Falafel Spot and does the show anyway.

Mike Wiald takes the middle. 'I Feel Nothing' — two sides of addiction — plus how writing a battle round differs from writing a song, competition versus therapy, thirty-two bars with no editing at eight bars a day, and why he now stacks singles rather than forcing an album.

Then Red Shirt Mike, for the longest and most argumentative stretch the show has run. Why an Icon vs Set The Bar card will not happen, why cypher shows do not pay, and a real defence of battle rap against its reputation — media literacy, camaraderie inside competition, and what Jay-Z gets wrong calling it negative. It widens into Kendrick vs Drake, the UMG distraction theory, Occam's razor as an antidote to conspiracy thinking, and self-censorship versus the 'woke mob'. It closes on the draft, Vancity Eras, and the question underneath running any scene: if I got hit by a bus, does Set The Bar survive?

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Kavawon's creative funk after burnout

1:58 Humble the Poet: you need fun too

5:52 Peaks, valleys and giving grace

6:58 Anxiety as trapped energy

9:14 Procrastination and self-worth

10:38 Notifications and negative self-talk

14:14 Turning knowledge into a course

15:01 'Eat the Frog': hard task first

17:13 K-Ski's broken hand

19:41 650 emails after two weeks off

20:47 Handing the mic to Mike Wiald

22:39 Mike Wiald: 'I Feel Nothing'

24:17 Love Force gallery and merch

26:27 Engineer chemistry: Coach K vs Eugene

30:09 Battle rounds vs writing songs

33:29 32 bars, no editing

36:28 Sitting on a beat, writing diagonally

38:52 Stacking singles, not forcing an album

41:40 Vancouver battle highlights

43:27 Stepping back to build the platform

44:40 Merch: Team Wild and Bib World Order

47:27 'I Feel Nothing': two sides

49:11 Song: 'I Feel Nothing'

50:41 Naming the project; the Cobalt show

54:36 Red Shirt Mike: come to a battle

56:17 Why Icon vs Set The Bar won't happen

58:48 Why cypher shows don't pay

1:02:39 Limited energy, needing organizers

1:05:00 Why he rarely battles at home

1:07:36 Battle rap's reputation and literacy

1:11:05 Jay-Z calling battle rap negative

1:12:48 Kendrick vs Drake and the UMG theory

1:18:25 Occam's razor for conspiracies

1:21:24 Self-censorship vs the 'woke mob'

1:24:12 Call Up Season 10: Mike vs Aaron

1:27:22 Shine 9, Shiva, Eclipse and Drolene

1:30:59 Bringing back Rivals

1:32:29 The draft and a coaching season

1:39:22 Why Vancity Eras 3 keeps falling apart

1:41:46 A year-long draft season idea

1:44:56 Turning down 85% of ideas

1:46:22 Booking months ahead

1:50:14 Why BC's pipeline outlasted Alberta

1:53:04 If I got hit by a bus

1:55:29 April 11 at the Turf, and outro

A Black History Month episode that turns into the best history lesson this show has recorded. K-Ski and Kavawon host Aisha and Miselta of the Hogan's Alley Society — the organisation working to rebuild Vancouver's displaced Black neighbourhood.

Aisha went from UBC marketing student to Hogan's Alley staffer and explains what it is like to ask "where are the Black people?" in this city. Miselta came through kinesiology and sport into community engagement. Together they lay out the whole arc: the Memorial Project, the working group, the viaducts that went through the neighbourhood and who pays when they finally come down, the garden, Nora Hendrix Place, and the 100+ social housing units planned for Main and Union — designed, they say, like a baobab tree.

The history runs wider than most listeners will expect: hip-hop as a griot tradition, the Cross Bronx Expressway running the same playbook in New York, Black soldiers who defended Victoria, and Salt Spring Island. And it lands on something practical — the Community Land Trust, a Black cultural centre, the Blackathon, and what listeners can actually do.

Jimi Hendrix's grandmother lived here. Apache was recorded here. Most people in Vancouver do not know either.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Back from UBC: radio and cyphers

1:10 2026 plans and a different year

2:09 Dip Clothing: 25 years in Vancouver

3:57 Copping gear on Delancey Street

4:42 Hip-hop as a griot tradition

5:46 Mas B on drums and shared ancestry

7:46 Introducing Hogan's Alley Society

9:18 Meet Aisha: betting on yourself

10:59 UBC student to Hogan's Alley staff

13:51 Unfiltered truth for the youth

15:54 Memorial Project to Hogan's Alley

18:28 Cross Bronx Expressway, same playbook

20:06 FIFA 2026 and the Downtown Eastside

20:53 Black history on Vancouver Island

24:43 Oral history and why isolation hits

29:07 The viaducts: who pays, and when

30:58 The garden and Nora Hendrix Place

32:57 Main and Union: 100+ housing units

36:46 Miselta on community engagement

39:14 Sports and the team concept

41:37 Five-year vision: the Land Trust

43:50 A Black cultural centre

48:54 The Resurgence Planting and Party

52:15 The co-share collective

55:08 BC Black history in schools

59:14 Upcoming: the Cultch and Blackathon

1:02:24 bside radio's 2026 expansion

1:04:04 The Nora Hendrix house events

1:10:22 Juneteenth with the longshoremen

1:14:16 Aisha's hopes and how to help

1:19:03 Divide and conquer vs the table

1:22:01 Blackathon: Black youth and AI

1:23:54 World Cup and the African diaspora

1:29:29 The Vancouver hip-hop docuseries

1:33:23 Nardwuar stories and reconnecting

1:35:38 Community archives and closing

K-Ski and Kavawon close out 2025 by taking stock — of the year, the scene, and what being an independent artist is going to mean next.

It opens loose: fantasy football misery, load management and fans paying to watch stars sit, Ronnie Lott's finger, the Herschel Walker trade, Philly fan brutality. Then it turns. K-Ski's 2025 — his wife's injury, a trip back to Trenton and Philly, and how the guns arrived back home. Kavawon's producer year, a finished EP, and ghostwriting.

The middle is the best part. Kavawon asked an AI for twenty Vancouver artists and had never heard of any of them, which starts a genuinely uncomfortable conversation about how tapped-in the scene actually is — and lands somewhere hopeful, on Detour, Dipt's 25 years, and the Hogan's Alley Society. Community builds culture.

Then the veterans: Nas, Clipse, Slick Rick, De La, RZA's Juice Crew project. MC Shan vs Big Daddy Kane. ODB storming a session and recording it backwards. Wu-Tang in Hawaii. Why veteran MCs get paid more overseas, Daz Dillinger's direct-to-consumer math, and ten years of Spotify saturation — ending on the argument that a thousand paying fans is a career, and why Kavawon is releasing four EPs instead of one album in 2026.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: upcoming shows

1:12 Kavawon's producer year and an EP

2:22 Fantasy football and basketball misery

3:50 Load management and the fans paying

5:38 Ronnie Lott's finger

7:19 Rooting against your family's team

9:41 The Herschel Walker trade

11:30 Eagles at 8-4 and Philly fan brutality

12:47 Astrology and Kavawon's cocoon year

14:00 K-Ski's 2025: back to Trenton

15:41 Sidewalk rules in tackle football

17:32 How the guns arrived back home

18:40 Beats Blues and Bars gets recognized

20:29 20 local artists we'd never heard of

23:21 Taking the podcast mobile

25:10 Vancouver's drama-free scene

26:47 Community builds culture

32:36 Beaumont Studios and a give-back plan

34:04 2025 headlines and the Diddy docuseries

37:48 Veteran MCs return: Nas, Clipse, De La

39:14 MC Shan vs Big Daddy Kane

42:48 ODB records it backwards

45:48 Wu-Tang in Hawaii: 'It's Yourz'

47:54 Playing your role in a group

50:27 Telling your real story

51:55 Why veterans do better overseas

53:11 Daz Dillinger's independent math

56:00 Disenchantment with celebrity

57:27 Ten years of Spotify and saturation

1:00:32 Everyone's a musician now

1:03:28 Finding your 1,000 paying fans

1:05:06 Four EPs instead of one album

1:10:53 2025 losses: Ozzy, Sly Stone, and more

1:13:22 AI in music and fake artists

1:15:58 Closing: reminders and into 2026

K-Ski hosts without Kavawon, and Jessaii co-pilots the whole episode — vocalist, songwriter, producer, vocal coach, music educator, and a mother.

The first hour is hers. Writing her first songs in Regina, discovering reggae in Calgary, and then seven years of accidents and knee dislocations that took her income, her mobility and very nearly the rest. Single motherhood, food banks, and the slow work of picking yourself up. She explains AuDHD as gas and brakes pressed at the same time, why she now writes accommodations into artist contracts, and why she calls it music medicine — on stage the pain disappears. Queen Level Productions has pivoted to supporting artists with disabilities.

Karma Sounds — Karina Morin — arrives at 40:26. Painfully shy sax player to singer, Montreal to Vancouver, the two years of keys behind 'Wings', and how she sprinkles healing into a pop hook. She opened the stage for Lauryn Hill.

Then Tracy Pequin, a financial coach with 19 years at Primerica, explains the Registered Disability Savings Plan, the Disability Tax Credit, and the Canada Disability Benefit — what qualifies, how to apply, why almost nobody knows they exist, and which firms take a cut of your refund for filing the form you could file yourself. If you or someone you love is disabled in Canada, that hour is worth real money.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Welcome: intros and who's missing

1:50 A summer of rest and festival prep

2:36 Stevie Wonder and a cassette coincidence

5:26 First songs in Regina: 'Freedom'

6:31 Discovering reggae in Calgary

8:30 Vancouver's reggae scene and 'Rise'

9:54 Gilt & Co. and pacing while healing

10:55 A neuroaffirmative kids arts camp

11:44 Vocal coaching and IDEO Studio

12:36 Queen Level pivots to disabled artists

14:19 Making resources accessible

17:14 School with no supports in Saskatchewan

18:01 School districts cutting music

20:14 The kids who only fit in music class

21:52 Seven years of accidents and fallout

24:12 Single motherhood and food banks

26:29 Put your own mask on first

28:28 'Start Again': survival into medicine

29:30 How to actually organize support

32:38 On stage the pain disappears

33:46 AuDHD: gas and brakes at once

36:35 Accommodations in artist contracts

40:26 Introducing Karma Sounds

42:17 Karma Sounds' origins: art as refuge

44:51 Shy sax player to singer

48:40 The story behind 'Wings'

50:59 Melody first, healing in the hooks

55:08 ADHD, time blindness, perfectionism

58:29 'Disability' vs 'diverse abilities'

1:02:37 Opening the stage for Lauryn Hill

1:05:39 New single, and Bandcamp vs Spotify

1:09:12 Karma Sounds' Gilt & Co. show

1:12:28 Meeting Tracy Pequin

1:14:18 Tracy's path: three jobs to licensed

1:15:46 The RDSP and Disability Tax Credit

1:18:03 Canada Disability Benefit and finders

1:20:02 MAID, poverty, and asset limits

1:21:12 Predatory firms taking a cut

1:23:15 Why nobody knows these programs exist

1:24:52 What qualifies for the credit

1:26:47 Finding money people didn't know about

1:30:57 How to reach Tracy; the wealth transfer

1:36:59 Limiting beliefs and low expectations

1:39:50 Music: 'Getting Better', Karma Sounds

1:45:05 Closing with Jessaii: unmasking, dharma

1:49:47 What's next: 'Big Love' and festivals

The most personal episode the show has done. Nige is releasing The Imperfectionist — named for a superhero who ruins everything he touches — and he came to talk about what is actually on it.

He retired the "Young" from Young Nige at 39. He came up a punk kid on Epitaph Records before hip hop, started rapping late at 19 after a house party freestyle, and spent years freestyling in cars at the beach. The record is about divorce, therapy, aging in rap, and unlearning the stories you tell about yourself. His writing method now is one line per hour-long walk.

K-Ski matches him with his own history: the record deal his mother refused to sign, YZ getting signed instead, the Navy sending him to Japan, teaching slang there, and the Ice Cube security story.

DJ K-Rec is in for the first hour on drumless beats, Roc Marcy, and why depression makes upbeat beats — then leaves to feed the dogs, and the last forty minutes go somewhere else entirely: why mental illness rises as comfort increases, what a cop stopping your eldest son does to you, AI and job loss, marketing as an unhappiness-generating machine, and what success might look like if it were not a big house and five cars.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Beaumont Studios, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Going live: who's here tonight

2:03 B-Side Radio at Beaumont Studios

3:19 Meeting Nige, and the therapy question

4:14 From Young Nige to just Nige

6:41 'Young' as a state of mind, not an age

8:10 Punk kid: Epitaph before hip hop

8:57 The house party freestyle

10:24 Freestyling in cars at the beach

11:59 Why punk and hip hop were cousins

13:01 ATLiens, Brother Ali, burned CDs

15:11 Coming to rap late, at 19

16:18 Mixtapes, stamped covers, $8 AI masters

17:52 Battles in a Trenton school bathroom

18:50 Rappin' Duke and Beat Street

20:34 G-Unit, Eminem, the Diddy problem

21:57 Thinking 'My Name Is' was a comedy song

24:02 Much Music as an entry point

24:57 From technical multis to freestyle feel

28:24 Finding your voice; the K-Rec beat pack

29:37 How K-Rec completed the sound

30:48 Albums made on a phone

32:49 The Imperfectionist cover reveal

35:13 Release plan: album and Wise Lounge

36:43 Where the album title came from

38:17 Divorce and rapping about therapy

41:06 The deal K-Ski's mom refused to sign

42:30 YZ signed instead; the Navy, Japan

44:02 Teaching slang in Japan

45:59 The Ice Cube security story

47:16 Love, but no unified sound

50:34 American ideas about Canada

51:27 Ten months, eight songs

53:13 What pulled Nige back to rapping

55:30 The stories we tell about ourselves

58:40 One line per hour-long walk

1:00:04 K-Rec on drumless beats and Roc Marcy

1:02:46 Dropping the high-energy persona at 39

1:03:43 Depression makes upbeat beats

1:06:51 Who gets the best beats

1:07:36 Forgotten songs and stomp-clap

1:10:02 Day jobs and rap

1:13:04 Mental health, then and now

1:15:18 Mental illness rising with comfort

1:16:50 Substance use work after COVID

1:18:12 Comfort erodes your tolerance

1:19:51 K-Rec heads out to feed the dogs

1:24:31 Passing lessons to your kids

1:25:49 Feeling bad doesn't mean it is bad

1:28:22 Radical acceptance vs reality

1:30:54 A torn ACL and a Seattle record deal

1:33:06 The two girls who loved 'Sunshine'

1:34:25 The neighbour that forced a move

1:35:52 Young people losing hope

1:37:23 A cop stopping his eldest son

1:38:32 AI, job loss and uncertainty

1:42:32 Community as the answer

1:44:49 51st state talk and buying Canadian

1:46:46 Reimagining success

1:49:28 Online friendships: different, not worse

1:50:23 Marketing as an unhappiness machine

1:55:02 Measuring growth instead of happiness

1:56:45 Oligarchs and the French Revolution

1:58:45 Release details and where to find Nige

K-Ski starts solo with Paul — 22 years of guitar and teaching kids at the Roundhouse — before Estea Elements arrives and the episode finds its subject: what it costs to build something in a city that doesn't help you build it.

Estea Elements came from Jersey to Carolina to the Navy to Seattle before landing here. He works in addictions counseling and teaches curriculum through rap, and he is blunt about the crabs-in-a-bucket habit of the Vancouver scene and what a scarcity mindset does to people. The stretch on losing a rap contest to Wise Intelligent in Trenton, meeting Kid N Play and Salt-N-Pepa, and the Fat Boys coming to Vancouver in 1988 is the best oral history the show has recorded.

Then DJ K-Rec, who made a record a year with him — including one made while K-Rec had cancer. K-Rec talks pause tapes, quitting rhyming for engineering, his beat-making routine, and the cold DMs to Sadat X, Kurious and Percee P that actually worked. The email that got them opening for De La Soul at the Commodore is worth the whole segment.

It closes with three live performances and a run of fall show dates.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: solo hosting, guests on the way

1:30 Paul: 22 years of guitar, teaching kids

2:53 Mexico, recharging, and unplugging

3:44 ST Elements arrives: from STL

4:50 Recognized at a White Rock gas station

5:51 Jersey to the Navy to Seattle

7:58 When family isn't impressed

10:16 Brains built for lyrics

11:27 Teaching curriculum through rap

13:36 The crabs-in-a-bucket Vancouver scene

15:14 Scarcity vs abundance mindset

17:42 Getting a batch of K-Rec beats

19:37 Leslie's artwork and record covers

21:00 Meeting K-Rec at the art gallery

23:19 Era of the DJ: Mantronix, Just Ice

25:39 New releases: Slick Rick, De La, Big L

28:58 Blueprint's Vessels

29:51 Langley when there was no industry

31:24 The Surrey b-boy scene

36:39 Battle rap in Surrey: Set the Bar

39:59 Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, late-80s balance

41:07 Losing to Wise Intelligent in Trenton

43:20 The groups Vancouver is missing

45:10 Meeting Kid N Play and Salt-N-Pepa

46:33 Fat Boys '88, BDP '89, cyphers by '94

51:27 Skateboarding and not caring

54:47 The yearly record cycle with K-Rec

57:38 Making a record through K-Rec's cancer

1:00:25 One purpose behind all of it

1:05:00 The Stan Lee method

1:08:21 Islands Cafe release and 50th birthday

1:13:05 DJ K-Rec: pause tapes to engineering

1:15:29 K-Rec's routine and the SP-303 videos

1:20:03 Cold DMs that worked: Sadat X, Kurious

1:26:12 Emailing to open for De La Soul

1:28:15 Langley high school: boombox in a locker

1:33:04 Miami bass and instrumental hip hop

1:34:33 Beyond boom bap: electronic and stems

1:35:54 K-Rec signs off

1:38:11 Paul on Here and Now

1:42:58 Fall dates: Aperture, Fox Cabaret

1:46:32 Performance: 'Idols of the Temple'

1:48:58 Performance: 'It Was All a Dream'

1:52:19 Performance: 'Wake Up Call'

1:54:50 Show dates and the CITR block party

1:56:46 Beats, Blues and Bars: 2019 rehearsals

1:59:49 Shout-outs to partners and support

2:03:53 Closing: merch and where to catch shows

Kavawon hosts solo and gives LaSparka most of two hours. It is the widest-ranging conversation in the catalogue.

The first stretch is a life: discovering hip hop through NWA tapes and border runs in the 80s, Spleen and the Hard Luck Band, the For Love store, and what Love Force actually stands for. Then it goes somewhere most music podcasts don't — religion and politics, going from atheist to believer, God as the motherboard, a Hungarian refugee family and Indigenous teachings, and a manifesto built on free energy and no borders. LaSparka's line about the world having enough for everybody is the one people will quote.

The back half turns competitive. Mike Wiald arrives at 50:15 to explain the rematch, Ellipsis joins at 58:40 — twelve years after their first battle — and the three of them run the entire Rivals card: the draft, the seven-judge panel, the judging horror stories, and DDSS's undefeated run. It ends on Mike Wiald vs Ellipsis and the question underneath it: is a team win worth more than a personal one?

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Kavawon welcomes LaSparka

2:13 Battle rap Mount Rushmore

4:34 80s hip hop: NWA tapes, border runs

5:47 Spleen and the Hard Luck Band

7:53 The old LaSparka Show archives

9:01 For Love store and Love Force Films

10:21 What Love Force stands for

12:35 Religion, politics and man-made books

14:05 From atheist to believer

15:20 God as the motherboard

16:51 Refugee family, Indigenous teachings

19:26 Conspiracy theories and science

21:08 Inside For Love: partners and shows

23:07 How LaSparka got into battle rap

25:33 Where the Love Force name began

27:01 Politics, voting, breaking the system

31:35 The manifesto: free energy, no borders

32:41 DJing plans and Vancouver artists

36:40 Golden eras of Vancouver battle rap

37:53 COVID and the Aldergrove farm

39:21 Family and respecting women

42:48 Solving problems with words

44:28 Battle rappers who make the best music

46:09 Favourite battlers and touring plans

50:15 Mike Wiald arrives: the rematch

54:09 Rivals: the draft and judged battles

58:40 Ellipsis joins: 12 years on

1:01:27 Draft strategy and Billy Shakes

1:05:50 Dysfunctional vs AA Ron, Shine 9

1:16:28 Gobi vs Stevie P: seven judges

1:21:01 Shiva vs Malice, Channel 5 vs Nelson

1:27:57 Judging horror stories, DDSS undefeated

1:34:46 Mike Wiald vs Ellipsis: the legacy

1:39:33 Team win or personal win?

1:44:53 Team merch, shout-outs and closing

Naa Sheka of One Love Retail & Fashion takes the first half. Ghanaian fabrics and Adinkra symbols, launching the brand at 25, two Vancouver Canucks jersey collaborations, and She Got Shea. She explains what her name means, what the racist comments under the Canucks post were actually about, and gives the most direct advice on this show so far for young entrepreneurs: ignore the critics, and start.

The second half is K-Ski and Kavawon on their own material. Trusting your engineer and catching lightning in a bottle, music as a team sport versus an ego-driven track meet, the complementary duos that lasted and the groups that split. Kavawon explains Spy vs Spy — eighteen songs in three months, made largely out of spite — and the Pudfluff battle track he gave away every copy of.

It closes somewhere heavier: passing out at reflexology, diabetes, pharma money, Dr. Sebi, and cures that never seem to arrive.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Welcome: Naa Sheka of One Love

0:48 Roots: 90s hip hop, family, FUBU

2:04 Ghanaian fabrics and Adinkra symbols

4:29 Two Canucks jersey collabs

6:32 She Got Shea and shopping local

8:43 Advice for young entrepreneurs

12:33 The White Rock store and pop-ups

13:37 Next goals: more sports collabs

15:47 Racist comments on the Canucks post

17:43 Ghana trip, HBCU days, fans in her gear

23:39 A signed Clippers jersey gift

26:03 Eagles champs and recording with Def

28:27 Trusting the engineer

32:47 Team sport vs ego-driven track meets

35:52 Duos that work and groups that split

40:08 Spy vs Spy: an album in three months

44:11 The Pudfluff battle track

48:41 Passing out at reflexology

51:37 Switching lanes as an aging artist

53:51 Set the Bar Call Up Season 7

1:01:04 Quarterly cypher episodes

1:04:22 Dr. Sebi and cures that never arrive

1:06:53 Diabetes, pharma money, poison food

1:12:49 Sunset Cypher, DJ Goodspin, closing

K-Ski and Kavawon are back after a month, and this one covers a lot of ground before the guests even arrive — Team USA snubs, the Biden-Kamala switch, Netanyahu at Congress, and a pointed run at double standards and who gets to stay quiet.

Then Nakio, on his upcoming project and the case for engineering yourself. He builds beats from guitar chords before drums, writes with intention, and makes the argument that gives this episode its title: Vancouver has no sonic stamp, and blooming at home is harder than leaving. The state-of-hip-hop stretch — trap glorification, what kids actually consume, Drake vs Kendrick as culture versus corporate — is the strongest part of the episode.

Red Shirt Mike arrives at 50:09 with the card: Spud vs Creative, the rookie battles, and why Set the Bar deliberately has no title belt.

Coleslaw closes it out. The Rupert Common mirror match, beating AA Ron with the ball cap line, slam poetry to her first battle at the Peacock Lounge, the Oakland work ethic, and what it takes to take up space as a woman in battle rap.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: back after a month

2:29 Why artists release for themselves

3:53 Hardbody Dreams and Method Man/Redman

7:06 KRS-One and learning from hip-hop

8:05 Team USA snubs: Jaylen Brown

9:56 The Biden-Kamala switch

12:34 Netanyahu, Brittney Griner, hypocrisy

14:41 Calling out double standards

16:39 Show business: sponsorships and plans

18:10 Preseason football and Troy Vincent

19:29 Guest: Nakio on self-engineering

24:17 Capturing the sound of Vancouver

27:16 Nakio's producers and collaborators

28:54 Guitar chords before drums

30:23 Trap glorification and what kids hear

32:20 Drake vs Kendrick: culture vs corporate

35:48 Why big artists stay quiet

38:52 Vancouver's missing sonic stamp

43:43 School, nutrition, knowledge of self

46:32 Skill Lab Vancouver and coaching kids

48:58 Nakio's shout-outs and release plug

50:09 Red Shirt Mike enters: free Sudan

52:08 Spud vs Creative: comeback stories

56:24 Time limits and Rocky Nelson vs Mike

1:00:19 Fuller, AA Ron, and Pauly Freeze

1:03:41 Rookie battles: Nevaeh and Vito

1:09:49 Why Set the Bar has no title belt

1:16:49 Guest: Coleslaw on the mirror match

1:21:25 Beating AA Ron: the ball cap line

1:23:36 Slam poetry to Coleslaw's first battle

1:25:05 The grind and the Oakland work ethic

1:27:09 Taking up space as a woman

1:29:13 The Billy Shakes storybook

1:33:05 Dream opponents and women in the scene

1:35:53 Comedy, ukulele, and swim lessons

1:37:04 Coleslaw's shout-outs and sign-off

Two halves, two very different conversations.

First, the business of being an artist. Jessaii of Queen Level Productions and industry veteran Deshawn — 25 years in, from church drums to the business side — get into why artist development disappeared and why you now have to do it yourself. Treating yourself as a business, three-month plans, leaving breadcrumbs before a release, why college radio and the Exclaim charts still matter, and the case for promoting your own website instead of the platforms. Deshawn's line on 3,000 subscribers being a career is the one worth writing down.

Then Red Shirt Mike brings the Fully Reloaded card in, and it turns competitive. Mike Wiald and Shine 9 argue their co-main event to each other's faces — who is actually best in Vancouver, who belongs in the top five, storytelling versus overpowering defense, and how many BC names deserve a spot in Canada's top 10.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: tech trouble and the lineup

3:11 Welcoming Jessaii and Deshawn

3:57 Why Queen Level Productions exists

6:13 Upcoming: Calabash and Guilt & Co.

7:35 New single 'You Delight'

9:57 Deshawn's 25 years: drums to business

12:43 Why artist development disappeared

14:28 Work ethic over talent

15:42 A Google search to a consultation

17:43 The task list and three-month plans

20:48 Breadcrumbs and posting with purpose

23:51 College radio and Exclaim charts

25:21 Building a team after injury

26:29 Music as medicine

27:42 Press releases and local media

29:59 Burnout, parenting and music

34:36 Queen Level services

38:01 Promote your website, not the socials

42:48 Monetizing beyond streaming

46:10 Where to find Jessaii and Queen Level

48:51 Red Shirt Mike on Fully Reloaded

52:00 Mike Wiald vs Shine 9: who's best

56:58 Ranking Vancouver's top five

1:03:12 Storytelling vs overpowering defense

1:10:33 Clowning Red Shirt Mike

1:15:23 Canada's top 10: how many BC names?

1:17:17 Raising the standard: honest rankings

1:20:49 Card rundown and Ellipsis vs G-Show

K-Ski sits down with Red Shirt Mike — organiser of BC's Set the Bar battle league — for a two-hour education in competitive rap. 

It starts with the thing casual fans get wrong: battle rap isn't freestyle. From there it runs back through the roots — the dozens, 80s Jersey, Kool Moe Dee vs Busy Bee, the Roxanne Wars, KRS-One vs MC Shan — and into the question that gives this one its title, whether battlers can actually make records.

The middle is Mike's own history: trumpet to online tournaments, his first live battle at King of the Dot Vancouver in 2010, hosting Smoked Out Battles until it fell apart, then launching Set the Bar directly into COVID. How a card actually gets built, how battles get judged, and why a promo run like Hard Body Dreams vs Save the Whales pops off when a straight battle wouldn't.

Channel 5 closes it out with the Cleveland Browns angle he used on Dan's Madigan, the railway qualifier that changed everything, and ten years of BC hip-hop friendships that started at a cypher in Nanaimo.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: no co-host, no engineer

1:32 Battle rap isn't freestyle

3:11 Roots: the dozens and 80s Jersey

5:21 Pauses and comedic timing

6:58 Can battle rappers make good music?

10:18 Kool Moe Dee vs Busy Bee

11:05 Roxanne Wars and KRS-One vs MC Shan

13:04 Competition vs beef

14:42 Winning a hostile crowd mid-battle

16:37 Sonny Bonahoe and shock value

18:40 K-Ski's worst performer habits

23:34 Red Shirt Mike's pet peeves

26:52 Mike's origin: Nas, Immortal Technique

28:57 Running into Shad on Main Street

30:02 From trumpet to online tournaments

31:52 First live battle: King of the Dot

34:36 Smoked Out Battles and how it ended

36:49 Set the Bar launches into COVID

39:55 The stranded finale, the novelty check

41:44 Rebuilding the fan base post-COVID

43:59 Watching battlers grow: Gobi, Creative

45:34 How a card is built

47:37 Why battling earns respect

50:11 Kavawon joins; Shine 9 vs Revron

53:26 Battle at the Bridge and Rent Money

54:45 East vs West: Toronto and Vancouver

59:43 The four-league Canadian summit idea

1:01:08 Could battle rap tour like AND1?

1:06:35 Coleslaw vs Caustic: Cinderella dress

1:09:07 Fully Loaded and 'Fully Reloaded'

1:12:18 Judging battles: Nameless's system

1:16:34 Hard Body Dreams vs Save the Whales

1:21:46 Channel 5 joins the show

1:23:53 Cyphermatic days: Kavawon vs Shakes

1:25:03 Channel 5 vs Dan's Madigan

1:27:07 Street rapper vs studio rapper

1:30:07 Where's the line? Family bars

1:34:01 Props, volume and first round energy

1:36:09 Prepping per opponent

1:38:08 The railway qualifier

1:41:17 How the name Channel 5 came from radio

1:42:35 Kelowna to Nanaimo: the Motton cypher

1:44:13 The cypher's journey across the city

1:46:44 Ten years of BC hip-hop friendships

1:48:23 Busking on Granville

1:51:56 Outro: April 27 at Bully Studios

K-Ski and Kavawon open the 2024 season of Beyond the Lyrics 604 — the Vancouver podcast about the business behind the bars.

This one is a state of the union for independent artists. K-Ski tells the story of the record Clear Channel quietly buried. The pair launch "Breaking Bread," a new segment on the money side of music, and get into follow-through as the artist's Achilles heel, why Northwest talent stays slept on, and the difference between an alley-oop and a track meet when you're building a team.

The second half is unreleased music. Kavawon premieres "Trust the Process," K-Ski plays "Blues of a True Believer" and "Invisible," and the conversation turns to Roc Marciano, the boom bap revival, and the weight words carry — why spelling and casting spells share a root, and what it means to tell your story without glorifying it.

Recorded live at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC. Beats by Ryze Def Beats.

0:00 Mic check — who's in the room

2:28 Mint lemonade, yoga, and the lotus

5:28 What "Join Us In The Struggle" means

6:46 Remembering Uncle Mickey

8:24 What's changing on the show in 2024

9:09 The Katt Williams interview

11:24 The Michael Jackson pivot

14:25 Why K-Ski never signed

15:38 "Breaking Bread" — new business segment

19:31 Follow-through: the Achilles heel

23:32 Collaboration then vs now in the scene

25:38 They'll rob you blind — and silence you

26:58 Homegrown, Teos, and getting low-balled

28:28 2024, the age of collaboration

30:26 Northwest talent that's slept on

32:38 Inspire, Inform, Empower

33:27 Booking his own Portland-to-Van tour

34:50 KUBE 93 and the payola ceiling

36:15 The "almost tier"

37:18 Finding your voice as an artist

38:18 Team roles and the sports analogy

42:39 Alley-oops vs track meets

43:58 The Sphinx, ego, and what outlives you

45:15 Wu-Tang, community, and shared resources

50:15 Segment 2 — unreleased music

57:31 Punchlines, concepts, and learning trap

1:01:44 Music: "Trust the Process" — Kavawon

1:05:03 K-Ski's upcoming releases

1:06:03 Music: "Blues of a True Believer"

1:09:25 Beats, Blues and Bars

1:10:12 Music: "Invisible" — K-Ski

1:13:32 The story behind "Invisible"

1:14:37 Roc Marciano and the boom bap revival

1:15:39 Tell your story — don't glorify it

1:16:41 Casting spells: the weight of words

1:19:35 Drill, Chicago, and the prison pipeline

1:22:35 Who gets called a sucker

1:23:47 Follow the money

1:24:23 Why hip-hop went silent

1:26:04 Why they do this

1:29:03 Just be authentic

1:30:46 Music that feeds the soul

1:33:26 Outro and shout-outs