Episode 28: The Geography of Hip-Hop (Ya Don't Stop)

We ain't no joke.

Don't you ever wonder why half of the hip-hop songs begin with some dude loudly bellowing out a place name? "Brooklyn!" "North Carolina! Put yo hands up!" Well, when we're talking about popular musical forms firmly rooted in place, there is no better place to go than the deep, storied, and cartoonishly commercialized world of hip-hop.

 

 It grew, pretty categorically, out of the Bronx in the late 60's and early 70's and took all of two decades to basically own the popular music landscape, so who's to say that place doesn't matter when you've got (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) MCs and one DJ (or two)? Many of us grew up fondly(?) remembering an era when they loudly bragged about shooting each other, depending on which coast they were from.

If any of you ever meet Ice Cube or Dr. Dre, $100 to whomever shows them this photo.

 
This week, our buddy Fernando joins us to talk about the ever-changing geographical face of hip-hop, the genre that constantly battles (verbally and metaphorically) over authenticity, representation, and in the case of Lil Jon, DRAAAAANK! WHAT! And you best believe we freestyle here, too. By "freestyle" I mean go off on tangents about hip-hop coming from all over the world, our own experiences getting into it over the years, and drawing the ideological parallels between hip-hop and punk music. This was a fun time.




Produced by Tyler S. for Sonic Geography
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Featured:
Mos Def - "Hip Hop"
Bliss n Eso - "Eye of the Storm"
Jurassic 5 - "Improvise"
Atmosphere - "Get Fly"
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars - "Young, Wild, and Free"

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* I should comment that we somehow got through an entire hour without discussing Public Enemy, Common, or Wu-Tang Clan. For this, we wholeheartedly apologize and hope that this doesn't deter you from listening to our next episode on the Geography of the American Civil War. We won't leave out Josh Chamberlain! Dude was badass!

The Casual Geographer Episodes 26 and 27!

What's that? 2 New Episodes in one post? The hell you say!

Well, the two episodes make up for the definitive lack of graphics or fanfare. We apologize for not updating this blog recently, but as the crow flies, we need to change our hosting plan, and sort out the iTunes situation. For now, though, we are excited to post the new episodes right here. Spread the love/RSS and we'll be back with you soon.

Episode 26: Bret's Journey to Japan and Korea


While Tyler was lame and remained stateside over the holiday break, Bret took matters and transpacific flights into his own hands and went to Tokyo, Suwon, and Seoul. What happened? Well, listen here to find out, kids.



Episode 27: LA's Ethnic Enclaves

So, Tyler and Bret still have a lot of work and research to do, but in their time bouncing all over the LA region, they've spent quality time in enclaves brought to you by various tempers of immigration. We're talking Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, Chinatown, and various others. Hear them babble about them here, and then go eat some delicious Kefta and listen to System of a Down.




Produced by Tyler S. for Sonic Geography
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan

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Presenting Episode 20: Human Trafficking (with My Refuge House)

One of the greatest things about Geography is that many people in this community are working day in and day out to help us understand the world better and fight many of the injustices sweltering in what seems like every corner of the globe. As Tyler mentions at the top of this episode, we here at The Casual Geographer make light of a lot of things. Some issues, however, are so ingrained and tragic, that we need to step down off our goofy soapbox and onto a more serious one. One of those issues is Human Trafficking.

Cebu City, Epicenter of Human Trafficking

Like it or not, every country in the world is affected by sexual (and other types of) slavery, including our own. Some countries, like the Philippines, are so ridden with human trafficking that people around the globe are bonding together to ease the pain a little. Enter My Refuge House and our guest for this episode, Crystal Sprague.

Crystal, a veteran of international service work in the South Pacific, was appointed Executive Director of My Refuge House last year, in large part due to our good friend and My Refuge House volunteer (Diver) Dennis, who blesses us with his presence yet again at the beginning of this episode!

We learned a lot from Crystal about the ins and outs, the unfortunate cultural imprints, and ways in which groups like My Refuge House are fighting human trafficking halfway across the globe. As we mention toward the end of the episode, keep this organization in mind as the holiday charity-giving season approaches! And listen to this episode below, Listen right here, or download that 'cast on iTunes!



Join us this Thursday for a special spooooky Halloween episode about the Geography of DEATH. (ooooOOOooooo)

Produced by Tyler S. for TDC Productions
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Included:
Moscow Olympics - "What Is Left Unsaid"
The Parasites - "Refuge"
The Siamese Twins - "Don't Forgive Lightly"
Mumford & Sons - "The Cave"

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Episode 11 Posted - HAWAI'I

Hey, Casually Geographically-minded people, We hope that your weekend was casual and awesome. Ours was more of the latter than the former, we took a road trip up to Davis for the 66th Annual California Geographical Society Conference. What a good time! And of course we brought along our equipment and did a few interviews with approximately 1/115th of the Geographers in attendance, which was all we really had time or resources for. But make sure to tune in Tuesday morning! This also (kind of) excuses our tardiness in posting last week's episode on the blog, as we will do starting... now:

This (last) week, we did an episode about the former Island Nation, now United State, Hawaii (which some may spell and pronounce Hawai'i, correctly I suppose). Our good friend Mystyn, a veteran of life on Hawaii's big island (commonly known as...Hawaii) came on board and shared some of her memories, perspectives, and unique experience of life in and around the city of Hilo.

Per usual, we wove some Hawai'ian-centric tunes in, and we took a good look at US's best state that's also an archipelago (by far). We hope that you enjoy it! And while we went the entire episode without saying it, I will write it now, with our best wishes: Aloha.
Listen right here or on itunes! Boom.

Produced by Tyler S. for TDC Productions
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Included:
Belle & Sebastian - "Judy and the Dream of Horses"
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Cringer - "If I Had your Pen"
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Clip from Final Performance

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The Casual Geographer are teaming up with various geographers at Cal State to bring an awesome comedy show/benefit to Downtown Long Beach on May 3rd! Check out the fb event here, mark your calendar, and pass it around.

New Episode Posted, and Big Benefit Show Coming Soon

Hey, there. We know you're probably thinking about going away this summer or during whatever pockets of it you can escape from amidst the drudgery of your day job or whatever it is that helps you contribute to society. I mean, who wouldn't? Granted, with the economy the way it is now (as in, nobody has the kind of pocket change to get themselves overseas), many people are planning stuff closer to home and domestic.

No matter where you go, though, you have to remember to check for deals early and book early. And no matter who you are going to wherever you're going, mistakes always happen. It's amazing how many little variables we can overlook when trying to save money and trying to make the most out of our spring/summer trips.

That's where Bret and Tyler come in. Two seasoned travelers with more bizarre stories from around the world than could be crammed into one 55-minute episode, they are here to share their own advice for how to best expect the unexpected while you're globetrotting. Because they love you and don't want to have to fly to a Costa Rican prison to come bail you out again.

Enjoy the episode, the intermittent tunes mixed in, and if you do travel soon, remember to pack a towel. They forgot that universal bit of wisdom from Hitchhiker's Guide in this episode. Listen in and look for other mistakes yourself, right here, or on iTunes.



Produced by Tyler S. for TDC Productions
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Included:
The Arcade Fire - "Neighborhoods #1 (Tunnels)"
Neutral Milk Hotel - "Holland, 1945"
Various works by Artie Shaw

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IN OTHER NEWS, The Casual Geographer are teaming up with various geographers at Cal State to bring an awesome comedy show/benefit to Long Beach on May 3rd! Flyer coming to this site soon, but for now, check out the fb event here, mark your calendar, and feel free to pass it around.

Episode 8: The Geography of Geographer and the Bay Area

Hey, casual (and probably some) serious listeners of the Casual (and somewhat serious) Geographer. This week's episode was special for a number of reasons, the main one being, of course, an appearance by the up-and-coming Bay Area indie rockers Geographer. We couldn't not interview a band with that name. Anyway, they ventured down the Cali Coast on tour with Miniature Tigers and took some time to chat about their name (of course), some tour stories, and how one of them grew up outside of Tokyo and still speaks pretty solid Japanese! You have to listen to find out which one. Though, there are only three of them, so it shouldn't take too long to guess.

It was awesome getting the trio on board, since by the time they hit the stage at the Troubador on Sunday night, the second band on a bill of four, the crowd was already at full capacity and going crazy in anticipation of their set. With lovable indie-pop jams like "Verona" and "Kites" and their new album Myth selling as well as it has been, it shouldn't be long before these dudes are playing to packed houses of pogo-ing fans all over.

In another fortunate turn for this week, the interview with Geographer inspired us to take on The Bay Area as our topic. It's practically impossible to visit San Francisco and not love it (or at least return from there to your less-utopian place of residence without interesting stories about it). We hope you enjoy hearing us go on about the City by the Bay and wondering just why it is the way it is. At least, maybe it will help you better understand why Tony Bennett left his heart there.

Listen right here, or get it on iTunes.



Produced by Tyler S. for TDC Productions
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Included:
American Music Club - "All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco"
Red House Painters - "Mistress"
Geographer - "Verona", "Each Others' Ghosts," & "Kaleidoscope"
Moby Grape - "Hey Grandma"
Thee Oh Sees - "Block of Ice"
Jawbreaker - "Accident Prone"

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Episode One Posted! The Obligatory Scattershot Pilot

Hey, the Casual Geographer himself was so excited he needed to repowder his wig, and he told me to make the announcement. Ladies and Gentlemen, the wait is over. Episode one of The Casual Geographer has now been posted. Join Bret, Abel, and Tyler as we introduce ourselves and attempt to explain why we're doing this. Listen here:



We'll be hitting iTunes and KBeach Radio in Long Beach very soon. It's going to keep getting better, we promise.

Some details:
Produced by Tyler
Theme Song by the Dismemberment Plan
Misc. Music by Mike Watt and the band of Nothing
Comedy Clip by Kumail Nanjiani