De La Soul x Crack

"My Brother’s A Basehead” is a true story. Posdnous from De La Soul had an older brother who had a crack addiction and it was very damaging for the whole family. For Pos and his parents, crack was literally in the house just as it was in many houses and many families during the crack era. Crack decimated many families and De La Soul made one of the most powerful songs about all that. In this episode we talk about how crack destroyed families and what went into the making of "My Brother’s A Basehead.” We talk to Prince Paul, De La Soul’s producer who’s sometimes called the 4th member of the group. We also talk about a very different song about crack users, Public Enemy’s Night of the Living Baseheads, which looked down on people who used crack while one of the members of PE was a crack addict. PE's producer Hank Shocklee joins us for that.  

 

Guests:

Prince Paul, Producer - De La Soul is Dead

Hank Shocklee, Producer - Public Enemy

Credits:

De La Soul - My Brothers a Basehead

• Writer: Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove, Prince Paul, Maseo, Clint Ballard Jr. & Robby Krieger
• Label: Tommy Boy Records
• Publisher: Tee Girl Music, MCA Music, Shapiro Bernstein & Doors Music Co.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 - The Message 

• Writer: Clifton ‘’Jiggs’’ Chase, Sylvia Robinson, Duke Bootee & Grandmaster Melle Mel
• Label: Sugar Hill Records
• Publisher: Sugar Hill Records

 

De La Soul - Me Myself and I

• Writer: Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove, Prince Paul, Maseo, George Clinton & Philippe Wynne 
• Label: Tommy Boy Records
• Publisher: Birdsong Edwin Music Pub, Bridgeport Music Inc, Daisy Age Music, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Co

 

De La Soul - Potholes on My Lawn

• Writer: P. Huston, K. Mercer, D. Jolicoeur, V. Mason
• Label: Tommy Boy Records
• Publisher: Tommy Boy Music

 

Public Enemy - Night of the Living Baseheads

• Writer: Chuck D, Eric Sadler & Hank Shocklee
• Label: Def Jam Recordings
• Publisher: Def American Songs Inc, Reach Global Songs, Shocklee Music, Songs Of Reach Music, Terrordome Music Publishing Llc, Your Mother S Music Inc

Crack User in the 80’s epic interview, EurointheCut

What is the Drug War? With Jay-Z & Molly Crabapple, Drug Policy Alliance

Lawn Order, 99 Percent Invisible

Toure: Why I Quit, Touré

Speaking Freely: Chuck D, Freedom Forum

Malcolm X’s Fiery Speech Addressing Police Brutality, Smithsonian Channel