The state of hip hop, the eating of 20-foot-long sausages, and the erotic drawings of fictional amphibians… on episode 7 of The Saturday Six Pack

If you missed the last episode of The Saturday Six Pack on Ypsilanti’s AM 1700, you missed one hell of a good time. I don’t want to give too much away, as I think you should listen for yourself, but here are a few of the highlights.

[If you’d like to listen to the episode in its entirety, you can find it on both Soundcloud and iTunes. Or, if you want, you can just scroll down to end of this post, where you’ll find it embedded.]

Our first guest was Brandon Mitchell, better known in hip hop circles as MC Kadence. This is Brandon.

Brandon7

Brandon and I talked, among other things, about philosophy, the history of the local hip hop scene, and the current state of corporate rap, which he defined as “a combination of Idiocracy and old school blackface.” When asked what we could do to push back against these “hyper exaggerations of stereotypes about hip hop culture and black culture” that are being pushed at us, Brandon emphasized the importance of healthy, positive, local scenes, like the one that had he’d come of age within, which was centered around Cross Street Station’s Monday night hip hop shows in Ypsi over a dozen years ago. “Creating more functional local scenes that have the power to draw the people in the lcoal area in,” he said, is how you combat the negativity, and start to facilitate healthy dialogue on issues that really matter. We then listened to the track Encoded Flow, which he recorded not too long ago with Dabrye (Tadd Mullinix). And, from there, we went on to discuss the death of Leonard Nimoy, the importance of science fiction, and the way he approaches songwriting. (He sees his songs “like math problems” that need to be solved.) We talked about implicit bias, systematic discrimination, and the need for “radical change at the community level” brought about not by legislation, but by more face-to-face communication, and trust-building. It was a really incredible conversation, and I look forward to having Brandon back in the studio to pick up where we left off.

Prior to my discussion with Brandon, I talked for a while with Morgan Cox, who was kind enough to supply the beer for this week’s show. (The beer this week was Oddside Ales’ Cirta, and it was delicious.) Morgan, who serves on the board of FLY Children’s Art Center, wanted to tell us about their upcoming fundraiser at Ypsianti’s Wurst Bar, where ten competitors will each be attempting to consumer “20 feet of meat.” Here’s Morgan and the winner of last year’s Wurst Challenge, Jason Youngs, who will be defending his title on Sunday, March 29. (If the name Jason Youngs doesn’t ring a bell, it’s probably because he competes under the name Knifebeard Sausagehawk.)

morganjason

Last year, we raised over $8,000 for FLY at this event, and we’d like to do even more this year. If you’d like to either enter the competition yourself, or back one of the people who has already come forward to throw their hat into the giant-sausage eating ring, click here. And, if you have absolutely no idea whatsoever what I’m talking about, I’d encourage you to read my recap from last year’s historic event, which was covered by the likes of the Washington Post and CNN.

At some point, Colin Moorhouse, the editor of the zine Ypsi Underground, came in to share their new issue, which, like all of the last issues, features a penis prominently on the cover. (This time, it’s the relatively small penis of an Ypsilanti smeet.) Colin explained to us how this issue, which cost $6 a piece to produce, were being sold for $5 each at a local liquor store. And then Collin let us in on a secret. Ypsi Underground, he told us, is produced by a cult, which is led by a man who none of the members have ever met. (He communicates with them by way of speaker phone, like Charlie did with his angles.) Said cult leader, who his followers refer to as Sprout, then called in to tell us, among other things, that he believes his father is Iggy Pop. And, then, for some inexplicable reason, we started talking about a helicopter that, instead of having rotating blades, had giant ejaculating penises that would spin around at an incredible speed, lifting it off the ground… Oh, and Colin says he still visits me in my dreams… Here he is.

colin7

And, at some point, Jim Cherewick, who wrote the theme song for last week’s show, came in with his pens and started drawing everyone in the studio. Here he is, working feverishly. (He drew one of me, but it’s too hideous to share. For some reason, he chose to portray me as George Lucas. He even drew Imperial TIE fighters behind me to drive home the point, lest anyone miss his hurtful intent.)

Cherewick7

Jim and I also talked for quite a bit, about everything from Star Wars to Degrassi Junior High. (By the way, I want to have an entire episode of The Saturday Six Pack dedicated to Degrassi someday soon.) Here’s one of Jim’s drawings.

cherewick7b

And, toward the end of the show, Kyle Kipp, Derek Whitaker and Panda Ypsilanti stopped by to pitch us on the idea of an on-air eating challenge, which we agreed to… So, stay tuned for more about that.

Also, this was our first episode with a roving reporter. We had Chris Sandon on the street, with his cell phone, chasing down stories and looking for breaking news around town. While he didn’t uncover any huge news, he did try to track down a lead given to us there was a guy who looked like Pete Townshend drinking at Powell’s. Chris rushed down to see for himself, but, sadly, wasn’t able to find the man, and spy on him for us. (If you should know of newsworthy things taking place between 6:00 and 8:00 next week, though, give us a call at the studio, and we’ll see if we can dispatch Chris.)

In addition to all of this, we also heard a new song written by infectious disease researcher Dr. Peter Larson in Kenya. And, of course, there were tons of calls from the likes of Pete Townshend, Michael McDonald, a rapping Bill Cosby and others. We also talked about our favorite members of the Who, and sexual positions, with callers. And, at some point, we got a call from the 826michigan Robot Supply Store in Ann Arbor, where people had gathered to listen to The Saturday Six Pack together.

Oh, and there was some occasional faint buzzing this week. We’re sorry about that. We were experiencing an issue with one of the mics. Hopefully it didn’t deter too much from you listening experience.

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE THING:

If you like this episode, check out the past six in our iTunes archive.

[All photos courtesy of AM 1700 staff photographer Kate de Fuccio.]

This entry was posted in Art and Culture, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

9 Comments

  1. Pete Townsend
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 8:10 am | Permalink

    My only regret was not being able to call during the food segment. I ran out of minutes on my Obama phone. I had wonderful song combinations to interrupt people with. Next time….

  2. dot dot dash
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 8:40 am | Permalink

    Your chemistry with Cherewick is good. If you ever decide to have a house band, I think you’ve found the right man to lead it.

  3. site admin
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 9:28 am | Permalink

    It’s just come to our attention that it wasn’t really Bill Cosby who called in to rap about Pokemon.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Z_k50ltkY

  4. Kit
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 9:46 am | Permalink

    Can someone please post a photo of the smeet penis? I’m having a hard time imagining it.

  5. News Tip
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 10:00 am | Permalink

    There’s always interesting stuff going on in Riverside park after dark if you’re looking for somewhere to send your reporter. In a few weeks it won’t be dark at 8:00 though. It’s not as interesting but maybe he could go to the house of the Ann Arbor frat that trashed those condos and ask the brothers some questions.

  6. Charlie's Angel
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 10:43 am | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/Jr6TFhJ

  7. Kyle Kipp
    Posted March 2, 2015 at 11:19 am | Permalink

    Thanks for having us on the show to discuss the potential for this eating challenge. I guarantee it will be entertaining.

  8. Posted March 2, 2015 at 4:09 pm | Permalink

    Naked Smeet found here: https://www.facebook.com/ypsiunderground/photos/a.1556215471275378.1073741829.1543166575913601/1617533788476879/?type=1&theater

    (as opposed to clothed smeet found elsewhere)

  9. Ryan Dawson
    Posted March 3, 2015 at 11:20 am | Permalink

    This was my favorite show yet! Love the format and I could listen to you and Jim Cherewick banter all day. Keep up the good work!

4 Trackbacks

  1. […] Cotera has left the studio, we’ll be having that eating challenge that we talked about in episode seven, during which two grown men will face off over a plate of unappetizing food combinations. (Think […]

  2. […] Ypsi Underground publishes pretty much everything that anyone submits.  If you want to be famous, hit them up.  Send some stuff in.  Get ready for the media storm…  YU has made the news more than once….  http://markmaynard.com/2015/03/the-state-of-hip-hop-culture-the-eating-of-20-foot-long-sausages-and-… […]

  3. […] And, when we’re done talking about independent film, we’ll talk about DIY publishing with Erin Anderson-Ruddon and Katy Shay, who are curating a big zine show at Ypsilanti’s 22 North Gallery. [Doors open at 6:00 PM on Saturday, October 24, and close at 10:00 PM.] And, toward the end of our interview, Im told local publisher Colin Moorhouse may be dropping by to tell us about the new issue of Ypsi Underground. […]

  4. […] Colin Moorhouse forced his way into the studio and demanded that we talk about his magazine Ypsi Underground, which is now apparently underwritten by Materials Unlimited. We brought us to speed on his cult, […]

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