Socalled is the moniker of a talented musical mastermind named Josh Dolgin who calls Montreal home. As someone who truly embraces the open-ended and multi-faceted aspects of hip-hop culture, Socalled’s music reflects virtually every kind of noise and genre touchstone that world has yielded to date. His fifth album is a joyous and star-studded but ultimately all Socalled affair called Peoplewatching, it’s out now via Dare to Care Records, and here, Josh and I discuss talking to Socalled, the musical The Season, Seattle pals, asserting himself on Peoplewatching, rapping and joking, hip-hop culture, Off the Hook Radio, conservatism in the production and reception of hip-hop, the weirdly right-wing-y materialistic part of hip-hop that has replaced much of its aspirational bent, rap heroes and being stuck in the 90s, Drake talk, dropping Chilly Gonzales’ name, hearing A Tribe Called Quest when you’re 16 years old, the people of Peoplewatching, Chinese-Indian fusion cooking, the sad story of Amar Singh Chamkila, Katie Moore, Oliver Jones, Fred Wesley is for the people, quoting Genghis Khan, a terrible philosophy, the song “Fire on Hutchison Street,” growing up in Chelsea, Quebec but going to school in Montreal and how Socalled became a musician, the weird assignment of re-fashioning the theme song for the show As It Happens and the CBC listener backlash, getting Moe Koffman’s widow’s blessing, no love in Toronto, never getting covered by Exclaim!, the awesome Socalled band, figuring out which song we want to play right now, the song “Never See You Again,” @peeplewatching on instagram, and then we’re dreamin.’
Related links: socalledmusic.com vishkhanna.com
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