James Earl Jones is one of the great actors in history. With his recent passing we wanted to make sure we paid our respects and celebrated his life, skills, and contribution to baseball given his roles in Field of Dreams and The Sandlot. Join us and our special guest Jordan Bell making his HCP debut as we celebrate one of the all timers and give hi…

Today we go to Harlem and pay homage to one of the borough's finest. Big L is one of the biggest 'what if' or 'if only' cases in Hip-Hop history as he died tragically at the age of 24. One of the funniest but most cutthroat emcees of all time. Join us as we pay respect to one of the HCP's favorite rappers ever.…

We're paying homage to one of the most important shows/segments in the early stages of Modern Hip-Hop. Rap City and it's most well known host, Darian 'Big Tigger' Morgan helped expand the notoriety of some of rap's giants. Take some time and help us appreciate this incredibly important show, host, and freestyling segment that created iconic moments…

We go back to early 2000s ATL to discuss one of the most unique and high energy groups in modern Hip-Hop. The Ying Yang twins carved their space in the Crunk era and stamped the time with undeniable club bangers. This listen was the maybe the most nostalgic yet. Enjoy as we chop it up and put Kaine and D-Roc's legacy in our scope.…

There's an endless list of 'em....Every rapper today has at least one that seems pre-loaded in their arsenal. In this Pinch Hit, we're talking Adlibs. Here's some of our favorites. Enjoy.Bởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

Our final table setting before we get into the game here. Every few weeks we evaluate a prospect, but in-between those episodes, we wanted to use Pinch Hits to take a look at topics, events, anniversaries, or stories from Hip-Hop & Rap overall. So here's the quick 5 mins answering, what is a pinch hit. Enjoy…

This is the Rosetta Stone of how we built the idea for this podcast. We encourage you to listen to this first so you get the full breakdown of how we took a new approach to talking about music. Enjoy!Bởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

One of the Yay-area's finest; and an emcee whos' style, personality, and lingo are foundational to Hip-Hop. We're leading off our first official season strong with the legend himself; E-40. EnjoyBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

Pro sports have a draft every year...so we had a draft. Let's see who put out the best lineup as we wrap up The Minor Leagues. We appreciate any and all listeners through this unofficial official season 1 of the HCP. We'll be back in Season 2 with podcasting equipment, new prospects, and some new creative ideas for you. But for now, enjoy.…

UGK is the first ever group we evaluated on the HCP so we had to call in back up. Our good friend, southern Hip-Hop savant, and UGK historian Seth Goldman joins us to discuss the immortal Pimp C and Bun B.Bởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

Before the 10 (and counting?) Fast & Furious movies, Ludacris had one of the most interesting visual and sonic styles in Hip-Hop. This listen through was pretty nostalgic and Bill might have had rose tinted glasses on his grades. Let's talk about one of ATL's biggest rappers.Bởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

The final prospect in our Minor League season is the one and only Queen Latifah. Inarguably one of the most important emcees of all time who transcended beyond music into global stardom. Let's dive in and see how she stacks up in our grades.Bởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

One of the west coast's finest. Also, the episode that is probably going to get Bill banished from Oakland because of some of his grades. Forgive him because it's all love. Happy huntingBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

We took some time to correct some mistakes and get a little better at this podcasting thing. Also, I think this is the episode where we officially named the podcast? Look how far we've come. Happy listeningBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

This is the first ever recording of what would become the HitCycle Podcast. Lupe Fiasco is one of the main emcees that inspired hosts Bill and David to start writing their own music. This was before we had podcasting equipment so the audio might sound a little bit rough but we still want y'all to hear us at our very beginning stages. Happy Listenin…

Gucci Mane needs no explanation. Be warned if you re-listen to his catalog. It's a lot of music. But we had a lot of fun talking about his contributions to hip hop. EnjoyBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

MF DOOM is another favorite artist of ours. We weren't going to talk about him originally because we felt his contributions to hip hop speak for themselves but when he passed, we wanted to honor his memory. Rest well DOOM. Thanks for everything you gave us. Happy ListeningBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

Lil Kim is one of the most notable women in hip-hop and so, we had to show our love. This was the HCP's first look into a female emcee. Her music is as great as we remember. EnjoyBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

T-Pain doesn't fit the mold of a traditional emcee but his influence on hip-hop and popular music is undeniable. Naturally, we dove in and had a nostalgic listen through of one of the most interesting and polarizing artists ever. Happy huntingBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld

Slick Rick is maybe the single most influential rapper when it comes to storytelling. He was before our time so we brought in our good friend and hip-hip historian, Shau B to discuss the legendary emcee. We hope you enjoy hearing three voices instead of the usual two this time aroundBởi Bill Farrow & David Grunfeld