"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
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 - The Message
De La Soul - Me Myself and I
De La Soul - Potholes on My Lawn
Public Enemy - Night of the Living Baseheads
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
