“Rap Diego,” a new 12-episode podcast by KPBS, shares the history of San Diego’s underground rap movement that would spring countless musical acts and create a subculture that would eventually become mainstream and influential on music and people around the world. The first three episodes are available on October 4, 2024 at kpbs.org/rapdiego.
Featured throughout “Rap Diego” are three people who were in the middle of the cultural maelstrom for years: singer, songwriter, and producer Parker Edison; singer, songwriter, and producer Chris Reyes; and writer, producer, and cultural attaché J. Smith.
Parker Edison, who is the podcast’s host and producer, plays shows all over the country and has had many conversations about where San Diego sits in the world of rap and why. These conversations were thrown into overdrive as a bounty of rap lists, interviews and celebrations rolled out in 2023 for the 50th anniversary of rap.
Parker believes some places have something about their contribution to rap that makes them unique and San Diego is one of those cities.
“‘Rap Diego” spells out those reasons over the 12 episodes, taking listeners deep into the history, the culture, the lyrics and creativity. Audiences will be able to hear early music and performances never-before heard by the general public, or certainly not heard for many, many years.
“‘Rap Diego’ is about the culture and creativity flowing throughout San Diego from within the local music scene. I hope listeners have an ‘aha!’ moment, where something that didn’t make sense before comes together in their mind and a music mystery gets solved,” says Parker Edison.
Told in four acts, Rap Diego will release three episodes each week covering a decade:
1980s (Episodes 1-3) - Available 10/4/24
1990s (Episodes 4-6) - Available 10/11/24
2000s (Episodes 7-9) - Available 10/18/24
2010s (Episodes 10-12) - Available 10/25/24
In addition to the podcast episodes, there are three videos with additional content not featured in the podcast; and two behind-the-scenes short films about beat machines and fashion.
A Spotify playlist has been curated with songs featured in “Rap Diego.”
Episodes are available on kpbs.org/rapdiego and podcast apps.
Media Contact:
Heather Milne Barger
hmilne@kpbs.org
