Episode · Hip-Hop · Rising Artist

Diary Of A Project Kid with Kiddo K

Kiddo K, a New Orleans rapper from St. Bernard Parish, shares his origin story: starting music during COVID after quitting high school football, going viral with organic freestyles on Instagram and Snapchat, and eventually signing an independent deal with Platoon Records — a major-label partnership he successfully recouped within three years. He discusses Hurricane Katrina displacing his family to Monroe, Louisiana for 12 years, how music became his emotional diary and stress outlet, and his upcoming 19-track project 'Prime Example.' The conversation also covers his introduction to his manager Josh (through a broken stove and a chance knock on a neighbor's door), Elation writing camps, and his plans to pursue welding and barbering as parallel businesses.

“COVID gave me the time and the space to do what I need to do.”

“It's like a diary but not really, because everybody hearing it — but it's relatable, so they click to it.”

“Music is a passion that you have to turn into money. That's not easy to do, because we don't make good decisions — rap is a lot of charity work involved.”

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19K views

Episode · No Limit · Hip-Hop Artist

Son of the City with Mac Phipps (Part 1)

Mac Phipps (Mack Phillips) traces his path from rapping at age 7, to recording in Manny Fresh's bedroom studio in the Seventh Ward, to signing with Master P's No Limit Records after a single paid verse changed his outlook on the music business. He details how Manny Fresh shaped the New Orleans bounce/club sound, how No Limit's relentless album-release machine worked, and the behind-the-scenes story of his crossover hit 'I Can Tell' — a song he wrote for another artist that became a massive record while he was already in prison, leaving him to discover its impact from corrections officers. The episode ends just as he begins describing the night of February 20th, 2000, that would change his life forever.

“Rap started for me in 1984. I was about 7 years old. By the time I was 9, I think I had figured out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life — and I know that sounds insane, but I was just that stubborn.”

“When I got to No Limit I just became a student. I studied what they were doing, and I thought, okay, now I'm about to take what I do and compress it into this mold — because I'm a company man. If this is what's working, let's roll with it.”

“I was in prison and I had officers come up to me saying, 'I just want to tell you that I made my first child listen to this song.' I had no idea what that stuff was doing on the streets.”

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1.2K views

Episode · Hip-Hop · New Orleans

ZockStar Lifestyle with YDTHEILLEST

YD the Illest, a rapper from the Florida Projects on Congress Street in downtown New Orleans, talks about starting music as a joke with cousins around age 12 — encouraged by an uncle doing 28 years who told him to take it seriously — and grinding his way up to selling out local shows and landing on Rob49's Vulture Island lineup. He recounts doing 13 months in jail and coming home with pent-up creative energy that he unleashed in a nine-hour studio session for his first mixtape, then breaking through with 'Ratchet Shooters.' He also discusses his first Elation writing camp experience, a new collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Cheese Beats, and betting on himself rather than chasing label deals.

“I just really was just joking around, but people always grabbed my attention whether I was joking around — until I got serious with it, and then it just got even more bigger for me.”

“I came home from jail, I went in the studio like nine hours, and made a tape. The inspiration I couldn't get in there — it was all just amping me up to go home and punch the gas.”

“I'm really betting on me right now. I feel like I owe that to them to bet on me.”

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Episode · Cash Money · Hip-Hop Legend

Inside Juvenile's Career: Cash Money Records, Tiny Desk, and New Orleans Culture

Juvenile reflects on reuniting with BG and Turk for touring, the organic brotherhood of early Cash Money studio sessions where 'we made the studio the club,' and his decision to build a live band — sparked by Trombone Shorty and Jon Batiste's encouragement — which led to a celebrated Tiny Desk concert. He speaks candidly about the streaming economy ('artists are getting paid nothing and the record labels are claiming major profits'), his pivot to independent artistry and entrepreneurship through products like Juvie Juice and Elma's chips, and how AI is reshaping music. He also discusses his new label UTP and what he looks for in artists worth signing.

“We made the studio the club. On the nights when everybody went to the club and kicked it with their crew, we brought our crew to the studio with us.”

“I want the fans to hear these songs the way they heard them on the record. They deserve to hear the artist interact with the audience and see if he could really sing them — if he sung them or somebody wrote them for him.”

“Use streaming as your radio station — put out singles, and then make people come to your site to buy the rest of the album. That's really one of the smartest ways to do it.”

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Episode · No Limit · Hip-Hop · Film

Lessons in Success with Silkk the Shocker

Silkk the Shocker discusses leaving New Orleans for Richmond, California, where No Limit discovered that sounding different — 'country' to West Coast ears — was actually an advantage, and that out-working everyone in the studio mattered more than out-rapping them. He opens up about the death of his brother Kevin, set up and shot by his own best friend, and how that moment made death real to him for the first time. The conversation covers his Black Belt in martial arts, his films including 'I Got the Hook Up' and the Hot Boys movie, his intentionally 'off-beat' rap style (designed to make people talk), and the mutual respect between No Limit and Cash Money that kept competition healthy rather than violent.

“We wasn't trying to outdo them, we was just trying to outthink them. If you outthink them — that's how I kind of live life right now.”

“What separated us was the ability to not out-rap everybody. If the music sounds good and the bass is good, they gonna buy your stuff.”

“I think I'm one of the best writers in the world, but I don't write that much — and when I do write, I'm definitely way up there.”

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398 views

Episode · No Limit · Wrongful Conviction

Son of the City with Mac Phipps (Part 2)

In Part 2, Mac Phipps gives a detailed account of the February 2000 club shooting in Slidell, Louisiana that led to his wrongful conviction — he pulled his legally owned firearm after hearing a gunshot, was trying to protect his mother at the door, and was later charged with second-degree murder based on a theory of a phantom weapon that was never found. He explains how lying about having a gun initially (to avoid the unlicensed-carry charge) destroyed his credibility, how the actual shooter came forward within 10 days only to be disbelieved, and how 21 years of imprisonment followed. The episode also probes the broader pattern of No Limit artists being targeted by law enforcement and the subsequent convictions of the very sheriff and district attorney who prosecuted his case.

“I firmly believe that somewhere within the first 48 hours of that investigation, those detectives realized they had the wrong person. But I think to save face — because we're not talking about Li'l JoJo from down the street, we're talking about a Master P artist — they basically did everything they could to tie me to whatever it was they found.”

“They used my songs against me in court because they didn't have anything else. They didn't have a weapon, they didn't have a credible witness — so they said, 'He makes songs about X, Y, and Z, so that's a true reflection of his character.' I'm like, this is music.”

“The sheriff who spearheaded the investigation is in prison right now for molestation and incest and rape that dated way back to the '70s. So you can pretty much say everybody that convicted me is more of a criminal than I am.”

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Episode · Music Business · Producer

Music Business with Tim Bullock

Detroit-raised Tim Bullock (known as 'Bose') recounts a career that started playing drums in his pastor father's church at age 11, scaled to co-writing Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' as part of The Outsiders (taking it from No. 96 to No. 1 before he was 21), and then rubbing shoulders with Max Martin, Dr. Luke, and Timbaland in LA — all while a $14 million publishing deal was being signed without his full understanding. He reflects on the lessons of that naïveté, the founding of the original Elation studio in Burbank, the loss of studio partner Malcolm Tariq, and how that loss prompted him to partner with the host to build the current Elation Entertainment in New Orleans.

“We made the number one record in the world in a basement. We weren't even in a real studio.”

“A lot of contracts were flying by and nobody was telling you what you were signing. You were excited about the couple hundred thousand in your account, and you realize — wait, what? There was a 14 million dollar publishing deal done under everybody's noses.”

“Show me one top scorer who hasn't missed a lot of shots. The losses aren't losses — just lessons.”

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345 views

Episode · Producer · Cash Money Era

Producing in the Early Days of New Orleans Hip-Hop with Don Bartholomew

Don Bartholomew, son of legendary New Orleans musician and producer Dave Bartholomew, tells how he taught himself production on a $17,000 check from his father, built a studio in Central City that became the first professional recording home for BG, Lil Wayne, UNLV, and all of early Cash Money Records. He describes being the first person to record Lil Wayne professionally — 'Baby used to sit in the studio and say, see that little dude right there, that little dude the one' — and how Baby and Slim called him daily to book time as they built their empire. He also honors his father's legacy of championing New Orleans music globally and discusses his current projects as CEO of Banging World.

“Baby used to always tell me — he used to be sitting in the studio and say, 'See that little dude right there? That little dude the one. Telling y'all, everybody in here, that little dude there special.'”

“I was the first person that recorded all these cats professionally. I'm like, that's crazy — BG first, Lil Wayne first. I didn't even know that until a couple of years ago.”

“I just spent two and a half, three years by myself, just teaching myself how to do all that — not depending on somebody else. I didn't want to depend on people no more.”

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337 views

Episode · R&B · New Orleans · Marketing

Music & Marketing with Booqoo

Booqoo, a new New Orleans-area artist originally from Marrero on the Westbank, shares how losing her father to suicide at age 12 pushed her into art, music, and performance as a creative outlet, and how a sheltered upbringing left her experiencing New Orleans as if for the first time as an adult. She explains how a background in marketing — including running B2B campaigns for 25+ franchise restaurants at 22 — informs how she promotes herself and her music. The conversation covers her debut self-produced 11-track project 'Deeper,' a recent impromptu meeting with Drake in New Orleans that turned into a breakthrough industry moment, and her dream of performing at Coachella with a full drone show.

“I started making music because I was just really, really sad. I was like, go back to something that you love when you were a kid — and I was like, I loved music so much. Maybe I can help somebody else along the way, but in all honesty I was just making it for myself at first.”

“Everything feels brand new to me again. I think that's the one thing out of me being very sheltered — I got to experience a perspective of the world as an adult with fresh eyes.”

“Opportunities are in like a 10-minute window — you don't know. You have to move fast.”

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257 views

Episode · Bounce · New Orleans

King of Bounce with Ha Sizzle (Part 1)

Ha Sizzle, celebrating 20 years as an artist, explains that Bounce music is not a genre but an attitude and energy that can ride any style — country, rock, funk, gospel — and makes the case that hip-hop is missing exactly that voice. He traces his origin from the Calio Projects to New Orleans East, how his signature sound came from the school band (the director told everyone to hum their parts, and he kept going), how his hit 'Get You Some' was born during a pandemic livestream and grew into a full product line, and how his grandfather gave him his name and his church upbringing gave him his preacher-like stage presence. The episode also covers wide-ranging conversations on race, politics, the Constitution, and the music industry.

“Bounce music is not just bounce music. It's an artist that has a style — and it's an art that I can put my voice to any type of music. You name it: country, rock, funk, gospel. It's an attitude, it's an energy, it's a vibe.”

“I can't complain because nobody ain't gonna listen.”

“Songs like that don't die. 'Get You Some' is still one of the most played songs at the Pelicans games — Mama MX told me this is like 'Back That Azz Up,' something that's going to always be there.”

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Where New Orleans music tells its own story

The conversations people keep coming back to

Diary Of A Project Kid with Kiddo K

Son of the City with Mac Phipps (Part 1)

ZockStar Lifestyle with YDTHEILLEST

Inside Juvenile's Career: Cash Money Records, Tiny Desk, and New Orleans Culture

Lessons in Success with Silkk the Shocker

Son of the City with Mac Phipps (Part 2)

Music Business with Tim Bullock

Producing in the Early Days of New Orleans Hip-Hop with Don Bartholomew

Music & Marketing with Booqoo

King of Bounce with Ha Sizzle (Part 1)

Make your next record at Elation

Dolby Atmos Mixing in New Orleans: Why Spatial Audio Matters for Your Music

What is Dolby Atmos, exactly?

Why it matters for your release

Mix Atmos at Elation

How to Book Studio Time at a New Orleans Recording Studio (24/7 Access Explained)

Two ways to record at Elation

What's inside

How booking works

Got a story worth telling?