Lost Notes: 1980 - Ep. 2: The Sugarhill Gang

In May of 1980, Joy Division lost its lead singer, Ian Curtis. The band decided that they would carry on with a different name. From the cutting room floor, a song with Ian Curtis haphazardly slurring the words he’d written became the first single for a decade-defining band. New ...  Show more

Punk singer Darby Crash dreamed of immortality. The single full-length Germs album was to become a holy grail of music history, and his passing might’ve made him a legend, but Darby Crash died on December 7th, 1980. By the time the news of his death began to circulate, it was wel ...  Show more

Join Steve for the incredible inside story behind the song that launched hip hop on its course towards world domination. It's a tale tainted by scandal: accusations of organized crime, plagiarism and betrayal. And it's told by the artists who lived it: early South Bronx innovator ...  Show more

Drug wars, recessions and record violence in the 1980s had US cities in crisis. Hip hop artists responded by shifting from party music to a new style called "conscious rap." Artists like Public Enemy and Digable Planets championed a sound that was political, community-minded and ...  Show more

Season 15 of The Opus, presented by the Consequence Podcast Network and Sony, travels back to the Southern California in ...

Back in the late 80s gangsta rap was booming. But three kids from Long Island emerged to spread a message of peace, love, and unity. Those three kids -- Posdnuos, Maseo, and Trugoy the Dove -- were De La Soul and together they broadened the perception of hip hop: They made it fun ...  Show more