IDK Dissects 'Even The Devil Smiles' (My Favorite Album of 2026 So Far)

Our season-long dissection of Daft Punk begins now! In episode one, we trace Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s origins in Paris - from their rock band Darlin’ to their discovery of electronic music and first single “The New Wave.” Then we break down their breakthrough track “Da Funk,” revealing what it shares with Beethoven’s most famous symphony and how to build its iconic synth sound from scratch. Follow @dissectpodcast on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Twitter⁠, or ⁠TikTok⁠. Host: Cole Cuchna Video Editor: Kevin Pooler Additional Editing: Iulia Ciobanu Additional Production: Justin Sayles Theme Music: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dissect Season 14 begins Tuesday, March 17 on Spotify, Netflix, or wherever you're listening. Today, Cole reveals the artist being dissected and details the many reasons why this season is unique.Listen to Cole’s Daft Punk 101 playlist.Host: Cole CuchnaProducer: Justin SaylesEditor: Iulia CiobanuTheme: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IDK joins Cole for a track-by-track breakdown of his mixtape 'Even The Devil Smiles.' He discusses how his time in prison inspired the project, how he secured posthumous features from DMX and MF DOOM, and why respecting hip-hop as an art form is so important. Listen to ⁠Even The Devil Smiles⁠ on Spotify. Host: Cole Cuchna Guest: IDK Editors: Iulia Ciobanu & Kevin Pooler Engineer: Sarah Reddy Additional Production: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A five-year wait and a double-disc finale set high stakes. Cole Cuchna and Charles Holmes ask: Did Baby Keem and J. Cole deliver? Dissect Season 14 is just around the corner! Follow ⁠@dissectpodcast on Instagram⁠ for an official announcement coming very soon. Host: Cole Cuchna Guest: Charles Holmes Producer: Justin Sayles Editor: Kevin Pooler Engineer: Sarah Reddy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J.I.D. and Dissect's Cole Cuchna to break down his Grammy-nominated album God Does Like Ugly. 00:00 Cold Open / Intro 01:45 Album Title Breakdown 05:35 "YouUgly" Breakdown 17:23 "Glory" Breakdown 25:29 "Wrk" Breakdown 31:00 "Community" Breakdown 41:22 "Gz" Breakdown 46:39 Melodic Section of "GDLU" 51:03 "On McAfee" Breakdown 54:51 "Of Blue" Breakdown 01:00:50 "K-Word" Breakdown 01:04:05 What's the message of GLDU? 01:05:18 JID Says Next Project his BEST - Host: Cole Cuchna Guest: J.I.D. Editor: Kevin Pooler Engineer: Jon Jones Producer: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dissect's Cole Cuchna is joined by friends Camden Ostrander and Margeaux Labat to discuss their favorite music of 2025, including... Favorite Musical Moments (04:09) Favorite "Underground" Albums (13:09) Favorite Albums of the Year (31:20) Favorite Songs of the Year (1:13:05) You can listen to a playlist of their picks ⁠here⁠. - Host: Cole Cuchna Guests: Camden Ostrander, Margeaux Labat Audio/Video Editor: Kevin Pooler Additional Production: Justin Sayles Theme Music: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The LSS crew is back with a year-end draft to celebrate the quarter-century mark in music. Cole, Charles, and Justin draft songs across five different categories: Best Song, Worst Song, One-Hit Wonder, Moment Maker, and Personal Favorite. Who won the draft? Hit the comments and let us know. Hosts: Cole Cuchna and Charles Holmes Producer: Justin Sayles Video Producer: Kevin Pooler Engineer: Kayla Talley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clipse’s Let God Sort ’Em Out is Dissect’s pick for Best Rap Album of 2025. In this episode, we break down 10 of the most mind-blowing bars from the project, line by line, decoding the layers of wordplay, cultural references, and religious symbolism that make this album so lyrically dense. 🎵 Chapters 00:00 Pusha T, “So Be It” 01:40 Malice, “Ace Trumpets” 04:25 Pusha T, “Ace Trumpets” 07:14 Malice, “M.T.B.T.T.F.” 09:29 Pusha T, “P.O.V.” 11:42 Pharrell, “So Be It” Sample Breakdown 14:01 Pusha T, “Chains & Whips” 15:42 Stove God Cooks, “F.I.C.O.” 16:51 Push & Malice, "FICO"  19:40 Malice, “So Far Ahead” 21:44 Malice, “Birds Don’t Sing” 💬 Subscribe for more breakdowns of hip-hop’s greatest writers - from Kendrick Lamar to Tyler, The Creator, and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Rakim to Kendrick Lamar, this is the story of hip-hop’s obsession with numbers. Dissect's Cole Cuchna breaks down the evolution of “number bars” - a lyrical tradition where rappers use math, numeric sequences, and wordplay to showcase technical skill and encode hidden meaning. Beginning with Rakim’s groundbreaking verse on “My Melody” (1986) - a quatrain built around groups of seven that secretly mirrors his own 21-letter name - we trace how MCs have used numbers as both a mathematical signature and a symbolic device for decades. From Melle Mel’s divine 7-count in “Superrappin” to Jay-Z’s “22 Twos”, Biggie’s “Ten Crack Commandments,” and Mos Def’s “Mathematics,” numbers became an essential part of hip hop tradition and lyricism. By the 2000s, artists like Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, JID, Vince Staples, and Kendrick Lamar transformed number schemes into complex storytelling tools. We unpack everything from Lupe’s hidden 3–2–1 countdown on Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky” to Kendrick’s quantum-level equations on “Nosetalgia.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this emergency episode, Cole shares his initial thoughts on Rosalia's new album LUX, plus provides a brief breakdown of the album's four movements, and shares how its beginning and end connect thematically and narratively. How are you feeling about LUX? Comment below. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices