Superior (Episode 118, S10)

A decade on from their critically acclaimed album The Easy Truth (Mello Music Group), Detroit producer Apollo Brown and Brooklyn emcee Skyzoo reflect on the making of their latest album, Luxury Tax, and the costs, challenges and rewards of building lasting careers as independent artists.

Germany-based producer Superior joins us on the latest episode of The Fly Fidelity Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about his evolution as a producer, his humble beginnings, working with underground heavyweights such as Etto, Che Noir, and Estee Nack, and his highly anticipated album with Let The Dirt Say Amen, The Saint, The Servant, The Sinner. Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms

This week on the program, Chuck Strangers joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about the making of Glory of the King’s Hand and the evolution of his creative process. Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms

This week, we're joined by Reason to discuss his latest project, "Moving Towards Love", the second installment in his ongoing series inspired by colours. Known for his introspective lyricism and emotionally resonant storytelling, the former TDE rapper pulls back the curtain on his creative process and the personal experiences that shaped one of his most vulnerable and fully realised bodies of work to date in a wide ranging conversation spanning music, growth, and the journey behind the album. Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms

This week we're joined by Harlem's own Errol Holden, one of hip hop's most quietly consequential and compelling voices in contemporary rap. From navigating the streets to emerging as a one-of-one artistic force, we chop it up about the path that led him to hip hop and the experiences that have shaped a body of work defined by introspection, sharp observation, and a stream-of-consciousness approach. We also discuss his latest project, Supreme Magnetic 2, and revisit several key releases from his catalogue that chart his artistic evolution and growing ambitions as an artist. Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms

Teller Bank$ has had a unique career, moving between a wide range of projects and key artistic turning points. From his beginnings as a producer to establishing himself as one of the most proficient rappers in contemporary rap, a chance collaboration last year with the Philadelphia production collective $$$ has reshaped his vision, bringing new energy to his creative ambitions. Now, Teller has released what he calls his breakthrough album, stepping outside his usual writing process in favor of a cinematic narrative that blends fiction with autobiographical truth On this week's episode, we're joined by Teller Bank$ and $$$ (namely, Q, Philth Spector and Killer Kane) to talk about their journey from "Drug $" to "Hate Island" and the evolution that shaped them into a seven-piece—sometimes ten-piece—regional “trunk jazz” collective. We also discuss the narrative thread running throughout the album, how a theatrical lens informed the album’s concept and deepened the emotional weight of the vocals, Teller's intention to create value and connect with listeners through the project’s multi-layered lyrics, and the group’s evolving workflow as a production unit. All of this and more on this week's episode of The Fly Fidelity Podcast! Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms.

Lyricist and lecturer Cappo joins Plague Records founder Danny Boyes for an illuminating deep dive into CAPstone and the creative journey behind its making—from its origins as a fearless trilogy of ambitious, emotionally charged projects to its evolution into a truly post-digital artefact that has rewritten and re-evaluated the blueprint for contemporary rap album rollouts. Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms.

As Dreamville’s in-house mixing engineer, Juro “MEZ” Davis has been a creative force behind some of the label’s most defining moments, including much of J Cole’s discography—most notably Born Sinner, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only, The Off-Season, and more recently The Fall Off. Davis joined us for an in-depth conversation about the evolution of his career and creative workflow—from being mentored by MF GRIMM and mixing for Monsta Island Czars (M.I.C.) early in his journey to helping shape Dreamville’s sonic identity. He also discusses using J. Cole’s “Wet Dreamz” and “Can’t Get Enough” as sonic benchmarks to guide mixing decisions, his work on fan favourites such as The Come Up and Friday Night Lights, the life-changing trajectory of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and the varying stages The Fall Off went through from conception to completion. Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/FlyFidelity, where members can access a range of monthly benefits including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. You can also support the show by leaving a review, subscribing, and sharing the podcast across platforms.

In the 30 years since releasing his acclaimed debut album 'Soul On Ice', Ras Kass has unapologetically blazed his own unique career path and shaped a journey driven by uncompromising lyrics, resilience over trends and political resistance. Hailing from Watts and making waves on Sway and King Tech's The Wake Up Show, he's back with a new project called "Leopard Eats Face"—a self described victory lap and celebration of where he is today professionally and personally. In this episode, we chopped it up with the water-proof MC about creating a project he'd love as a fan,finding joy in the creative process, his memories of working with the late great Safiir, and hip hop's obsession with celebrating inferior artists. All of this and much more! Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting our podcast on Patreon, where members can access a range of monthly benefits, including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. Additional support can also be shown by leaving us a review, subscribing to and sharing the podcast on available platforms.

Apollo Brown and TY Farris reflect on the pivotal moments that shaped their creative partnership and long-awaited album Run Toward The Monster, from its inception through sequencing and the creative process, to the ideas and intentions that define the project—all contributing to the unmistakable clarity of their survivalist signature sound. In this intimate conversation, they offer insights into the album and standout tracks such as “Beautiful Struggle”, “Sacred,” “Ctrl Alt Delete,” and “Street Patriots,” providing a front-row view of their unique creative journeys and one of our favorite releases of 2025. About this week's edit: The original recording with Apollo Brown was unfortunately affected by low band-width causing choppy audio for short and staggered periods throughout our interview. Despite extensive efforts to reduce and remove the moments affected during the editing process, a minimal number of instances remain. Produced by: D. Lewis and L. Bailey for Fly Fidelity Media Art direction: Mango Shark Contact: [email protected] Support The Fly Fidelity Podcast: Please consider supporting our podcast on Patreon, where members can access a range of monthly benefits, including early access to episodes, bonus content, and an exclusive members-only podcast. Additional support can also be shown by leaving us a review, subscribing to and sharing the podcast on available platforms.