@donwillmusic rapper, DJ, Webby Award-winning host of Okayplayer's The Almanac of Rap, and one half of Tanya Morgan, sits down with Queue Points to talk about hip hop journalism, the art of staying in your life bag, and what 20+ years of genuine craft actually looks like in practice. From Okayplayer to opening for Michelle Buteau, to a real conversation about Rob Base's legacy and what "one-hit wonder" gets wrong about community artists, this is hip hop journalism doing what it's supposed to do.
The Rundown
- How a pandemic-era Twitch rant about LL Cool J became a Webby Award-winning podcast — Donwill traces the full origin of The Almanac of Rap, including what his earlier shows Book of Rhymes and Bad With Names taught him about the art of the conversation.
- Why he takes a week to research every guest — and what bad interviews cost an artist — Having been on both sides of the mic as a member of Tanya Morgan, Donwill explains what it actually means to respect a guest's time, and why the question just outside the frame is always the most important one in the room.
- "The clip is the whole thing now" — what hip hop journalism is actually losing — Outlets can't compete with Instagram so they've stopped trying to go deeper than it. Donwill breaks down what gets buried when journalism chases the timeline, and why the only honest answer might be to get in your bag and let the rest burn.
- Michelle Buteau told him to rap — what happened when he listened — After years of hiding in plain sight behind the DJ booth, Donwill walked onstage as a rapper in front of a comedy tour crowd and had to figure out how to make boom bap translate in real time. Crowd work, beat switches, and why what he calls his “magic trick” lands every time.
- Rob Base wasn't a one-hit wonder — we just measured him wrong — "One-hit wonder" is a chart metric, not a community metric. Donwill, Sir Daniel, and Jay Ray sit with that reframe in the wake of Rob Base's passing and open up what it means to preserve legacy for artists whose impact lived on dance floors and block parties, not Billboard.
Chapters
00:00 — Hook
00:21 — Intro Theme
00:38 — Welcome to the Show & Guest Introduction
01:49 — Sharing Donwill's Bio
03:44 — Donwill on The Almanac of Rap — Origin Story
06:26 — On Research, Preparation & Respecting Guests
09:30 — From Stage to Mic — What Performing Taught Him About Podcasting
11:08 — The Art of the Just-Outside-the-Frame Question
17:49 — Hip Hop Journalism in the Age of the Clip
20:53 — Artists, Social Media & Just Being Yourself
29:41 — Opening for Michelle Buteau — Adapting to a New Audience
31:21 — Crowd Work, Comedy & the Magic of the Opening Set
39:44 — DJing as Ministry — Why It's His Truest Calling
48:34 — New Music Tuesday & What He's Listening To
51:34 — What Songs Would Donwill & DJ Sir Daniel Drop in a Set?
52:52 — Paying Tribute to Rob Base
54:29 — Rethinking "One-Hit Wonder" — Rob Base & Legacy
58:06 — Bridge Songs & the Generational Power of Hip Hop
59:38 — Where to Find Donwill & Outro
1:01:40 — Outro Theme
Call to Action
Drop your take in the comments: Who's a hip hop artist you'd call a community artist before a chart artist?
Find Donwill:
🎙 The Almanac of Rap - https://qpnt.net/aorshow
📰 Working Creative Weekly Substack - https://link.queuepoints.com/wKvB
📸 @donwill on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/donwill/
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