If you'd like to see full video of this and other episodes, join the Reel Notes Patreon at the Homie ($5/month) tier or higher. Each episode is also available to buy individually for $5 (BUY IT THROUGH A WEB BROWSER OR THE PATREON ANDROID APP, NOT VIA THE PATREON iOS APP. YOU'LL GET CHARGED EXTRA MONEY AND IT WILL TAKE LONGER TO PROCESS.) You also get early access to episodes, an invite to our Discord server, access to the Reel Talk movie night archives, and more!

My guest this week is Brooklyn-via-Jersey City rapper-producer Merkeba. We spoke about Hard Boiled and the works of John Woo, the art of making food, Elmo in Grouchland, growing up between JC and Atlanta, how his love for spoken word poetry and film led him to rap, performing pain in music, and the creative process behind his debut EP Mandolin and his debut album a Metal Snake. Come fuck with us.

Mandolin and a Metal Snake are available wherever music is sold, streamed, or stolen. Consider copping both off of Merkeba's Bandcamp. Follow Merkeba on Instagram (@merkeba_) and Twitter (@merkeba201)

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon.

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with American immigrants against ICE and the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, The Palestinian Youth Movement, The Zakat Foundation, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti. Protest, fight back, and fuck the system.

Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), TikTok (@cinemasai), Letterboxd (@CineMasai), and subscribe to my weekly Nu Musique Friday newsletter to stay tapped in to all things Dylan Green. Follow Hearing Things at hearingthings.co or @hearingthingsco on all platforms.

Support the show