Episode 19 - A-Class

A-Class is one of the most consistent battle rappers in the game, and he’s earned respect in Grind Time, King Of The Dot and countless other battle leagues. We first met at a house show in 2003, and I’ve followed his career ever since. I had a great time getting the inside scoop on how the battle rap world works.

He told me about going from high school battles to Scribble Jam to the modern battle era. He talked about being excited by seeing how the battle world has evolved, and being inspired by the challenge of having to perpetually write more bars for upcoming opponents. We also talk about the strangeness of grown men tearing each other down with racial jokes.

This week, Mike Riley came with a tight homage to Eazy E’s Eazy-Duz-It. It all went down at The Lineup Room.

Episode 18 - Height Spinning Tunes 2

A second episode of me spinning tunes in my basement.

Boogie Boy Metal Mouth – All I Want
Gun Club – Promise Me
Big Ria – Hey You Knuckleheads
Paranoid Castle – The Mature Life
Thirstin Howl III – Walk the Walk, Spit the Spit Pt. 2
Doc Waffles – Specificity of Tiny Lights
Shabazz Palaces – Blastit
Kool Keith – Real Gold
Leadbelly – Laura
Woody Guthrie – Do Re Mi
PP Arnold – The First Cut Is The Deepest
Pizza Boys – Sidewinder
Z-Man – Yeah, That’s The Rellie!
Tuff Crew – Extortion
Schoolly D – Saturday Night
Rammellzee and K-Rob – Beat Bop

This time, Mike Riley hooked up an homage to LL Cool J’s Walking With A Panther. We laid it all down with the help of The Lineup Room.

Episode 17 - Mike Riley

Mike Riley is the cartoonist behind Mike Riley Comics and I Taste Sound. He’s also been a part of the Baltimore venues Lo-Fi Social Club and The Hexagon. He’s been hooking up these sweet cartoons you see on each episode of Height Zone World.

We had a great conversation. He described the slow process of going from a frustrated, would-be artist, to a thriving, productive artist. You can hear the gratitude he has towards everyone that helped show him the path, from club owners that let him be a part of local art shows to friends that encouraged him to keep expanding the universe of his characters.

This episode’s art is an homage to Ice-T’s Power. It all went down at The Lineup Room.

Episode 16 - Travis Allen

Travis Allen has played a huge role in my music over the years. He was the main instrumentalist on my album Bed of Seeds, and he’s been the DJ for many Height With Friends tours. While he’s currently on hiatus from the music game, he has remained my benevolent guide through the realms of music theory, guitar maintenance and more.

Travis and I are old pals, and I can listen to him talk about anything. I was glad to get his unique disposition down to tape. We talked about heavy things like losing a parent at an early age, and goofy things like a Halloween party where every kid showed up in the same ninja outfit. He made sure to represent far-Western Maryland to the fullest.

This week, Mike Riley hooked us up with an homage to Oh My God!, by Doug E Fresh. As always, this was recorded at The Lineup Room.

Episode 15 - Matt Pless

Matt Pless is a singer-songwriter from Baltimore. He’s been on the one-man folk-punk grind for many years, and was in a punk band for the years before that. I talked to him just as he was settling down from two years of perpetual touring.

Matt and I have been friends since I was a freshman in high school. We haven’t always kept in the closest contact, but we now find ourselves living similar lives, playing at the same venues and sleeping at the same houses across the country. We compared notes from the road, reminisced on our early days in Catonsville and discussed his frustration with being tied into the Occupy Wall Street movement.

For this week’s cover, Mike Riley came up with a tight homage to De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising. It all went down at The Lineup Room.