Episode 24: Brian “B+” Cross on Freestyle Fellowship’s “To Whom It May Concern” (1991)

Episode notes

The album: Freestyle Fellowship: To Whom It May Concern (1991)

Brian Cross, better known to most as B+, is one of the most important photographers of the hip-hop generation to ever emerge out of the West Coast. A transplant from Ireland to California, Cross began documenting the L.A. rap community throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, producing one of the great books about the region’s hip-hop scene, It’s Not About a Salary. He’s also a founding partner of the music/events organization Mochilla. Just this year, Cross finally published his first book reflecting on his career in photography, Ghost Notes: Music of the Unplayed. For his episode with Heat Rocks, Cross took us back to 1991 and the release of To Whom It May Concern, one of the greatest West Coast hip-hop albums of all time…and one that most people never got to hear back in the day because of its limited distribution at the time. Better late than never; don’t keep sleeping.

More on Freestyle Fellowship and To Whom It May Concern

• Kevin Beacham’s review of the album for Fifth Element.
• Patrick Taylor’s review of the album for Rap Reviews.

More on Brian “B+” Cross

• Oliver’s interview with Cross from 2011.
• Max Bell’s interview with Cross for Noisey in 2018.
• Mochilla’s Website | Twitter | Ghost Notes website

Show Tracklisting (all songs from To Whom It May Concern unless indicated otherwise):

• ”Here I Am”
• Cypress Hill: Cypress Hill “How I could Just Kill A Man”
• AMG: Bitch Betta Have My Money “Bitch Betta Have My Money”
• ”Good Life”
• ”7th Seal”
• ”120 Seconds”
• ”Jupiter’s Journey”
• ”For No Reason”
• ”We Are The Freestyle Fellowship”
• ”Sunshine Men”
• ”Dedications”
• Ornette Coleman: This Is Our Music “Humpty Dumpty”
• ”5 o’Clock Follies”
• Gang Starr: No More Mr. Nice Guy ”Manifest”
• Jon Hendricks: Freddie Freeloader “Freddie Freeloader”
• ”Convolutions”
• ”7th Seal”
• ”Legal Alien”
• ”We Will Not Tolerate”

If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!