Show Notes
Maiya the Don spent three years figuring out what she actually wanted to say. After Hot Commodity introduced a Brooklyn rapper capable of moving between drill, pop and straight-up bars, touring with Flo Milli and building an audience that first knew her as a beauty creator, Maiya found herself confronting a harder question: what does her music sound like when she's no longer trying to prove she can do everything? On this episode of The Almanac of Rap, she talks to Donwill about creating The Fine Print Club, her book club built around reading, community and creating space for Black women; recommends everything from S.A. Cosby to DMX; and hilariously puts her literary knowledge to the test against some of urban fiction's wildest book titles.
Between books and bars, she also makes a case for independence, explains why artists shouldn't run from being content creators and delivers a warning to anyone tempted to underestimate her pen: Precious Cargo (her new album) may be personal, but Maiya the Don still came to rap. Maiya the Don breaks down:
Why Precious Cargo became the coming-of-age album she needed three years to make
Turning a beauty-content following into the foundation for a rap career
Why independence gives her control over both her artistry and narrative
Building The Fine Print Club and creating literary community for Black women
Why “TSA” is her answer to anyone questioning a woman rapper's pen
🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️
Follow Donwill for fun hip-hop history, cultural commentary, and more.
Substack: New Music Tuesdays
Instagram/Threads: @donwill
Mixcloud: Donwill
Website: Donwill.me
Follow: Maiya The Don
Instagram: @maiyathedonn
Album: Precious Cargo
Book Club: @fineprint.collective
Created and hosted by two time Webby Award-winning host Donwill, The Almanac of Rap is produced by Okayplayer, a division of AREYA MEDIA Inc. Originally launched in 1999, Okayplayer is the original progressive music site and maintains its position as the premier digital destination for music and culture connoisseurs worldwide.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Almanac of Rap
What happens when one of hip-hop's most elusive albums becomes the subject of a Netflix documentary? RZA, the visionary producer, filmmaker, and founding architect of the Wu-Tang Clan, joins Donwill to discuss The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, the new documentary chronicling the extraordinary journey of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Created as a single-copy work of art, the album became a multimillion-dollar cultural controversy after its sale to Martin Shkreli, raising questions about artistic ownership, creative freedom, and the value of music in the streaming era. RZA reflects on his relationship with producer Cilvaringz, the persistence that brought him into Wu-Tang's orbit, and the philosophical lessons behind a project whose legacy continues to evolve beyond its creators. The RZA breaks down:
Digable Planets helped redefine the possibilities of hip-hop in the early 1990s, blending jazz, funk, political consciousness, and a distinctly cosmic sensibility into a sound that resisted easy categorization. More than three decades later, Ishmael Butler (Butterfly) and Craig Irving (Doodlebug) join Donwill backstage at Brooklyn Bowl to revisit the group's unlikely beginnings, from three artists representing Seattle, Philadelphia, and Maryland to a Grammy-winning collective that made Brooklyn its creative home. They reflect on the success of Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), the complicated cultural politics of winning a Grammy in hip-hop's early years, and how their revolutionary upbringing informed the music and visual identity of Blowout Comb. Digable Planets break down:
Before Digable Planets helped redefine the sound of alternative hip-hop, Ladybug Mecca was a young artist absorbing Brazilian music, jazz, and the rhythms of her family's home. Three decades after Blowout Comb became a cornerstone of jazz-inflected hip-hop, the pioneering MC joins Donwill to discuss her latest chapter as a recipient of Harvard University's Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship. Her research traces the connections between hip-hop and Afro-Brazilian traditions, from Candomblé drumming to capoeira, challenging the idea that hip-hop simply arrived in Brazil rather than finding a culture already connected through rhythm, movement, and shared African ancestry.
Did you know that the Almanac of Rap is up for 3 Signal Awards? Vote for Donwill today, click the links below and let your voice be heard 🏆🏆🏆:
Before breaking became a global industry, and long before it became an Olympic event, Ken Swift was helping define what the dance could be. A longtime Rock Steady Crew member and one of the form’s most important second-generation B-boys, Swift joins Donwill on The Almanac of Rap to revisit the late-’70s and early-’80s New York scene where DJs, concrete floors, gymnasiums and neighborhood crews turned movement into a new language. He explains why “breakdancing” was always a media invention, how Rock Steady expanded across boroughs, and why early breaking was as much about character, rhythm and community as athleticism.