The Combat Jack Show

Here's a special episode from the Combat Jack vault featuring April Walker, pioneer urban/street wear designer of iconic Walker Wear label and two time Super Bowl champion Carl Banks. Beyond football and being a sports analyst, Carl Banks is heavily involved in attire owning the Starter brand. We talk a bit about Ray Rice, coming up in the fashion game, their relationship and more. Use code 'Combat' to get 20% off your first order at GetBevel.com

How does one go from Brownsville, Phillips Exeter Academy, NYU, Lauryn, Wyclef, 'The Score', 'The Carnival' to prison? How does one get pardoned by George Bush? And how does one find redemption and true freedom afterwards? John Forte tells us his entire journey and where he is now. Use code 'Combat' to get 20% off your first order at GetBevel.com

Ice T's been around for a while and came through to share his journey from the death of his parents in New Jersey to encountering gang culture in Los Angeles. From drugs to robberies to rapping to a record deal. A step by step of how the Body Count song "Cop Killer" changed his whole life, and how he and Coco (she's here too) managed to keep their marriage alive. There's a whole lot here. Ice T, uncensored. To check out your Bevel razor, go to GetBevel.com today. Use code ‘Combat’ to get 20% off your first month.

Ohio's first son (other than Lebron) talks Rick Ross, MMG and the role he plays. His come up days with Dame Dash, Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa, the day Mos Def "discovered" him, how he might could be more Brooklyn than you and more. What is one of today's most slept on rappers plan on making an impact with his debut album 'Ohio' dropping on October 28th? Go ahead and press play.

Man, this has got to be one of the most unique interviews ever conducted on this show. It's also one I throughly enjoyed. Go ahead and press play.

On the eve of the release of 'Seen It All', his 5th studio album, Jeezy shared his growth as an artist, what the word "leadership" means to him, his experience at Ferguson, St. Louis, moving from being a street cat to a responsible role model, his relationship with Jay Z, his thoughts on Sean "Diddy" Combs and why he's feeling so happy these days. No more "Young", it's now Mr. Jeezy.

Retired NYPD Deputy Inspector Corey "Life" Pegues' life is a movie. No cliche. Growing up as a young gun in the crack riddled NYC borough of Queens, Life was one of the best soldiers of the legendary and most notorious Supreme Team street gang. Life talks his introduction to crack, the gun fights and the murders, and the moment he decided it was time to join the biggest gang in NYC, the NYPD. Listen as he takes us through the Dinkens to Giuliani to Bloomberg regimes, what Stop and Frisk really is, and what the fvck is really going on with the war that the police across the nation has seemingly declared against the nation's people of color. We also get some expert analysis on The Abner Louima, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo and Michael Brown cases. Bonus: Dallas Penn, fresh off his honeymoon, stops by like if he never left.

In this age of tweaking, thots, wanton capitalism, violence and outsiders dictating what our culture is, QB veteran Cormega and legend Large Professor drop their brilliant 'Mega Philosophy' album. Cormega walks us through this classic, track by track. Go 'head and press play/ dl. To support the Combat Jack Show and for the best way to buy and manage domain names, got to Hover.com and enter POWERTHRU for 10% off your first purchase.

Mr. Nasheed is a Jack of all trades, but man has he mastered the art of making an impact. We talk about him growing up in the racist south, moving to Los Angeles to learn game, how he became a New York Times bestselling author, then how he switched it up with his hit documentary series 'Hidden Colors'. Love him, hate him, one thing is guaranteed, you press play on this episode and you will learn game.

Mr. Ben Yang has a lot to say. About a lot of people. And he got it off his chest. Ya'll been clamoring for a West Coast guest? Here it is. Baller has stories for days. Suge Knight, Dr. Dre., Tupac Shakur, Death Row, Denzel Washington, Aftermath. He's even got some Dame Dash and Jay Z stories. From record man to jeweler to the stars, dude doesn't disappoint. We also had up and coming Pittsburgh rapper Boaz come through and talk about being signed to Rostrum Records, going on tour with Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller and Kendrick Lamar, and how he'll smoke Mr. Khalifa way tf under the table.

Internets, this is such an honor. It's been few years of me trying to get the legendary Chuck D on The Combat Jack Show. It took current events, plus the Freddie Foxxx episode to make this happen (thank you Bumpy!). How do I even describe this 3 hour long discussion with Chuck D and Keith Shocklee? Def Jam, Hot 97, Dr. Dre, N.W.A., Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, Marley Marl, Flavor Flav, Eric B and Rakim, COINTELPRO, Run-DMC, the Bomb Squad, the dearth of diversity on rap radio... so much knowledge. What I'm walking away with is how we have the power to control how we're perceived in this culture. And how we have to stop making excuses. Now. Ladies and gents, we present to you, the Episode Without A Pause.

90 minutes wasn't enough time. On the eve of releasing his tenth album 'Nobody's Smiling', Common revisits his days growing up in Chicago, being inspired by Michael Jordan, house music, Chicago mayor Harold Washington, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and how this album addresses the current plight of black on black crime in the windy city. Also, what it means to reunite with No I.D., being haunted by the ghost of Emmett Til and the very real and deep mystical powers of the phenomena known as "Badu Box". So much wasn't covered, 90 minutes wasn't enough, but you won't hear this type of Common interview anywhere else on the planet.

From Run-DMC to Kanye West, Soul Brother No. 1 been the go to guy to to make classic material. On top of that, how many countless producers he inspired, from legends like J Dilla and Kanye West to innovators like Madlib? #NeverForget the rap giants he helped birth, like NaS, and the Notorious B.I.G. Pete talks being raised by mentor/family member, the late, great Heavy D, and being encouraged to rap by Grand Puba, the true soul that went into producing "They Reminisce Over You", and the uncredited classic hits you know but didn't know was a Pete Rock production. Another session of Rap History is in effect, pull up a seat and learn about your culture.

Bumpy Knuckles stopped by to share his storied history with us. The depth of his relationship with Tupac Shakur. How Pete Rock saved his life. His deep relationship with NaS. How Chuck D literally had his life on the line for this culture. Another Steve Stoute story. And why, even though the rumors about him being the toughest guy in Hip Hop is exaggerated, no one should ever step to him in any club, even if they're holding a sharpened weapon. I love this interview. We're back to what we do, no hype, no shenanigans, no CEO beef, no industry shakedown, just the greatest rap stories you've never heard. Now go press download.

Who is Joie Manda? Why is his name being mentioned so much these days? Is he a "culture vulture"? And how did he get to be a representative of Black music? For someone who hasn't done a lot of public speaking, he speaks a great deal about these questions and more on this one.