Andy has been a hip hop lover since a little after LL Cool J rocked the bells. He grew up on the sounds of Fresh Prince, DC Talk, MC Hammer, Run DMC and was Totally Krossed Out by the Mac Dad and Daddy Mac in his elementary school years. When he got to middle school he developed a love for groups like A Tribe Called Quest, Fugees, OutKast, and Wu-Tang. Old Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version was one of his first CD’s and he loved the raw creative freedom that guys like ODB, DMX, Redman and Mystikal brought to the mic. His best friend in middle school was a rapper himself, who put him on to the West Coast scene with guys like Tupac, E-40, Snoop, DJ Quik, and Warren G and Nate Dogg. As he got older, he then gravitated to guys like Jay-Z and Nas and the chipmunk soul beats of a young Chicago rapper-producer named Kanye West. Conscious hip-hop was his next wave with guys like Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli. Guys like Kid Cudi and Mac Miller brought a new hip-hop vibe he really loved, meanwhile with YouTube, he started studying some of the greats that he could now appreciate more like Big Daddy Kane, Queen Latifah and Rakim. He thinks we’re in a golden age of hip-hop and there’s something for everyone. The genre has never been bigger or more diverse and he wants to show that the old heads and new heads can come together. We now have rappers like Kendrick, Rapsody, and Cole that the old heads can love but there’s no reason we can’t also appreciate the younger generation too with guys like YBN Cordae, Rich Brian, and Kevin Abstract. Let’s all give give hip-hop a chance and appreciate this beautiful art.

A-Train has hosted 98 Episodes.