Welcome to our Beats Around The Bush season, in which we investigate the rap and hip-hop that brought us joy during/near the first Bush presidency, 1988-1993ish. After we try to explain our construction of this framework, we dig into our first BATB topic: "hippie hop," the relaxed/baked grooves of the time from artists like De La Soul, PM Dawn, Us3, Digable Planets, and Arrested Development. Who has the sexiest flow? Which group's album sent Sarah tumbling off her dorm futon? Does Mark have middle-school poetry sins to atone for? How ya doin', Al(s): it's a brand-new season of MASTAS.

Our intro is the late George H.W. Bush, and our outro is Gramatik. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• This journey really began with our very first ep, about 1991's "Now That We've Found Love"
• A look back at the PM Dawn/KRS-One beef
• An oral history of "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)"
• Destabilize yourselves with nineties-osity
• The "Rec Ex"