The first episode from the new room, and an in-depth interview with Vancouver Rap Legend Junk.The name is an acronym — Just Understand Nobody Knows — and it comes from the Junkie Juggler, a jester. That turns into the frame for the whole conversation: the jester was the only one in the court allowed to tell the king the truth. Junk has been doing a version of that for twenty years.The history is remarkable. Hitchhiking across the lake as a young teenager to host hip hop nights in Nelson, getting into clubs underage on a rule that let you stay if you stayed on the stage. First MC from Vancouver to battle at King of the Dot in Toronto. Third at the End of the Weak world finals in Paris. Quitting construction. Then COVID took 70 booked shows in 24 hours, and he had to face a career with no live music in it at all.What he built instead is the useful part. Going fully independent, learning every job before hiring any of it out, vinyl and CDs as a way of taking power back from streaming, and Household — an East Van crew that turned into a real business doing clothing, show production and festivals. Five years sober. And a genuinely blunt closing exchange about what he owes the city and what it owes him.Recorded at The Chop Shop, Vancouver BC.#vancity #hiphop #rap #independentmusic

0:00 Beyond the Lyrics 2.0: new set

1:37 Bastard Barbecue with Flipout

2:45 Giving flowers to the culture

3:59 Why 'Junk': the acronym

7:01 The jester tells the king the truth

8:24 King of the Dot: first from Vancouver

9:17 End of the Weak finals in Paris

11:51 Hitchhiking across the lake to Nelson

14:53 Keeping the hunger; show production

17:00 I Am No One to Stupid and Ugly

19:47 No industry here: learning DIY

22:24 Going independent; COVID kills 70 shows

24:23 Lion Eats Goats with Young Stitch

25:40 A career without live shows

26:46 Five years sober

28:18 Soul vs multisyllabic rhyme lists

31:21 Gallery of Saints; Horrible Pleasures

33:13 Taking the power back from streaming

34:55 Rating the legends, 1 to 10

38:43 Household: East Van crew to family

41:16 The Cartems donut shop cyphers

46:48 Household as a real business

48:37 Building platforms for other MCs

51:51 Learn every job before you hire out

54:10 The hardest hat: marketing

57:43 What Vancouver hip hop needs next

59:53 What he owes the scene

1:04:49 Shout-outs, releases and tour dates

The fullest room the show has had — seven voices, and it moves through three distinct halves.

First the card. Trewth on how the Neighborhood Kids video blew up and turned into a tour, then Red Shirt Mike arrives to break down Set the Bar's Ascension event: why the battlers aren't trash talking this time, the undercard, the rookie class, and what the league needs to get from 80 people in a room to 200. Mike Wiald talks facing Danny Myers in his first Canadian battle — a year off, the Ellipsis battle behind him, and what it means to be the face of a league. His message for Danny is twenty seconds and worth the whole segment.

Then LOCA returns, and the episode changes register completely. Raising a teenager, caregiving, 'Low Again' and the song she wrote coming down. Sobriety, step work, writing down resentments. Learning to sing after a mother who told her she couldn't. It is the most open anyone has been on this show.

Tiago Vasquez closes it — the DJ Slink single, the EP with Evan Smith, playing bass, starting his own business, sobriety and mindset, parenting teenagers, and wanting to make a Spanish and dancehall record.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Intro: breaking into the studio

1:50 New album, and an F on promo

2:43 An entrepreneur course; Skillmatic

4:47 Bib Gang merch and Ascension

5:33 Trewth on the Fortune cypher

6:51 How Neighborhood Kid blew up

9:08 Tickets and a four-hour cypher

12:00 Red Shirt Mike arrives

13:11 Why battlers aren't trash talking

14:30 Ascension card: Little Q vs Bear

15:54 setthebar.com and filling the Turf

18:09 Tangent: entrance music

20:06 Why Mike Wiald vs Danny Myers

21:51 Vancouver's battle rap talent pool

24:21 The atmosphere of a live battle event

26:50 What Set the Bar needs next

28:53 Scaling from 80 to 200 people

31:31 The website and who's next

35:25 Mike Wiald on facing Danny Myers

36:59 A year off, and being the face

41:58 Prep, angles, no low-hanging fruit

44:02 'Have Mercy' EP and the Kolka feature

48:47 Undercard: Gobi and A.A. Ron

51:30 Beach Tits, Dully Nuff, Bossman

59:09 Bear vs Lil Q; the rookie class

1:02:02 Shiva, Tobin and Snow Leopard

1:05:13 LOCA returns, and 'Low Again'

1:07:24 The Real Ones EP

1:12:47 Sobriety and step work

1:15:10 Youth work up north, and nature

1:19:50 Learning to sing; Limerence

1:26:31 Dating another artist

1:30:17 LOCA's shows and where to find her

1:33:46 Tiago Vasquez and the DJ Slink single

1:36:30 The EP with Evan Smith

1:39:26 His own business, and mindset

1:43:11 Parenting teenagers

1:44:25 Spanish and dancehall records

1:45:58 Writing on the road: Barcelona, Egypt

1:49:08 Tiago's custom builds, and closing

The guests cancelled, so Kavawon starts solo and turns it into the most personal opening the show has done — how he preps, the ten-year gap in the Chasing Destiny trilogy, starting young, the vices, and the album versions that got shelved. The FOMO that cost him a record.

Tobin joins at 15:05: Set the Bar battler, cameraman, and the person who shoots and edits the whole event. Longboard videos to film school to freelance, discovering battle rap at 15, and filling in for a dropout. The stretch on Dizaster vs Canibus — and what that collapse cost Canibus — is the best thing in the episode; Kavawon's read on it is that the man was never the same again.

From there it is craft. How acting training helps performance and memory, why non-fans need the beat, what shooting a full battle event actually involves, and how every shot keeps getting shorter. Then a genuinely level-headed conversation about using AI as a tool without wrecking your brand — testing beats with Suno, hearing another voice on your own work — that avoids both the hype and the panic.

Recorded at B-Side Radio, Vancouver BC.

0:00 Technical difficulties and solo start

2:43 How Kavawon preps the show

4:51 Chasing Destiny: a 10-year gap

5:56 Starting young; shelved albums

9:30 The Destiny series and 'No Cap'

13:25 K-Ski's 'From Barcelona With Love'

15:05 Tobin joins: battler and cameraman

16:53 Longboard videos to freelance film

18:45 Discovering battle rap at 15

20:01 Formative battles: Dizaster, Rone

22:25 How acting training helps battling

24:44 The Canibus collapse

27:48 KOTD peaks: Pat Stay, Daylyt

29:16 The Vancouver scene and Icon

32:21 Callouts: A.A. Ron, Chiva, Billy Shakes

34:11 Weddings, screenplays, short films

37:25 Shooting a battle event; the venue

39:03 Growing Set the Bar with promo

41:27 Battling Shadow Eclipse

43:18 Pitching a Vancouver hip-hop doc

46:32 Why non-fans need the beat

49:04 Tobin Media goals

50:59 Using AI without wrecking your brand

53:26 Testing beats with Suno

56:03 The Okanagan and Big Valley Battles

58:18 Matchup ideas: Channel 5, Raptor

1:01:53 DAWs, Final Cut and FL Studio

1:05:31 Hooks that work; film school

1:07:18 Beach Tits, Droleen, the Jubiles

1:10:01 Comedy sets and variety formats

1:11:47 Closing: Bib Gang is a heel faction