McKinley Dixon wants to make rapping fun again. On his new album "Magic! Alive!" he accomplishes this through live instrumentation, a different approach to storytelling, and the childlike innocence of the characters he's written. He spoke with us about how all of this came together with the help of his hometown team and longtime collaborators. Then we discuss his album pick for this episode - "The Ecstatic" by Mos Def.

"Magic! Alive!" is available everywhere on 6/6/25