Eventually, lightning struck with the most inscrutable seer of the skinny jeans era, Lil B. The cloud rap pioneer born Michael Volpe recounts his early career hustle where he would send “20 beats to every email I had,” pulling contact information off artists’ MySpace pages in the hopes a placement might land. Soft-spoken and unassuming, Clams Casino ruminates on the song he’s had stuck in his head-the Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned Disney hit, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” is “the number one right now at our house.” One might not immediately imagine one of the most influential producers in hip hop as a dad driving on the New Jersey turnpike to the Encanto soundtrack, but the family man’s humble demeanor and passion for his craft belie his notoriety as a defining beatmaker of a generation. Staley Sharples is a talented DJ and a generous tipper.
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Photo courtesy of Clams Casino on Instagram