Month: January 2019

Larry Lavin: Philly’s Former Cocaine King Tells All.

January 21, 2019 Crime 44:19

In the mid-1970s, Larry Lavin started attending dental school at Penn. As he says in the podcast, “Things were so different back then.” Drugs flowed freely and casually. In his sophomore year, he joined a fraternity, where one of the brothers sold pot. Larry took his minor operation and expanded it. Soon he was BMOC, the biggest pot dealer at Penn. He wasn’t making a fortune, but the dental student, who had grown up poor, was enjoying the spending cash. 

But in the late 1970s, there was a national crackdown on pot. And as the orders got larger, it became harder to get the smelly and bulky substance distributed safely. Enter cocaine. As Larry said, “Why carry an elephant on your back when you can carry an elephant in your pocket?” Lighter, much easier to transport…and addictive. Larry would study all day, then get to work at night, running his rapidly expanding empire. 

By the early 1980s, the one time frat pot dealer was a multimillionaire, and looking for ways to diversify (as JGT said in the podcast, “Larry was Stringer Bell.”) Enter Mark Stewart, who encouraged him to pour his money and resources into the music business. Soon they had an artist, Frankie Smith, with a big hit, the Double Dutch Bus. Larry was greasing palms in the music business, trying to make the song a hit. Little did he know that the songs success would actually bring down his drug and music empire. Find out how in the latest installment of the Philly Blunt! 

Links:
Johnny Brenda’s: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Reef the Lost Cauze: Honesty, Empathy & Aging in Hip-Hop

January 7, 2019 Entertainment, Music 38:02

Reef the Lost Cauze has been a force in the Philly and national underground rap since for almost two decades, regularly touring the East Coast and Europe. He’s been a mentor to countless up-and-coming artists and brings a unique blend of passion, empathy and raw emotional honesty to a genre of music where toughness is the norm. 

Reef sat down with us in Fishtown at Johnny Brenda’s for episode 10. Reef, also a co-host of the Philly Blunt, released his latest album, The Majestic, on December 29, 2018.

We find out how Reef’s musical career came to fruition. Oddly, a punishment that his mother regularly administered sparked Reef’s interest in the arts. Reef discusses growing up in West Philly during Philly’s violent 1990’s and the help he regularly received from older friends and family to keep him on the right path.

As a college drop-out, Reef talks about the importance that elder members of the local rap scene played in getting his career started.

We explore how Reef’s music and view of the world has changed as he’s grown older and wiser, as well as the impact of having a child diagnosed with autism.

Reef survived the Philly Blunt segment like a seasoned veteran. Among the things we learned about Reef during the Philly Blunt is his favorite character on HBO’s Girls and the four MC’s on his Mt. Rushmore. He also educates Greg on Trap Music.

Reef chose Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown for this episode. Johnny Brenda’s spurred the Fishtown revival and remains one of the better venues in the city for live music. They also make a hell of an old fashioned for only $9

LINKS:
Johnny Brenda’s: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Reef the Lost Cauze: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bandcamp, Spotify