In this special behind the scenes episode, I’m going to highlight one of my favorite artists of all time, who also happens to be a friend of our featured guest, a man who is universally considered to be one of the all-time great lyricists in hip-hop.

Mr. Tariq Trotter, also known as Black Thought, the lead MC of the Roots Crew.

He is a part of too many great songs for me to fit them all into one episode, so I am going to focus on some of my favorites, starting in reverse chronological order, with some of the more recent songs in the beginning, taking it back to some familiar classics.

As in all BTS episodes, you are going to learn about some of the great samples that made these songs possible.

Sit back, relax and enjoy, this special episode of BTS!

Attorney Rizwan “Rizzy” Qureshi is a partner at the international law firm Reed Smith. He specializes in white collar criminal defense and other related matters, and he has the distinction of graduating from THE Howard University School of Law.

Rizzy is the American dream, a Philadelphia native, whose family originates from Pakistan. He is a lifelong fan of hip-hop, and it just happens that he is friends with one of the all-time great lyricists in hip-hop history, Black Thought of the Roots Crew.

RIzzy and I talk about his friendship with Black Thought, the rich musical history of Philadelphia, his love of the Wu-Tang Clan, Little Wayne and (believe it or not) Simon and Garfunkel!

This was a fun episode. I appreciate Rizzy because he went DEEP into the crates, and we talked about it all.

Attorney Rizwan “Rizzy” Quereshi is a Washington D.C. based partner at the global law firm Reed Smith. Rizzy specializes in white collar criminal defense, securities enforcements, internal investigations and related civil litigation.

Rizzy honed his trial skills as a federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia where he rose quickly in the ranks to serve in senior roles in both the Violent and Repeat Offender Unit and in the Cyber Crime Section.

He is a Philadelphia native, and a proud graduate of THE Howard University School of Law. A true Howard man, Rizzy is actively engaged in many social justice and civil rights initiatives, and he’s taken a special interest in criminal justice reform.

Welcome to the BTS episode of my interview with Attorney David Clunie. Dave is an equity partner at the Wealth Management Firm Edward Jones, and a New York City native- hailing from the birthplace of hip-hop – the Boogie Down Bronx.

This month's episode is dedicated to Bronx MC's!

Some of the albums Dave chose from the crates included Camp Lo’s 1996 cult classic Uptown Saturday Night, the groundbreaking 1987 album Criminal Minded, from Boogie Down Productions.

We also discussed New Rochelle Native's Brand Nubian’s 1990 debut album One for All and other Bronx MC's.

Sit back relax and enjoy! Let’s take the train on up to the Boogie Down Bronx!

Attorney David Clunie is currently an equity partner at the financial services firm Edward Jones. He is the former executive director of the Black Economic Alliance and worked in the Obama White House and Department of Treasury.

Dave grew up in New York City during hip-hop’s golden era. Not only is he from New York, but he’s from the birthplace of hip-hop, the Boogie Down Bronx.

This episode is for my true hip-hop heads. If you are ready to listen to us discuss our favorite track from Raekwon’s Only Built for Cuban Linx, about whether Nas’s It Was Written is a superior album than Illmatic or if you know about that Raekown Purple tape, this is the episode for you!

Attorney David Clunie is an equity partner at the financial services & wealth management firm Edward Jones. Prior to joining Edward Jones, he worked as the Executive Director of the Black Economic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of Black business leaders and allies.

Dave started his career in Big Law, at the NYC firm Paul Weiss, Rifkand, Wharton and Garrison, leaving the firm briefly to accept a federal clerkship with a district court judge in Pennsylvania.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Dave took an unpaid position in the campaign of then Senator Barak Obama, and we all know how the story ended for President Obama. Dave didn’t stop there; he did such a good job during the campaign he landed a job in President Obama’s White House. After serving faithfully in the White House, Dave transitioned to the Treasury Department under Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

I met Dave in 2002, during our first year of study at Howard University School of Law, he is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met, and I cannot wait for you to hear his story.

Join me as I break down some of my favorite tracks from these all-time great albums:

1) The Roots 1999 album Things Fall Apart; 2) Outkast, 1996 game changer ATLiens; 3) and the greatest gangsta rap album in East Coast History, Mobb Deep’s 1995. classic album, The Infamous.

Don't forget to check out the interview(s) where Fintech expert Christopher Brummer, Esq. and I discuss these albums at length.

Attorney, PhD, and Georgetown Law Professor Chris Brummer and I reminisce about some of our favorite classic hip-hop albums. We discuss the importance of Southern artists like OutKast, 8-Ball and UGK to the Southern hip-hop scene. He talks about living in West Philly during the Roots heyday, and his fond memories of early 90’s West Coast hip-hop pioneers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

Chris is the host of the award-winning podcast Fintech Beat, and founder of Fintech Week in Washington D.C., an annual conference that features top financial players from across the globe.