The Couch Sessions

The names Stretch and Bobbito are legendary around the streets of NYC. The duo started in radio on Columbia University's WKCR, a show that featured legendary verses from rap gods such as Nas, Big Pun, Big L, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, and The Notorious BIG. In addition, the duo has been known to be musical and cultural influencers, both in the city and worldwide.

After a few dormant years, the duo has been back in the spotlight as of late, kicked off by the excellent 2015 documentary Radio That Changed Lives. Since then, they have had a bevy of live appearances, a few podcasts, and even more documentaries.

Of course, it's natural for them to drop some music and take advantage of this new attention. I feel like the duo could've taken the easy route, and curated a selection of boom bap hip-hop. However, for this album, they have formed a live band, the M-19s and will be debuting a full-length album, No Requests, in January. After listening to the first two singles, I'm pretty intrigued. The cover of Chaka Khan's “I Know You, I Live You” is handled delightfully by soul singer Maimouna Youssef, and singer Mireya Ramos helms a brilliant cover of UK rock band Babe Ruth’s “The Mexican."

Based on these two tracks alone, I'm wanting more. The pair will debut the full album at Gramercy Theatre on January 23rd. Tickets are on sale now.