In Loving Memory of Kristine Barlam aka “Krissy”.

Before diving into the main event, Billy has some explaining to do after coming back from a three-day meditation retreat. Then, the guys jump into Jay-Z's record-breaking Yankee Stadium residency, the surprise guests, an old beef finally squashed, and what it means for hip-hop's legacy artists getting their touring moment. Plus: Michael Bay movies, crying at Armageddon, and whether Wu-Tang can still sell out anywhere.

Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz streaming on all DSPs and your favorite podcast app. @popthetrunk.pod

Episode 22 is a summer heat wave of hip-hop history. The crew runs down the classic albums that dropped between May and September across the decades — the records that defined car windows down, block parties, and the last day of school. Expect deep cuts on why summer releases hit different, some contested "greatest ever" arguments.

Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz streaming on all DSPs and your favorite podcast app. @popthetrunk.pod

The boys are back and the crew opens up talking hoops, the World Cup, and why American sports broadcasts hit different. From there it's straight into a milestone: Vinnie's debut solo album, Season of the Assassin, just passed its 16th anniversary, and the guys sit down to break down how it actually came together.

Vinnie gets into why he waited as long as he did to go solo, the uncertainty of stepping out from Stoupe and the JMT sound , and the real story of the album's original title before it became Season of the Assassin. He walks through building the record from scratch, tracking down producers he grew up idolizing, and a session at a legendary New York studio that made the whole thing feel real. They dive into how the features and production actually got picked and, sixteen years later, we get Vinnie's take on what it means to him today.

Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz streaming on all DSPs and your favorite podcast app. @popthetrunk.pod