For more than three decades, DJ EZ Eddie D has been a steady presence on Dallas airwaves and a quiet force in the city’s hip-hop culture. In this episode, Eddie traces his path from Cincinnati to Oak Cliff, from early club nights to KNON and Knowledge Dropped, a show that became a home for true school hip-hop and social commentary. We talk about the Oak Cliff music scene of the ’80s and ’90s, the loss of local infrastructure, and what it meant to break records before algorithms took over. Eddie reflects on community, craft, and the importance of local radio, sharing stories of Biggie, KRS-One, early SXSW days, and more from his nearly 40 years in the Dallas music scene.

This episode is a little different. Instead of sitting down with a guest, we step back and tell the story of Oak Cliff itself. We trace how this part of the city came to be, from early settlement on the bluffs above the Trinity, to utopian experiments, speculative development, independence, annexation, and the long arc that followed. Along the way, we look at how geography, distance, and deliberate choices shaped Oak Cliff into a place that has always felt connected to Dallas, yet separate from it.

This isn’t a comprehensive history, and it’s not nostalgia. It’s an overview of how Oak Cliff became Oak Cliff and why that beginning still echoes in the neighborhoods, tensions, and sense of identity that exist today.