Shame on us for going 35 episodes without bringing a female rapper into the studio, but we couldn't think of a better guest than LaLa Specific to break us out of that drought. LaLa put up with Ryan's horrible puns to discuss her style (or styles) and the UNC Charlotte cypher world while taking us through a timeline of her bangers.

Remember to check out our new team at Queen City Podcast Network, where we've joined up with some of our favorite podcasts around Charlotte. You can catch up with our past episodes on iTunes or Stitcher, or just type "Local Vibes" in your Spotify search bar.

• [From left] Ryan Pitkin, LaLa Specific and Mark Kemp.

It was a long road for guitar virtuoso Vadim Kolpakov to go from the Russian city of Saratov to Boston to Charlotte, but we're glad he took it. He brought his seven-string guitar and his nephew Sasha, the other half of one of his groups, the VS Guitar Duo, to play us some tunes in person, including their Russian gypsy cover of MJ's "Billie Jean."

We also discussed how Vadim found himself onstage with Madonna, playing for hundreds of thousands of fans in stadiums around the world, and why, despite the use of the word to describe his music, terms like "gypsy" and "nomad" bother Kolpakov and other Romany people.

The VS Guitar Duo will perform a concert at Grace on Brevard on April 6 from 8 to 10 p.m. For more info, go here.

This is our first "Local Vibes" episode as a member of the new Queen City Podcast Network, so be sure to visit their website to check out some of our other favorite local podcasts. And catch up with our past episodes on iTunes or Stitcher, or just type "Local Vibes" in to your Spotify search bar and find us that way.

• [From left] Ryan Pitkin, Sasha Kolpakov, Vadim Kolpakov and Mark Kemp.

In the lead up to the big "Bantu Experience" party at the Gantt Center on March 17, we brought in two of the three co-founders of AfroPop! Nation: Ifeanyi Ibeto, aka DJ Kato; and April Hood. We talked with the duo about the beginnings of their Afrocentric party promotions, African culture in America, appropriation and more.

For those who prefer the written word, be sure to check out Mark Kemp's feature on AfroPop! Nation from this week's print issue. And of course, catch up with all our past episode on iTunes and Stitcher, or just type "Local Vibes" into your Spotify search bar and find us there.

• [Left to right] Mark Kemp, April Hood, Ifeanyi Ibeto and Ryan Pitkin

On the heels of releasing his new EP, ReaL LiFe, Jah-Monte came by the podcast studio at Hygge West to discuss his alter ego, King Callis, and how his new tracks differ greatly from his last release, Testing Her Creation. 

He also brought a special guest, his 7-month-old daughter, who kinda-sorta gets on the mic a couple times to let us know how she's feeling.

As always, catch up with our past episodes on iTunes or Stitcher, or just type 'Local Vibes' in your Spotify search bar.

• A still shot from the body cam footage of Officer Dunn, who arrived after the shooting and took command of the crime scene.

This afternoon, CMPD officials released body cam footage related to the February 2 shooting of 27-year-old Charlie Shoupe by a CMPD officer in west Charlotte.

The videos, which have been posted to the city of Charlotte's website and YouTube, include footage from the officer who fired on Shoupe and three other officers on the scene that day, as well as two officers who went to Shoupe's home on Timberbrook Drive the previous day.

According to CMPD, officers were called to Shoupe's home 11 times in the year leading up to his shooting. Footage from February 1 gives a glimpse into a troubled home life and Shoupe's concerns with the medication he was taking, including Haldol, which is used to treat various mental disorders.

Officers arrived to Shoupe's home and spoke with both Shoupe and his mother. His mother told officers she was concerned that he had smoked marijuana the previous day with his brother and had not taken his medication. She said that Shoupe was a diagnosed schizophrenic and that it ran in her family.

For his part, Shoupe told police that he believed his schizophrenia was a misdiagnosis and he only suffered from a form of autism. He remained calm throughout the time officers were at his home. He told officers he believed he could read people's minds with "thought machines," and that he didn't feel the need to take his medicine anymore.

"I know what's right for me. I don't want to take any medicine because it makes me feel even worse than I did before," Shoupe tells Officer Ignaczak in the footage. "I'm trying to see if I can develop happiness again because that medicine decreases dopamine and makes me feel just dull. Like, somebody could say a joke and I wouldn't even laugh."

Shoupe refused to be transported to a hospital to see a doctor, and his mother later allowed him back in the apartment and told officers they could go. The next day, he was shot and killed by Officer Daniel Flynn after running toward him with a knife in the parking lot of the same apartment.

Footage from Flynn's body camera shows him arrive on the scene, where Shoupe can be seen running toward his car with a knife held above his shoulder in a stabbing position. Flynn exits his vehicle and orders Shoupe to get on the ground, but Shoupe runs in his direction. Eight seconds later, with the view of the body camera obstructed, Flynn fires nine shots.

Footage from other officers on the scene show efforts to save Shoupe, while others work to preserve the crime scene and gather contact information from witnesses.

Liza and Claudio Ortiz of Chócala, the band that's taken over Snug Harbor for a March residency, have rarely been apart throughout their lives. They've went from being home-schooled and starring in comedic home video performances together to playing shows together with Patabamba and now Chócala.

So you'd think they know each other pretty well, right? We put that to the test right out of the gate in Episode 32, and talk to the sibling musicians about how their mother inspired them creatively and why Chócala is an experimental Latin jam band for people who can't stand jam bands.

Don't forget to catch up with past episodes on iTunes or Stitcher, or just type "Local Vibes" right into your Spotify search bar and find us there.

• A school flag flies at half staff following the Feb. 18 slaying of 17 students at a Florida high school.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials held a press conference this morning to address a string of incidents involving threats of violence in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in the aftermath of a shooting that took 17 lives a high school in Parkland, Florida, on February 18. Assistant Chief Vicki Foster hosted the press conference the day after four incidents occurred in schools in the southwest Charlotte area, including bullying, threats and the confiscation of a handgun on school grounds.

On Wednesday, February 28, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Police Department officers were notified of a weapon on South Mecklenburg High School’s campus. During the investigation, they found Fernando Vasquez, 17, had left a firearm in his vehicle during his baseball practice. He was charged with possession of a firearm on school property.

Earlier that morning, police made contact with a student who had allegedly made threats involving shooting a school bus at Community House Middle School. The school resource officer and principal there contacted the suspect and spoke with his parents. Officers said they will follow up with the student and his family before he is allowed back on campus. Later that night, another threat was made against the school on Snapchat, according to police.

Social media threats were also made toward Southwest Middle School. A student reported that they received a message on social media threatening violence at the school. Detectives charged a 14-year-old female juvenile in connection with those threats.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, school resource officers at Kennedy Middle School received information about students throwing food and objects at the back of another student’s head while in class. As the victim left the room, the victim was slapped across the back of the head then turned and made a comment to the students, according to police, thought it’s unclear what that comment was.

Foster emphasized that all threats at schools will be taken seriously and those communicating them will be held responsible. CMPD is investigating all of these incidents, and asks that anyone with information concerning them or the suspects should be reported to the Crime Stoppers line at 704-334-1600.