Ten albums for the hip-hop layman. This list has been my burden, my baby. I’ve carried it for the last month or so. Consider this the document of my labor. It began with a serious debate between me, myself and I and my knowledgeable counsel, who shall remain nameless. The questions Read More…
“Buckle your seatbelts / You’re in for the ride of a lifetime.” Your wet-work specialist is here to “kleen” the rap game, or at least make it more interesting by investing in the truth. Yes, his name is Self Jupiter. And no, there’s no need for questions. He’s had a job like Read More…
Method Man spit on me. Then he made like a flying squirrel and landed, legs wide open, on the metallic railing separating crowd and stage. After his testicle-shifting tumble, myself and a few husky amphitheatre security guards in ill-fitting yellow polos helped Meth to his feet. But the mic never Read More…
Black Hippy Dickies. Bucket hats. Carson, CA tees. Gold chains and a small flat top. Black Hippy was in the amphitheatre. The group came out one at a time, essentially in the (ascending) order that most would rank each MC. The audience members loved Jay Rock’s homegrown anthems. Ab-Soul was Read More…
Three is the magic number. And somewhere in this hip-hop soul community was born three: Serk Spliffton, Ray Wright and Manu Li — Warm Brew. Despite the reference, Warm Brew aren’t exactly part of the De La lineage. They find themselves direct descendants of West Coast icons like Snoop, Quik, $hort Read More…
Don’t drink 8 ball / cause St. Ides is givin’ ends.” It’s short. It’s simple. It’s Ice Cube. It also sold St. Ides Malt Liquor to countless impressionable youths with fake IDs. To put it another way, your favorite commercial MC is probably compromised. They’re getting paper for advertising, for Read More…
Life is Good — Nas’s tenth album and the final under his Def Jam contract — is not solely a breakup album. Though Nas holds ex-wife Kelis’ green wedding dress across his knee on the cover, it’s not. I assure you. When you’ve been in the game as long as Read More…
If Woody Allen were a hip hop fan, one of his more recent films would probably contain some joke about ‘pseudo-intellectuals’ overanalyzing the latest Waka Flocka record. It would be funny because it’s Woody. And it would be riotously hilarious because it’s true. But Aesop Rock is the rapper who Read More…
Real heads (hip-hop enthusiasts) know. That’s another way of saying most people reading this have Main Source’s watershed classic Breaking Atoms. A more pithy way of stating would be that those same cats downloaded the long-delayed (over 10 years) The LP from a source the RIAA would probably take issue Read More…
The Dylan comparisons have been done to death. Vocally, lyrically and in whatever way you want to slice it. With that said (and the Dylan comparison out of the way), the following must be said: Kristian Matsson (The Tallest Man on Earth) is an Artist. Capital A. Artist is a Read More…
