james bell

Goin’ Off: 10 Albums for the hip-hop layman

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…

james bell

Goin’ Off: Looking back on Rock the Bells

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…

james bell

Goin’ Off: Dollaz and Sense

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…

wu tang

Ol’ Dirty Bastard and ‘Dirty White Boy’

That’s right. ODB is back in the news. Big Baby Jesus really should be in the news every damn day, but maybe that’s just a personal preference. Anyway, ODB is going to be played by Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire) in an upcoming film written by Brent Hoff (Pranksta and Read More…

Screen shot 2012-03-16 at 11.35.31 AM

Sample Sundays: Ghostdini is…Cool Breeze

“Hey yo, this (post) is like ziti!” What does that mean? I’m not really sure. It sounds cool though, and it’s a quote from the hip-hop track on this edition of Sample Sundays (minus the ‘post’ of course). So, without delay (or anymore slang that only a select number of Read More…