May
13

Sach O: Jay Weed – Fact Mix

Sach O will get really excited about this stuff if producers start getting French emcees to rap on it. Mafia K1 Fry maybe? I don’t know why I’m biased against French House but let’s face it, I don’t listen to or write about much French House. I love classic French Hip-Hop and rank the country… Continue reading »

May
13

Fear of Shlava: Shlomo, Jon Wayne & Groundislava Go Pyroclastic

Chris Daly normally blogs odd at this site. He believes Hoon is a funny word to type. If the death of Shannon Hoon serves no other purpose, clearly it is to remind us that three is the magic number. Heeding that wisdom, the increasingly impressive brain trust at Friends of Friends Network decided to fuck… Continue reading »

May
13

Batdance: The Fourth Wall Obliteration of “Hellzapoppin’”

Sean McTiernan went to hell for snuffing Martha Raye. When asked about where you’re going to find one of the best combinations of music and dance in movie history, your mind may not initially wander to a proto-Monty Python/Michelle Gondry piece of slapstick-surrealism from the early 1940s. Which, in fairness, is a pretty reasonable thing… Continue reading »

May
12

BLKHRTS RP: SX, DRGS, VLNC, MN, DTH

Mood: Currently resisting the urge to scrawl a tedious screed aimed at print publications and critics who rarely write about hip-hop unless it’s to weigh in on the moral quandaries presented by rape-rap and America’s favorite gay not-gay rapper. It’s the music journo equivalent of royal wedding coverage. That’s neither a critique on talent nor… Continue reading »

May
12

Sach O: P-Money – Bass Cannon

Son Raw would like to thank DJ Vilify and Bass Drive for having him last night. My brain is currently ground into a fine alcoholic paste after headlining last night’s Bass Drive Wednesday. While Jeff enjoys the stoned magnificence of Low End Theory, Montreal’s reader poll-winning mid-week Dubstep showcase is better known for highlighting the… Continue reading »

May
12

Floodwatch: The Book of David and the Renaissance of DJ Quik

It occurred to me about halfway into The Book of David the other day that, De La Soul excepted, there isn’t another name in hip hop that has enjoyed a longer sustained loyalty for me than DJ Quik. I can still remember that autumn afternoon in seventh grade when my friend Erick handed me a… Continue reading »

May
11

Raphael Saadiq Rolls Stoned

Raphael Saadiq is cheating. This is too easy for him. All the man has to do is write songs steeped in the key of Stax, unleash that all falls down falsetto, slather it with some bubble gum mellotron and watch NPR subscribers name their first born song after a Renaissance painter/former Tony! Toni! Tone! frontman.… Continue reading »

May
11

Wayback Wednesdays: The Beastie Boys on Yo! MTV Raps circa “Paul’s Boutique”

Hating the name of this column, awkwardly in thrall to alliteration. Humor me. The payoff is the Beastie’s in their egg-loving heyday, stomping around Chinatown with Fab Five Freddie, the Clyde Frazier of rap video hosts. Still haven’t heard Mr. MCA’s Fantastic Chalupa Experiment Volume 4, or whatever they’re calling their new record. I’m sure… Continue reading »

May
11

Question in the Form of an Answer: Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces

Photo by Josh Bis As much as the bulk of his work with Shabazz Palaces properly captures the discord of living in 21st Century America, in conversation, Ishmael Butler sounds remarkably at ease with himself and his place in the world. After a career that has had tall peaks (the well-noted Grammy nomination for Digable… Continue reading »

May
10

Elzhi – Elmatic

First the good. For those who appreciate art made with mathematical precision, Elzhi attacks with a PhD’s exactitude. He raps like a Tim Duncan bank shot, clean and fluid like he studied under Pete Newell. He owns the rap nerd lane because at their core, most rap nerds are purists. They are the equivalent of… Continue reading »

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