May
02

The Making of Houseshoes

Conventional hip hop logic holds that the DJ is enduring a long slow slide towards California Condor status. You could theoretically argue that things have gone downhill since Kool Herc essentially invented the genre. Serato has brought every amateur out of the Pioneer Speakers. Rappers can and do play live shows from CDs. Computer production… Continue reading »

Apr
12

Detroit Stand Up: Michigan’s New Class

I’ve never been to Detroit but I grew up in Toronto, with Michigan just across the lake. Between Chicago and Detroit, the Midwest is having a moment right now. The cities are exploding with promising young rappers and overlooked local legends, Bandcamp, Twitter and YouTube providing the crucial arteries to broker homegrown talent to the… Continue reading »

Mar
21

Question in the form of An Answer: Black Milk

Detroit native Black Milk has been an active producer/rapper since 2002 as a member of hip-hop collective Slum Village. Production-wise, Black’s modus operandi can be described as Dilla-esque, but he doesn’t really imitate the late legend as much as utilize Dilla’s crate-digging approach to composition as a vantage point, which then gives Black an opportunity… Continue reading »

Feb
14

A Question In The Form of An Answer: SKYWLKR

Detroit native Skylar Tait AKA SKYWLKR made his name last year by producing the bulk of Danny Brown’s critically acclaimed album XXX. Recently named one of the FADER’s 5 producers to watch in 2012, Sky crafts blunted, psychedelic beats that sound like nothing else. In an interview conducted for our XXX making-of feature, SKY discusses… Continue reading »

Feb
03

Boldy James : Concreatures and Crack Spots.

Jimmy Ness is neither related to Elliot nor Neutron. Boldy James has a love affair with the block. He sounds like Prodigy, flows like Curren$y and creates the kind of grimy tracks that most 90s rappers should return home to.The 29 year old bares his wounds and retells his days of struggle in a similar… Continue reading »

Jan
31

A Question In The Form of An Answer: Quelle Chris of Crown Nation

One half of Crown Nation, Detroit spitter/producer Quelle Chris (@quellechris) does double duty as minimal synth one-man band Awesome in Outerspace and a zonked-out rap wonderkind with a lot to say for himself. His excellent album Shotgun and Sleek Rifle got substantial burn around these part. Since we already got him on the line for… Continue reading »

Dec
13

Going Green: Detroit wears the Crown (Nation)

Hip Hop media and fans often struggle to embrace artists that exist outside of a particular crew or metropolitan scene. Odd Future, Black Hippy, and the post-Project Blowed rappers have little in common, but everyone nods their head to acknowledge that LA has the rap game on lock. Geography trumps reality when trend pieces are… Continue reading »

Nov
07

C.H.I.P.$’s Detroit Hood Tales

Aaron Matthews is so tasteful that he refrained from making a single Frito-Lays reference. Quick history lesson: C.H.I.P.$ used to go by Chips D’nero as 1/3rd of Danny Brown’s old group Reservoir Dogs. Coming off a scene-stealing verse on The Hybrid’s “Detroit 187”, his new tape Couch Potato should rightly serve as the D-Town emcee’s… Continue reading »

Oct
27

Detroit Has a Posse

Tosten Burks is exempt from taking Detroit 101 because he passed the AP Detroit exam in high school. This is hip-hop that makes people shout out “this is hip-hop.” A posse cut whose participants actually sound like they’re all members of the same posse. Internal rhyme after internal rhyme of cocksure, gun-cock rhythm turns of… Continue reading »

May
17

Golden Axes and Glass Spaceships

Only 24 hours after Earl-Gate, controversy continued to shadow the odd circus in Detroit. Apparently, a frenzied crowd threw bottles at them like they were Blues Brothers. Admittedly, I’m under the impression that every rap show at Majestic or St. Andrew’s features at least a few tire irons hurtling through the air. Motown is a… Continue reading »

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