Evan Nabavian is pouring one out for Tone and Poke too. When Detroit saw a salvo of great rap around 2008, the names to know were Black Milk, Waajeed, House Shoes, Elzhi, Guilty Simpson, Royce da 5’9”, and Ta’Raach. But as with any great hip-hop scene, plenty more talent bubbled below the surface. In 2009,… Continue reading »
Danny Brown subtly breaking down the potential for problems between Kobe and Dwight Howard. Between this and “Grown Up,” the Hybrid has starred in two of the best videos of the year and he doesn’t even have a new album out. Impressive. Don’t sleep on House Shoes either. He is one of the most quotable… Continue reading »
May
02
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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$y and creates the kind of grimy tracks that most 90s rappers should return home to.The 29 year old bares his wounds and retells his days of struggle in a similar… Continue reading »
One half of Crown Nation, Detroit spitter/producer Quelle Chris (@quellechris) does double duty as minimal synth one-man band Awesome in Outerspace and a zonked-out rap wonderkind with a lot to say for himself. His excellent album Shotgun and Sleek Rifle got substantial burn around these part. Since we already got him on the line for… Continue reading »
Hip Hop media and fans often struggle to embrace artists that exist outside of a particular crew or metropolitan scene. Odd Future, Black Hippy, and the post-Project Blowed rappers have little in common, but everyone nods their head to acknowledge that LA has the rap game on lock. Geography trumps reality when trend pieces are… Continue reading »
Aaron Matthews is so tasteful that he refrained from making a single Frito-Lays reference. Quick history lesson: C.H.I.P.$ 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 »
Excellent Adventures
Bogus Journeys
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Listening
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Aaron Matthews
Doc Zeus
Max Bell
Evan Nabavian
Tosten Burks
Matt Shea
Slava P
Jimmy Ness
Jonah Bromwich
Adam Wray
Reading
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Max Bell
Aaron Matthews
Slava P
Jonah Bromwich
Doc Zeus
Adam Wray
Alex Piveysky
Evan Nabavian
Watching
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Max Bell
Aaron Matthews
Evan Nabavian
Jonah Bromwich
Slava P
Doc Zeus
Matt Shea
Adam Wray
Alex Piveysky
Inner Sanctum
Miscellaneous Apostles
Local Natives
Understanding Media
The Sporting Life
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Miscellaneous
