May
10

The Liner Notes to Open Mike Eagle’s “Nightmares”

In previous episodes, Open Mike Eagle has been extolled for being one of the most incisive writers in rap. Self-aware and satirical, the Chicago-born LA-based rapper doesn’t shout out James Baldwin to sound smart. He does it because he understands too well that the “world in which he was born is nothing less than a… Continue reading »

May
04

Pistol McFly – Bong Rips and B.A.R.S.

Bong Rips and B.A.R.S. Like ice cream sandwiches and cornbread (kept separate), there is nothing wrong with that. We’ve heard it a hundred times. Rapper likes weed, rapper has swag, rapper is from Mars. These cliches are as calcified as coal. As someone who has incinerated enough smoke to acquire an ineradicable weirdness, even I… Continue reading »

Jan
20

Time Out of Mind: El-P, Nocando, and The Cult of Weird

There’s been a rash of recent articles heralding the rise of “weird rappers.” From my perspective, it’s a bizarre generalization  considering that other than maybe the last half-decade, hip-hop has always been weird.  The only reason why it stopped being strange was that corporate pressure forced rappers to conform to bland thug-trap stereotypes, resulting in… Continue reading »

» Newer posts