Feb
16

Pain and Cereal: Kendrick Lamar, King Hippy

We’re at that point where we might have to unanimously acknowledge that Kendrick Lamar is the best rapper alive. Feel free to a dissenting opinion. But when I talk to people who obsess over rap with the intensity of John or Steve Nash, the conversation returns to Black Hippy. Between Schoolboy and Kendrick, the label… Continue reading »

Oct
04

Lamar End Theory

The countdown to Kendrick Lamar’s debut Low End Theory appearance starts now. If paying for these two to make music together can’t make me want to purchase a Windows Phone, nothing will. Nothing will. Maybe this will make rap fans realize that Nosaj and Flying Lotus et. al are making more innovative hip-hop rooted production… Continue reading »

Sep
02

“If You’re HIV Negative and You Love Hip Hop, Put Your Hands Up”: Kendrick Lamar at SOBs

Abe Beame hails from Section 84. Summer ended suddenly on a Wednesday night in Tribecca when Kendrick Lamar, a self-appointed Dylan for 80s babies, took the stage at SOBs, one of the last venues Manhattan has left to a dedicated Hip Hop stage. And hip hop, in its strange 2011 iteration was in the building.… Continue reading »

Aug
24

Video: Kendrick Lamar – “A.D.H.D.”

About a month ago, I interviewed Danny Brown for Spin. We started talking about Section 80 and he said, “that if you’re a rapper and if you heard “A.D.H.D.” and didn’t lose sleep, you’re doing something wrong.” It’s a wonderful thing when the rap world can anoint the next star based on talent instead of… Continue reading »

Feb
24

Life, Death, and Overdoz

I first mentioned Overdoz last September, right before Odd Future’s ascension likely subjected them to a lifetime of off-base comparisons. They’re another one of the seemingly limitless skinny-jeaned squads clogging the 2 Dope Boyz mailbox, but rather than fight back, they work within the system collaborating with Casey Veggies, Dom Kennedy, and mixing R&B and… Continue reading »

Aug
23

Kendrick Lamar-”Ignorance is Bliss”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00cr3g6wCG0 The Rawse continues to cultivate fantasies about his black mafia family. Kendrick Lamar and his hippes attempt to reenact the Black Mafia Life. It’s a draw. More rappers should drop two minute-long videos with nothing but funerals, 40s, and no hooks. Remember West Coast rappers: you are not writing songs for the pop charts… Continue reading »