Evan Nabavian is a staff writer for Passion of the Weiss, contributing since 2011 when the powers that be blackballed him for slandering Lupe Fiasco (Lupe, if you’re reading this, I am so sorry). His distinctions include being cited by name in the Wikipedia article for “Ride” by Ciara and having his kitchen depict a crack den in a Freddie Gibbs video. In 2012, he was banned from S.O.B.’s in New York following an altercation where he questioned the tenets of real hip-hop. In 2014, he shared a Pulitzer for interviewing the ghost of Tim Dog. He’s @MooseXL on Twitter and his email is his name at gmail dot com.
Currently Listening:
Tanya Morgan - 12 Minutes at Karriem's
John Barry - Follow Me
Sam Hill - The Sam Hill Story
:$oviet:France: - :Garista:
Ca$h Out - Kitchens and Choppas
V/A - Weightless Vol. 1
Selda - Selda
V/A - Panorama (MP 74)
G. Zadj & J.-P. Decerf - Action
V/A - Synthetic Music (AV 4151)
Magical Ring - Light Flight / More and More
MoneyMakinNique x Johnny Cinco - The Extra EP
Jean-Pierre Decerf - Out Of The Way
J.P. Decerf / M. Baroty - Publipot
Epkitan - We Come From The Trees
Raekwon - We Wanna Thank You
François De Roubaix - Les Plus Belles Musiques De Films Vol 2
François De Roubaix - Les Plus Belles Musiques De Films Vol 3
Dorothy Ashby - Dorothy's Harp
Strict Face - Marble Isles
Roger Davy - Patchwork Orchestra 5
Philippe Besombes - Libra
Hydravion - Hydravion
Hyrdravion - Stratos Airlines
Besombes-Rizet - Pôle
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - No2
Ennio Morricone - Veruschka| The Rolexes and Deep Rolodexes of Dom Kennedy | July 25, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian is a pioneer in trap-step. We make all manner of excuses, some more valid than others, for rappers without technical skill. French Montana’s ear for melody, Waka’s energy, and Jeezy’s Trapability® are all counterweights to the argument that a rapper, or to use a more lofty title, an MC, is one whose motherfucking […]
| Corner Boy P Gets Wonky | June 27, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian was a fan of the band, Veruca Salt. I’m a sucker for that cheesy swell of strings you hear on old movie soundtracks. You know, like when the camera opens on a vast landscape or when Aladdin finally frees the Genie. It’s an aural cue for cinematic spectacle. For a rap song to […]
| The Grand Scram: Scram Jones Gets Weird, Stays Pro | June 20, 2012 |
Admittedly, Evan Nabavian has yelled “samples, baby” at the employees of Cosco. In 2007, I was immersed in a golden age revival characterized by swooning nostalgia and hyperbolic praise. It was a good time, but I started to realize how smug and obnoxious we all were when I was at a DJ Premier set and […]
| T.R.U. Lies Starring 2Chainz & Drake | May 23, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian is mostly not lying. I might get pilloried by team Passion for writing this, but I think Drake kills it – absolutely kills it – when he makes music at the exact right point in his menstrual cycle. “No Lie” counts among the five Drake songs I like, the first four being “Best […]
| The Mental Warfare of Starlito | April 25, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian prefers Ibuprofen to Tylenol. Starlito is amazing. The perennially overlooked Nashville rapper has songs that make your soul itch, he can melt a Lex Luger beat better than anyone, and he made a mixtape referencing Step Brothers. And in all cases, he’s a virtuoso. Starlito always sounds like he just crawled out of […]
| Psychedelic Superheroes: Wu Block Get Bizarre | April 19, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian also enjoys the Green Lantern and Blue Dream. So far, Sheek Louch and Ghostface Killah’s collaborative album has materialized in the form of threadbare New York rap over throwaway beats. One would hope that none of these actually make the album and Wu-Block is produced entirely by the ’98 Hitmen or MF Doom. […]
| The Fantastic Plastic of Lee Bannon | April 4, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian is considering taking a job in plastics. A man claiming to be recording himself taking a dump with his iPod screams, “I got video chat on this muthafuckaaa! I got a million games on this muthafuckaaa!” right before the song abruptly switches to an antiquated infomercial about the Internet. The distorted clips and […]
| David Banner and Big K.R.I.T. are Believers | March 26, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian sampled Three Dog Night in his last job application. Awkwardly co-opted cheeseball hooks hit their crescendo when J.R. Writer sampled “Oh Ho Ho It’s Magic” and Juelz Santana had the neighbhorhood kids flip the Hess Truck theme into a crack jingle. Both hallmarks of the Dips’ legacy, for sure. The hook on David […]
| Neptunes Never Really Die | March 20, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian continues to search for whatever happened to that boy. The Neptunes sound died a quiet death some time after Hell Hath No Fury. Prominent or otherwise worthwhile Neptunes tracks have been scant ever since. Maybe T-Pain, Lex Luger, 40, Bangladesh, Hit-Boy, and David Guetta made them obsolete. Maybe Pharrell is having more fun […]
| We Bought a Jameszoo | March 8, 2012 |
Evan Nabavian declined Scarlett Johannson’s entreaties to star as the male romantic lead due to their complicated past. For first world heads, indigenous tunes are most comfortably viewed through the lens of sutured loops. Madlib is our hermeneutical guide through canopies of Indian grooves and Oh No our Ethiopian safari leader. Side-props to Hubert Daviz’ […]
