Kyle Ellison has an extensive knowledge of rap songs that feature violins.  It’s hard to ignore the underlying tragedy of a rapper whose best music was made in the ’90s releasing a project called Back to Basics. Generally, the explicit avowal of a return to form is a sign of creative bankruptcy. The artist has spent a few […]

Kyle Ellison rejected your invitation to play candy crush. “I’m just trying to show you where I’m coming from,” says Sam Baker of his new album, “I’m not about futuristic spaceship beats, just straight forward hip-hop.” It seems like Samiyam has been fighting this battle for years, watching as his head-nodding rap joints are filed […]

Kyle Ellison told Tony the Tiger not to lie. Three months after Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap and specific images still linger in my brain. There’s the fear of Chicago summers, morosely depicted in “Paranoid’s” busy beaches and crackling fireworks. There’s the warmth of a mother’s love, just out of grasp on “Cocoa Butter Kisses”, […]

Kyle Ellison is a Rossi Wine connoisseur. How do you go about learning to rap when your dad shredded the instruction manual years ago? With his little black book of slang and slippery, offbeat flows, E-40 is one of the most inventive emcees to ever grace a microphone – but studying his style won’t do […]