With Evidence, it’s not so much a case of starting the story from the beginning, but figuring out which story you want to start with. The Venice Beach-based rapper and producer packs at least two separate career arcs. Most well known is his work with Dilated Peoples, the trio Evidence formed with Rakaa Iriscience and […]
Shady Blaze spits syllables like a Gatling gun and his rapid fire flows have 90s rap fans reminiscing over smoking sessions to “Thuggish Ruggish Bone.” Despite his close friendship with fellow Oakland natives Main Attrakionz, Blaze doesn’t just make cloud-rap or whatever else bloggers want to call it. Instead the Green Ova soldier rhymes with […]
Art by Paul Hudson A year ago, White Fence was the best-kept secret of California’s hyper-fertile psych-rock scene, turning in a promising self-titled album in 2010 and 2011’s phenomenal “Is Growing Faith.” Somewhere between then and now, Tim Presley started touring regularly, hooked up with Ty Segall– the reigning crown prince of garage-punk– and had […]
Detroit producer Apollo Brown has mastered the art of the sample, supplying soul-blessed bangers for underground royalty like Danny Brown, Has-Lo, Elzhi and Finale. “Trophies,” his collaboration with Brooklyn rhyme legend O.C. dropped at the top of the month. It’s his fourth back-to-front production effort for an emcee, following albums for NY’s Haasan Mackey, Detroit […]
Deniro Farrar is covered in tattoos and rhymes over trance samples, nuy isn’t a tacky Flo Rida clone. His second album Destiny Altered, is death, politics and sex over gloomy atmospheric electronics. Farrar witnessed tough times while living in two Charlotte housing projects and left High School before finishing ninth grade. He refuses the “conscious […]
Sean ‘Slug’ Daley’s self-deprecation knows no bounds. At a recent show in Australia he told the audience a teenage story about sifting through his shit for two weeks after being dared by a friend to swallow a watch battery. On the phone, he operates on a similar (if not so vulgar) level, quick to talk […]
Alex Koenig got a 10/10 on the Kool Keith or James Joyce test. Over nearly the last 30 years as a recording artist, legendary Bronx MC Kool Keith has subverted nearly every hip hop cliché whilst staying completely true to his personality. At his best, Keith comes off as an unhinged and maniacal artist whose […]
DJ Carnage is a young producer who doesn’t care about old school rap values. He’ll make authentic gutter music for grill wearers and annoy them next week with poppy dubstep. Sneaking on the internet radar after producing Kreyashawn’s collaboration with Theophilus London “Shrimp Pt.2”, his uniquely rhythmic bass obviously stood out and he’s continued to carve […]
Question in the Form of an Answer: Ka | March 22, 2012 |
I met Ka on a cold windy afternoon on 6th Ave in Manhattan, where he entrenched himself with a small quantity of CDs and vinyl under a storefront that was once Fat Beats NY. In another time this place was a Mecca for underground hip-hop, a venerable destination for both artists and listeners, an iconic […]