Max Bell majored in English. I’ve always dug the name Chuck Inglish. It sounds like the name of a man affiliated with O.E., a man who might drop some good rhymes in, well, English (On the block with a Robert Horry jersey from the Rockets/Poetic with my sonnets” – “Drops”).  And, honestly, the name’s always sounded […]

Max Bell went to high school in the valley. He never forgets. For those of you who hated the Daft Punk album, or just felt okay about it, there is Classixx—the Oak Park duo of Michael David and Tyler Blake who’ve moved from more than solid DJs/remixers to truly solid artists in their own right (see also: […]

Max Bell was a Blowedian in a past life. If Busdriver is the adenoidal vocal gymnast and Open Mike Eagle is the smooth and laid back “dark-skinned art baron,” then Nocando is the man in the middle (and the man at the helm of Hellfyre Club), with Busdriver’s seemingly inexhaustible energy and Mike’s ability to […]

Max Bell  has been known to sit on park benches. Snoop is a stoned lion who thought making an anti-gun song with wheelchair Jimmy was a sound decision. Dre continues to make headphone money (and will probably never release another album in his lifetime). Ice Cube makes more movies and TV shows than music, if you […]

Max Bell has been known to say, “eh mon,” in mixed company. Stones Throw perennially cracks the top ten (and some years top one) lists for ‘The Best Independent Record Label.’ The same can be said for Dub Club—the Wednesday night Dub/Reggae/Dancehall show that blasts blunted and bone-soothing bass out of Los Angeles’s Echoplex—which should be in […]

Max Bell is not, and has never been, a juggalo. If White Jesus was the introduction, then The Life and Times of Johnny Valiant is the autobiography, the book you’ve been waiting to read. Emotional and psychological wounds are (re)opened and drained, bled until one wonders if there is anything left in the self-dissecting patient. Sixteen […]

Max Bell may have written positive words about a Drake album once. There are a number of early articles/blog posts/pieces of writing I’d like deleted, wiped from existence. Some of those pieces could’ve benefited from more time spent behind the keyboard, some might’ve needed more editing from whoever was kind enough to let me write for […]

Max Bell always preferred Allen Iverson. Today marks the re-release of Shaquille O’Neal’s rookie-season Reeboks shoes, The Shaq Attaq. If I had some disposable income—$160, plus tax—I’d be outside of Footlocker with my lawn chair and G-Pen like all of the other sneaker heads. Instead, I’ve settled for DJ Goulet’s (that one) commemorative Shaq Attaq mix, which […]

Last year’s “Skelethon” surpassed expectations, both lyrically and production-wise. Personal tragedy, five years of gestation and creation, a few side projects here and there, and Aesop Rock emerged with his best album sans Blockhead. It might be his best album to date, or at least his most approachable. After his second weekend at Coachella, Aesop is headed […]

Max Bell ghostwrote BAYTL Hucci is 17.  He hasn’t had much time to master Fruity Loops or how to monetize his Soundcloud following (currently over 20,000 and counting). But make no mistake, Brighton’s Ollie O’ Neil has put in serious work and is starting to come into his own. Scroll down his Soundcloud. You’ll find […]