| Gods & Roses: Vince Staples’ Hell Can Wait | October 14, 2014 |
An in-depth review of the Def Jam debut from Long Beach rapper Vince Staples.
| Counting to Fuck with Run the Jewels & Zack de la Rocha | October 13, 2014 |
Max Bell has been counting to fuck since he could speak. Zack de la Rocha working with Killer Mike and El-P makes sense. The former matches Rage Against the Machine’s political ethos; the latter produces suites that crush skulls like distorted Tom Morello guitar riffs. On “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck”) both continue […]
| Redman’s Pacific Waters | October 1, 2014 |
Max Bell uses a joint roller. Did Redman smoke the club out your honor? He pleads five Philly blunts filled with top shelf left coast greenery. Over the breezy, g-funk bounce of the inimitable DJ Quik’s “Spur of the Moment” (Trauma) Redman reminds you that he can rap over anything with ease and punch lines more […]
| Because the Internet: The Unoriginal Shangozeropoint | October 1, 2014 |
Max Bell’s hall closet is cluttered with heat Rap is one of the few genres where listeners expect an artist to write his or her own lyrics. Biting is grounds for eviscerating rebuke, and, in some circles, banishment. Those with ghostwriters are exposed like [insert ‘fappening’ celebrity]. So it goes that rap songs and rap […]
| Question in the Form of An Answer: milo’s toothpaste suburb | September 23, 2014 |
An Interview with the mango conversationalist pimp and young Hellfyre Club prince, Milo.
| The Growing Pains of L.A.’s Versis | August 15, 2014 |
Max Bell guesses like the jeans Prolificacy is usually equated with prominence. Raise your digital flag daily or sink amidst the coded stream. Rappers usually feel compelled to bear this burden more than most, fearful of being relegated to blog freezers. Thankfully, there are rappers like L.A.’s Versis, those who’ve long risen above the fear, […]
Let Max Bell milk this cow, the best way he knows how The saga of the long-storied sixth Wu-Tang album, A Better Tomorrow, is documented elsewhere and not worth outlining. Wu-Tang was forever before they put it in writing in ’97 and remain so despite all the recent (and past) turmoil. Thankfully, all remaining Wu […]
| This is Anderson Paak On Drugs | August 1, 2014 |
Max Bell bombs like fighter planes Hit records sell a mood, a feeling. Melody and inflection matter more than lyrics. This is the reason many have yet to realize “Hey Ya!” is about the dissolution of damaged relationship. Hellfyre Club vocalist/drummer Anderson Paak knows this. His single “Drugs” distills the chaotic and often toxic comingling […]
| Issa Gold Converses with a Butterfly | July 31, 2014 |
Max Bell fixes the spelling on suicide notes The Underachievers have long been my favorite members of Gotham’s new guard. Pro Era poorly paint by numbers laid in the ‘90s and I have yet to understand the adulation. A$AP Mob have a number of songs I enjoy, but much of their work (solo and collective) […]
| The Wytches Burn Out the Bruise | July 25, 2014 |
Max Bell pulled Stevie Nicks from the set of “American Horror Story” In 2014, garage rock of any denomination is a lot like ‘90s inflected hip-hop of the boom-bap variety. There are far too many reverential, indistinguishable practitioners. For every Alchemist behind the boards, there are hordes of crate-digging Pete Rock disciples locked in the […]
