Son Raw & Maxwell Cavaseno are all in the same gang It’s been roughly 6-7 years since YG burst on the rap scene. He’s survived two trends/sub-genres coming and going, been incarcerated, and lived a life that the average rap fan fantasizes about. Throughout those years, he’s remained an underground phenomenon, beloved in Los Angeles […]

Son Raw saw the signs. Before we talk about Wen, let’s talk about Keysound, a label that’s officially having its moment in the sun. Born of the same mid aughts explosion that gave us Hyperdub, Tectonic, and Deep Medi, Keysound’s early records weren’t just left of center – they were left of everything. While future […]

We’re living in the Golden Age of Son Raw No “1 DJ and 1 MC” nostalgia here – strictly up to the minute vibrations. While I’m a big fan of the adlibs, multiple flows and harmonizing that go on in contemporary Hip-Hop, there’s a tangible energy that you only get through live rapping and hour […]

Son Raw will be in the UK in May and in Europe early June. He is willing to DJ something that isn’t Techno or Deep House for a reasonable fee. Contact him on twitter if you’re interested. I was actually thinking of skipping my column since I’d already covered this week’s big releases, but there’s […]

You hear that Doug? SON RAW IS COMING TO LONDON. Despite what Drake says, I’m perfectly willing to make new friends, they just have to meet certain guidelines. One of the rituals I expect from my homies is the ability, nay the compulsion, to endlessly quote classic rap tunes and movie quotes. If you get […]

Son Raw is back in the U.S.S.R. Not many club nights manage to attract attention outside of their home cities, particularly small, producer oriented ones. For all the hype around FWD and Low End Theory, theses were not (and are not) bacchanalian parties full of drug consumption and excess, they’re community run events by and […]

Son Raw is looking for a new room. Is genre even remotely useful anymore? From its earliest days as a tool for segregating “race” and “hillbilly” music in shops to its current status as a driver of ultra-specificity in dance music (minimal-psy-breaks anyone?), subcategorizing music into neatly defined boundaries has created as many problems as […]

Son Raw kind of just missed the Pokemon era as a kid Until I checked out the original version of Uncertainty for this post, I’d assumed Jagwar Ma was fronted by a waifish girl from Scotland rather than an Aussie dude with a thing for Madchester era vocal production. A rockist I am not. But […]

Son Raw refuses to cover anything with a “future” genre tag. A few years ago, there were barely enough instrumental Grime tunes seeing official release to make up a scene, let alone enough good ones to incite weekly purchases. Today however, the tide has shifted – consider Boomkat’s renaming their Dubstep/Grime/Funky section to Grime/FWD if […]

JT The Goon is a legend and U.O.E.N.O it. From his days storming East London Pirate Radio as a teenager to his production for Grime’ legendary Slew Dem Crew, JT didn’t just have a front row seat for the foundation of UK street culture, he played an active, if oft unappreciated role. Now, after a […]