Holy fuck Jordan Pedersen misses Breaking Bad.  The term “classicist” gives the entire movement an unfair advantage. It opts for the word “classic” when, if it were being honest, “old head” might be more appropriate. Or, thinking pessimistically, “stale.” As Mike Ehrmantraut told Walter White, “Just because you shot Jesse James don’t make you Jesse […]

Jonah Bromwich gets more props in stunts than Bruce Willis. DC Rapper yU’s new album The Earn is not about yU. It’s about Michael Willingham Jr. The braggadocious battle rapper that was has been replaced by a fully-realized portrait of a man. yU makes reference to his government name liberally on this album and there’s […]

Jonah Bromwich wrote his first draft of this on a smoked banana peel. It’s hard to avoid self-deprecation when you’re standing right beside incredible talent. While yU is probably the best rapper in Diamond District (and maybe even on Mello Music) the producing wizardry is usually situated in Oddisee, whose Rock Creek Park is the […]

In an effort to engender enough good will for eternal devotion (no rapture), Mello Music Group are giving away yU’s stellar Before Taxes for free all week. Named the 32nd best album of last year by an obscure website, Aaron Matthews hailed it as “one of the strongest 90s hip hop albums of the aughties…built […]