| 20/20 Vision: The Soulquarian Edition | November 18, 2020 |
The penultimate edition of Son Raw's retrospective review series is a three-album installment, weaving together the impact of 'Voodoo,' 'Like Water for Chocolate,' and 'Mama's Gun.'
| “Swing is Like the Style that Links Everything Together”: An Interview with Karriem Riggins | March 30, 2018 |
Mano Sundaresan chats with Karieem Riggins about August Greene, his work with Madlib and J Dilla, and jazz versus hip-hop.
| Rework the Angles: Common’s ‘One Day It’ll All Make Sense | October 10, 2017 |
Zilla Rocca's Rework the Angles series continues with a rearrangement of Common's 'One Day It'll All Make Sense.'
| Retrospect For Life: Remembering Common’s Golden Era | August 10, 2016 |
A look back at when Common wasn't just an ex-Gap model and gun-toting goon from Suicide Squad.
| P.O.W Fall Mixtape: Windy City Rap Blended By Max Bell | November 14, 2014 |
For his Fall Mixtape, Max Bell blends his favorite Chicago rap songs from Da Brat to Chief Keef.
| Crucial Conflict: Common “Nobody’s Smiling” | August 12, 2014 |
Thomas Johnson is hyper as a heart attack Chicago’s been in a predicament over the last few years. While the quality of its music is steadily on the rise, the quality of life of many of those making the music has been on a steep decline. Drill scene artists like Chief Keef reflect the warzone […]
| Summer Mixtape: PremRock | July 24, 2014 |
Premrock is trying to one-up Joel Embiid’s Twitter feed. Photo by Gianna Leo Falcon. Chinatown will always hold a special place in my heart. Not the noir film set in LA but the one of a kind neighborhood in New York City. Summertime in Chinatown smells awful but if you want the best dumplings you […]
| Spring Mix – Has-Lo | May 28, 2014 |
Has-Lo is hordeable, sportable, and totally affordable Spring is my favorite time of year. It’s not as hot as summer. Not as brutally cold as winter. Full of anticipation. Everything spreads out in front of us, waiting to be experienced. Once it got warm, you know school is coming to a close for the year. […]
| September is the Cruelest Month: The Event Horizons and Turning Points of Kanye West | September 13, 2012 |
B. Michael Payne steps into the arena. It must feel weird being even a relatively old-school hip-hop head. Back in the late 90s and early 00s, you only knew Kanye West as a Roc-a-Fella producer with occasional placements on semi-underrated Jay-Z projects. The College Dropout leak and College Dropout album were game changers, but for […]
Max Bell produced that turkey sandwich. You’re in your ride. It’s late. The bar was dead and the beautiful babies didn’t know you were fucking money (I’m sorry. I’ve been on a Swingers bender). So it’s time to throw on jazz drummer/hip-hop producer Karriem Riggins new mix—the fittingly titled “Karriem Riggins Produced That”—as you try […]
