| Master Denim: The Grotesque Self-Parody Of Rick Ross | March 4, 2014 |
You already knew that Doc Zeus was rooting against all things Miami. The reality of Rick Ross, “rap superstar” seemed absurd even before his fabricated criminal lifestyle came to light. When Rick Ross emerged in Summer 2006, he seemed little more than the fatter, uglier, marginally less authentic version of Young Jeezy – a corporatized […]
More than half of this years nominees are based on true events, but none were Based on a TRU Story. Max Bell, Matt Shea, Trey Kerby, Harold Stallworth, Doc Zeus, Tosten Burks, Brad Beatson, Abe Beame and Jonah Bromwich weigh in on this years nominees. And we’d love to hear what you think, too.
| Heaven or Hell: Does Schoolboy Q’s “Oxymoron” Live Up to the Hype? | February 25, 2014 |
Doc Zeus knows the woopty-woop. Creative burnout is the most common pitfall facing young rappers transitioning from blog fame to the unyielding lights of major label stardom. The combination of dwindling-to-non-existent resources for artist development, a democratization of DYI self-recording processes and the Internet’s revolutionary free distribution model spawned a glut of thirsty, talented, unsigned […]
Doc Zeus wants a spaceship. They say that memories fade as the ever-persistent hands of time perpetually tick forward. However, I’ll never forget the first time I heard that album. It had been a particularly rough semester for me at Syracuse that February. I had grown a troubling habit of abusing prescription amphetamine psychostimulants to […]
| The Rise of Isaiah Rashad & TDE | February 4, 2014 |
Doc Zeus is from parts unknown. For an independent rap label approaching total rap game domination, you might not have noticed that Top Dawg Entertainment spent the majority of 2013 scarcely releasing music. After a run of multiple great releases in the two years leading up to Kendrick Lamar’s platinum-selling, Grammy-snubbed masterpiece, good kid, m.A.A.d […]
| Why The World Doesn’t Need Jay-Z’s 1% Raps | July 8, 2013 |
Doc Zeus has accepted a full-time position at XXL. This will be his last post here for the immediate future. Buy him a bottle of Riesling to celebrate. Let me tell you about my favorite moment of Jay-Z’s post-retirement career. It occurs on “New Day,” off the 1% fantasy Watch The Throne–but ultimately, it underscores […]
| El & Mike Make Dollars: A Review of “Run the Jewels” | July 2, 2013 |
Doc Zeus is okay with Anthony Bennett too. Looking back on the past fifteen years of hip hop, one of the biggest blown opportunities was that the misguided dogma of mainstream and independent hip hop fans prevented a generation of talented performers from collaborating. A self-imposed segregation of the genre helped stifle overall creativity, create […]
| Yeezus Pieces: Doc Zeus | June 19, 2013 |
This is what Doc Zeus does. After seven years of living in “Brooklyn” during the Great Hipster Gold Rush, I have attended my fair share of mediocre experimental art shows in the bowels of some half-finished art space. These functions inevitably begin to feel the same. You stand stiffly around, gossiping with friends and drinking […]
Doc Zeus hath risen. For a man who has the stoned Scumbag Steve countenance of a young Jason Mewes, Harry Fraud of the titular “La Musica De Harry Fraud,” has managed to become one of the most accomplished young producers in hip hop. In-demand and prolific, Fraud has become the breakout producer in a resurgent […]
| The Top 50 Albums of 2012 (#50-26) | December 20, 2012 |
On a Previous Episode of the Passion of the Weiss: The Top 50 Albums of: 2011; 2010; 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 50. House Shoes – Let it Go [Tres] No best album list is complete without something from Detroit. Nowhere else is as no frills and unvarnished. It operates as a palate cleanser […]
