| Lawnmower Men: Sharkula & Jeremiah Jae “Headless Horseman” | January 26, 2015 |
Tosten Burks ordered the ravioli. If you’ve spent time in or near Wicker Park during the last decade-and-a-half, there’s a good chance cult DIY rapper Brian Wharton, more commonly known as Sharkula, has tried to sell you a CD or cassette. He tried to sell me one once, outside an Italian restaurant, where I had […]
Will Hagle reverse engineered his backpack. In my head I am creating a roster for an All Star team of rappers that I mostly can’t understand but still recognize as genius. For some reason it is a baseball team but Tony Parker is still MVP, MF Doom is behind the plate in a catcher’s mask […]
| First Step is Intention, Second Step is a Glance: Open Mike Eagle “The History of Modern Dance” Video | May 27, 2014 |
Chris Daly lusted after Lisa Bonet long after she joined A Different World I have no idea why it’s taken me this long to come to the conclusion that Open Mike Eagle may very well be my favorite MC in the game today. His lyrics often speak directly to me, from his love of comic […]
| Jonwayne as “El Mariachi” | April 9, 2014 |
Tosten Burks stole Warren Buffet’s billion dollar prize. It is likely that none but Stones Throw’s shaggy sumo philosopher Jonwayne are quoting Bukowski and sampling flamenco guitar in the same song. “The Desert” comes just as LA starts to smolder, complete with all the rich soil and thick blood necessary to survive in the Mojave […]
| Dial 7-7-7 “Hit & Run” | December 11, 2013 |
Max Bell holds the weight of 1.2 synagogues. Hit + Run run the live screen printing game, which is probably a game you don’t think about very often. However, they are the best at it and unlike Khaled, their success doesn’t make them suffer. They ardently support of music they bump and believe in. especially […]
Max Bell is not fragile. If you’re reading this, you’ve heard of Jonwayne, the “rap game Sam Beckett,” the “open toed Blowedian.” (see here, here, here, or here). Yesterday, marked the release of Cassette 3: The Marion Morrison Mixtape, the third tape in the “Cassette Trilogy.” Taking its name from actor John Wayne — his […]
| Brainfeeder’s Azizi Gibson | June 5, 2013 |
Max Bell is headed overseas. Germany, Thailand, Singapore, Maryland, Los Angeles—Azizi Gibson has never not been on the move. Raised as perpetually mobile military brat, he has no real hometown. As a result, it seems he’s not bound by any particular regional sound or set of aesthetic criteria. There’s no scholarly (read: sometimes cringingly derivative) adherence […]
