Max Bell throws barbs over laser discs of “Barb Wire.” To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, I dislike the Drake. Hate is a strong word, and there are more loathsome individuals on this rotating blue orb than an ex-Degrassi cast member turned rapper. More than anything, it’s that I don’t buy what Drake’s selling. He’s not sincere, […]

Max Bell is one third Babylonian. Classixx’s Hanging Gardens is my pick for dance album of the year. It’s pop, disco, and nearly anything else you want it to be. There’s a mystical, almost magical quality to the record. At times it sounds as if there’s a massive disco ball descending on the place where beach […]

Max Bell Shynes on. Detroit-bred Quelle Chris has been making music for a long time. He has Bandcamp tracks – rap, rock, and otherwise – from nearly a decade ago. He worked with Roc Marciano and Danny Brown (see Shotgun & Sleek Rifle) before you knew they were going to be two of your favorite […]

Fall in L.A. isn’t markedly different than any other season of the year. There are fewer seventy-five and sunny let’s-go-to-the-beach days. And there are people (read: mental defectives) who wear heavy winter coats when the temp drops below sixty-five. Still, fall in L.A. isn’t really fall, just like the woman serving your latte isn’t really […]

Max Bell murdered Jar-Bar Binks.  There isn’t one Star Wars reference on Roc Marciano’s The Pimpire Strikes Back. It’s not a blatant disregard for source material so much as it is honest and telling revisionism. In other words, a young Marciano probably wasn’t rushing off to see George Lucas’ The Empire Strikes Back. Instead, he […]

Max Bell favors Michael Concepcion for the TDE Connect. Hellfyre Club is one of the strongest and most necessary branches of the hip hop tree. The natural and logical outgrowth of Project Blowed, much of their roster has weathered the calms and storms of the ever fluctuating indie rap landscape for years, refusing to break […]

Max Bell was not Mad Max for the holiday. There’s seemingly new teens with two decade-old styles popping up on blogs each week. Quite often, they approach golden age hip-hop like perverted archaeology. Dusty ‘90s gems are an object of fascination. It’s usually rap made with the best of intentions, but it’s also the downplaying […]

Max Bell saw a bag of weed on the floor. Reggie Noble is a lot like Devin the Dude. Both are perpetually lifted and gifted MCs overlooked by too many. Yet both have legions of blunted devotees across the globe. The primary difference between the two really comes down to their respective reactions to the […]

Max Bell may have heard that. It’s mostly the voice (© Guru). You can be a technically great rapper but sound like you’re reading a textbook aloud. I’ll leave names out and let you throw darts at your favorite Twitter pincushion. Tree doesn’t have this problem. His gravelly last-swisher rasp is somewhere between Tom Waits […]

Max Bell is somewhere hidden in this pile of records. Madlib has never left his devotees hanging. There was a good Quasimoto record this June and I’m sure many still haven’t listened to all of the Beat Konducta and Medicine Show releases (19 releases combined). For now, it seems as if Madlib won’t stop melting […]