We reflexively define artists in absolutist terms. You’re ostensibly regionally rooted or creatively rootless, but the truth is rarely that one-dimensional. Too Short was raised in LA until high school. Eminem didn’t move to Michigan until age 11. DJ Premier comes from Texas. It doesn’t necessarily matter where you’re from or where you’re at, when […]

Lamont Jody Hawkins is better known by his rap alias U-God, but it’s the “Four Bar Killer” nickname that has defined his career. Wu Tang’s mastermind RZA treated each member of the iconic group like a chess piece and used their individual strengths in a specific way while recording their early work. Unfortunately for U-God, this […]