February 2009

Beginning with the news that Blu has signed a major label deal with Sire Records, the producer he worked with on Below the Heavens has recently released an instrumental album entitled Radio. And that’s in addition to recently being tapped to produce work for Mobb Deep, 50 Cent and Jurassic 5. So needless to say, Exile has been a pretty busy guy.

Read more >

For a guy that’s released a relatively small amount of work as a solo artist – that means we’re not considering all the Danger Doom/Madvillain collaborations – DOOM get’s talked about a great deal. Maybe it’s because he’s pulled a Prince and changed his name to DOOM (all caps, no MF prefix). But really, the level of talent that he exudes when he actually releases discs is beyond anyone one the Billboard rap charts.

Read more >

The blossoming of what would become underground rap began on both coasts at roughly the same time. Though, each coast had distinctive styles, the east coast included groups that favored jazzy beats and more flowery lyrical tendencies. But there were New Yorkers that eschewed those positive and seemingly ethereal dreams for descriptions of daily grindin’.

Read more >

Over the last six years, the man known as Prefuse 73 – Scott Herren – has released five discs. So as to even out that number, he plans on releasing Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian during April on the venerable Warp Records.

Read more >

Seemingly disparate forms of expression invariably have some sort of commonality. It might not be readily noticeable, or maybe it is on occasion. Often, though, these connections are fostered by one art form’s respect for another, which invariably results in some borrowing.

Read more >

Well, let’s just pretend that an Eminem track didn’t drop today, ‘cause really, I can’t stand that guy. And no, I don’t want to hear about how talented he is – ever.

Anyway, if you enjoy the boom bap of any type a rap, then you’re hip to A Tribe Called Quest – even if you don’t have the shoes. Waiting for a new disc from that crew might be in vain, but thanks to J. Period, there’ll at least be a mix tape paying tribute to Q-Tip soon enough.

For those of you not familiar with this particular producer, J. Period has worked with Kanye, Diddy and Lauryn Hill amongst others. He’s also scored the soundtrack for Tony Hawk’s Motion on Nintendo DS as well as a flick with a dude named the RZA that you may have heard of called American Gangster.

Read more >

If I just met you and told you I really was into rap – in addition to everything else – wouldn’t you still need to ask, “What kinda rap?”

Every genre has innumerable subsets. Jazz has swing, bop, cool, post-bop, free jazz, soul jazz and countless others. And hip hop isn’t any different. Some attempt to differentiate rap from hip hop, and while one can be used as a verb, that doesn’t really seem like the best way to go about deciphering all the different styles inherent in this genre. This is a discussion that probably is less than fifteen years old – during the early years it probably was just unnecessary. And that really proves the point that, as long as it’s good, it doesn’t matter what it’s called. However, Duo Live should be considered all things hip hop – and beyond that, they should just be considered.

Read more >

Again the way that hip hop has chosen to organize itself, in crews as opposed to specific groups is probably the reason why mix tapes exist. Most assuredly, that wasn’t the initial thought of those dudes from the ‘80s that began all of this, but the resultant affect has been that any work, album or otherwise, can incorporate so many different performers as to expand the possible consumer base far beyond most rock acts. For instance, you won’t see Dave Grohl dueting with the dudes in Coldplay, even though that would probably move a few units.

Read more >

At the time Clear Blue Skies was re-released, the Anticon work with Darc Mind was still a few years off, making the Juggaknots disc (probably) the most entertaining, if not important, reissue in the genre at that time.

There’s no accounting for the Juggaknots slipping through the cracks during the ‘90s rap renaissance. Being a part of the Fondle ‘Em stable, helmed by Bobbito, along with MF Doom and some other notable performers, should have given the duo a pretty high profile. But the scarcity of their discs prevented that. Thankfully, though, the re-release a few years back, has at least in part, revitalized interest in the group.

Read more >