If you’re a regular reader of this site, you’re aware of my extreme excitement regarding the debut of “Beats, Rhymes & Life”, the Michael Rapaport-directed documentary about the lives and careers of rap legends A Tribe Called Quest. You’re probably also aware of the controversy regarding the film. The group members-Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi White and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, have not presented a united front on the film, and Q-Tip in particular has not been supportive, claiming that he’s cast […]
Posts tagged "hip-hop"
Spin Cycle: Random Axe’s “Random Axe” // Curren$y’s “Weekend at Burnie’s”
The old criticism of hip-hop music as pop’s most base, one-note form of expression must be extinct by now, right? Since the advent of the style, it’s slowly crept to mainstream status, virtually defining the mainstream for long stretches of the nineties and the oughts, and even the most hard-nosed “but it’s not real music!” types simply MUST have been exposed to some of the best the genre has to offer. Culturally, we’ve just breezed through a decade characterized by […]
Spin Cycle: Big Sean’s “Finally Famous”
Seven years after The College Dropout, the specter of Kanye West’s opus looms large over the rap landscape. He’s put out better albums in the intervening years – arguably, his stunning sophomore set Late Registration – but Dropout was the game-changer. Never has Kanye’s notorious inward focus been quite as breezy and flippant, nor his boasts as tempered with something like genuine humility; and if Late Registration is a big-budget, melodramatic epic, Dropout was the winning indie comedy from a […]
Spin Cycle: Tech N9ne’s “All 6’s & 7’s”
A longtime, often-vaunted member of rap’s left-of-center underground, Tech N9ne has managed to forge a career out of being off the radar, of inspiring intense fan devotion (the Techn9cians even get their own affectionate name that sounds an awful lot cooler than Gleek or Juggalo), and of being gleefully, unapologetically off the wall. Those who can actually find a record store in their town may recognize Tech more from his album covers than his actual recorded output – his wild-eyed […]
Hear Here: “Nasty” by Nas
Yeah, he’s stillmatic. Despite releasing an excellent collaboration album with Damian Marley last year, Nas has been in the headlines more recently for gossip rag-type stuff. The controversy he faced upon titling his last solo album Nigger (later changed to Untitled after allegedly catching flak from his record label…I’d be more inclined to believe it was all a publicity stunt), drama with his now ex-wife Kelis, major financial woes and the typical rapper label woes (remember the open letter to […]
The Top 40 Emcees of All Time: #15-#11
Sorry for a bit of a break from the countdown, I was taking care of some business in my old stomping grounds and hip-hop’s birthplace. I hope you’ve been enjoying the series so far. Check out past entries that you may have missed: 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 15. Ghostface Killah Representing: Staten Island Can you name anything good that has come out of Staten Island other than the Wu-Tang Clan? Consider the fact that I lived in New York City for almost thirty years […]
Award Show Sundays: The Wrath of Kane
In a way, it’s kind of sad that the network that threw the gauntlet down for quality hip-hop programming was VH-1. After all, when the genre was in full flower, VH-1 was probably best known for throwing down Air Supply and Lionel Richie videos. However, by the time the 21st century rolled around, the network had made it’s peace with the genre, and when they rolled out their annual Hip-Hop Honors program, they not only staked their claim as a […]
“Beats, Rhymes & Life” Official Trailer Hits the Airwaves
I’ve been talking about this Tribe Called Quest documentary for a hot minute, and with the film finally scheduled to hit theaters later this summer, anticipation on my end has reached a fever pitch. A new trailer for the film recently surfaced on Yahoo, and this looks like it’s going to be one of the all time hip-hop docs, nay, MUSIC docs of all time. I can not fucking wait. Michael Rapaport did his thing here. http://youtu.be/XJFOM1qRLe8 Opening dates for […]