Making Sense of the World: A Conversation with Dessa
Dessa discusses her recently released album, Chime, where she stands on the intersection of poetry and performance, and self-care for busy artists.
...more
Posts Tagged: rap
How to Workshop N-Words
I am not willing to let go of one of the only things that truly belong to my people and me. It’s a very exclusive, very tumultuous kind of privilege.
...more
STRIPPERDADDY
My thoughts hovered above the scene pondering the reasons why and time felt like the waves of a puddle lapping against cracked asphalt.
...more
Staying Syncretic: A Conversation with Kool A.D.
Kool A.D. discusses his debut novel, OK, the war on drugs, systemic destruction of left-leaning movements by the government, and the inability to escape American capitalism.
...moreAlbum of the Week: Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN.
With rumors and speculation about another new record dropping on the second Coachella weekend flying, Kendrick Lamar’s fourth studio album DAMN. (out via TDE/ Interscope) has already established itself as an instant classic. Lamar, who prefers to identify as musician and a writer rather than a rapper, called his album “Very urgent.” DAMN. is a […]
...moreSong of the Day: “Louder Than A Bomb”
“Rhythm is the rebel,” Chuck D raps on “Louder Than A Bomb,” one of many outstanding tracks from Public Enemy’s touchstone 1988 record, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Of all the controversial and heartfelt statements made on this widely acclaimed and influential album, this is perhaps the most telling, as DJ […]
...moreVince Staples’s Challenge
Vince Staples appeared on Hot 97 recently to deliver a freestyle, challenging #BlackLivesMatter protestors to make the future brighter through positive community action, among many other things. (He also would be happy if his girlfriend looked like M.I.A., for instance.) Listen to the full rap after the jump.
...moreA Music Drama (Actually) about Music
Netflix’s The Get Down is receiving quite a bit of attention for being the unicorn of music drama: for once, a show about a moment in musical history is actually about the music! Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the show is receiving accolades for following hip-hop’s rise in the Bronx with respect and care: A coming-of-age drama anchored in the […]
...moreDinosaurs, Aliens, and Rappers
In its infinite wisdom, VICE has produced a show for the company’s TV channel, VICELAND, where Action Bronson and his friends smoke themselves into oblivion while they try to grapple with the immensity of history and the cosmos as communicated by cheeseball history documentaries. In the first episode of Traveling The Stars: Action Bronson & Friends, Schoolboy Q, Earl Sweatshirt, Alchemist, […]
...moreLiving Performance Art
The Internet’s been freaking out about Kanye West’s latest bid to be the center of all things surreal about our culture: his video for the track “Famous” features breathing sculptures of celebrities who may or may not have given permission for their likenesses to be represented naked, as if asleep, and in bed together. West supposedly […]
...moreCosmically Illegal
At the Kenyon Review blog, Brian Michael Murphy celebrates the sheer density of reference and intricate structuring of rap lyrics revealed by a computer program, The Raplyzer, and its Rhyme Factor Scale. Murphy dissects the lyric genius of Wu-Tang’s Inspectah Deck and others: I remember the feeling from when I was 16, the sense that […]
...moreZane Lowe Interviews Chance the Rapper
Following the release of his latest mixtape Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper spoke with Zane Lowe in a lengthy interview about the work, the recording process, and the artist’s growing collaborative relationship with Kanye West. Listen to the full conversation via okayplayer and stream the mixtape here.
...moreThe Future of Hip-Hop
The rap golden age of the ’90s may be over, but rappers today are achieving a kind of mainstream cultural influence that would’ve been hard to imagine twenty years ago. Over at The Walrus, Simon Lewsen writes about Canadian rapper Drake, the state of modern-day hip-hop music, and how the genre has changed over the last […]
...moreThis Week in Posivibes: untitled unmastered
Kendrick Lamar has released a new album, untitled unmastered. The album was a surprise, although the artist performed some of its songs last year on The Colbert Report and this past January on The Tonight Show. The album is available via iTunes (along with just about every other online music retailer). The full album is also available to stream from Spotify.
...more“Borders” and Brand Controversy
MIA’s video for “Borders” is controversial in many ways: it’s full of refugee imagery, MIA rapping in the middle of boats packed with bodies. But its biggest backlash comes from what seems like its least controversial gesture—in some shots, MIA is wearing a shirt with a doctored logo, changing “Fly Emirates” to read “Fly Pirates.” One would think that critiquing […]
...moreObama Answers the Big Question
Kendrick or Drake? YouTube vlogger Adande Thorne asked President Obama the big question, and Obama went with Kendrick Lamar. “Got to go with Kendrick,” President Obama responded, as reported Consequence of Sound. The President continued to say, “I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer, but Kendrick—his lyrics, his last album was outstanding. Best album of […]
...moreWhat Hip-Hop Owes David Bowie
The Internet has been (rightfully) full of David Bowie tributes in the last week, including a series of pieces about the icon’s influence on hip-hop music. Noisey traced Bowie’s public admiration for hip-hop, beginning with the 1993 clip of Bowie asking MTV why the network wasn’t featuring black artists that went viral following his death, […]
...moreVince Staples on ESPN
Why the segment was on ESPN, whose idea it was to have Vince Staples on a sports network to talk about his past, and why Staples agreed to the spot—these are all questions we may never answer. But what we do know is that the resulting interview is great, and we’re glad it happened. In […]
...moreThis Week In Posivibes: Killer Mike at FSU
While it isn’t unusual to find Killer Mike speaking about race and politics (see his past lecture at MIT on Pitchfork), Render appeared at Florida State University last week to lecture again on racism and civil rights. “Step out of your comfort zone and engage another human being as a fair and honest equal,” he […]
...moreBen Carson Wants the Rap Vote
Ben Carson has engaged the logic of the ’90s in his latest attempt to drum up support: when in doubt of how to reach your audience, write an awkward hip hop song about it! Stereogum has conjectured that the use of Aspiring Mogul as the segment’s rapper seems to suggest Carson (or his people) actually […]
...moreThis Week in Posivibes: Little Simz
When Kendrick Lamar says you “might be the illest doing it now,” people take note, not that Little Simz necessarily needs the help—her debut A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons is full of tracks that get you instantly hooked and wanting to know what Simz has to say. Since the age of ten Simz has […]
...moreKendrick Lamar and His Orchestra
If, like us, and you were unable to score a ticket to see Kendrick Lamar perform with the National Symphony Orchestra this week, you can watch him thanks to a series of clips posted by The Fader. Watch one after the jump.
...moreKendrick Lamar at the Kennedy Center
Kendrick Lamar is collaborating with a symphony orchestra for the first time in preparation for his October 20th performance at The Kennedy Center, according to the Washington Post. The performance will feature songs off of the rapper’s sophomore record, To Pimp a Butterfly, and will be a one-off show—meaning tickets will go quick. Read more about the details […]
...moreEl-P and Ninja Collaboration “Coming Soon”
A post on Instagram from El-P (@thereallyrealelp) of Run The Jewels with Die Antwoord’s Ninja says only “Coming soon…” which Ninja (@zef_alien) also shared with the caption “EL-P vs NINJA.” Some believe this alludes to a coming collaboration between these two artists, but it’s unclear how or when this mysterious collab will manifest, considering both Run The Jewels […]
...moreA Look at Meek Mill vs. Drake through T.S. Eliot’s Writing
Rappers Meek Mill and Drake have been come to blows lately, since Mill claimed Drake doesn’t write his own raps. This also launched a series of Meek Mill memes which Drake projected on stage at OVO Fest while he performed. All of this takes into question originality in art, and over at The Quietus, writer Karl Smith […]
...moreThis Week in Posivibes: Mykki Blanco
If you haven’t benefited from the challenging force that is Mykki Blanco, that’s a problem that should be corrected. Blanco spoke out last week about the division being created by the #AllLivesMatter trend, identifying out the key point behind all the yelling, as she is wont to do, namely that a reactionary social media trend […]
...moreObama Confesses: “I Can’t Rap”
As USA Today reports, the President shared that he can’t rap last Thursday, quashing many a dream of seeing the Commander in Chief reprise hits like this, this, or this: “My rapping skills are terrible,” the President confessed….“That’s one thing I can’t do is rap. I like rap but I cannot rap.”…He added, however: “I got […]
...moreInaugural Lil Weezyana Fest
Lil Wayne has announced the first Lil Weezyana Fest, coming to New Orleans this August 28th at Bold Sphere Music at Champions Square. In an interview with Q93.3FM, Lil Wayne purportedly said the festival’s artists will be announced over the coming weeks, starting with his confirmation that the recently reunited Hot Boys will be performing. Ticket […]
...moreThis Week in Posivibes: Chance the Rapper
We wrote about Chance the Rapper’s collaboration with Donnie Trumpet on the album Surf a few weeks back, and since then it’s been receiving some serious posivibes from the music community. Pitchfork included the album in its “Best New Music” category, Stereogum described how Surf pushes the sonic consistency of a rap album to a […]
...moreSurf Out in Time for Your Next BBQ
In case you missed it, Chance the Rapper and his band The Social Experiment collaborated with Donnie Trumpet to release their joint LP Surf last week and, well, it’s pretty great. And it’s free. The album could be the “most anxiously awaited record of the year” according to okayplayer, and we can see why: from […]
...more