No Politics. No B.S.
I recently finished a long piece on the thirty best rappers of all time. I already disagree with one of the placements, and when I listen to Redman’s discography again next week, I’m going to want to edit him back in. Similarly, I fully expect that The Marshall Mathers LP 2 will make a …
I try as hard as I can to not let an early death recontextualize an artist’s work. With someone like Pac (who was obsessed with death and how he’d be seen when he was gone), it certainly adds an eerie, prophetic element to some of his writing. But I refuse to see B.I.G. as a …
In June, Minneapolis based Doomtree member Dessa released her second studio album, Parts of Speech. She’s currently on tour (find dates near you here) with her live band to promote the record. Texas native Alex Wilder (@notawilder) and I caught up with her. It’s been about a month now since Parts of Speech was released and you’ve been touring extensively in …
“Be real; conscious rap failed us” – Busdriver, 2009 If we as rap fans can be real for a second, we bring a lot of this frustration on ourselves. Unlike most (all) other types of music, hip hop’s Larger Conversation includes every imaginable subgenre, obscure offshoot, regional scene, or stylistic variation rap’s got to offer. …
Menneapolis rapper Paul Thompson just dropped a new album on dispossessed.Records Who’s Afraid of Rashida Jones? The album features fellow dispossessed artist Zell and affiliates John Daniel and J Yak as part of the group GATSBY. In addition, west coast mainstay CO$$ (frequent collaborator with Blu) drops by for a verse. Listen: Paul Thompson-Who’s Afraid …
http://dispossessedrecords.bandcamp.com/track/a-delicate-balance Honestly, on first listen I didn’t care much for this. The reason is his voice takes a minute to get used to. He has a voice that, to me, at first sounds like a very young white guy. I know that’s weird, but it was off-putting for a minute. But that’s only on the …