06 Jan Ibn Inglor: King of the Lost Children
Ibn Inglor doesn't live here in the present. There's a place in the distant future where sunlight has vanished leaving only neon lights, decaying buildings and apocalyptic soundscapes. This is where Ibn Inglor lives. Over the past year the Chicago emcee has been able to paint this dynamic, ominous picture with two highly-acclaimed pieces in the form of GawdsSpeed and New Wave and as we enter 2014, Ibn's rise to relevance may not be that far away in the future as first thought. Interested in the unique persona Inglor has crafted and music that could quite easily feature as a soundtrack for a possible Spike Lee Sci-fi horror, Dave Reid set out to find out what the Chicago artist is all about. From Akira to obnoxious bloggers to a project that almost never happened, Ibn Inglor needs to be heard and the time is now.01 Jan Bipolar Sunshine’s Solo Ascent
Cold, wet and dreary; a typical winter's night backdrop was apt for our interview with Manchester's rising starlet Bipolar Sunshine. Emerging from the 2012 split of Kid British, Adio Marchant has moved from strength to strength with his modest yield of tracks that transfer you between soaring euphoria and taxi arguments with your girlfriend. Whether it's the dark orchestral optimism of "Fire" or the affable reassurance of "Love More Worry Less," Adio has carved a warm affinity with his work and its listeners, one that has made so many fans over the past year. But where, what and why? Intrigued and allured, Dave Reid decided to find out from the man himself - one of the UK's most legitimate and captivating emerging artists of 2013.11 Nov Sam Smith: Get Familiar
You've probably heard of Sam Smith by now. This 21-year-old British singer's name has been on everyone's lips of late: the no-brainer of new music; President-elect for pop superstardom in 2014. You might've heard his star-making turns on Naughty Boy's "La La La" and Disclosure's "Latch" - the former remains one of the biggest selling singles of the last year whilst the latter is perhaps the best 'dance' song of the last ten. He can count Maxwell as one of his biggest fans, after the soul music titan spent the entire summer gushing about the Brit to his millions of fans online, and he's sold out shows in New York and LA; all without an album or even a proper single release to his name.01 Oct Missed Calls, Guilt & Goodbyes #OKNotToBeOK
It was the last Bank holiday in May, a Monday morning, 8am, and I received a text from one of my closest friends asking if it was okay to call. I got that sinking feeling. Firstly, because close friends don't ask permission to call. Well, not mine anyway - they wake my ass up at all hours for things ranging from nail varnish colours (anyone who knows me knows how ridiculous this is), to juice recipes, needing my AA cover to get towed home or just to say hi. My first thought - are the kids ok? My second - is she? My third - what the fuck's wrong! I don't recall the beginning of the conversation, or if there were any pleasantries or formalities. I don't know if she heard the panic in my voice, that I always try to play down, and is often mistaken for nonchalance, when I really do care. I just remember the softly spoken voice of a usually cheeky and often loud friend saying, "David passed away."27 Sep Music My Medicine, Yoga My Therapy #OKNotToBeOK
Mental health issues were never unusual to me. In fact, they were pretty normal and still are. When I was seven or eight my cousin attempted suicide and I walked in on her crushing pills into the bathroom carpet. I didn’t know exactly what was happening but I alerted my parents by saying she was "crushing chalk." I never saw my laid-back dad move out of that bed and into the bathroom quicker in my life.
21 May Sisqo talks Dru Hill’s conception and self-titled debut album #ReturnToTheClassics
Signed as a new act to Island Records back in 1996, Dru Hill were a young and talented vocal foursome with ties to gospel music who pretty much became an international success story overnight. Whether it was their authentic, honest musical delivery or their individuality as far as their image went, the boys from Baltimore sure knew how to bring it. Constantly compared to the bad boys of R&B Jodeci, Dru Hill weren’t the only all male R&B group on their grind at the time. The '90s was a decade that played host to a gang of upcoming male rhythm and blues acts. The likes of Blackstreet, Silk, Shai, Color Me Badd, and Bel Biv Devoe were just some of the groups vying for that top spot. With a Top 20 Billboard charting hit in the form of "Tell Me," the boys went out of their way to prove they were a refreshing alternate to their stiff competition - and it wasn’t long until the world caught on.15 May Looking For Myself: Jared Evan talks industry politics, discovering Hip-Hop, Boom Bap & Blues
"I’m a classic rock kid that fell in love with Hip-Hop."
There was a time that Jared Evan was considered a high priority artist by Jimmy Iovine, signed to Interscope Records via Polow Da Don’s Zone 4 imprint in 2009. After a mountain of money was poured into his development, some moderate success, a mixtape, a couple of singles and a few high profile tours later, label restrictions on his creativity choked the the singer, songwriter, rapper and producer and Evan departed the majors for a dose of fresh air and the chance to do things independently. Finding himself during this time, he seems to have now unlocked his true musical potential. Moving more away from the rap pretty boy image Interscope tried to market him with, Evan’s recent material boasts copious amounts of heart, soul and a dash of rock - with love for bands such as the Beatles and Led Zeppelin - plus a generous helping of Hip-Hop. Sitting down with SoulCulture, Jared Evan talks industry politics, musical growth and the creative process behind his recent collaborative effort with Statik Selektah, Boom Bap & Blues [read our review here]. The indie grind isn’t an easy one but, with hard work and determination, resetting the career clock isn’t always a bad move - or so Jared tells us...14 May My Mother, by L. Michael Gipson #OKNotToBeOK
On January 16, 2013 my mother committed suicide. She was 55 years old, just two months shy of her 56th birthday. The suicide was her second attempt in three months following an eleven-month illness that several physicians and specialists failed to correctly diagnosis until eight weeks before her more successful suicide.
While her physical illness was rare and particularly aggressive in her case, leaving her struggling with great pain in her last days, it was her mental health condition that contributed to the lack of seriousness in which my mothers’ physicians took her claims of great suffering.
You see, 13 years before her death, my mother was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, had been on disability for most of that time, and had a long, well-documented experience working on her illness with mental health professionals throughout her city. She complained of severe physical pains, demonstrating and documenting her symptoms with great specificity to each doctor, desperate to be heard, to be believed, and received in turn the kind of dismissive pats you give a child trying to get out of bedtime.
08 Apr Chinua Achebe was my hero. | Tribute
Chinua Achebe was my hero.
As a second generation Nigerian immigrant growing up in England, role models who I could genuinely identify with were few and far between – especially in the 1980s, when it was still a big deal to see a black face on TV. So much so that we’d receive phone calls from family and friends whenever there was a Nigerian representative on the news, a film or more notably, Family Fortunes.
I think I was 10. The world was smaller and the answers to the big questions were much bigger. I remember asking my mother why God was white and I was black. Instead of answering my question directly, she [as she often did] asked me why I thought so. I hadn’t a clue, so she asked me about what I had learned in school about religious history, about black religious history to be specific. My blank expression was enough for her to reach up onto the mantelpiece and pass me a book.
I looked at the title: Things Fall Apart. Did the customary flick through for illustrations and saw nothing. Mum noticed my lack of interest and promised me to stick with it and it would be worth it. I sat down and devoured the entire thing in one weekend.