Two years since his previous effort Gutter Rainbows hit stores, Brooklyn rhymer Talib Kweli drops off his fifth solo album Prisoner of Conscious. With an array of featured guests, a magnitude of rhythmically responsive instrumental backdrops and more subject matters than a book of short stories, the 15 track lyrical get down is a tempo frenzy of intellectual poetry.
Despite the heat and sweat of this prelude to summer in London, Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) performed at the HMV Forum in Kentish town on Saturday (May 26) with a show that unfortunately left most people in the audience feeling hotheaded by the end of the night.
The name Mara Hruby flows off your tongue like a beautiful melody, so it’s only fitting that she chose music as her career. Starting early — singing in class and listening to music constantly at home with family - it was her natural path.
After the controversial split of the heavyweight Roc-A-Fella label, Hip Hop supremo Damon Dash is back - returning to the Hip Hop arena with big ambitions and a hungry young roster on BluRoc Records. The first artist to wave the flag for the new brand is New Orleans spitter Curren$y.
A XXL Freshman for ’09, Curren$y’s buzz is carried into the summer of 2010 and with Pilot Talk ready for take off, how will the first venture from DD’s new order fare?
An interesting documentary I just stumbled across: Originally aired on the BBC in 2004, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: A Film About Gil Scott-Heron features contributions from disciples such as Chuck D and Mos Def as well as music from his career stretching back over 20 albums to the early '70s.
Gil Scott-Heron is the Godfather of rap. His confrontational, no-nonsense street poetry and intelligent song writing skills have inspired the modern Hip-Hop generation and he is arguably one of the most significant musicians and poets in Afro-American history.I found the documentary online in 6 parts...
It’s usually a disaster waiting to happen when we see these hybrid projects of rock mixed with hip-hop artists. Ever since “Rock This Way”, artists have been wanting to cross these two worlds together, and at times it works but more often than not it’s like Eddie Murphy collaborating with Rick James: Two people great at their fields, but when together, shit sucks.
Luckily for the Blakroc project, you have not only talented hip-hoppers like Mos Def (who can pretty much cater to any style of music anyways) but you also have the members of The Black Keys at the helm, who have Hip Hop sensibilities (especially since Danger Mouse produced their last album, Attack and Release.)
Mos Def – The Ecstatic (Downtown Music, LLC)
Mos Def is one of the most powerful Hip Hop icons/activists in the field today. He is held in highest regards throughout various artistic and political arenas. His musical ventures, though, typically create both positive and critical remarks from fans and reviewers alike. His latest Hip Hop project, The Ecstatic, will undoubtedly be received with the same mixed thoughts from listeners.
Somewhere within the desperation, excitement, misery and sheer exuberance of the musical/financial enterprise which was Chess Records lies the momentous turning point in the history of popular music when Chuck Berry was said to have ‘integrated the airwaves,’ literally turning thousands of white suburban teens...
Somewhere within the desperation, excitement, misery and sheer exuberance of the musical/financial enterprise which was Chess Records lies the momentous turning point in the history of popular music when Chuck Berry was said to have ‘integrated the airwaves,’ literally turning thousands of white suburban teens...