Recent Posts
- Video: Voices Voices, “Flulyk Visions”
- Video: El-P, “Time Won’t Tell”
- Video: S.O.U.L. Purpose, “Love Is Love”
- Video: Invincible & Waajeed, “Detroit Summer / Emergence”
- Video: Mexicans With Guns, “Dame Lo”
- Video: Flying Lotus, “MmmHmm”
- Rap’s new generation
- Video: MED, “MEDical Card”
- Blog rap’s second wave
- Street Sweeper Social Club, “The Ghetto Blaster EP”
Categories
America's Most Blunted
Archives
Category Archives: Reviews
Street Sweeper Social Club, “The Ghetto Blaster EP”
Street Sweeper Social Club, The Ghetto Blaster EP SSSC/ILG Tom Morello writes some of the best intros in modern hard rock, and Boots Riley from the Coup is an ace satirist. And when both click on The Ghetto Blaster EP, … Continue reading
Shawn Jackson, “Brand New Old Me”
Shawn Jackson, Brand New Old Me Tres Records Shawn Jackson’s second album riffs on underground striver themes: surviving the mean streets of “Lah City,” toking on “purple swishas,” taking “Starget Practice,” and going on “T!LT.” The beats explore well-worn niches, … Continue reading
The Roots’ lost paradise
This essay on the Roots’ How I Got Over was posted July 14 on Rhapsody.com’s Music Stuff Place blog. I wrote it for my Rap Is Not Pop column. Last week, I promised that I would abandon the concepts that … Continue reading
Marco Polo, “The Stupendous Adventures Of Marco Polo”
Marco Polo, The Stupendous Adventures Of Marco Polo Duck Down Records It seems counterintuitive for rising producer Marco Polo to turn The Stupendous Adventures of Marco Polo into a platform for dozens of MCs. But Marco Polo isn’t an instrumental … Continue reading
TOKiMONSTA, “Cosmic Intoxication”
TOKiMONSTA, Cosmic Intoxication Ramp Recordings Jennifer “Tokimonsta” Lee has waded into a teeming L.A. beat scene with her Cosmic Intoxication debut. So give her praise for excelling at production fundamentals and spinning a cool vibe on this 21-minute EP. Her … Continue reading
Onra, “Long Distance”
Onra, Long Distance All City Records The key to Onra’s third album, Long Distance, is the heavy boogie rhythm of “My Comet.” Released as a 7-inch on All City Records two years ago, it sounded uncharacteristic of the French-Vietnamese producer’s … Continue reading
Welcome to violence: Madlib, “Medicine Show No. 1″
This essay on Madlib’s first installment in his Medicine Music Show series was published in the January 27 issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Welcome to violence Madlib, now in his hardcore phase, hands out sonic pamphlets like a … Continue reading
On TV: “Straight Outta L.A.”
“Stop giving juice to the Raiders, ’cause Al Davis never paid us.” In his clumsily assembled documentary Straight Outta L.A., Ice Cube tells the viewer that he rapped these words because he had fallen out of love with the Los … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 80s hip-hop, documentaries, ESPN, football, gangster rap, Ice Cube, sports nation, TV movies
Leave a comment
Ninjasonik, “Art School Girls”
Ninjasonik, Art School Girls Green Owl/Chief Records This full-length from a trio of Brooklyn smart-asses is a puzzling conceit of hipster in-jokes. Ninjasonik is undoubtedly the Art School Girls in the title, flipping through cool indie styles like a wardrobe … Continue reading
Masta Killa, “Live”
Masta Killa, Live Gold Dust Media Masta Killa has quietly carved out a fine solo career independent of his Wu-Tang Clan brothers, issuing modest gems like 2004’s No Said Date. On Live, the New York rapper “keeps it classical like … Continue reading
