The past two weeks have been heavy with hip-hop nostalgia. Two weeks ago, VH1’s Hip-Hop Honors held its annual awards show, which has essentially become a Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame for rappers. Everyone from DJ Kool Herc and Fab 5 Freddy to KRS-One has been “inducted” since the…
Troubled female rap star, Foxy Brown, keeps digging herself a deeper and deeper hole. She’s had a long list of legal troubles over the past year and a half, which exclude the fact that she temporarily went deaf and has also seen her music career come to a staggering halt…
Ky-Mani Marley has a new reality TV showing airing this week on BET J that should be worth watching. The Jamaican-born, Miami-bred artist always stays busy–either writing new music, working on films, or hustling in a variety of positive ways. He’s currently on tour doing 50 dates with Van Halen…
I came across this video a few weeks ago while surfing on YouTube and fell in love with John Lee Hooker’s eerie songwriting ability all over again. I’m not sure what this clip is from; presumably it’s one of Hooker’s early television appearances, but exactly what show it’s from is…
Poco/Firefall October 20, 2007 Gulfstream Park Before Uncle Tupelo, before Son Volt, before Steve Earle, before the other champions of roots rock and insurgent Americana, there were bands like Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Poco, groups that helped etch a well defined link between rock ‘n’ roll and…
The Skatalites: Many Rivers to Cross. More Jamaican Artists that you can shake a stick at. Bergeron Rodeo Grounds October 20, 2007 Better Than: Watching the Miami Dolphins lose to the New England Patriots in the ‘Manhandle South of the Panhandle.’ Jamaica as a nation has an incredibly rich musical…
It’s been a tough few days for musicians as now another legendary recording artist is headed to that great big rock’n’roll party in the sky. Paul Raven, critically acclaimed bassist for Ministry and Killing Joke was found dead over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland of an apparent heart attack. While…
Regardless of if the rumors are true, word around town these days is that Ne-Yo is fresh out of the closet and proud to be gay. That would be great (and shout outs to Ne-Yo if it’s true) but even newer rumors are saying he vehemently denies it. Booo…hiss. If…
Last Thursday, Lucky Dube’s luck ran out. The South African reggae star was shot dead in a botched carjacking attempt in Johannesburg. Currently, there was no other motive for the killing beyond the carjacking, which was unsuccessful. South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, has appointed a special task force to search…
“I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven. When I awoke I spent that on a necklace.” Oh Kanye, thou utter no truer words than thee. When it comes to financial planning and money management, the last image that would pop into most people’s minds would be…
It’s a little, well known fact, depending on where you get your news from these days, that Atlanta rapper T.I. is in jail. He was arrested for illegally attempting to purchase machine guns from an undercover agent. I’m not sure why T.I. is trying to be all Charleston Heston on…
Rumor has it the new Spank Rock and Benny Blanco CD, Bangers and Cash got pulled from the shelves of Best Buy this week because management just noticed its x-rated cover art. Apparently, this is all about the back cover where a partially obscured dildo can be seen in the…
Twenty years ago, Exposé was one of the biggest girl groups ever to hit the dance and pop charts. The group had a long list of Top 40 hits like “Point of No Return,” “Let Me Be the One,” and “Seasons Change,” to name a few, and it was without…
Soul music is always a bit more enjoyable when Patti LaBelle is singing it. For more than 40 years she’s been contributing hits to America’s musical lexicon — first as a member of the Ordettes, then Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells, then as the lead singer of LaBelle, and finally…
With the pace of the music world getting faster and faster by the download, it’s easy to forget how important it is to slow down sometimes and just enjoy music for what it is. These days, you can get a brand new album sent to your cell phone before it…
If there’s one thing Asheville, North Carolina, is good at exporting, it’s sure-fire music talent — especially of the Afro-hippie variety. That town’s got more dub, Afrobeat, and West African percussion acts fronted by Anglos than you can imagine. Interestingly, most of them are pretty good, but one Asheville group…
Witness Sigur Ros talking to Luke Burbank, in advance of its upcoming release, Hvarf / Heima. Or, rather, witness Sigur Ros really not sure what to say to Burbank’s line of questioning — a phrase I use loosely. The video is linked here. Now, commenters have been lashing out at…
If you stumble onto your favorite familiar, well-trodden path of earth tonight, you won’t find your weekly drum circle bros. Nay, hand-percussion instruments and less portable toking tools will also be abandoned for the next 48 hours in honor of the two-day stint by jam-band-powerhouse Medeski, Martin & Wood. The…
This is one of the strangest animations I’ve seen in awhile but it goes well with a great song. It’s for the posthumous release of “Nothing Like This” from the late great Detroit producer, J Dilla, and is basically a really cute underwater love story. Go figure? But Dilla and…
I’m not sure how Lupe Fiasco could claim he’s never listened to A Tribe Called Quest before, but the more I think about it, the more ridiculous it sounds. That’s like Norah Jones saying she’s never listened to Billie Holiday. Or Interpol claiming they were never interested in Joy Division…
Octopus Project, Humbert, Zombies! Organize!!, Electric Pizza Party City Limits October 9 We rolled up to City Limits just as Humbert, the second band of the night (Emergency Pizza Party had the early slot), was about to play. The lights dropped as the boys were settling in near their instruments…
So it’s been a week since the whole Fiascogate situation that took place at last week’s VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, where Lupe Fiasco forgot two bars to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation” during a tribute to the group. I remember hearing him fumble the verse, but didn’t think too much…
