rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Hip-hop has always dreamt big. Whereas many quarters of music have struggled with the battle of perceived integrity versus commercial success, Hip-hop artists have largely been okay with proudly saying - “I want it all and I want it now!” It pays to be honest, I guess. Ro$ewood Renegade is one of those artists happy... Continue Reading →
You get so used to hip-hop and rap being built of sharp lyrical edges and pounding backbeats, of being bombastic and in your face that when something like Live to Ball comes along it seems like a wonderful breath of fresh air. What King Femi seems so good at is taking all those tried and... Continue Reading →
As this album kicks off with short opener Hate Me, you wonder if your speakers are going to survive. The bass line that drives the song is less about creating a groove and more akin to sonic warfare, a strange blend of rap, industrial drone music and sonic aggression. From there things calm down a... Continue Reading →
If rap and hip-hop and the more modern sounds which have coalesced around them are defined largely by the lyrical flow and dexterity of the delivery, then one listen to Trust from Lil Dream’s latest e.p. proves that this is an artist who deserves to be on a very exclusive short-list. Not only does he... Continue Reading →
There is redemption in creativity. More and more often people are turning to artistic pursuits - art, poetry, writing and particularly music - to help combat inner demons and past problems and that is exactly the reason that Austin Arndt was drawn to the music making process. Under the name YT (a stylised version of... Continue Reading →
Despite current divisions which may suggest otherwise, The USA has always been a land of cultural cross-pollination. A place where different cultures creatively crash together to create the sights and sounds of the future. Prince Ngu, a Cameroonian artist who now calls Boston home, is the perfect example of this process. Energy is the sound... Continue Reading →
I’m sure if one of those early hip-hop pioneers could time travel from their 70’s South Bronx street corner to the present day, they would be amazed at how far the scene that they set in motion in those youth centres and parties has come. But that is the point isn’t it? It’s all about... Continue Reading →
There is a strange mixing of worlds going on in the sonic fabric of Jonathan Scott’s new release. It balances the expected skittering trap beats and a lazy R&B groove with some less expected sounds, shimmering harps and cascades of oriental strings but then why not? Why look to the music of the past when... Continue Reading →
The great thing about being in what I refer to as the “post-genre” world is that it encourages people to be truly experimental. Go back a generation or two, to a time when music still displayed its tribal qualities, and this was not the case. Genres were boxes into which music had to fit, strict... Continue Reading →