2018 has been a year of trauma for the United States, which is why for my final article this year, I want to end things on a positive note - with Barack Obama appearing on the final Hamildrop, Lin-Manuel Miranda's series of Hamilton covers. I've made no secret of my love for ...read more
Kanye West's recent statements make him appear like a permanent resident of the Sunken Place. The hip-hop giant recently got back on Trump's favorite social media outlet to send out a series of missives that have baffled his fanbase, most notably his praise for Candace Owens, an ...read more
By now, you've probably heard Eminem's ruthless takedown of Donald Trump in a remarkably powerful hip hop video released before BET's Hip Hop awards. In it, the Detroit based rapper slammed Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric, blasted him for his ties to racists, and drew a ...read more
I love the Kennedy Center Honors. I love its devotion to artists, and watching those inspired by them pay tribute. The last eight years we were blessed to have a President who took an active interest in the arts, and Melissa Ethridge’s performance of “Born to Run” for Bruce ...read more
Reading is hard. Having to plow through entire paragraphs is actually a mental exercise. It’s a necessary one, but it’s also one that is very easy to skip. But good writing is almost as good as the Mad Men episode you’re going to catch up on, so I’m resurrecting a ...read more
Over the weekend, A Tribe Called Quest's seminal third album, Midnight Marauders, marked 20 years since its release. Considered by many to be Tribe's best effort, it saw the group's trademark jazz-influenced grooves reaching a place of rarefied musical bliss, and it remains one ...read more
It's Friday, which means you'll be looking for something to do to pass the time while you're waiting to bail out of work and start your weekend. Here's a little reading material: 1. Dumb Waiter A lot of really silly things were said during Ted Cruz's 20-hour "moronathon" on ...read more
Back in the early 90s there was a short-lived yet immensely influential hip-hop act called Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, fronted by Michael Franti. The Heroes' thing was commenting on social and racial injustice through music that was both brilliant and blistering, and one ...read more
Akala (otherwise known as Kingslee James Daley), is not only one of the most intellectual rappers in the world, he's fast becoming one of the most intellectual people in the world. The London born artist of Jamaican and Scottish descent tours the world for his music but also ...read more
For years, critics of hip-hop music have accused it of being a materialistic and misogynistic creation of modern urban communities. However in the video below, UK wordsmith Akala uses another narrative to explain the emergence of hip-hop. Watch if you are interested in historical ...read more
Just as a young black man should be free to sing opera, there's no reason an upper middle class white woman shouldn't have the right to rap. Music isn't owned by any one racial demographic - it is an expression of human creativity and talent to be shared by anyone who enjoys ...read more
This is a comedy skit I wrote about a year ago about the relationship between middle class white kids and their black friends. I wrote it because I was always intrigued as to why white kids felt the need to 'yo it up' in front of their black friends. Some of my closest childhood ...read more
By Chalan Moon DAM (Arabic: دام; Hebrew: דם) is the first Palestinian hip hop group. Based out of Israel, their music is highly political, voicing their opinions on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict and the oppression of the Palestinian people. The name is both an Arabic ...read more
