There are times when being a musical artist creates a no-win situation. Fickle fans want you to grow, but keep making the same sort of music. They don’t want you to repeat yourself, but quickly become unhappy if the new stuff is too different from what they expected. It is what leads to the dreaded […]
Category Archives: Rap
The Return of the Purple Tape: Raekwon’s Classic Sequel Turns Ten
“Got me behind the pot again” The odds were stacked against him.
A Decade of Slaughterhouse
“Soon as I hold a pen I co-defend the sickest MCs” August 11, 2009. I walked into the FYE in the Gallery at Market East in Philly and headed straight for the new releases section. I had already gone digital with my iPod Classic but a new album dropped that day and I wanted an actual physical […]
The Things We’ve Lost in the Streaming Era
I am old enough to remember a time before everything was readily available at all times.
So Much More Than Rap: The Life and Legacy of Nipsey Hussle
Grieve not that I die young. Is it not well to pass away ere life hath lost its brightness? – Lady Flora Hastings He was different. It wasn’t just the $100 Crenshaw mixtape or the Marathon Clothing store or the work he did to quell gang violence and promote his beloved neighborhood’s art and culture. It was […]
Ranking Jay-Z’s Albums
Jay-Z is the most successful emcee in history. With 14 number one albums on the Billboard chart (11 in a row as a solo artist), 21 Grammys, over 100 million records sold, and countless other side deals, he has repeatedly gone beyond the normal bounds of what a rapper could do.
All of the Greats Take Losses
“I never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.” — Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali was “The Greatest.” Everyone knows that, but there’s something that seems to be lost in […]
Ranking Nas’s Albums
For more than a quarter-century, ever since he first stole the show on Main Source’s “Live at the BBQ” all the way back in 1991, Nas has been crafting incredible rhymes and blessing microphones. He has a stack of classic verses, to the point that some of them don’t even appear on his own LPs. Though […]
The Top 20 Wu-Tang Albums
Below is a list I created in November, 2013, in honor of the 20th anniversary of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). It was published on Medium and then republished by Hip Hop Golden Age. In honor of today – November 9, 2018 – being the 25th anniversary of the release of that album, I chose to […]
Drake Made Me Realize I Was Old
I can remember the exact moment when I realized that mainstream hip-hop had passed me by. It was when I heard Drake’s So Far Gone.
