At the top of 2019 rapper, producer, and artist Rhyming Gaijin made a pledge to make a beat, write a verse, and record a track for everyday of the year. He called it the 365-Day Challenge. When I first wrote about it, he was 54 days out and showed little sign of stopping. Rhyming is something of a unique figure within Tokyo, Japan’s music scene. Very few artists put themselves out there in the way that he does. Rhyming’s music …
Author: Tracy Jones
I just wrote an album review of “Alefa Madagascar.” This compilation of classic Malagasy music is a press play and walk away type of record. Its a time capsule of sorts that resurrects a lot of beautiful forgotten music, some of which has never gotten its rightful place in history. Listen to “Alefa Madagascar” and read the review here. …
I talked to vlogger and fashion designer, Reggie Casual for Tokyo Weekender, read it here. Reggie’s videos are a gulf of information and insight into Japanese fashion. While I enjoyed watching them and I think The Casual is one of the most unique vlogs in Japan, I couldn’t get away from the obvious influence of the black aesthetic on this country’s pop culture. Granted, The Casual is about Japanese fashion, but for him to not address the obvious is what …
“It’s ill, ‘cause this is the first interview I’ve done in a while. Call it an interview if you want, but I’m really just venting about a lot of shit that’s been going on,” said Anthony Marshall. A cool, well-mannered Virgo, Marshall, 33 co-founded the legendary MC showcase Lyricist Lounge along with partner and best-friend Danny Castro in the early 90’s when hip-hop was called anything, but music. The Lounge started in New York City as an open mic for …
Recently I wrote an article about East Africa’s rising electronic music scene for bandcamp. Read it here. As a 90’s kid, when Nas said, “Hip-Hop is dead” it seemed like something that needed to be said, albeit shortsighted. Responding to Nas’s 2006 proclamation, Palestinian kids were saying “Hip-Hop is not dead it lives in Gaza.” In Kenya, the disputed 2007 presidential election made the country explode into mayhem. 1,100 people were killed in two months. Most of them were hacked …
