For almost a decade I had been living in Tokyo, Japan. With my wife Haruki and our seven-year-old daughter, Kantra we were on a 13-hour flight from Tokyo to JFK airport in New York City. It was the day before 9/11 and it was our first touchdown in the States. NYC was one of the global epicenters of COVID. At JFK we had to go through immigration and transfer to a connecting flight to Charlotte. Throughout the weeks leading up …
Author: Tracy Jones
Did you memorize the first verse of Wu-Tang Clan’s “Method Man” from reading The Source Magazine’s “Hip-Hop Quotables?” Did you know what KRS-One’s name stood for? Were you “independent as fuck?” For the early 90’s rap kids and independent artist alike comes the documentary Adult Rappers, a rare look into the real lives of working-class rappers. The film features a lot of notable underground artists like Open Mike Eagle, Blueprint, Breeze Brewin, J-Zone, Evidence, Masta Ace, Blockhead, Atoms Family members …
Just before I left Japan I got to interview the man himself, Gifu University professor, John G. Russell for Tokyo Weekender. This was like little brother talking to big brother. He doesn’t usually do interviews and he’s pretty private so this was a huge honor and a humbling experience. Read it here. …
My latest article for CharlotteFive just got published. Read it here. Below is how the piece has been received thus far. …
Three weeks after landing in Charlotte, NC, here’s my first story featured on the front page of Charlotte Five for The Charlotte Observer. Read it here. …