On his latest effort, Seattle native Porter Ray turns up a deeper, darker sensuality of emotional violence. Emerging from the tutelage of Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets, Shabazz Palaces), Porter Ray secured his own niche in the ever-evolving folds of hip-hop. His smoky, opium-shrouded brand of hip-hop finds an unusual, though comfortable, counterpoint between softly sensual grooves and a bitter evincing of a hard-lived life. Ray’s 2017 Sub Pop debut, Watercolor (following his true debut, 2016’s Nightfall, on indie label Intratecque) …
Category: Features
Since December 5 was the 20th anniversary of the once beloved hiphop platform, Mugshot, I wanted to recognized and big up my roots. The figures and stories behind the founding of Mugshot are legendary. As I said on social media, “This is where I got my start, Mugshot Magazine. I was a kid fresh out of college and the founders, Peter Feld, Amber Fosse, and Gida Snyder took me in. They turned every perceivable roadblock into a possibility. After taking …
On his latest, Exotica, Tony secures his designs with a little more intention and carves a narrative born of graphic novels and film. A self-made king of raffish-cool, Fat Tony has fashioned a career out of lacquering his quirky, off-the-cuff hip-hop with designer kitsch. Several albums in and the rapper has managed to dismantle the rigmaroles of musical convention. His currency of humor, in particular, presents a hip-hop that at once swaggers handsomely with puffed-chest bravura and twitches about with …
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 …
DJ Zesto Q aka Zesto!, Zest Rock, Zesty Pesty, formally known as Justin Overton-Quinones is a long time friend and collaborator. Zesto, hailing from Middletown, New York, is a rapper, producer, and DJ. Last year he produced the TMG mixtape Head Nod Chill Wave. Like your favorite elusive artist, Zesto prefers to be on the fringes of the industry, giving him space and freedom to do what he wants. His classic Rags to Wishes EP (2005) left an indelible mark …
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