Malik Taylor aka Phife Dawg transitioned on March 22, 2016, from complications resulting from diabetes. His was 45 years-old. He was a husband, father, brother, and a member A Tribe Called Quest. Phife Dawg’s passing is a closing portal to my childhood. It was 1991 and I was a Orlando suburban kid, pimping my Afrocentric Cross Colours gear and big purple suede Karl Kani shorts. If it weren’t for my baggy clothes, I was so skinny that I could turn …
Category: Music
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Music
Jay Z’s moms, Gloria Carter, spits a poem at the end of “Smile” off of Jay’s 13th album, 4:44. I was listening to it on my way home. Right when I opened the door to my apartment, she finished her verse with, “Smile.” The track itself is dope. Jay talks about his mother at the beginning and the rest is slick talk. It’s still arresting. The soulful Stevie Wonder samples obviously aren’t just musical props. When ma dukes goes in, …
It’s been a minute. I’m working on something, but not sure what it is. Mostly I’m in a schizophrenic series of modes, writing this “thing” and then turning that off to write a profile on Jazz musician and beat maker Karriem Riggins. He just dropped his second album Headnod Suite. Riggins is a musical descendant of the late J Dilla. They were frequent collaborators. But Riggins definitely has his own approach to production. My ears perked up to him when I saw …
For LA Weekly I wrote an article about rapper and songwriter Gizzle. Also, I talked to rapper and producer The Koreatown Oddity. Check Gizzle’s EP 7 Days In Atlanta, shorty got bars. She’s like the Dolly Parton of rap, meaning, she pens hella songs, or in this case, raps for a lot of popular rappers. TKO was a humble cat who happens to be a multi-talented hardworking artist. Stones Throw Records just dropped his album Finna Be Past Tense. His Driving While Black flick was …
Rapper Bambu’s eighth studio album Prey For The Devil cuts through like a box cutter to the face. It’s a tightly executed thematic album and it’s one of my favorite albums of last year. OJ the Producer and DJ Phatrick’s production works like a stage for a rapper who uses his words for a molotov cocktail. Bam is woke as fuck. Sad that he ain’t saying nothing new. Sadder that what he’s saying feels new. Click bate makes history feel irrelevant and …
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