This is my second cover story, completely unexpected. The article is about the new arts group called The Brooklyn Collective and Charlotte’s Black Wall Street. I learned a lot about Queen City’s history when writing this piece. Thank you, Ryan. Vol. 3, Issue 7 of Queen City Nerve is officially out. If you’re in Charlotte, pick up a copy of the paper at your local news stand. …
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Since it’s officially only been a month since Uncommon Records reissued my 2008 record humancloud abandonment, I’m geeked to announce that the humancloud 7″ got distribution from hhv.de. It’s the biggest and most recognized source for hip-hop vinyl. Having my 7″ and other Uncommon Records releases on hhv.de is a huge deal. Since shipping product over seas is expensive, it’s especially appreciated that international hip-hop heads and record collectors still supported. We were already getting preorders for the humancloud 7″ …
I wrote Why Charlotte’s East Side is known as the ‘Salad Bowl Community’ for The Charlotte Observer. The story is about what immigrants do with when white flight leaves areas impoverished and abandoned. There was a lot of other components that I wished I could’ve incorporated, like the gentrifying of the Black Belmont neighborhood, especially after some Black Charlotteans were displaced in the 60’s and 70’s because of the urban renewal program. The wealth discrepancy among whites and Blacks and …
Komikka Patton’s art reminded me of “Way in the Middle of the Air” from Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles. “Did you hear about it?”“About what?”“The niggers, the niggers!”“What about ‘em?”Blacks secretly built rocket ships. Astonished whites wondered if there were laws banning Blacks from building such things.“Them leaving, pulling out, going away; did you hear?”“What you mean, pulling out? How can they do that?”“They can, they will, they are.”“Just a couple?”“Every single one here in the South!”“No.”All gathered, they lined up …
Released at the tail-end of 2018, there is much to revisit on Ritual Mystik, Zion I’s album of deep-soul bangers. Unfairly aligned with the West Coast’s hyphy movement, Zion I, in fact, has practiced a far more poised discipline in his work. Sourcing from material like the I Ching and philosophies like Sufism and Taoism, the LA-based rapper has explored his fair share of life’s more arcane matters in his proliferating rhymes. Best-known for his work with producer AmpLive for …
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