There is more sad music news today. DJ E-Z Rock of the Harlem NYC, Hip-Hop duo Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, has reportedly passed away today Sunday April 27, 2014. The news broke out on social media via Rob Base’s status update on his Facebook page [HipHopDX News] and twitter posting. R.I.P Skip (DJ E-Z Rock) my friend. My brother. http://t.co/SDYn1QasCF — Rob Base (@Robbasemusic) April 28, 2014 A spokesperson for Rob Base confirmed the death of DJ E-Z …
Tag: 2014
The Roots’ drummer Questlove is doing a six part essay series entitled, When the People Cheer: How Hip-Hop Failed Black America for Vulture. Even as The Roots gracefully slide into their third decade as a relevant cultural force, Quest questions hip-hop’s sustainability. How can rebellious music or a movement be mainstream? How can it remain both popular and meaningful? He uses Kendrick Lamar as an exception to the rule in order to prove that, as an artist, you either have to be one …
Last Saturday April 12, 2014 in Brooklyn NYC, Fred Ho, Saxophonist, composer, bandleader, playwright, writer, matriarchalist, ecosocialist, revolutionary, and activist passed away from his fight with cancer. A pioneer in Asian American Jazz and Avant Garde Jazz, Fred Ho was known for his Afro Asian aesthetics, a fusion of Asian and African American cultural aesthetics (Fred Ho was against the use of the word “Jazz” which he saw as a demeaning term used by dominant white culture to denigrate African American music). Some examples of Fred Ho’s …
Twenty years ago on April 19th, 1994 a then 20 year old rapper from Queens NYC released the classic Hip-Hop debut album; Illmatic. Considered by some to be one of the best Hip-Hop albums of all time (if not the best), in terms of beat production, lyrical style, and content. No filler tracks. Illmatic is among one of the few 5 mic rated albums by the Source Magazine. Clocking in at ten tracks, a little under 45 minutes, Illmatic weaves …
Released this week as part of a promotion for this coming Sunday’s primer episode of the final 7th season (first half) of Mad Men, AMC reached out to a new digital media marketing and design team Leroy & Clarkson who made a parody of Mad Men in the style of a 70’s Blaxploitation film (ala Dolemite, Shaft, and 2009’s parody Black Dynamite). This parody used as a marketing ploy may be in response to the decline in Internet buzz over Mad …
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