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) …
Tag: hiphop
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 …
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 …
This Friday at 10pm, rapper and producer Rhyming Gaijin will livestream on the Tokyo Weekender’s Instagram page. Feigning to watch again? I got you. Rhyming’s set will rebroadcast again on Saturday at 10pm on TW Facebook page. TMG wrote about Rhyming’s 365-Day rap challenge and here’s an Q&A. This brother has been at it for over a decade. He’s nice af. …
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