By Imran Khan Speak No Evil is Rapper-Poet Azeem’s first full-length album since his Broken Puppets project with the Ancient Astronauts in 2017 (his poetry album, 2018’s Vision-Teller, notwithstanding). His latest effort reunites him with producer Fanatik, who helmed the MC/Poet’s debut Garage Opera in 2000. Known for his conspiracy-probing and mystic verse, the Bay Area-by-way-of-Brooklyn native (now based in Singapore) has produced a body of work that has explored a vast range of styles. His most notable works, 2001’s …
Category: Features
Working the independent circuit for more than ten years now, BlackLiq has been making slow but steady strides in carving his niche of hip-hop. 2021 has proven a fortuitous year for the rapper, finally rewarding him with a signing to underground hip-hop label Strange Famous (home of alt-rapper Buck 65) and a feature on a new single by eminent hip-hop duo Atmosphere. BlackLiq’s latest album, Time is the Price, a joint project with producer Mopes, pushes his lo-fi hip-hop into …
An interview with John Felix Arnold about his latest solo exhibition Time as a Sanctuary at Anchorlight Gallery. Interview by Olivia Huntley John Felix Arnold’s solo exhibition, Time as a Sanctuary, investigates concepts such as death, belonging, place, memory, & time. The exhibition hosts a wide range of media, including abstract painting, graphite drawings, video, & sculptural installation. With aesthetic nods to artists like Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, & David Hammons, Arnold has created an environment born out …
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 …
Socials