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Album Review: Lorde’s Solar Power Is A Journey Through Healing
I woke up bleary-eyed on Friday to an equally bleary morning. The sun struggled to shine through natural clouds and unnatural haze, blanketing the earth with a dull, heavy light. New York City was not the best place to be for inhabiting the space of Solar Power, the new album from Lorde. Despite all of …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Baltimore’s Zen Master Of Sound, Shine
And we back…nah, nah, nah… Veteran Baltimore, Maryland producer Shine recently released his new album, As The Beauty Became, a lovely and luxuriant collection of mostly instrumental hip hop that pulses and hums with an organic vitality. This contemplative set of nine tracks also includes two sterling guest cuts, one with Brooklyn’s Nappy Nina, and …
Droppin’ Knowledge: New York MC Rouge Releases His Sonically Dense, Lyrically Rich Debut – War! – A Review & Conversation
Staten Island, New York emcee Rouge recently released his debut album, War!, a sonically dense collection of music, with crisp writing and a rich, full sound. On the album, Rouge grapples with the responsibilities of adulthood, the future of the planet, love, death, creativity, identity, and dreams, as well as the more mundane concerns of …
NEWS: Dave Grohl to publish new book ‘The Storyteller’ with Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster UK have announced they will publish The Storyteller by Grammy-winning musician, documentary filmmaker and fledgling author Dave Grohl. Grohl has been one of the most beloved and respected figures on the international music scene since his recorded debut with Nirvana on 1991’s generation-defining Nevermind. Grohl took centre stage with Foo Fighters’ 1995 …
Droppin’ Knowledge: In Chi-Town, Rashid Hadee Is On The Beat. And The Mic, Too.
In hip hop, a sample can sometimes lead you on an unexpected journey. Rashid Hadee’s first box of vinyl records came from his uncle. The Chicago rapper and producer discovered the box in a closet, and decided to listen to the LPs, one by one, and create beats from what he found. Hadee’s uncle was …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards with Boston’s Musical Polymath, Rilla Force
And we back… Boston music scene stalwart Rilla Force is a musical polymath and a man with a distinct sound and vibe to his art. He is equally at home both behind and in front of the boards. Force, who raps, produces, mixes, masters, engineers, DJs and manages other artists, is adept at helping musicians …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Despite Life’s Ups & Downs, Virginia MC Chuck Dolo Is Doing “Aight”
Late last year, the rap artist Chuck Dolo released his first official music, the single “Late Nights,” and the EP Amnesia. Both are atmospheric slices of hip hop, with trauma and recovery as their abiding themes, the music cathartic and clear-eyed, with a story teller’s attention to the small details of every day life. Dolo’s …
Droppin’ Knowledge: For Niagara Falls Rapper Jamal Gasol, All The World Is Piff
It started like this… It was 2008, or 2009. The rap artist Jamal Gasol has a brother, and his brother had a ring tone. It wasn’t exactly a ring tone, it was more like a voice. A disembodied voice. An annoying voice, on an annoying ringtone. “All the dude would say at the beginning was …
Droppin’ Knowledge: As White Horse, Indy Hip Hop Heroes Gajah and Uncommon Nasa Discover America – Interview & Review
Uncommon Nasa, the legendary East Coast emcee, producer and overall sound whiz, likes to talk. He can talk and talk and talk, but like many other unique New York City characters, he can also tell a story. His talking generally serves a purpose, it’s not merely idle chit chat. It’s possible that in the morning, …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Dirty Art Club
We back…Dirty Art Club in the house, y’all. In 2011, Charlotte, North Carolina’s Dirty Art Club started out as a one off, a way to help a friend, who had recently published a book. Heavy Starch was the name of that book, and it was also the name of Dirty Art Club’s first album, a …