Good to see a few things: 1. Charles Hamilton – part of me thought he had died. 2. Charles’ sense of humor – part of me thought that might have dislodged due to punches a la upset woman. 3. A new mixtape, Normalcy. Give Chuck another chance? DOWNLOAD.
If Jimmy Hendrix was mounted by Allen Iverson in Richard Pryor’s rec room the result would be Katt Williams. Well, if that’s the case, then if Boogie Down Productions got their freak on with Slick Rick in Eric B. & Rakim’s pool house the result would be The Cool Kids.
Simplistic even in the group’s name, The Cool Kids are musical transplants. Inspired by acts from hip-hop’s golden age, this duo comprising of Antoine Reed (Mikey Rocks) and Evan Ingersoll (Chuck Inglish), have got the stripped down, minimalistic production style a la BDP, the looks of Rick The Ruler (gold rope chain and all) and a retro flow mirroring Rakim himself. Their latest release, Gone Fishing, is nothing more than a time machine taking the listener back to the age of the boom-bap. Read more…
Raw. If a faceted, progressive, and layered project like Chasing Cool can be summed up in one word, then that word would be raw. From start to finish, there is an unprocessed skill, knowledge and passion behind this project. Allow me to introduce, J.Nolan. This young man’s laid back flow will lull you into a calm so that you never expect it when he launches into a poetic spectacle that reminds of a young Q-tip. After listening to just the first few songs of the project, even the casual listener will recognize how well the music acts as the perfect backdrop for the soulful voice and cadence of the oldest-young man in the game. Read more…
Dream on. That is the name of the label that Kid Cudi is being allowed to form under Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. music imprint, which falls under the Motown/Universal umbrella. And if the latest Kid Cudi mixtape is any indication, Dream On is a response to the naysayers who told him that a skinny kid from Cleveland could never make it rapping about the most juvenile things that he could think of. (Cudi -1, reality – 0) Read more…
Have you ever noticed how the first person to do something gets a thoughtful nod and then people look the idea and 
analyze it for its worth and point out the good and bad points? Have you ever noticed how the next person to attempt that idea gets mercilessly berated as if they have been caught burning the flag at a biker bar? Well, here is a note for the next person who has the idea of creating a mash-up album featuring songs and audio clips of Michael Jackson: Second place doesn’t always get a silver medal.
That being said, being a Michael Jackson fan (not just a fan of Thriller, I mean being a fan of MJ) is like a tight-rope walk ever since that accident that burned his hair. It’s like every year on his birthday, he celebrates by turning up the crazy. But the brave Chicago native, Che Smith, known professionally as Rhymefest is prepared to give us a look into his fanmail outbox. On the 2008 mixtape, Mark Ronson presents Rhymefest: Man in the Mirror, the most interesting rapper alive raps over the vocals of the Wacko-Jacko hits that he has grown to love. Read more…
For the first time, in a long time, I truly miss someone. A strange notion, realized between drags off a ‘once-in-a-while’ cigarette on a particularly introspective night for the proverbial bachelor type but as I exhaled my last nicotine cloud I couldn’t help but realize how out of character I was acting.
Nerve-wracked and anxious, I stood on my landing jealous of a location of all things – primarily one where I wasn’t. But as it goes, my smoke break was exactly that, a break. And as soon as I felt the heat of the flame reach the filter I walked my tobacco-supplemented self back inside to write.
The trick to writing isn’t in the diction or the syntax. Sure, those things help and keep you from being laughed at by other wordsmiths, but what writing really is about is connection. If you can draw a parallel between two things that most people can’t or wouldn’t have seen, you’re golden. An original thought is power. Read more…
Alright, so the interview is over onto what you’ve all been waiting for – D. Julien’s The Experiment album review. Does the Experiment pass clinical trials? Peep it after the jump. I’m out. Read more…
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