Hip Hop, Rap, Garage and Grime
1,936 articles
The Last Poets: Thoughts... and Music: The Last Poets
Comment by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 9 October 1970
AS EDITOR of Blues & Soul, I have always done my personal utmost to concentrate on the musical content of our music and the artists ...
The Last Poets: This Is Madness (Douglas SDGL 69102, £2.49)
Review by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, 15 January 1972
THIS ALBUM has had tremendous success in America over the last year and practically become the testament of the Black American. It's not hard to ...
Soul, Man: Taki 183 Fights the Bugaloo Boulevards to a Draw
Report by Vernon Gibbs, Crawdaddy!, June 1973
BACK IN THE bugaloo boulevards of my youth, there were diddyboppers who roamed the midnight streets. They were haunters of alleys and pool halls, riders ...
The Last Poets, Merger: The Last Poets/Merger: Acklam Hall, Notting Hill, London
Live Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 14 January 1978
CHANCES OF seeing The Last Poets I would have thought were only marginally better than those of seeing The Beatles. ...
The Last Poets: Wake Up Limeys, The Last Poets Are Among You
Profile and Interview by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 14 January 1978
"Wheat's characteristics and nature make it wheat. It differs from barley because of its nature. Wheat perpetuates its own characteristics just as the white race ...
DJ Hollywood, The Sugarhill Gang: The Sugarhill Gang: Freak of the Week
Report by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 15 December 1979
DESPITE A rhythm track that mangles Chic's 'Good Times' (they settled out of court), 'Rapper's Delight' by the Sugarhill Gang has been the season's biggest-selling ...
The Sugarhill Gang: Beat The Rap
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 5 January 1980
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA, and the Parliafunk crowd are watching three ex-DJs performing 15 minutes of the hippest tongue twisting in town. "Said a hip-hop, the hippie ...
Kurtis Blow: Rumble In The (Concrete) Jungle!
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Blues & Soul, 29 January 1980
A Blow by Blow account... ...
The Sugarhill Gang: The Venue, London
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 1 March 1980
FLASHBACK: October 5, '79, at Barry's Stereo, a small midtown Manhattan record outlet that specialises in those mammoth portable stereo cassette-radio jobs that half the ...
Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 4 October 1980
Cross-over cupboard love ...
Report and Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 11 October 1980
MY STORY — BY KURTIS BLOWAs rapped to Richard Grabel ...
Fab 5 Freddy: In Praise of Graffiti: The Fire Down Below
Report by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 24 December 1980
JOHN LINDSAY hated graffiti. He vowed to wipe it off the face of the IRT, and allocated $10 million to its obliteration. But the application ...
Report and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 18 January 1981
ASK KURTIS BLOW about 'Another One Bites the Dust' and his reply is quick and to the point. "That's my 'Christmas Rappin''." ...
Kurtis Blow Raps His Way To The Top
Report and Interview by John Morthland, Rolling Stone, 5 March 1981
The sound of the streets hits the heartland. ...
The Funky Four + 1, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The Funky Four + 1: Rap, Rap, Rap
Report and Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 30 May 1981
Young South Bronx unwraps the rapping revolution ...
Kurtis Blow: Rap, Rap, Rapping At Top 10’s Door: Kurtis Blow and Company
Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 1981
Twas the night before Christmas and allthrough the house...Hold it, hold it. That’s PLAYED OUT.Don’t give me all that jiveAbout things you wrote before I ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Flash: Flash is Fast, Flash is Cool
Profile and Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 26 September 1981
THE SOUTH BRONX lies just across a thin stretch of the Harlem River from Manhattan, but it could be worlds away. ...
Tom Tom Club: Tom Tom Club (ILPS 9686)
Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 10 October 1981
GIRLS IN THE CLUB ...
J. Walter Negro & The Loose Jointz: J. Walter Negro: The Writing on the Wall
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982
J. WALTER NEGRO shoots the pump with Paulo Hewitt. ...
Afrika Bambaataa, Fab 5 Freddy, Jazzy Jay: Bucking the Bronx with the B-Boys
Report by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 6 February 1982
"B-BOYS, ARE you ready, are you ready, are you ready?" ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 17 April 1982
The West Street Mob: The West Street Mob (Sugarhill) The Sequence: Sugarhill Presents (Sugarhill) The Sugarhill Gang: 8th Wonder (Sugarhill) Various Artists: Greatest Rap ...
Review by Edwin Pouncey, Sounds, 31 July 1982
ALREADY WRITTEN about in rival publications but well worth another mention here to remind you of their greatness. ...
J. Walter Negro & The Loose Jointz: The Venue, London
Live Review by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 19 August 1982
JUDGING BY the queue for tickets, "guests" outnumber the paying customers here tonight by something like three to one. It's often like this at The ...
Pete Wingfield, The Sugarhill Gang: The Sugarhill Gang: Sweet Talking
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 28 August 1982
Rap? No, actually the Sugar hill Gang are pretty good, says Paul Sexton ...
Arthur Baker, Rockers Revenge: Rockers Revenge: The Big Bang Theory
Report and Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 18 September 1982
Or... how a crate of records fell onto producer Arthur Baker's head and created a new jazz music and the beginning of Rockers Revenge ...
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 9 October 1982
IN WHICH THE message from the apple-stretching New York would seem to read: don't get caught in a rap rut, move on and expand. Whether ...
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: Live in Los Angeles
Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 13 November 1982
FLASH – AAAAH! Saviour of the Universe. Saviour of my sanity, anyway. "The Message" shines out from amongst the New Musik murk they play out ...
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 16 November 1982
ALTHOUGH 'THE Message' has been one of the dancefloor world's biggest smashes of 1982, that success does not minimise the actual lyrical content of what ...
Malcolm McLaren: Where The Buffalo Roam
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, December 1982
• Svengali turned singer Malcolm McLaren has — canny as ever — recorded one of the debut singles of the year, 'Buffalo Gals', after months ...
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 11 December 1982
Various: Rapped Uptight (Sugarhill) ...
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 7 February 1983
STREET ART AT LINGERIE: L.A. TAKES THE RAP FROM N.Y. MOVEMENT ...
Rockers Revenge: Revenge is Sweet
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 19 February 1983
THE MANAGEMENT of Brooklyn's Music Factory have more on their minds than their dayjobs. They have to explain that the silver discs on the wall ...
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 9 April 1983
"MANNY'S FINE" says Man Parrish when I ask how he should be addressed. And so begins a conversation with the hippest of the hip-hop — ...
Report by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 14 April 1983
Ever wondered where Wham! and Malcolm McLaren got their ideas from? Or how rapping and scratching actually started? The answers lie in the Bronx — a borough ...
Man Parrish: Man Parrish (Polydor Deluxe POLD 5101)
Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 30 April 1983
OUR MAN offers up a tune here called 'Man Made' and despite the possible pun, 'Machine Made' might be more accurate, because the Parrish debut ...
Live Review by Betsy Sherman, Boston Rock, 5 July 1983
Club New York Takes It On The Hip-Hop ...
Herbie Hancock: Herbie Rides Again!
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 6 August 1983
So how come a 43-year-old muso who's worked with Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis has only just cut his first scratching record? Doesn't he know ...
Herbie Hancock, Material: Herbie Hancock: Future Shock (CBS 25540)
Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 20 August 1983
AS IT is written on the single, so it shall be on the album... and Herb shows enough courage of his convictions to 'Rockit' right ...
Aswad, Neneh Cherry, Rip Rig and Panic: Notting Hill Carnival '83
Report by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 3 September 1983
CARNIVALS ARE crucial — all the best cultures have 'em. But the world has a way of perverting the simplest pleasures, and since 76, Carnival ...
Kurtis Blow: A B-Boy's Progress
Profile by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 6 September 1983
WHEN RAP WAS first struggling out of the youth-center playgrounds and into big-time notoriety, Kurtis Blow was there. ...
Film/DVD/TV Review by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 10 September 1983
HIPPITY HOP! ...
Fab 5 Freddy: Streetbeat, Albany Empire, London
Live Review by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 12 September 1983
ONCE DISMISSED as a novelty, rapping has proved its durability, and as soon as you think it has died another wave of influence appears. As ...
Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 8 October 1983
PETER MAAS is excited. Quite right too, you might say, what with the rebirth of his first love Freeez — written off by all after ...
Man Parrish: Man (Parrish) Made Synth Dances
Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, November 1983
NEW YORK — Hands clap, a dog barks, a tonal drum pattern clicks, a bass drum pattern takes center stage, four notes from a synth ...
Interview by Betty Page, Record Mirror, 19 November 1983
HARRY HOUDINI, escapologist, died on Halloween. This fact will undoubtedly amuse Jalil and Ecstasy, the two main protagonists of Whodini, who on 31 October had ...
Grand Mixer D.ST, Herbie Hancock, Material: Herbie Hancock: Comeback Scratch
Interview by Roy Trakin, Musician, December 1983
"I DIDN'T JUMP on anybody's bandwagon with this record," insists Herbie Hancock, who has climbed aboard more than a few in a career which has ...
Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1984
The hip-hop and Electro Funk pioneer talks about the Zulu Nation, Shango, Soulsonic Force and more.
File format: mp3; file size: 28.2mb, interview length: 33' 50" sound quality: ***
Rap It Up! Street-corner jive that brought discos alive
Retrospective by David Toop, The History of Rock, 1984
UNLESS YOU were a streetwise native New Yorker, the source of the new underground black music that was appearing on disc in 1979 seemed unfathomable. ...
Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, January 1984
ALTHOUGH IT'S doubtful Nancy Reagan listens to either rap or reggae records (or anything more soulful than Ray Anthony, for that matter), she ought to ...
Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 14 January 1984
HEARD OF Boo-Ski?... or Shahiem?... or perhaps Godfather KC?... or maybe even Pin or King? No? You will, you will. Bossed by ace turntable rhythm ...
Grand Mixer D.ST: A Cut-Up Above The Rest
Profile and Interview by Paul Bradshaw, New Musical Express, 21 January 1984
PAUL BRADSHAW ASKS GRAND MIXER D.ST HOW TO BE MIXED-UP AND SUCCESSFUL ...
Bernard Fowler, Grand Mixer D.ST, Herbie Hancock: Herbie Hancock: The Venue, London
Live Review by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 21 January 1984
HOLLERIN' SOME HEAVY URBAN SHIT! ...
Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages Audio, March 1984
The Brooklyn rappers Ecstasy and Jalil on working with Thomas Dolby, touring Europe, and their loathing of the UK music press!
File format: mp3; file size: 37.6mb, interview length: 41' 05" sound quality: ***
Afrika Bambaataa: Bambaataa Of The Bronx
Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 31 March 1984
The Grandmaster of hip hop lectures Mark Cooper on the meaning of the Funk ...
Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, April 1984
AS HIP-HOP, the rapping and scratching music of the break dancers, bounces out of the urban subculture and into the mainstream, it's reasonable enough to ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 14 April 1984
CHRIS ROBERTS raps to Morgan Khan about the Streetwave sensation. ...
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 14 April 1984
THE MOST simple consideration of live performance throws up two basic types; those shows that define musical experience, are the quintessential medium for the music ...
Keith LeBlanc: X Marks the Spot
Interview by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 14 April 1984
"You only get action as a black man if you are regarded by the white man as irresponsible." (from The Autobiography of Malcolm X) ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Whodini: Whodini: Escape from New York
Report and Interview by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 14 April 1984
CHRIS ROBERTS UNRAVELS THE MAGIC OF WHODINI ...
Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five: Venue, London
Live Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 21 April 1984
IT'S DODGY! ...
Electro: The Beatbox Bites Back
Essay by David Toop, The Face, May 1984
1984: Two a.m. at The Funhouse and the giant video screen fills with the image of the Master O.C.'s hands scratching an Enjoy 12 inch. ...
Run-DMC: It's Like That, Is It?: Run DMC: Danceteria, New York
Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 26 May 1984
RAP'S STILL going strong, because all of what has to be said has not yet been said. Street kids have got to get over, and ...
Review by J.D. Considine, Record, June 1984
RAP RECORDS had messages before 'The Message' exploded across the airwaves in 1982, but it remains extremely tempting to argue that it was Grandmaster Flash ...
The Rock Steady Crew: Ready For Battle (Charisma RSCLP 1)
Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 9 June 1984
IN THEIR 15 minutes of marketability, you get the feeling that breakdance visuals (the myriad films, mainly) have a few more minutes of life; but ...
Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 30 June 1984
Film break ...
Review by Push, Soundcheck, August 1984
WARNING: This is an American release and it may take a lot of effort to find a copy. Justification: all successful searches will be truly ...
Profile by Richard Grabel, Musician, August 1984
RAP CONTINUES to have plenty to say, and with good reason. The unemployment, underemployment and general hardship that afflict ghetto kids aren't ending under the ...
The Last Poets: The Last Poets (Celluloid)
Review by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 11 August 1984
THEY CAME, SORE... ...
Grand Mixer D.ST, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin: Rappers: Jalal Nuriddin
Report by David Toop, The Face, October 1984
EARLIER THIS year, just when it seemed safe to assume that the message rap genre had run out of self-righteous steam, two 12-inch records popped ...
Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five
Interview by David A. Keeps, Smash Hits, 11 October 1984
They're from New York. They're the most famous rapping crew in the world. Their single 'White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)' has been in the ...
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force: Pink Elephant, Luton
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 13 October 1984
THE CABBIE, waiting in the foyer, hadn't been too impressed. Now it was different when Demis Roussos and Johnny Mathis played here. Sounded just like ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 13 October 1984
Kidnapped heiress Patti Hearst is said to have listened to him incessantly during her captivity and the hip-hop crowd regard him as a guru. His ...
The Last Poets: Last Poets: The First And Lost Poets Of Rap
Retrospective by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 14 October 1984
Group: The Last Poets. Record: The Last Poets (Celluloid 6101). Personnel: Abiodun Oyewole, Alafia Pudim, Omar Ben Hassen, vocals. Nilaja, percussion. ...
Afrika Bambaataa: Play It Again Bam
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 20 October 1984
Leader of the Zulu Nation. Godfather of hip-hop. Overlord of funk. Black youth guru. Creator of the most influential record of the Eighties. All this ...
Interview by David A. Keeps, Smash Hits, 8 November 1984
"For five years I've been really working at creating masterpieces. Now I do a song and put rapping on it — which is really the ...
Profile and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 17 November 1984
It's hip-hop in the barber's shop, it's the FORCE MD's!! The scourge of other buskers on the Staten Island ferry jam down with SIMON WITTER. ...
The Fat Boys: Fat Boys: Fat Boys (Sutra SUS 1015)
Review by RJ Smith, High Fidelity, 1985
HOW IGNOMINIOUS: Three ace rappers make a whole album of worth-it raps, and their names appear nowhere on the record. Truly, the Fat Boys are ...
Malcolm McLaren: Fans (Charisma)
Review by Biba Kopf, New Musical Express, 5 January 1985
THERE'S NO BIZET LIKE SHOW BIZET ...
Run-DMC, Whodini: Run-D.M.C.: King Of Rock (Profile/Island); Whodini: Escape (Jive)
Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 23 February 1985
DMC: DMX + HM = OTT! ...
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 2 March 1985
The Grandmaster Flashes about Melle Mel, Sugar Hill, and his total entertainment concept. Paul Sexton gets the message ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 9 March 1985
Run DMC are two New Yorkers who set their raps to a raw rock backdrop and talked their way up the charts. Paolo Hewitt meets the ...
Run-DMC: King Of Rock (Profile BR LP504)*****
Review by Ralph Traitor, Sounds, 9 March 1985
Born to Run ...
Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five: Oxford Polytechnic
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 12 March 1985
"WHEN YOU leave the ghetto, you gotta figure a way of walking out in style", drawled the lean Grandmaster of New York rap, Melle Mel. ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: King Of Rock (Profile)
Review by Fred Goodman, Musician, April 1985
A REPORTER once jokingly asked Muhammad Ali if his retirement would spell the end of boxing. Instead of turning the question into grist for his ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 13 April 1985
THE LAST POETS were the first rappers — the voice of ghetto anger and fiery jazzoetry. Their "exile" over, they're back with a new LP ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1985
"How did Mel go over here?... They still like Culture Club in England?... Who's Junior?... What about Prince?..." ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 4 May 1985
Helen 'fat is a feminist issue' FitzGerald gets greedy with the FAT BOYS, who are turning rap into pap... or pop. ...
The Fat Boys: Wag Club, London
Live Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 4 May 1985
PLUMP IT UP! ...
Paul Hardcastle: Leytonstone Now!
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 11 May 1985
Paul Hardcastle was watching a TV show on Vietnam when he learned that the average age of American soldiers who fought there was just 19. Now ...
Malcolm McLaren: The Great Opera Swindle
Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, June 1985
Malcolm McLaren Reveals His Grandmother's Role In The Sex Pistols And Hypes His Hip Hop Opera ...
Double Dee & Steinski: Masters Of Mixed Fortunes
Profile and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 8 June 1985
2009 NOTE: hip hop, humour and catholic taste collided in a cloud of mad skills on Double Dee & Steinski's mastermixes. ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 29 June 1985
Chris Roberts gets sandwiched by the Fat Boys, and discovers fat is a faminist issue ...
Paul Hardcastle: The Hardcastle Dossier
Profile by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 13 July 1985
Trumpet blowing dept: In January RM predicted Paul Hardcastle would be one of the successes of '85. Now, the career overview by Paul Sexton ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 21 September 1985
Fat is a feminine issue ...
Paul Hardcastle: Re-Mixed Blessings
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, International Musician & Recording World, November 1985
Paul Hardcastle is a lot more than '19'. He has a recording back catalogue, an album in the pipeline and a huge reputation as a ...
Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew: Show Stoppers
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 30 November 1985
A show? Well, DOUG E. FRESH and The Get Fresh Crew ain't got the energy to do much more than nod off in the company ...
Live Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 1986
WE WENT to Heaven, and it looked like the Bronx. Wall-to-wall black B-boys, hoods, whistles, and two unprettified lads doing their thing against a tinsel-rain ...
The Beastie Boys: The Grate White Hopes
Profile by Vernon Gibbs, New Look, January 1986
RAP RECORDS first started selling big in 1979 with the Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'. They were considered little more than the grating noise of the ...
Kurtis Blow: America (Mercury)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
BLOWING OUT ...
Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 18 January 1986
RUSH PRODUCTIONS, an organization with the best intentions, conceived this event to be a celebration of the success of the film Krush Groove and of the consolidation ...
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 25 January 1986
That's LL Cool J, possibly the best rapper ever and main thrust of Def Jam Recordings, possibly the coolest label this decade. They're both here ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 25 January 1986
StreetSounds supremo and entrepreneur of the modern dance MORGAN KHAN thinks the Welfare State sucks, that charity begins at home and that the Union Jack ...
LL Cool J: L.L. Cool J: Radio (Del Jam 8FC 40239. Distributed by Columbia.)
Review by RJ Smith, High Fidelity, February 1986
THIS IS A test. Entrepreneurs Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons recently inked a distribution deal with Columbia, heralding potentially the biggest commercial boost to underground ...
The Beastie Boys: Don't Be A Faggot
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 1 February 1986
Why anyone should want to be a small meatball in gravy we don't know, but this is (supposedly) the title of the Beastie Boys' forthcoming ...
LL Cool J: Radio On: LL Cool J: Radio (Def Jam)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 8 February 1986
LABEL OF THE MOMENT Def Jam's first album release in this country is the debut of the newest star in the hip hop firmament, 18-year-old ...
The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Def Jam: Escape From New York
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 8 February 1986
New York's superhip Def Jam label has burst upon the Great British Public via a distribution deal with CBS. Frank Owen, tireless beatbox gumshoe, endured ...
Masquerade: Morgan Khan: The groovy side of the street
Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 14 February 1986
The entrepreneurial one-man band Morgan Khan talks to Adam Sweeting ...
LL Cool J: Def Jam: The Rap Brat Pack
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, March 1986
THE GREATEST CREATIVE CONVERGENCE IN 20th Century music has been the American Jewish/Black independent record company. Reel 'em off: Herman Lubinsky and Savoy Records, Hy ...
Mantronix: Mantronix: The Album (10)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
NOISE NEVER never never annoys you know. Mantronix go for the paintstripper approach, burning away electro's lesser indulgences and leaving hard core hip hop of ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
Dr Frank Owen returns with the backbeat on MANTRONIX, another pair of boys from the land of hip-hop. Is this finally the end of live ...
Kurtis Blow: A Blow-By-Blow Guide To Rapping
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 5 April 1986
At the ripe old age of 25, KURTIS BLOW is the Godfather of Rap. Here, he takes Frank Owen through his personal step-by-step guide to ...
Run-DMC: Run-D.M.C.: Raising Hell (Profile)
Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 1986
RUNNING ON FULL ...
World's Famous Supreme Team: Rappin' (Virgin)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 31 May 1986
LIKE Old Mr Grace being wheeled in at the end of Are You Being Served? World's Famous Supreme Team are something of the grandaddies of ...
Lovebug Starski: Nightmare On Beat St.
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 21 June 1986
SIMON WITTER goes to the house on the hill to see what's bugging LOVEBUG STARSKI but he can't get a fix on the man from ...
The Real Roxanne: The Woman Who Put Bugs Bunny Top Forty
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 5 July 1986
She's not got a kind word to say about her rival, Roxanne Shanté; she wants to sing like Sade; but more importantly, she's immortalised Bugs ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Smash Hits, 16 July 1986
"I LOVE BUGS Bunny — he's my favourite wabbit!" ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
Simon Reynolds ventures down hip hop's mean streets and finds something nasty lurking in the shadows — something that guilt-ridden white liberals might prefer to ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Raising Hell (London)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
BOYS FROM THE COUNTY HELL ...
Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
Out of the subway and into the charts, hip hop is stronger than it's ever been, with dazzling new talents like LL Cool J and ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Life After Arista
Profile and Interview by Larry Jaffee, unpublished, August 1986
NOTE: This interview was intended for Tower Records' Pulse!, but was rejected for fear that Arista Records would pull its advertising. ...
LL Cool J: Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Beat Box
Interview by Roy Trakin, Creem, August 1986
LL COOL J COMES on like a rap version of Muhammad Ali, taking delight in clever wordplay with a showman's sense of timing and a ...
On-U Sound System, Adrian Sherwood, Tackhead: Adrian Sherwood: Ministry of Dub
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 August 1986
Producer ADRIAN SHERWOOD has spent a decade deconstructing and rebuilding music dubwise, from Ministry and New Age Steppers to Mark Stewart, Tack Head and Keith ...
Schoolly D: Schoolly D (Schoolly D Records)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 23 August 1986
SCHOOLLY D is from Philadelphia and appears to be some kind of hoodlum, with an unhealthy interest in the status trinkets of high life, drugs ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Serious Rap Attack
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 September 1986
With their Raising Hell tour putting the frighteners on many a major American town and their Rapping Metal single, 'Walk This Way' scaring the pants ...
LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Schoolly D: Yo Boys: Boys Keep Killing
Report by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 13 September 1986
The pervasive sound of hip hop becomes punctuated by an altogether more sinister noise — the bark of hand-guns — as, on the streets of ...
Interview by Jack Barron, Sounds, 20 September 1986
As the RUN DMC tidal wave breaks over the British coastline and the country reels to its knees, it's maybe time to ponder the principles ...
Just Ice: Sleeping Bag Records #1: Sleeping Around
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 September 1986
In New York City, centre of sexual paranoia, Frank Owen tracks down JUST ICE, Sleeping Bag recording artist and hip hop's numero uno misogynist guy ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 September 1986
RUN LIKE HELL ...
Dinosaur L, Arthur Russell, T La Rock: Sleeping Bag Records #2: Sleeping Around
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986
Last week Frank Owen unearthed the warped machismo of JUST ICE. Now, in the second part of his investigation into SLEEPING BAG RECORDS, he corners ...
Full Force, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam: Lisa and The Cult: So Nice, You Wanna Rap It Twice
Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, October 1986
THE MARRIAGE proposals in the mail and the army of blushing guys lining up for autographs still shocks Lisa-Lisa, because, after all, she's only 18. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages Audio, October 1986
Rock and rap, hip hop live and hip hop movies, and the struggle to get hip hop into the mainstream – the Queens Kings of Rap'n'Roll speak.
File format: mp3; file size: 31.9mb, interview length: 34' 51" sound quality: **
Kurtis Blow: The Super-Ego Rules, From The Bronx To Kingdom Blow
Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 1 November 1986
In short, Kurtis Blow thinks an awful lot of himself. An awful lot. His new LP is called Kingdom Blow. The line-up on it includes ...
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince: These men are Sensitive, Romantic Souls!!
Interview by Sylvia Patterson, Smash Hits, 5 November 1986
("Oh no they're not," says Sylvia Patterson) ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 8 November 1986
WHAT ARE WORDS WORTH? ...
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 15 November 1986
Hard core rapper JUST ICE is out on bail following a murder charge. Frank Owen talks to him and investigates the background to the case ...
Schoolly D: Triumph Of The Ill
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 15 November 1986
SCHOOLLY D arrived in Britain for his tour with BAD with a fearful reputation. He was reputed to take a Magnum along to interviews, once stalked the streets with ...
Big Audio Dynamite, Schoolly D: Big Audio Dynamite/Schoolly D: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986
BEAT ROOTS ...
Mantronix: Will Hip Hop Eat Itself?
Report and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 22 November 1986
Where is it? New York city. How is it? Bloody hot in here. Why is it? Because MATRONIX, pure-steel technologists of studio and vox, have ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill (Def Jam)
Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 29 November 1986
SLOW AND LOW AND SICK AND FAB ...
Run-DMC: Tear Down The Walls, Pack Out The Halls: On The (Hard) Beat With Run-DMC
Report and Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, December 1986
RUN, DMC and Jam Master Jay are mad as hell, not about to take it anymore, and quite ready to let you know about the ...
LA Dream Team: California Dreamin'
Profile and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 6 December 1986
WHEN AN unknown band like The LA Dream Team put a single out on their own label, and 250,000 people buy it, they've got to ...
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 6 December 1986
To hip hop or not to hip hop, that is the question. With their new album, Music Madness just in the shops, Frank Owen travelled to NYC, home of MANTRONIX, to ...
The Beastie Boys, Oran "Juice" Jones, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: License to Thrill
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 December 1986
RICK RUBIN and RUSSELL SIMMONS are the creative mavericks behind the outrageous antics of THE BEASTIE BOYS and RUN DMC and a whole host of ...
Oran "Juice" Jones, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam #2: World Domination Enterprises
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
In the second part of his investigation into DEF JAM records, the world's hottest label, Frank Owen charts the careers of RICK RUBIN, RUSSELL SIMMONS, ...
Salt 'N' Pepa: Salt-N-Pepa: Femme Fatales
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
If you thought rap was misogyny central, listen up. SALT-N-PEPA are bitchin' back on behalf of the gals. Frank Owen gets an earful. ...
The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC: Beastie Boys: Ritz, New York NY
Live Review by Rob Tannenbaum, New Musical Express, 17 January 1987
BUILDING THE PERFECT JERKS! ...
The Beastie Boys: Rap Around The Cock
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 17 January 1987
THE BEASTIE BOYS take a long, slow ride into the sewers of their minds, accompanied by a fascinated hack, one STEVEN WELLS. They do it ...
Cookie Crew, Schoolly D, The Three Wise Men: Rhythm King Records: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Kings
Profile and Interview by James Brown, Sounds, 24 January 1987
Somehow, somewhere James Brown became a fast-chat, no-flab funker. And he did it with the help of Rhythm King, Britain's leading dance indie label. Since ...
Salt 'n' Pepa: Cool, Hot & Vicious (Next Plateau)
Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 27 January 1987
I DON'T KNOW about you but I've been waiting quite a while for a girl rap group to duplicate the success of platinum playboys like ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Hot, Cool And Vicious (Next Plateau)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 31 January 1987
THE SPICE IS RIGHT ...
Double Dee & Steinski: Steinski: Remix the Apocalypse
Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 31 January 1987
Turn it up! Crank up the bass! Take a break listening to crazy Cronkite's commentary of president Kennedy's assassination! Whizz-kid adman turned master-mixer STEINSKI — ...
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 9 February 1987
BEASTIE BOYS BAPTISM ...
The Beastie Boys: The Most Horrible Group In The Universe?
Interview by uncredited writer, Smash Hits, 25 February 1987
They play ear-splitting heavy metal rap music, they throw food on the carpet, they throw eggs at Sigue Sigue Sputnik, they hate the Human League ...
The Beastie Boys: The Nature of the Beastie Boy
Interview by John Aizlewood, No. 1, 7 March 1987
Mad, bad and dangerous to know, it's THE BEASTIE BOYS! Loud, obnoxious, snotty and very very funny. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 11 March 1987
Their names are MCA, MIKE D and AD-ROCK. They are the most obnoxious pop stars in the history of the world. They are causing complete ...
The Beastie Boys: Beast Fiends
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 19 March 1987
STEFFAN CHIRAZI goes in for the ill with Metal/rap crossover crazies the BEASTIE BOYS ...
Public Enemy: Hip Hop Wig Out '87: Public Enemy – Def Not Dumb
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 21 March 1987
In the first of a series of reports from New York, Frank Owen steals the rhythm of the moment as he surveys hip hop's newest ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 28 March 1987
IN THE SECOND REPORT FROM NEW YORK ON HIP-HOP'S LATEST ULTRA-NOW TALENTS, SIMON REYNOLDS SURVEYS THE MONSTROUS AND MIND-BLOWING TALENT OF THE SKINNY BOYS WHILE ...
The Beastie Boys: Crude, Rude and No. 1
Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 3 April 1987
CLEVELAND — Mike D. and MCA, two-thirds of the Beastie Boys, are sitting in MCA's hotel room after the group's concert. MCA is picking out ...
Cutmaster DC, King Sun: Hip Hop Wig Out '87 #3: The Harlem Shuffle — King Sun and Cutmaster DC
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 4 April 1987
IN THE THIRD OF OUR REPORTS on rap's now explosion of new talents, Frank Owen journeys to Harlem to bring you the news on happening ...
Public Enemy: Yo! Bum Rush The Show (Def Jam DEF 450482)*****
Review by James Brown, Sounds, 4 April 1987
SHARPSHOOTERS ...
Cookie Crew: The Cookie Crew: Bite This
Profile and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, New Musical Express, 11 April 1987
B-girls behave! THE COOKIE CREW call for unity on the homegrown hip-hop scene. LUCY O'BRIEN watches them clear the decks. ...
Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce: Queens of the Bronx
Interview by David Toop, The Face, May 1987
"HIP HOP is such a beats orientated music. It's just beats and a bass line. If you put anything else to it like keyboards and ...
The Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill
Review by Iman Lababedi, Creem, May 1987
THE MOST EXCITING white rock album since Never Mind the Bollocks has lousy politics. ...
The Beastie Boys: Lay it Down, Clowns!
Profile and Interview by Chuck Eddy, Creem, May 1987
"They took the doors off their hinges and moved them around. They flooded two floors with the fire hoses. They plugged up the toilets and ...
Overview by uncredited writer, New Musical Express, 9 May 1987
The wit and wisdom of DEF JAM as captured in the NME. From Rick Rubin as hipster to Beastie Boys as Sex Zeppelin and beyond. ...
The Beastie Boys, Oran "Juice" Jones, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: Baaad Company
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, New Musical Express, 9 May 1987
With their label gone mega, and even greater triumphs planned, Def Jam mainmen RICK RUBIN and RUSSELL SIMMONS currently combine the Midas touch with the ...
Schoolly D: Saturday Night (Rhythm King MELT LP2)***
Review by James Brown, Sounds, 9 May 1987
BOTH DEF AND DUMB ...
Schoolly D: Philadelphia Story
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 9 May 1987
ON THE EVE OF HIS BRITISH TOUR AND WITH A CRACKING SECOND ALBUM ON THE WAY, SCHOOLLY-D SHOWS FRANK OWEN AROUND HIS HOME TOWN. PICS: JANETTE BECKMAN ...
Public Enemy: The Enemy Without
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 May 1987
PUBLIC ENEMY are the latest hard rap attack from Def Jam's box of tricks, but very different from all that's gone before. Toting Uzi machine ...
Live Review by Mark Sinker, New Musical Express, 16 May 1987
COLT 45 ...
Schoolly D: Saturday Night (Rhythm King)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
ENGLAN' y'say? Meldy Maka? Well, I don't know if I rilly wanna get involved in alla this... how much?... ah, maybe I gotta coupla minutes. ...
Schoolly D: Saturday Night Jive
Interview by John McCready, New Musical Express, 16 May 1987
Yo! and pass the fun-size Mars Bars! Eating lemon sherbets instead of lead death, JOHN McCREADY asks cutting edge B-boy SCHOOLLY D how he got ...
Schoolly D: The Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
"AN ULTIMATE character," is how David Stubbs has labelled Schoolly-D. Bad, badder, baddest, and baddest most ill. "My name is Schoolly-D and I'm running amok. ...
Cookie Crew, The Three Wise Men: The Three Wise Men, Cookie Crew: Rhythm and Bruise
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
SOMETHING IS STIRRING IN DEEPEST SOUTH LONDON IN THE SHAPE OF RHYTHM KING RECORD LABEL ARTISTS THE COOKIE CREW, WHO FORM THE FEMALE HIP-HOP ASSAULT ...
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 23 May 1987
BRONX AGE MEN ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Homeboy's Home Truths
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 23 May 1987
ON THE EVE OF THEIR BRITISH TOUR, RUN DMC EXPLAIN TO FRANK OWEN THE STRENGTH OF SILENCE, THE POWER OF GOOD EXAMPLE AND THE WAY THE HISTORY ...
The Beastie Boys: Burden of the Beasties
Report and Interview by Jack Barron, The Guardian, 23 May 1987
WHEN THE Beastie Boys step on stage in Brixton tonight at the start of their British tour everyone – the media, authorities, and fans alike ...
The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC: The Beastie Boys: Just nice boys at heart
Report and Interview by David Sinclair, The Times, 23 May 1987
"THERE'S A certain virtue in negative publicity, and a lot of it has come from us just being ourselves, particularly on stage; but there's a ...
The Beastie Boys: Keep Taking The Tabloids
Report and Interview by Jack Barron, James Brown, Sounds, 23 May 1987
Must they keep flinging this filth at our pop kids? No, not the brilliant BEASTIE BOYS but the British national press attempting to stir up ...
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 30 May 1987
Woah, boy. This is LL COOL J, sitting behind the wheel of an automobile, sensing disrespect! Our man in the wraparounds and the probe-stick: DELE ...
Cookie Crew, Schoolly D, The Three Wise Men: Schoolly D: University Of Essex, Colchester
Live Review by Jack Barron, Sounds, 30 May 1987
ANOTHER SATURDAY night. The Cookie Crew have already pushed sensuality into the cause of women MCs, Three Wise Men have re-freshed us with the politics ...
Schoolly D: Schoolly-D: Slap Happy
Interview by Mat Snow, Sounds, 30 May 1987
Reformed gangster and self-made record tycoon, SCHOOLLY-D is in town to promote his new album Saturday Night. MAT SNOW admires his jewellery ...
T La Rock: Lyrical King (Fresh Records)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
IT'S MR T (La Rock)! ...
The Beastie Boys: So Long, Suckers!
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, June 1987
A curse has come upon the youth of America. It turns boys into beer-swilling, lecherous nerds. It makes girls dress with scant regard for common ...
The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: Don't Knock The Rock – Rap It
Report by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 1 June 1987
Mark Cooper on how Def Jam crossed over punk with rap, white with black, and stayed cool with both sides ...
The Beastie Boys In Montreux: What Really Happened!
Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 3 June 1987
• According to the "news"papers, the Beastie Boys arrived in Montreux, swore at a group of sick children, threw a bottle at Run DMC, turned ...
Davy DMX: Now the beat is dope
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 June 1987
New York — urban hell special!: DAVY D, Run DMC/Beasties support star and longtime New York DJ, entertains DELE FADELE with a shot of drug ...
LL Cool J: Bigger And Deffer (Def Jam 450515)
Review by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 6 June 1987
DEF FOREVER ...
The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC: Run DMC, The Beastie Boys: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 6 June 1987
FRIGGIN' AND SWIGGIN! ...
The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC: Run DMC/The Beastie Boys: Brixton Academy, London/Brighton Centre
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 6 June 1987
PHALLUS & FALLACY ...
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 13 June 1987
WITH BIGGER AND DEFFER, HIS SECOND LP, LL COOL J HAS INFLATED THE BOUNDARIES OF MEGALOMANIA. FRANK OWEN MEETS THE SELF-ACCLAIMED WORLD'S GREATEST RAPPER TO ...
Report and Interview by Sylvia Patterson, Smash Hits, 17 June 1987
(except for Ad-Rock, that is, who's a weed...) ...
Special Feature by Simon Reynolds, David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987
B-BOYS, Yo-Boys, listen up good, cos a new sound's rappin' up the neighbourhood! Yo, it's the Maker's very own rappin' post-structuralist, the chin-scratchin' semiotician about to ...
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu: Physical Graffiti
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 4 July 1987
THEFT, NOISE, FUN, SEX... UH... THEFT... THE JUSTIFIED ANCIENTS OF MU MU HAVE JUST PUT OUT AN ALBUM WITH A SWEAR WORD IN THE TITLE ...
Review by John McCready, New Musical Express, 11 July 1987
IN NEW YORK, there's a war going on. Television ignores it, the papers don't speak of it. It's a war where most of the bloodshed ...
Interview by Jack Barron, Sounds, 11 July 1987
More than merely another hip hop outfit, Manhattan's MANTRONIX are breaking new ground with their brand of hardcore confusion. JACK BARRON meets CURTIS "MANTRONIK" KAHLEEL ...
Boogie Down Productions: Rap Attack
Report by Amy Linden, Spin, August 1987
ON RECORD, M.C. Shan is the mortal enemy of Boogie Down Productions' Scott LaRock and KRS One. They've been trading insults and waging a dis ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Paid In Full
Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, August 1987
THE BOY Rakim has a helluva style on the mike. ...
LL Cool J: L.L. Cool J: Bigger And Deffer (Def Jam)
Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, August 1987
THE INEVITABLE challenge of a great debut: what to do for an encore. For James Todd Smith — a.k.a. Cool James, a.k.a. L.L. Cool J ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Various Artists: Genius Of Rap — The Sugar Hill Story
Review by Dave Rimmer, Q, August 1987
"I SAID A HIP, HOP..." starts the rap by The Sugar Hill Gang's Wonder Mike over a riff faithfully copied from (though only much later ...
Roxanne Shanté: The Queen Rocks On
Interview by Lucy O'Brien, New Musical Express, 15 August 1987
B-boys beware! ROXANNE SHANTÉ has returned from bambino bearing with a hit 'Have A Nice Day'. LUCY O'BRIEN meets the Queen Bee. ...
The Fat Boys: Getting just desserts
Profile and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 15 August 1987
THE MAITRE D' at Samplings on M Street hovers over a table that looks like it's just had a serious accident. ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Paid In Full (4th & Broadway/Island)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 12 September 1987
AFTER GO-GO'S burial come murmurs of the death of hip hop. Has it seized up? Why has the string of rap egos and attendant DJs ...
Boogie Down Productions: Scott La Rock: Wasted in the Zoo
Interview by Frank Owen, New Musical Express, 26 September 1987
Less than a month ago, the Bronx rap supremo SCOTT LA ROCK was tragically shot dead in a street brawl, the very day he'd signed a ...
The Fat Boys: Crushin' (Urban/Polydor)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
EVEN IN their days as a one-gag band, playing Sham 69 to Run DMC's Pistols, the Fat Boys were immensely (and I do mean immensely) ...
LL Cool J Takes The Rap, Beats The Rap, Raps It Up, Raps Around The Clock, Encourages Bad Puns
Interview by Jon Young, Creem, October 1987
"YOU AIN'T gettin' no scoop, lookin' at me with your beady eyes!" ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B and Rakim: The Rap Payback
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 10 October 1987
SEAN O'HAGAN chills out, cuts the ice and pumps it up with rap's sharpest rhythm-monger ERIC — "all the best music has a bad image" ...
Public Enemy: Rebels With a Cause
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 10 October 1987
They understand Malcolm X and they dig James Brown. Right now PUBLIC ENEMY are making all the noise and SEAN O'HAGAN is ready to take the rap. ...
Public Enemy: Strength to Strength
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 17 October 1987
PUBLIC ENEMY PLAY BRITAIN IN NOVEMBER AND SIMON REYNOLDS TAKES A LONG HARD LOOK AT THE SURVIVALIST PHILOSOPHY BEHIND SOME OF THE TOUGHEST NOISE OF ...
Report by Simon Frith, Jon Savage, The Observer, 18 October 1987
SIMON FRITH and JON SAVAGE on more copyright complexities ...
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 7 November 1987
SOFA, SO GOOOOOOD! ...
Report and Interview by John McCready, New Musical Express, 7 November 1987
After ten years in the shadow of New York Flash and Cool, Philadelphia is fast becoming the City of Brotherly Rap. A new generation of ...
Profile and Interview by Mark Sinker, New Musical Express, 14 November 1987
SONGS HAVE become fragile. The things that held them together – the value of the individual voice, the neat edges of recorded product – are ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Bought and Sould
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 14 November 1987
WITH A HIT ALBUM AND THE TOP 30 SINGLE, 'PAID IN FULL', ERIC B & RAKIM HAVE FINALLY FOUND SUCCESS WITH THEIR UNCOMPROMISING BRAND OF ...
Report and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 14 November 1987
This is a journey into sound. A journey into the hip-slanging, writ-wrangling, song-stealing, dub-dealing world of sampling. It is also fast becoming a journey to ...
The Beastie Boys: The Beastie Bit
Report by John McCready, New Musical Express, 21 November 1987
JOHN McCREADY on the Beastie Boys court case... ...
Public Enemy: Shoot-Out In The Fantasy Factory
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 28 November 1987
Public Enemy have been hailed as hip hop's hardest hardliners. Jonh Wilde joined them on tour to discover the sense and nonsense behind their no-holds-barred ...
Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy: Public Enemy/Eric B And Rakim: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 December 1987
PUBLIC NUISANCE ...
Kid'n Play : Kid'n Play: Rap Without The Crap!
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 1988
Lean, mean and squeaky clean, the bullshit-free beats of Kid'n Play have earned them plenty of dubious accolades, from "the yuppies of rap" to "Salt'n'Pepa ...
LL Cool J: Rap – A Storm In A Teacup
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1988
WITH WORLDWIDE sales of his second album, Bigger And Deffer, approaching the three million mark (50,000 in Britain) three times more than the last David ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC's Celluloid Rap
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, Creem, January 1988
SOME INESCAPABLE facts accompany Run DMC's latest venture onto the big screen. They are probably the biggest rap group in the world. They sell millions ...
Arthur Baker, New Order: Arthur Baker: Legends of Arthur
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 9 January 1988
What do current chart hits by New Order and Wally Jump Junior have in common with a new House version of John Coltrane's masterpiece 'A ...
Spoonie Gee: The Wag Club, London
Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 30 January 1988
UNDER PLAIN RAPPING ...
The Beastie Boys: What Are They Up To Now?
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 10 February 1988
• Last year hardly a moment seemed to pass without the Beastie Boys releasing brilliant rap-type creation, causing riotous mayhem and larking about on Brighton ...
Afrika Bambaataa: The Funky Cassandra
Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 19 February 1988
Adam Sweeting spreads Bambaataa's word for Planet Earth ...
Public Enemy: Westwood Plaza, UCLA, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 4 March 1988
THE IRONY being that I had to ditch Afro-American History to see Public Enemy play for free, sponsored by the Black Student Alliance, I think ...
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, John McCready, New Musical Express, 12 March 1988
Cold Chillin' Records was started in 1986 by Tyrone Williams. As manager of Marley Marl — a 23 year old producer, writer, arranger, and renowned New ...
Mantronix: In Full Effect (10 Records) ****1/2
Review by Richard Cook, Sounds, 26 March 1988
THE WAY Mantronix put their music together, you'd think this sort of thing was easy. It just falls into place, fluent, fresh, each lick set ...
Salt 'n' Pepa: Look Ma Top Of The World
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 26 March 1988
SALT 'N' PEPA WILL DO ANYTHING TO HAVE EVERYTHING. WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE, 'PUSH IT', ACCELERATING UP THE AMERICAN CHARTS IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEIR ...
Ultramagnetic MCs: Ultramagnetic MC's
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, April 1988
THE EXPLANATORY enthusiasm of New York's most impressive, left-field rap newcomers cuts the crisp late-winter air like a drum solo in a public library. ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 9 April 1988
DAVID STUBBS MEETS MANTRONIX TO DISCUSS VOICES IN THE MACHINERY, STROBE FLASH, THE DECLINE OF HIP HOP, THE TRIUMPH OF ELECTRO-FUNK... AND SUNDIALS. ...
Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, MC Shan: Cold Chillin' Records: The Big Chill
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 April 1988
COLD CHILLIN' HAVE COMPILED A ROSTER TO CHALLENGE DEF JAM'S HIP HOP SUPREMACY. CAROLINE SULLIVAN MEETS A TRIO ON THE WAY TO THE TOP ...
Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 30 April 1988
LOVE AND BULLETS ...
Derek B: Rapping for the Yankee Dollar?
Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 7 May 1988
DEREK B is Britain's first serious contender for the crown of international rap. JAMES BROWN bows to the boy from Bow but wonders whether the ...
KRS-One: KRS-1: Brixton Fridge, London
Live Review by Helen Mead, New Musical Express, 14 May 1988
DEAF NOT DEF ...
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 21 May 1988
THE VAST majority of double albums are stuffed with excessive nonsense, material which a greater perspicacity would have assigned to personal libraries. He's The D.J., ...
KRS-One: KRS-1: View From The Bridge
Interview by Michele Kirsch, New Musical Express, 21 May 1988
KRS-1, tough turned thinker, raps for condoms and chillin' against crack and killin'. And yet he's seen toting a gun and posing a la Black ...
Public Enemy: Hummingbird, Birmingham
Live Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 21 May 1988
DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE! ...
Public Enemy: Too Black Too Strong
Interview by Jack Barron, James Brown, New Musical Express, 21 May 1988
PUBLIC ENEMY — simply the most creative rappers around? Or a dangerous game with the politics of race? JAMES BROWN and JACK BARRON lay it ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Tougher Than Leather (London LON 38/CD) ****
Review by Mat Snow, Sounds, 28 May 1988
THROWING PUNCHLINES ...
Report by Vernon Gibbs, Billboard, 18 June 1988
INDEPENDENT LABELS have always been critical to the exposure of new black music. In the '50s, labels like Specialty and Chess gave pioneers like Little ...
Report by David Nathan, Billboard, 18 June 1988
The Youth Wave Advances, Dance Enhances, and Rap Romances Pop Consumers ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: The Motormouths Speed On!
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 2 July 1988
With the American music biz finally embracing hip hop, Eric B & Rakim – contract expired – have been able to cash in their uncompromised ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Scratching with Thatcher
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 9 July 1988
SALT 'N' PEPA and Spinderella, those crazy female purveyors of the street beat meet Mrs T for tea in Downing Street. STEVEN WELLS asked them ...
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 16 July 1988
Fast and furious ...
Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (Def Jam) ****1/2
Review by Mat Snow, Sounds, 16 July 1988
RICK RUBIN is white, Jewish and, on Public Enemy's second album here under scrutiny, steel-reinforces his reputation as today's greatest producer of rebel rock. ...
The Dickies, Metal MC, Pigmy Love Circus: Scream, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 29 July 1988
TEN YEARS of anything is a lot... usually too much. When I was younger, I worshiped the Dickies as the overlords of my conscience, wrote ...
JVC Force: Can you feel the force?
Interview by Michele Kirsch, New Musical Express, 30 July 1988
Blasting the Bronx from their offshore base "Strong Island" come JVC FORCE, making hits but not taking any. MICHELE KIRSCH survives the barrage ...
Review by Jon Young, Musician, August 1988
RECENTLY THE paper brought news that two men have been arrested for the murder of DJ Scott LaRock last year, giving By All Means Necessary ...
Eric B. & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Mantronix: Taking the Rap
Report and Interview by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 5 August 1988
Club violence and the whiff of gunsmoke are accompanying rap's rise to prominence in the United States. Bruce Dessau reports ...
The Jungle Brothers: Burning Bright
Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 13 August 1988
Fearing the worst JACK BARRON penetrated the steaming undergrowth of New York to reach THE JUNGLE BROTHERS and finds not red-eyed monsters but fresh-faced missionaries. ...
J.J. Fad, N.W.A: J.J. Fad: Fadmania
Interview by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 18 August 1988
L.A. Rappers Pop Hip Hop to the Top ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Follow The Leader (MCA MCG 6031)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 August 1988
WITH RAP being caught in an apparent rut with many acts seemingly utilising too many of the same beats, riffs and grooves upon which to ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N Pepa: Shakin' Seasons
Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 31 August 1988
It's hard being a woman rapper in a man's world, but Salt 'N Pepa have made it. Adam Sweeting found them in Oklahoma City. ...
The Jungle Brothers: Zap Club, Brighton
Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 17 September 1988
BUNGLE BROTHERS ...
Public Enemy: Rockin' The Joint
Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 22 September 1988
The incendiary rappers preach black self-sufficiency at New York's Riker's Island. But are they prisoners of their own racist doctrine? By Michael Azerrad ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 24 September 1988
New York's STETSASONIC are pushing forward the frontiers of rap, way beyond girls, cars and gold, into politics and social awareness. Definitely a Stet in ...
Fab 5 Freddy, Max Roach: Fab 5 Freddy & Max Roach: Hip Hop Bebop
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, October 1988
Max Roach says the new Charlie Parkers are in hip hop. The inventor of modern jazz drumming celebrates the new generation with wild stylist Fab ...
Report by Frank Owen, Spin, October 1988
WITH A defiant swagger, home-boy style '88 says, "Say it loud, I'm fake and I'm proud." Gucci may be good, but fake Gucci is what's ...
Review by Randall Grass, Musician, October 1988
Stetsasonic: In Full Gear (Tommy Boy); Masters Of Ceremony: Dynamite (4th & Broadway); Eric B. & Rakim: Follow the Leader (UNI); Salt 'N' Pepa: <i>A ...
EPMD, Stetsasonic: Stetsasonic, EPMD: International 2, Manchester
Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 1 October 1988
SONIC BOOM BOYS ...
Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 15 October 1988
LONDON BRIDGE is falling down, Big Ben has struck one minute to midnight and had his hand's burned. And all is not well in this ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: Brielport, Dienze, Belgium
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 22 October 1988
RAP OVER THE KNUCKLEHEADS ...
Pop Will Eat Itself, Public Enemy: Pop Will Eat Itself (and Public Enemy): Scrapping With Rap
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 29 October 1988
AS DEF JAM'S happy rap panto rolls through Europe, Pop Will Eat Itself and Public Enemy are getting on fine. Unfortunately the hordes of Belgian ...
Derek B, Pop Will Eat Itself, Public Enemy: Pop Will Eat Itself: Scrapping With Rap
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 29 October 1988
As DEF JAM'S happy rap panto rolls through Europe POP WILL EAT ITSELF and PUBLIC ENEMY are getting on fine. Unfortunately the hordes of Belgian ...
Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Run-DMC, Stetsasonic: Rap: Rock Is Dead
Special Feature by Mark Dery, Keyboard, November 1988
THE RAW POWER OF CHEAP TECH CRASHES HEAD-ON INTO INNER-CITY DEFIANCE AND DESPAIR ...
Run-DMC: Concert Violence: Who's to Blame?
Report by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 3 November 1988
Action needed in the wake of recent deaths at rap and metal shows ...
Salt 'N' Pepa: Sat 'N' Pepa: The Showstoppers
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 5 November 1988
'To Know Us Is To Love Us' claim Salt 'n' Pepa, one of rap's most unlikely success stories, whose A Salt With A Deadly Pepa ...
Bomb The Bass: The Hawth Centre, Crawley
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 10 December 1988
PUMP UP THE CONCEPT ...
The Cold Crush Brothers: Cold Crush Brothers: Troopers (B-Boy/Westside LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 17 December 1988
SQUASHED OFF in the opposite direction are the Brothers. While hip hop in general is surfing on a newfound musical sophistication, with crews like The ...
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 7 January 1989
And the kids keep dying. Armed with only a Sony Walkman and a pen, PAOLO HEWITT goes looking for the solution to Rap's vicious side, ...
Neneh Cherry: What Is She Like?
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 11 January 1989
She's the new pop sensation that's sweeping the nation! Yeah, even as we speak her corking tune 'Buffalo Stance' is hurtling its way up the ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 14 January 1989
As a columnist for Billboard and The Village Voice, Nelson George has been America's most incisive commentator on the changing face of black music culture. ...
Monie Love: For The Love Of Monie
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 17 January 1989
NOT TOO many British 18 year olds have major record company recording contracts. Not too many British 18 year olds write their own lyrics, have ...
Neneh Cherry: A Gap in the Rap
Interview by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 25 January 1989
Neneh Cherry is one of many women invading the hip hop scene ...
Ice-T and the Rhyme Syndicate: The Pink Toothbrush, Rayleigh
Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 11 February 1989
GUNS AND BOZOS ...
Tone Loc, Young MC: Lip-Smacking LA: Delicious Vinyl
Report and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 11 February 1989
New Yorkers, the creators of hip hop, have never been receptive to outside beats, and in the past only the Philly scene has given them ...
She Rockers: Rockers On A Roll
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 7 March 1989
British rap is gaining momentum at a rate of knots and the She Rockers aim to keep it that way ...
Public Enemy: Ackerman Ballroom, UCLA, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 10 March 1989
Public Enemy Raps the System ...
The Beastie Boys, Slayer: Def Jam: Def On The Rocks?
Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 11 March 1989
Formerly the most formidable crossover label in existence, DEF JAM has been out of the limelight since a split in the ranks saw Rick Rubin ...
The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Rick Rubin, Slayer: Rick Rubin: Mental Metal Master
Interview by Paul Elliott, Sounds, 11 March 1989
From rap to metal, LL Cool J to Slayer, producer Rick Rubin has shaped the definitive street beats of the decade. Paul Elliott hears the ...
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 11 March 1989
Here PAOLO HEWITT gets on the Voice Beat with SMITH & MIGHTY and SOUL II SOUL. ...
De La Soul: 3 Feet High And Rising (Tommy Boy/Big Life)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
THE DAISY AGE ...
De La Soul: Three Feet High And Rising (Big Life LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 18 March 1989
ARE YOU ready for Martian hip-hop? Can you handle the new nutty boys of rap, the maddest, baddest bunch on the block? Can you imagine ...
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 21 March 1989
EVERY NOW and again a certain buzz explodes onto the streets, evoking an excited aura that ignites and spreads from the specialist shops to the ...
De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising (Tommy Boy)
Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 23 March 1989
DE LA SOUL HAS already mastered the three Js of postmodernism: juxtapose, juxtapose, juxtapose. Welcome to the first psychedelic hip-hop record. ...
De La Soul: Three Feet High and Rising (Tommy Boy)
Review by Eric Weisbard, SF Weekly, 29 March 1989
WELCOME TO the Daisy Age. Do you like daisies? Do you like to buddy? Well, Jimmy and Jenny, buddy up, take a luuden, and try ...
De La Soul: Soul Deep High and Rising
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 1 April 1989
They're Public Enemy's favourite band and their debut LP 3 Feet High And Rising is the world's first psychedelic Rap album mixing Day-Glo, Disney, dance ...
The Jungle Brothers: Pure Righteousness
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 1 April 1989
Can the creators of powerful positive Afro-rap THE JUNGLE BROTHERS also be true believers of Islamic fundamentalist, black separatist Louis Farrakhan? SEAN O'HAGAN explores the ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 8 April 1989
First grabbing the world's ears with their remix of Eric B And Rakims 'Paid In Full' the COLDCUT crew of Matt Black and Jonathan Moore ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
PUSH TALKS TO THE BIGGEST RAP SENSATION SINCE PUBLIC ENEMY AND DISCOVERS WHAT LIFE'S LIKE ON PLANET SCREWBALL. ...
Live Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
WORDS FLY LIKE bullets from a scatter gun. They call Jalal Nurridin the "Godfather of Rap", but he's much more than that. ...
N.W.A: NWA: Straight Outta Compton (Ruthless import LP)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 15 April 1989
COMPTON DOES not sound like the kind of area you want to move to. Judging by this LP, most of its inhabitants seem to bear ...
The Ramones: Dee Dee Ramone's Rap'n'Roll
Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 17 April 1989
DEE DEE RAMONE, bassist of the Ramones, pops up in concert or on record every so often to sing a hardcore punk song like 'Warthog'. ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 29 April 1989
JUST-ICE is not a man to cross, for a start he carries a gun and his favourite role model is The Godfather. SEAN O'HAGAN took ...
Cookie Crew: The Cookie Crew: Kooky Crew
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 29 April 1989
South London's finest female rappers THE COOKIE CREW walk proud and talk tough, threatening such pillars of the Establishment as 'Fatch' and DLT in their ...
De La Soul: Venus de Milo, Boston MA
Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, May 1989
De La Soul's humor fizzles out in concert ...
De La Soul's Hippie-hop: Psychedelic Rappers Introduce the DA.I.S.Y. Age
Profile and Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 4 May 1989
"HELLO, YOU'VE reached Mars. What can I do for you?" Trugoy the Dove is on the telephone in the tidy basement of his parents' house ...
Big Daddy Kane: Raw Like Sushi
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989
Christened The Grasshopper Of Rap for his black belt lyrics, Big Daddy Kane is a hero to rap's hard core followers. With hits for Roxanne ...
Todd Terry, T La Rock: Fridge, Brixton, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989
ONE MOMENT you're doubled up with paroxysms of laughter, the next you're seized with rhythmic convulsions. Suddenly, everything makes sense — Todd Terry isn't past ...
Report and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 18 May 1989
DE LA SOUL'S 3 Feet High and Rising is art-rap, a wild and woolly concept album that takes its title from a Johnny Cash song, ...
Just-Ice: The Sophisticated Thug
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
"FORGET IT, MAN. I ain't gonna talk about those things. Don't ask nothing about that. You won't get no answers. Those things are very personal, ...
Cookie Crew: The Cookie Crew: Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 May 1989
WITH TITLES like 'Black Is The Way', The Cookie Crew envince a compelling need to have their say, to disseminate informative missives on a whole ...
Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Rodney-O & Joe Cooley: Celebrity Theatre, Anaheim CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 1989
Dislocated Metaphysics of De La Soul ...
Profile and Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 1 June 1989
L.A. rapper Tone-Lōc takes his success in stride — like everything else in his life ...
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam: Straight To The Sky (CBS)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 3 June 1989
MUCH OF Straight To The Sky is thinly disguised and indiscriminately stolen property .There's the instantly recognisable keyboard climb from Yazoo's 'Don't Go', a little ...
Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 3 June 1989
NENEH CHERRY is a different style of woman, a popstar determined to be real, not plastic, positive and above all herself. With her single 'Manchild' ...
De La Soul: The D.A.I.S.Y. Chain Gang
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
DAVID STUBBS FLEW TO NEW YORK TO MEET THE TRIO WHO'RE RADICALLY CHANGING THE IMAGE OF THE RAPPER AND WHOSE DEBUT ALBUM, 3 FEET HIGH ...
Neneh Cherry: Raw Like Sushi (Circa)
Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 10 June 1989
CHERRY-OH BABY ...
Guy, Teddy Riley: Teddy Riley: The Life of Riley
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 10 June 1989
At 22 TEDDY RILEY is the most sought-after producer in America. His mixture of R&B and rap has created a new sound, dubbed New Jack ...
Queen Latifah: The Royal Flavour
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 17 June 1989
All hail the new king and queen of Rap — namely hotshot producer DJ MARK THE 45 KING and his latest righteous rhymester, QUEEN LATIFAH. ...
Cookie Crew: Some Cookies Don't Crumble
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Guardian, 21 June 1989
British rap is taken seriously in the States largely due to the Cookie Crew. Sheryl Garratt found out why ...
Report and Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 24 June 1989
Wild Thing! You make my bank account sing. In the last six months West Coast rapper TONE LOC has sold over six million records. His ...
LL Cool J: Walking With A Panther (Def Jam)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 1 July 1989
RUMOUR HAD it that this was a bad record — as in crap, not bigger and deffer. Rumour was wrong. ...
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton (Priority/Ruthless)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 8 July 1989
THE SLEEVE of Straight Outta Compton, the debut LP from N.W.A., depicts one of the members of this Los Angeles rap group pointing a pistol ...
The Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, Wolfsbane: Rick Rubin: Fang of Def
Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 8 July 1989
Five years ago RICK RUBIN was the 21-year-old student behind Def Jam — the label that brought you the twin rock-rap assault of Licensed To Ill and ...
The Beastie Boys: Paul’s Boutique (Capitol)
Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 20 July 1989
THE BEASTIE Boys make an unbelievable transition here, from juvenile delinquents to psychedelic gurus, from the vulgar to the sublime. This record will quite likely ...
Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One: KRS-1: We Are 1
Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 22 July 1989
Metaphysics... conspiracy theories...the harmony of the Universe...and YOU thought KRS-1 was just a hot rapper! JACK BARRON gets philosophical with the boss of Boogie Down. ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 July 1989
SURVIVAL OF THE BRUTISH ...
The Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique (Capitol)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 29 July 1989
COCKS OF THE WALK ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique (Capitol)
Review by Jon Young, Musician, August 1989
HIDE THE silverware. Put the vinyl slipcovers back on the furniture. Turn Mom's picture to the wall. Those eager-to-offend Beastie Boys are back at the ...
The Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, August 1989
PRANKSTERS TO THE last, The Beastie Boys slide into their comeback album so quietly and casually that you double check the volume knob on your ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 5 August 1989
Just when you thought Public Enemy had pushed as far as it could go, just when you thought rap outrage had peaked, along come N.W.A. ...
Interview by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 5 August 1989
Get yourself in shape with Tone Lōc, the monster court jester of rap's ruff, tuff kingdom. Roy Wilkinson chews the fat about girls, grub and ...
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 8 August 1989
AS IF you didn't know, KRS One takes himself very seriously, and that's no bad thing. However, if he really is the peace maker that ...
Neneh Cherry: Raw Like Sushi (Virgin) ***½
Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 10 August 1989
TALK ABOUT a sign of the times: Earlier in the decade, Neneh Cherry was a peripheral member of the postpunk warriors the Slits, then played ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Rap Like a Beast
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 19 August 1989
After their anarchic and antiheroic debut Licenced To Ill debut, the BEASTIE BOYS laid low and the sensible world breathed a sigh of relief. But ...
Guns N' Roses, Public Enemy: Public Enemy and Guns N' Roses: Busted Axl
Report by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 22 August 1989
FORTY-EIGHT hours in the feeding-cycle of New York City. There were Uzis, Public Enemy regrouping, and a clique of blond babes orbiting Axl Rose at ...
Review by David Toop, The Times, 26 August 1989
Conventional Black ...
Kool Moe Dee: Knowledge Is King (RCA/Jive)
Review by Jon Young, Musician, September 1989
HE MAKES hit records. The girls won't leave him alone. The man considers his spiritual healing powers comparable to those of Christ. And yet, rapmaster ...
The D.O.C.: No One Can Do It Better (Ruthless)
Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 1 September 1989
THIS IS the first album to come out of Ruthless Records and the N.W.A. crew since they became an international press phenomenon as the meanest, ...
Schoolly D: Am I Black Enough For You? (Jive LP only)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989
SOMETHING'S CREPT up the stairwell and shat on your perfectly-formed oriental rug. Schoolly D has just moved in, and, as the old adage says, your ...
Schoolly D: Am I Black Enough For You (Jive HIP85/CD) ***
Review by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 2 September 1989
AT THE time of The White(y) Album Sonic Youth nominated J Mascis for president. In their Rock 'N' Roll For President scheme Schoolly D was ...
The Beastie Boys: Boogie and the Beast: Mike D, MCA and King Ad-Rock on U2, Aunt Bea and the Ozone
Interview by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 7 September 1989
"REAL LIFE is much stranger than fiction, man." Mike D speaks from the turntables in the den of King Ad-Rock's Hollywood apartment. He haphazardly scratches ...
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton (Fourth & Broadway) *****
Review by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 9 September 1989
Guns and girls and rap 'n' roll ...
N.W.A: Niggers With Attitude: Straight Outta Compton (4th And Broadway LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 9 September 1989
PAINT IT BLACK ...
N.W.A: NWA: Straight Outta Compton (4th & Broadway BRLP 534)
Review by Mark Sinker, The Observer, 10 September 1989
NWA'S DEBUT, with a high count of F-words, savaging of bad policing, and ambivalent depictions of LA street drug-dealers, teen-gang wars and urban ruin, has ...
Digital Underground: Space Oddities
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 16 September 1989
"LOTS OF PEOPLE have said we're similar to De La Soul simply because we're with the same record company in America and we both have ...
Digital Underground: Wutchyalike?
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 16 September 1989
California's DIGITAL UNDERGROUND have crashed the national charts with their first single 'Doowutchyalike', breaking through the walls of Daisy Age hip-hop like a sledgehammer. On ...
The Beastie Boys: Paid In Full
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, October 1989
The Beastie Boys say their old record company is withholding millions of their dollars. Def Jam's Russell Simmons says he taught the Beastie Boys how to walk and talk. A ...
Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Sunday Correspondent Magazine, 1 October 1989
"Takin' a life or two/That's what the hell I do." The rap band NWA – Niggers with Attitude – compares Los Angeles street life to ...
Malcolm McLaren: Deep in Vogue
Profile by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 5 October 1989
Malcolm McLaren looses another musical mutant ...
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 7 October 1989
Within three weeks of it's release, EPMD's first album had reached the No. 1 spot on America's black chart. With its follow up Unfinished Business ...
Roxanne Shanté: 'I Have Never Seen A Man Talk To An Ugly Woman. Never.'
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 7 October 1989
There is nothing that ROXANNE SHANTE won't rap about and no limit to who she disses. Here she talks to PAOLO HEWITT about men, music ...
Ice Cube, N.W.A: N.W.A.: Wanted For Attitude
Report by Dave Marsh, The Village Voice, 10 October 1989
HOW'S THIS for government intimidation? In early August, a letter arrived on the desk of Priority Records president Brian Turner. Written on Department of Justice ...
De La Soul: Brothers From Another Planet
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 21 October 1989
HIPPIES!?! Never! No sirree! Ignore the paisley, the peace signs, the flowers, the speccy Lennonisms, DE LA SOUL are truly brothers from another planet, extra ...
Stereo MCs: Werner Seelinbinderhalle, East Berlin
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 October 1989
FEAST IN THE EAST ...
Interview by John Robb, Sounds, 21 October 1989
Crazed noise guerillas Tackhead are going for mainstream success with their new LP, Friendly As A Hand Grenade. John Robb grabs at the pieces of ...
Biz Markie: The Biz Never Sleeps (Cold Chillin' 1-26003)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 31 October 1989
RAP CLOWN Biz takes us on a lackadaisical cartoon journey through an array of fairly standard outings, both utilising Biz's comical vocal affectations as well ...
Big Daddy Kane: It's a Big Daddy Thing (Cold Chillin'/Reprise)
Review by Frank Owen, Spin, November 1989
LIKE HIS ground-breaking debut album, Long Live the Kane, It's a Big Daddy Thing finds Kane in the forefront of the most important new direction ...
Digital Underground: Rock The Art House
Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, November 1989
Digital Underground are the hip hop band of the future. Freaky, funky, mechanically minded and experimental. ...
Black Box, De La Soul, Stetsasonic: Sampling: Bite This
Report by Frank Owen, Spin, November 1989
When De La Soul sampled a Turtles oldie, the Turtles weren't flattered. So they sued. Does their legal action threaten the existence of hip hop? Is ...
De La Soul: "Chicken sandwich! Hyaphehehe hyupaheehee who ha ha!"
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 November 1989
Geddit? Neither do we actually, but then it seems we're not supposed to. That's De La Soul for you. Chris Heath wrestles with the grumpiest ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 4 November 1989
IN THEIR SHORT CAREER THE RAPPERS HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI, CONDEMNED BY THE CONGRESS FOR RACIAL EOUALITY, BANNED BY TV AND RADIO AND ...
Sir Mix-A-Lot: Beepers (Nastymix video)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 23 November 1989
YOU GOTTA have guys like Sir Mix-a-Lot in the world of pop music, guys who jumped the trend-train so late, and imitated their predecessors so ...
The Jungle Brothers: Nature Study
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 28 November 1989
WITH THE 1990's fast upon us, mass culture — both in fashion and music — seems desperate to see out the last decade of this ...
Report by Frank Owen, Spin, December 1989
Once divided by a well-guarded aesthetic border, the hip hop and house scenes are now mixing. And hip house is the new style. ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 1 December 1989
THE WEST Coast rap ascendancy continues with a couple of strong, though flawed, releases from the two main parent organisations. ...
Interview by Julian Henry, Music Week, 9 December 1989
"IT TOOK me about 35 minutes to write the words to 'Wild Thing' and about an hour to write 'Funky Cold Medina'. It was easy." ...
Neneh Cherry: So you think you know everything about Neneh Cherry?
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 13 December 1989
(WELL YOU DON'T... as Chris Heath discovers) ...
The Jungle Brothers: Guerillas in the Mix
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 23 December 1989
Commanding the corner where spiritual meets the street, "conscious rappers" THE JUNGLE BROTHERS are ready to lead hip-hop into its second decade with their landmark ...
Queen Latifah: All Hail The Queen (Gee St/Tommy Boy Gee 45)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 26 December 1989
ANOTHER PUPIL of the Jungles/De La Soul/ Afrocentrism, psychedelic, daisy age school emerges (try saying that after... well just try saying that, anyway!) ...
Comment by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 31 December 1989
MYRIAD GENRES and subgenres make up the world of pop music, some complementary, some clashing. Look around, and you'll find heavy metal, hard rock, post-modern, ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, January 1990
A LITTLE suburban parking spot in Carson, Los Angeles, and balmy tranquility hangs in the air like Valium fallout. There are harsh alien sounds, though: ...
Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1990
RAIN IS STREAMING down in sheets on the Long Island suburb of Hempstead but, inside Public Enemy's headquarters, the group's leader Chuck D is just ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Questin' Time
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 6 January 1990
THEY TROOP into the hotel foyer. The New Soldiers Of Rap are jet lagged from eight hours on a plane but the assault on Britain ...
Criminal Element Orchestra: Locked Up (Epic LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 6 January 1990
ARTHUR BAKER is generally credited with having several parts of his anatomy in touch with the living pulse of modern dance music. If this is ...
Coldcut, The Fall: Coldcut: Ring The Noise
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 20 January 1990
• And they said it wouldn't last! In the pop marriage of the'80s, COLDCUT producers Jonathan Moore and Matt Black invited Mark E Smith to ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Done By The Forces Of Nature (WEA)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 20 January 1990
RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE ...
Divine Styler featuring the Scheme Team: Word Power (Syndicate LP/ Cassette/CD)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990
STRAIGHT OUTTA Los Angeles from Ice-T's new label, Syndicate, the Divine Styler's long and intense LP puts to shame most of the artists that Ice-T ...
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990
THE FIRST general rule of hip-hop is that most albums contain a couple of killer club cuts and a dozen cardboard fillers. Just to be ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, February 1990
Rapping about bass and booty, Miami rap is party music with a foul mouth. And 2 Live Crew are the nasty rulers of the Miami ...
Ice-T, Donald D, Everlast, Spinmasters: Top Rank, Brighton
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 3 February 1990
IS CHIPPING Sodbury in the house? How about Hastings? Is the Crawley posse chilling out tonight? Everybody make some goddam N-O-l-S-E... ER, please? ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Done by the Forces of Nature (Warner Bros.) ***1/2
Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 8 February 1990
THE JUNGLE Brothers are part of the Native Tongues, a triumvirate of innovative rap groups (including De la Soul and A Tribe Called Quest) united ...
Roxanne Shanté: Bad Sister ****
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 8 February 1990
RECORDED BETWEEN laundry loads in 1985 when she was fourteen years old, Roxanne Shanté's first single, 'Roxanne's Revenge', was a spontaneous storm of sassy rap ...
Ice Cube, N.W.A: Straight Outta Here? Legal war erupts in N.W.A.
Report by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 8 February 1990
IT'S LIKE the Sex Pistols all over again. NWA, rappers from Compton, generate a huge word-of-mouth reputation, they put out a careening album quickly banned ...
Beats International: "Ngh-nngh-ngghh-ngh-nnunnugh!"
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 21 February 1990
Hark! It's the sound of "Dub Be Good To Me — as invented by a bloke who used to be in the Housemartins and a ...
Public Enemy: Public Service: Public Enemy
Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, March 1990
With their third album, Fear of a Black Planet, about to be released, Public Enemy proclaims the death of European predominance. Pop goes Afrocentric for ...
Report by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 8 March 1990
The LAPD drops in on Public Enemy at the PALACE ...
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.: The Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.: To Live And Die In L.A.
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 17 March 1990
The Devoux brothers have learned the rules of survival the hard way. In LA there are now 92,000 gang members, and mercy is not in ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 24 March 1990
IT'S LIKE stumbling back in time. As yet another rap package rolls across the land of the Mounties, De La Soul find themselves in the ...
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.: New Funky Nation (Island)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
BROTHERS IN ARMS ...
Digital Underground: Sex Packets (BCM)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
WOSSIS? A hip hop concept album? It most certainly is, but before you reach for the barf bag get a load of this concept. Sex ...
Professor Griff: 100 Per Cent Prof.
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 31 March 1990
Accused of anti-Semitism, dissing the President, condoning Idi Amin and generally being a bit of a foam-flecked Rottweiler, Public Enemy's Minister Of Information PROFESSOR GRIFF ...
Ice Cube, N.W.A: NWA: Hanging Tough
Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, April 1990
Hounded by the FBI and acclaimed as the new, new Sex Pistols, NWA's rise has been rapid and sensational. But now that chief spokesman and ...
The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, Public Enemy: Rapped in Black
Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 April 1990
An Africa-shaped pendant has become the new badge of honour for American rappers, reports Mark Cooper ...
The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, Public Enemy: Rapped in Black
Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 April 1990
An Africa-shaped pendant has become the new badge of honour for American rappers, reports Mark Cooper ...
Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam 466281 1)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 13 April 1990
THERE HAS been an all-round upping of the ante in the rap stakes since Public Enemy released the classic, It Takes a Nation of Millions ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Request, 15 April 1990
IN THE 1960s, youthful poets, inspired by radical politics and Woody Guthrie, took up acoustic guitars to deliver topical commentary in a folk music setting. ...
A Tribe Called Quest: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm ***
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 19 April 1990
INASMUCH AS THE arch and arty New York hip-hop foursome A Tribe Called Quest exudes any enthusiasm at all on its debut album, that enthusiasm ...
Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet (Def Jam 466281)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 20 April 1990
Complex persecution ...
Public Enemy: Fear of A Black Planet
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 21 April 1990
BACK IN BLACK ...
A Hard Graff For A Piece Of The Action
Report and Interview by Cynthia Rose, The Observer, 22 April 1990
Cynthia Rose says in Europe they know the writing's on the wall. ...
Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam/Columbia)
Review by Tim Riley, The Boston Phoenix, 22 April 1990
Their Own Worst Enemy? Fear of a Black Planet; seductive music, muddled message ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Short Back and Asides
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990
SALT 'N' PEPA are about to curl up and dye. The first of their chain of Salt 'N' Pepa beauty salons will soon open at ...
Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1990
PUBLIC ENEMY ARE one of the last, relevantly active crews from the second wave of hip hop that included Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Mantronix and ...
Salt-N-Pepa: What Has Happened To Salt'n'Pepa?
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 16 May 1990
★ ONCE THEY WERE A GIRLIE RAPPING TRIO WHO STOLE THE SHOW AT THE SMASH HITS POLL WINNERS PARTY. ★ Then they disappeared off the ...
Kurtis Mantronik, Mantronix: Mantronix: Cashing In Or Selling Out?
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
ONCE THE PREMIER PIONEER OF ELECTRO, MANTRONIK'S LATEST WORK HAS BEEN SUSPICIOUSLY COMMERCIAL. ANDREW SMITH THINKS THE GREAT MAN HAS SOLD HIS SOUL TO THE ...
Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (Priority) **
Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 27 May 1990
LIKE HIS new cohorts Public Enemy, Ice Cube is fueled by persecution. The rapper's first solo album since leaving N.W.A. opens with the sounds of ...
Kurtis Mantronik, Mantronix: Personal File: Mantronix
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 30 May 1990
★ FULL NAME: Kurtis Mantronik. I changed it to that because I was having problems with my real name. I had a Syrian surname and ...
Digital Underground: Palace Theater, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 1990
Digital Underground Can't Get Over the Humpt ...
Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (Profile US import CD)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
GANG BUSTER ...
N.W.A.: Some Muthas Do 'Ave 'Em
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 2 June 1990
Rubbing white America's nose in its own racism or blagging big bucks by glorifying gangsterism, NWA are not the FBI-pigs' favourite people. STEVEN 'Wild West' ...
Above the Law, Michel'le, N.W.A: NWA, Above The Law, Michel'le: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 9 June 1990
GUNS OF BRIXTON ...
N.W.A: NWA: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 June 1990
BAAAAAD ATTITUDE ...
Betty Boo: Betty The Devil You Know
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 16 June 1990
She-rapper BETTY BOO is kickin' ass and wreaking revenge with her killer single 'Doin' The Do'. STEPHEN DALTON suffers Boomania ...
2 Live Crew, Ice Cube: 2 Live Crew: Express Yourself
Report by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 21 June 1990
AS WE go to press there is a Sheriff's Department search on inBroward County, Fla., for the two members of salacious rap group 2 Live ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em (MCA DMCG 6097)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 22 June 1990
THE GOLD rope worn by Eric B on the cover of the duo's first album for MCA is the largest I've seen, a ludicrous piece ...
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.: Boo-Yaa Tribe: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 23 June 1990
EVEN IF they don't realise it, the Boo-Yaas are a big joke. But it's a funky, larger-than-life laugh-attack with a killer punchline, and that's the ...
Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam/Columbia)
Review by Richard C. Walls, Musician, July 1990
Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution — Public Enemy Gets Tough ...
Comment by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 5 July 1990
WHEN RUDY Ray Moore talked dirty to the house parties, when Dolomite told inner-city movie audiences "fucking up motherfuckers is my game," when Redd Foxx ...
Ruthless Rap Assassins: Killer Album (EMI) ****
Review by John Robb, Sounds, 7 July 1990
NOT THAT it's important but this killer crew pace the streets of Manchester, a bona fide non scal outfit with a history interwoven into the ...
Gary Clail, On-U Sound System: Gary Clail: Heard It Through The Bovine
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 14 July 1990
Alter supporting Happy Mondays at Wembley and a performance at Glastonbury, GARY CLAIL releases a new single, 'Beef', on Paul Oakenfold's RCA-financed Perfecto label. PUSH ...
Comment by Tim Riley, The Boston Phoenix, 27 July 1990
DEFENDING 2 LIVE Crew's right to party feels more like a chore than a privilege. Graphic slapstick writ large, As Nasty As They Wanna Be ...
Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (4th & Broadway BR551)
Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1990
THE RELATIVELY flat reception for NWA's recent British shows was surely a direct response to rapper Ice Cube's departure in January. Ever the brutal realist, ...
Betty Boo: Take-off for the girl from Planet Boo
Interview by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 22 August 1990
Funky fantasy and shy eyes, hope and regret... Lucy O'Brien on the two sides of Betty, aka Alison ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Shakin' Sweet
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 25 August 1990
Is this the end of rap's top pumptresses SALT 'N' PEPA? Bored with making millions and being reviled by all the hard rappin' 'bitches' they ...
Boogie Down Productions: Edutainment (Jive Hip 100)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 28 August 1990
KRS-ONE, AS we all know, doesn't make music to dance to... although it's danceable. He doesn't make music that's going to attain daytime radio play... ...
2 Live Crew: Fear Of A Black Penis
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, September 1990
A media moral panic about their alleged obscenity has catapulted Miami rappers 2 Live Crew to national notoriety. FRANK OWEN reports from Florida. ...
Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Select, September 1990
FOR A WHILE THERE, Ice Cube's abusive and inflammatory lyrics came over like harmless cartoon sketches of life in American's black underclass. ...
Profile and Interview by Steven Daly, Spin, September 1990
Monie Love arrives in this country with a rep as the only British rapper who matters. ...
Report and Interview by Mark Dery, Keyboard, September 1990
"Elvis was a hero to most But he never meant shit to me you seeStraight up racist that sucker wasSimple and plain ...
KISS 100 FM: The Embrace Is On
Report and Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 1 September 1990
WHEN KISS 100 FM starts broadcasting legally on September 1, sending the freshest of dancebeats into the ether around London, it will be the final ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990
To the average pop fan, Tackhead are an overnight sensation but, as ANDREW SMITH discovers, there's a history and prime pedigree to this radical dance ...
MC Hammer: Hammer delivers several sharp hits
Interview by Steve Turner, The Times, 4 September 1990
Steve Turner talks to MC Hammer, whose rap album has topped the US charts for 13 weeks ...
2 Live Crew: Banned in the U.S.A.: The Luke LP Featuring the 2 Live Crew (Luke/Atlantic) ***
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 6 September 1990
ODDLY ENOUGH, given the unprecedented barrage of anxiety Luther Campbell's foul mouth has inspired, the 2 Live Crew doesn't have a remarkably inventive mind forsin. ...
LL Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out (Def Jam LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 22 September 1990
LL SYSTEMS GO! ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 September 1990
After the critical and commercial disappointment of Walking The Panther, LL COOL J is back on more typically outrageous form with his new album, Mama ...
2 Live Crew: As Clean As They Wanna Be (Luke)
Review by Michele Kirsch, Select, October 1990
WASHING DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC ...
Frankie Crocker: Radio Renaissance
Interview by Carol Cooper, Spin, October 1990
A maverick talent in a sea of mediocrity, radio renegade Frankie Crocker has made New York's airwaves listenable again. ...
Monie Love: Down To Earth (Warner Bros.)
Review by Michele Kirsch, Select, October 1990
FEMINIST RAPPER Monie Love uses the word "sister" so much as a term of spiritual endearment to all creatures feminine that it's a dead givaway ...
Monie Love: Down To Earth (Cooltempo)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 17 October 1990
RAPPERS ARE always rambling on about themselves in their songs — how completely "slammin'" they are and how laughably "wack" everyone else is. How pleasant, ...
Geto Boys: Censorship Isn't Def American
Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, November 1990
Sexually explicit and graphically violent, the Geto Boys are Rick Rubin's latest rap signing. Now Geffen won't release their album. FRANK OWEN reports. ...
Professor Griff, Public Enemy: Material World: Professor Griff
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 3 November 1990
REAL NAME Richard Griffin ...
Professor Griff, Public Enemy: Professor Griff: Putting America On Trial
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 November 1990
In the past year, Professor Griff has been thrown out of PUBLIC ENEMY, accused of being a racist, a Jew-hater and an American-basher. PUSH talks ...
Public Enemy: Black Appeal in the Hour of Power
Report and Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 3 November 1990
JAMES BROWN catches PUBLIC ENEMY'S spectacular show in San Diego and speaks to CHUCK D. ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 17 November 1990
DOCK OF THE BOYEE ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Why Are You Being So Treasonable Now?
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 December 1990
Our reigning monarch scores as highly on the diss-o-meter as pop rapper Vanilla Ice for hip-hop hotheads A TRIBE CALLED QUEST. But a spot of ...
Vanilla Ice: Licensed To Chill
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 December 1990
Having enjoyed Number One success on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Ice Ice Baby', VANILLA ICE, on the eve off the release of his ...
N.W.A: Poison The Hood: Niggaz with Attitude
Retrospective by John Mendelssohn, unpublished, for Playboy, 1991
ON A SPRING EVENING in 1991, the late Eazy-E accepted the invitation of Dr. Dre, his fellow member of the notorious "gangsta" rap group NWA, ...
Public Enemy: Fightin' The Hype
Interview by Nick Hasted, Deadline, 1991
A WEEK AGO the Brixton Academy, jammed to its shadowy rafters, waited to listen to Public Enemy. ...
MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice: Hooked on Rap
Comment by David Toop, The Face, January 1991
David Toop on the rise of Hammer and Ice ...
LL Cool J: Mike Tyson vs. LL Cool J
Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, January 1991
BOTH WEAR the mask of the invulnerable ultra-man. Both are naked aggressive — one physical, one metaphorical. Both are in a business where the competition ...
Monie Love turns a phrase and catches a beat
Interview by Steven Daly, Spin, January 1991
SCHOOL'S IN. Listen up as Monie Love explains what it takes to be a good rapper: "You need a good perception of the English language, ...
Monie Love: Down to Earth (Warner Bros.)
Review by Amy Linden, Spin, January 1991
LET'S JUST cut to the chase on this one: Down to Earth is okay. Not great, not bad — just a firm okay. With all ...
Gang Starr: Step In The Arena (Cooltempo CTLP 21)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 8 January 1991
G.U.R.U. KEITHY E and DJ Premiere have jam packed an album full of 18 mini story-like raps, which helps to promote a continued diversity despite ...
Gang Starr: Step Into The Arena (Cooltempo)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
JAZZ U LIKE IT ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
BETWEEN '76 and '84, all sorts of well-intentioned people used to credit Malcolm McLaren with suss, wit, subversive intelligence and the enviable ability to manipulate ...
Vanilla Ice: To The Extreme (SBK LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991
MENTION VANILLA Ice to most "serious" music fans, especially elitist connoisseurs of rap, and their reply will most likely be brief and unprintable. Have they ...
Will to Power: Gimme Back My Bullets: Will to Power shoot for disco Valhalla
Profile by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 17 January 1991
ON NEW YEAR'S Eve, I stayed home and went to bed early, as anybody with respect for planetary alignment and his own safety and disrespect ...
Monie Love: Good morning, America!
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1991
Time, once more, to place that seat-back in the upright position, adjust the watch to New York time and take your Battersea-born brand of rap ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Storm Warnings
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 2 February 1991
Besides achieving Top 20 success with their new single, 'Can I Kick It?, A Tribe Called Quest have also been heavily involved with the re-recording ...
Interview by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 16 February 1991
Utterly splendid eclectic rap duo GANG STARR have sympathy for Saddam and Farrakhan, dis Vanilla Ice and think Mötley Crüe are dope, but were too ...
Coldcut, De La Soul, Digital Underground: Digital Underground, Coldcut and De La Soul Jam The Beat
Interview by Mark Dery, Keyboard, March 1991
DIGITAL UNDERGROUND, De La Soul, and Coldcut make musique concrete for boomboxes. These three bands, all on the Tommy Boy label, have achieved, perhaps unwittingly, ...
Mantronix: Mantronik the Dance King: No Messin'
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 5 March 1991
THERE'S LITTLE disputing the massive force Curtis Mantronik and the whole Mantronix aggregation have had on dance music in the '80's. Through early releases such ...
C+C Music Factory: Spotlight on Clivilles & Cole: The C&C Beat Generation
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1991
B&S takes a walk on the wild side to meet up with David Cole, who, with Robert Clivilles, is currently hotter than hot. Trek on... ...
Stereo MCs: The Stereo MC's: "Lost" Cause
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1991
Refusing to bow to style trends or pigeon-holing, the stereo MC's insist on being judged on their music only ...
Mantronix: The Incredible Sound Machine
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1991
FIVE YEARS AGO, hip hop duo Mantronix were among the best there was: techno-boff Mantronik's search for that perfect beat involved the unlikeliest noises fed ...
Brand Nubian: All For One (Elektra)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 2 April 1991
THIS HAS been a hot import item for quite a while now and, when you hear it, you'll understand why. Whilst in many circles rap ...
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 2 April 1991
"Yo Jeff, man, I'm sorry, what can I say? I wanted this interview to happen as much as you did, but Hank's just too busy ...
Ice Cube: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991
DRY ICE ...
Christian Marclay, MC 900-foot Jesus, Urban Dance Squad: Now Turning the Tables... the D.J. as Star
Overview by Mark Dery, The New York Times, 14 April 1991
Disk jockeys want nothing less than the acceptance of the lowly turntable as a legitimate musical instrument. ...
KRS-One, N.W.A, Public Enemy, Run-DMC: In Rap's Hometown, an Icy Reception
Report by Rob Tannenbaum, The New York Times, 28 April 1991
THE MARQUEE'S experiment with rap concerts didn't last long. The small club, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, usually presents alternative-rock bands. But after the ...
Ice Cube, Laquan, Yo Yo: Ice Cube, Yo Yo, Laquan: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 April 1991
I'VE ALWAYS thought that the Brixton Academy, out of the larger venues, beats the likes of The Hammersmith Odeon and Dominion hands down when it ...
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 April 1991
'New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme)' — Ice-T; 'I'm Dreamin'' — Christopher Williams; 'I'm Still Waiting' — Johnny Gill; '(There You Go) Tellin' Me No Again' ...
De La Soul: Cool Hip Hop: De La Soul De-flowered
Interview by Steven Daly, Spin, May 1991
Declaring that De La Soul Is Dead, the beat-box beatniks turn ornery. Have they lost the plot? Or are they writing it? STEVEN DALY explains. ...
Nikki D, Yo Yo: Yo-Yo and Nikki D: Bum Rush the Locker Room
Interview by Evelyn McDonnell, Musician, May 1991
Yo-Yo and Nikki D turn the turntables on sexist homies ...
MC Hammer: Hammering pop peace and Pepsi
Profile by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 2 May 1991
IF ANYONE was still sceptical about the mainstream of rap, a quick glance at MC Hammer's considerable commercial achievements will soon put them right. His ...
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 4 May 1991
Hammered home: Adam Sweeting sees MC Hammer let the rap rip at the Birmingham NEC on a night of music and moralising ...
Report and Interview by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 4 May 1991
His voluminous trews tell only part of the story. MC HAMMER may well be as huge as the cut of his keks saleswise, but at ...
MC Hammer: Me, Jesus and the President
Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 7 May 1991
Adam Sweeting is privy to a generous 15 minutes of MC Hammer's hard-earned fame ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 May 1991
GOD OF THE HAMMERS ...
De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead (Big Life BLR LP8)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 14 May 1991
'Intro'; 'Oldies Of O's'; 'Talkin' Bout Hey Love'; 'Pease Porridge'; 'Skit 1'; 'Johnny's Dead AKA Vincent Mason (Live From The BK Lounge)'; 'A Roller Skating ...
Bomb The Bass: Subterania, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 May 1991
THE TRANSFORMATION is now complete. Tim Simenon has finally shaken off the last vestiges of novelty-type pop stardom and embraced a glorious future-funk noise. Anyone ...
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 18 May 1991
On the eve of their first British live dates, PUSH meets a rap duo who don't glorify ghetto violence, drugs, crime and screwing "bitches", but ...
De La Soul: Malice In Wonderland
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 May 1991
With their new album, De La Soul Is Dead, the founders of the hippy hop movement have turned their back on peace, love and positivity. ...
Ice-T: O.G. Original Gangster (Sire)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 May 1991
FOR ALL the descriptions of graphic violence, sexism and general anti-establishment stances, Ice-T is a committed moralist at heart. Not for nothing did he portray ...
Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One: KRS-One: Wisdom From The Street
Profile and Interview by Alan Light, Rolling Stone, 30 May 1991
Kris Parker once lived in the subways and shelters of New York. Now the rapper known as KRS-One is hip-hop's righteous voice — and one ...
De La Soul, Prince Paul: De La Soul: Pushing Up Daisies
Interview by Steven Daly, Blitz, June 1991
De La Soul are back, but rap's original hip-hop hippies are no longer wearing flowers in their hair. De La Soul Is Dead, the long-awaited ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Anthrax and Chuck D: Noise From The Black Stuff
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 22 June 1991
Five years after Run DMC's groundbreaking rap reworking of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way', rock is finally repaying the compliment with ANTHRAX'S astonishing take on Public ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Anthrax: Bohemian Rapsody
Interview by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, 22 June 1991
When metal meets rap in the form of ANTHRAX and CHUCK D, there's bound to be some trouble. NEIL PERRY hears about the fight for ...
Vanilla Ice: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 June 1991
THE TOUTS on Empire Way were peevish. Entire blocks of seats for Vanilla Ice's London debut were still empty and no one was buying. Much ...
De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead (Tommy Boy)
Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, July 1991
De La Soul's Serious Fun ...
The Last Poets: Hip-Hop's Secret Historians
Profile and Interview by Gene Santoro, Pulse!, July 1991
Rap's godfathers the Last Poets drop some truth on the gangsta ethos. ...
Vanilla Ice: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 6 July 1991
WHAT IS IT that makes Vanilla Ice simultaneously a great among pop's icons and one of its classic punchlines? I suspect it's the Robert Van ...
Vanilla Ice: Extremely Live (SBK)
Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 18 July 1991
FACE THE fact, Jack — Vanilla Ice got a bum rap. Give or take Cool J's 'Boomin' System', 'Ice Ice Baby' is as catchy and ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: My Condiments To The Chef
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 27 July 1991
The most successful female rap group ever, SALT 'N' PEPA have come a long way since the cartoon innuendo of 'Push It'. Now they're busy ...
Ice-T: The Code of Many Colors
Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, August 1991
ON THE cover of Ice-T's new record, O.G. Original Gangster are two photos. In the first he's wearing a tuxedo, standing against a backdrop of ...
Massive Attack Prepare To Storm The US!
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, Rockpool, August 1991
The following feature appeared in New York industry magazine-tipsheet Rockpool on the eve of Massive Attack's introduction to the US market, their Blue Lines debut, ...
Professor Griff: Kao's II Wiz 7 Dome (Luke/All formats)
Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 10 August 1991
GRIFF IS the liberal's worst nightmare. A young black radical who is something of a lyrical and musical whiz and who's made anti-Semitic and anti-white ...
Review by Jon Young, Musician, September 1991
WHETHER YOU loathe him or merely despise him, Vanilla Ice has cast the entire rap scene in a new light. Now the likes of Heavy ...
Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1991
IN WHAT MUST HAVE been a classic, once-in-a-lifetime meeting of the Ts, Ice-T once taught Mr T to rap. You remember Mr T: burly black ...
Geto Boys: We Can't Be Stopped (Def American) **½
Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 5 September 1991
IT'S A FAMILIAR debate: conservative guardians call the Geto Boys' music obscene, while liberal watchdogs accuse them of glorifying violence against women and degrading the ...
PM Dawn: P.M. Dawn: Magical Mystery Tour
Interview by Helen Mead, i-D, October 1991
A day out with P.M. Dawn is like a trip into another dimension. We thought we were going to the Radio One Roadshow. They decided ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 October 1991
DIRE STRAITS fans are huddled in masses in the near vicinity, oblivious to the fact that the real revolution is being televised in this makeshift ...
Digital Underground: Sons Of The P (Big Life/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 October 1991
YOU'RE TUNED in to the mutant descendants of P-Funk. Digital Underground are updating George Clinton's '70s blueprint to reflect much more worrying times. The larger ...
Public Enemy: The Boy-Ees are Black in Town
Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 12 October 1991
1991, and PUBLIC ENEMY — purveyors of The Noise — are busy flexing their new, improved mainstream muscle. Fresh from 'that' Anthrax collaboration, Chuck 'n' ...
Review by Robert Gordon, L.A. Weekly, 24 October 1991
Beyond the Bullet: Two L.A. rap records go outside the 'hood ...
2 Live Crew: Sports Weekend (As Nasty As They Wanna Be Part II) (Luke Records/All formats)
Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 26 October 1991
YO! DIDDLEY! ...
PM Dawn: P.M. Dawn: Prince among thieves
Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 31 October 1991
Andy Gill talks to Prince Be, frontman of rap group P.M. Dawn ...
Beats International: Play That Funky Music, White Boy
Report by Mat Snow, Q, November 1991
SOME POP MUSICIANS know stardom has arrived when the crowds at the in-store signing have to be kept back by a police cordon. For others, ...
Ice Cube: Death Certificate (Priority)
Review by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 21 November 1991
The Racist You Love To Hate Ice Cube has his reasons ...
N.W.A: NWA: Efil4Zaggin (4th & Broadway/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 30 November 1991
BLAXPLOITATION OF MILLIONS ...
2 Live Crew, Skid Row: Skid Row and 2 Live Crew: Let's Shock!
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 30 November 1991
So just who is the most outrageous of them all? Is it SKID ROW'S SEBASTIAN BACH — banned from Wembley Stadium for life for using ...
Urban Dance Squad: Dutch Treat
Profile and Interview by William Shaw, Details, December 1991
URBAN DANCE SQUAD BRINGS A RAP-ROCK-FUNK FUSION OUT OF THE NETHERLANDS ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 December 1991
MEN, ACCORDING to the rapteuses, Salt 'n' Pepa, are good for one thing. "And sometimes they're not even good for that," Salt observed, on stage ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 December 1991
Praise the Lord and pass the platitudes! PM DAWN may be worshipped as 1991's brightest, dippiest new rappers, but they're keener to be set adrift ...
Cannibal Corpse, Guns N' Roses, Ice Cube: Pop's new voices of rage
Comment by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 22 December 1991
THERE WAS a time, not so long ago, when rebellious rockers took on the establishment. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young railed against Richard Nixon's America ...
EPMD, Roger Troutman: Roger Troutman: Building Bridges
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 24 December 1991
Roger Troutman gets to grips with the young hip hop hopefuls who have long acknowledged the master's touch ...
Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages Audio, Spring 1991
De La Soul on their second album De La Soul Is Dead: the move away from the Daisy Age; Mase on recording and sampling; making tracks like 'Pease Porridge' (Pos), ‘Afro Connections’, and ‘Kicked Out the House’ (Trugoy); getting grief from hardcore fans thinking they've gone "soft"; how life changed after hit debut album 3 Feet High and Rising; the pressures on hip hop; parenthood (Trugoy and Mase); commercial rappers like Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer, and the difference between rap and hip hop (Pos)... and what they're into now.
File format: mp3; file size: 37.4mb, interview length: 38' 58" sound quality: ***; File format: mp3; file size: 50.7mb, interview length: 52' 46" sound quality: ***
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice-T (1991)
Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages Audio, Summer 1991
The erstwhile Tracy Marrow talks about acting in movies; his gang roots; pioneering West Coast gangsta rap and telling the truth about black L.A.; still rapping though no longer in the hood; his Body Count thrash-metal band and the Black roots of rock'n'roll; "the intoxicating values of gangs"; white kids listening to rap, and America's need to separate the races.
File format: mp3; file size: 58.2mb, interview length: 1h 00' 26" sound quality: ****
New Kids On The Block: A Secret History of New Kids On The Block
Special Feature by Chuck Eddy, Throat Culture, 1992
"Rap is a toilet, not a design for a toilet, or a better toilet...It is the first toilet. It is a toilet for sitting on, ...
Interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1992
The boys talk about their new album Check Your Head, their love of hardcore and metal, living in Los Angeles and a whole lot more.
File format: mp3; file size: 26.3mb, interview length: 28' 43" sound quality: **
Walking With Panthers: Hip Hop and the Legacy of Black Power
Essay by Simon Witter, Sky, 1992
Rap chic, radical chic, Hollywood chic. In 1992 everyone wants a belated piece of the Black Panther Party’s guerilla chic. Simon Witter cuts through the ...
Review by Ted Kessler, Select, January 1992
ICE CUBE IS NOT A MAN to mince his words. "Niggers," he declares solemnly during the introduction to 'Death Certificate', "are in a state of ...
Tone Loc: Cool Hand Loc (Delicious Vinyl)
Review by Chuck Eddy, Spin, January 1992
TONE LOC could well be the guy that repossesses Melle Mel's car in 'The Message' (it really was his job once), and in a sense, ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 9 January 1992
AFTER TWO such daunting releases (Lou Reed, Tori Amos — RBP Ed), it's a relief to come across this debut album from the splendidly-named Del ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Public Enemy, Anthrax: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 14 January 1992
Breaking the sound barrier: Andy Gill sees Public Enemy and Anthrax split the bill ...
Cookie Crew, Salt-N-Pepa, Sister Souljah: Sisters Are Rapping It For Themselves
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 January 1992
In the misogynistic world of rap, anybody who's not one of the boys is a whore or more genially a bitch. But even the female ...
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien: I Wish My Brother George Was Here (Elektra/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 January 1992
THE GROOVY, art-directed cover image finds Del Tha Funkee Homosapien in repose: scared stiff and crouching in a forest, hounded by numerous disembodied eyes. Like ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Read My Apocalypse: Public Enemy/Anthrax: The Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 18 January 1992
IF POWER is a turn-on and intelligence is an aphrodisiac, then Public Enemy are surely one of the sexiest groups on the planet. ...
Public Enemy, Sun Ra: Loving The Alien In Advance Of The Landing
Essay by Mark Sinker, The Wire, February 1992
"IN THE MEANTIME," he said, speaking relentlessly but mesmerically softly, as gurus will, "I finally went to Chicago. I determined not to be a musician ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, February 1992
Rap music has become less experimental, but on America's West Coast, groups like The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and New World Rhythm are trying to ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 15 February 1992
When MASSIVE ATTACK released their debut LP last year, it was hailed as a masterful collage of rap, soul and reggae with a cinematic feel. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 February 1992
They've been nominated for a Brits award as Best International Newcomers, and their new single, 'Reality Used To Be A friend Of Mine', is a ...
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice-T and Body Count: The Paradise, Boston
Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 24 February 1992
Ice-T proves street-smart — and stupid ...
Interview by Robert Gordon, Creem, March 1992
Robert Gordon takes on Ice Cube over racism, sexism, homophobia and society ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Telly It Like It Is
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 18 April 1992
Prime your remote controls for the anger and eloquence of powerful San Franciscan panthers of polemic rap, THE DISPOSABLE HEROES OF HIPHOPRISY, telling it like ...
The Beastie Boys: Check Your Head (Capitol/All formats)
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 18 April 1992
MOW BETTER BLUES ...
Ultramagnetic MCs: Funk Your Head Up (ffrr/All formats)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 18 April 1992
IT'S NEARLY five years since Ultramagnetic MCs released their debut Critical Breakdown, but you only get nine minutes into the follow-up before 'Blast From The ...
Masters at Work: Dope: Masters At Work
Interview by Kodwo Eshun, Mixmag, May 1992
MASTERS AT Work are Kenny "Dope" Gonzales, 21, and Lil' Louie Vega, 25. They're two of the hottest producer-remixers of the moment. ...
Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992
Salt is a member of New York rap act Salt 'N' Pepa, makers of hits such as 'Push It' and 'Let's Talk About Sex'. Of ...
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy: Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury (4th & Broadway/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 May 1992
GREATEST AMERICAN HEROES – In-Disposable! Rono and Michael take their message to the streets ...
Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth: Rock Steady & Smooth Talking
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 5 May 1992
Who helped revive PE's international status? Who brought weight back to Heavy D? Who have one of the hottest rap albums around? Pete Rock & ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Turban Warriors
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
"FORGET THE IMAGE of Asians as passive, happy people," begins Prince Haq, MC with Fun-Da-Mental, a Bradford group who are fast making a name for ...
Gang Starr: Daily Operation (Cooltempo)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
FURTHER AND further out we go... ...
Arrested Development: 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... (Cooltempo/Chrysalis)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 19 May 1992
'Man's Final Frontier'; 'Mama's Always On Stage'; 'People Everyday'; 'Blues Happy'; 'Mr. Wendal'; 'Children Play With Earth'; 'Raining Revolution'; 'Fishin' 4 Religion'; 'Give A Man ...
Arrested Development: 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of... (Cooltempo)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
IMPOUND WE TRUST ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: The Riot Stuff
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
An uneasy truce hangs over America in the aftermath of the LA riots. Is there worse to come or has the anger, for the moment, ...
Interview by Amy Linden, Hits, 25 May 1992
They're young, they're cute and they're selling more records than the law should allow. It's Kris Kross, straight outta Atlanta... and puberty. Thirteen-year-olds Chris Smith ...
Cypress Hill: The Disciples of Pot
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 28 May 1992
Cypress Hill says marijuana's getting a bad rap ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
HIP HOP HOORAY ...
Miles Davis, Easy Mo Bee: Miles Davis with Easy Mo Bee: Doo-Bop (Warner Bros.)
Review by Mark Rowland, Musician, June 1992
THE RAP ON MILES ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Don't Sweat The Technique (MCA/All formats)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 20 June 1992
SWEAT SOUL MUSIC ...
Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Mecca & The Soul Brother (Elektra/All formats)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 20 June 1992
FOR A DEBUT LP, Mecca & The Soul Brother has some serious expectations to live up to. Pete Rock has earned himself a reputation as ...
House of Pain: House of Pain (Tommy Boy)
Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, July 1992
SPUN OFF from the inspired lunacy of Cypress Hill rapper B-Real's 'Gee, Officer Krupke' whine, the semi-Celtic cartoon called House of Pain is a concept ...
Comment by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1992
"We have been more unified in the last four days than we have been in the last 30 years...To the brothers and sisters out there: ...
Arrested Development: Jazz Cafe, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 11 July 1992
THE PROPS: wooden trunks and barrels. Suspiciously trim sacks marked "Beans", "Wheat", "Coffee". An olde-style Western Pacific railway board and a steamboat placard. A clothesline ...
Boogie Down Productions: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 18 July 1992
BDP ARE one of few constants in the fast-moving, ever-changing hip-hop world. Since 1986 they've put out hardcore classics without concession to passing fads, earning ...
Super Cat: Don Dada (Columbia 471570 2);
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 25 July 1992
A quick 'toast' to reggae tradition ...
Profile and Interview by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, August 1992
Five years on, the Black Panthers of rap are still in your face. They've lost none of their controversial power, as their recent argument with US presidential ...
Brand New Heavies: The Brand New Heavies: Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1 (Acid Jazz)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 5 September 1992
YES! WHAT a brilliant simple, obvious idea! Why, you Have to wonder, has nobody thought of it before. Well, somebody did; a crew name of ...
Sister Souljah: Empire, Liverpool
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 12 September 1992
DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE Bill Clinton wants to be President of the world's only superpower — a nation capable of swatting any other off the globe at ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 September 1992
IN THE grey area between barrow-boy techno and lumpen flannel-rock, there exists a community of enthusiasts who refuse to let their output be dictated by ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Axe of Faith
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 26 September 1992
THE DISPOSABLE HEROES OF HIPHOPRISY don't piss about like most groups who claim to be 'political'. The Disposables just get on down and do something ...
Review by Jon Young, Musician, October 1992
ENGLAND'S BRAND New Heavies may be an ordinary soul-funk combo, but that hasn't stopped enterprising A&R types from gettin' busy. For their debut album, somebody ...
Brand New Heavies: The Brand New Heavies: Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1 (Delicious Vinyl/Atlantic)
Review by Jon Young, Musician, October 1992
ENGLAND'S BRAND New Heavies may be an ordinary soul-funk combo, but that hasn't stopped enterprising A&R types from gettin' busy. For their debut album, somebody ...
Betty Boo, Neneh Cherry: The raw and the cooking: albums from Neneh Cherry and Betty Boo
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 24 October 1992
Two rap divas unveil new albums, with mixed success ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 6 November 1992
Sensitive Rap From Heroes of Hiphoprisy ...
Ice Cube: Cube Missive Crisis: Ice Cube: The Predator (4th & Broadway)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 21 November 1992
YOU ARE NOT going to believe this. ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 28 November 1992
CHANNEL ZERO. Middle-class family with airbrushed children steps out of a Volvo. Mother takes one look at me and shouts "You need Jesus!" Torn between ...
Public Enemy, U2: Public Enemy and U2: The Chuck and Bono Show
Interview by Max Bell, Vox, December 1992
When U2's tour brought Public Enemy to the Deep South, where segregation is still an issue, Chuck D did his best to pour napalm on ...
Da Lench Mob, Ice Cube: Da Lench Mob: Straight Out Tha Jungle
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 1 December 1992
Da Lench Mob explain how the LA riots inadvertently gave birth to the title of their Guerillas In Tha Mist debut album. "We wanted to come out with a ...
Ice Cube: The Predator (Island BRLP 592)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 1 December 1992
'The First Day Of School'; 'When Will They Shoot'; 'I'm Scared'; 'Wicked'; 'Now I Gotta Wet 'Cha'; 'Predator'; 'It Was A Good Day'; 'We Had ...
Ice Cube: The Predator's Decision is Final
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 December 1992
The nigger you love to hate is now The Predator. As the controversy over Ice-T's 'Cop Killer' dies down, ICE CUBE — rapper, film star ...
Arrested Development: Astoria, London
Live Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 29 December 1992
THERE ARE THOSE amongst the hardcore rap community who think Arrested Development's down home, rural southern porch-sitting image is a stereotyped one that will prove ...
Check Yo’self At The Door: Cryptoheterosexuality and the Black Music Underground
Essay by Carol Cooper, Vibe, 1993
I) Time Considered as a Helix of Semilegal Nightclubs ...
Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1993
LET'S BEGIN with Ice-T'S Top Seven reasons for pulling 'Cop Killer' off the shelves: ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Michael Franti: Hero of Hiphoprisy
Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1993
"ONE THING I try to do when I perform a song is go back to where I was in my mind when I wrote it," ...
The Beastie Boys, Henry Rollins: The Beastie Boys, Rollins Band: Roseland Ballroom New York NY
Live Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 21 January 1993
THIS PAIRING wasn't as odd as it seemed, because the Beastie Boys have created ― or at least mobilized ― a new kind of fan. ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Jazz poet shuns rap spotlight
Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Toronto Star, 28 January 1993
HE HAS BEEN called the godfather of rap, but Gil Scott-Heron steadfastly refuses to bask in any hip hop glory. ...
Review by Jon Young, Musician, February 1993
IN THE WAKE of the Rodney King verdict and the Los Angeles riots, Ice Cube can take grim satisfaction in seeing his harrowing rhymes validated ...
Profile and Interview by William Shaw, Details, February 1993
A ganqsta's tale: From boy in the hood to prophet of rage, Ice Cube is no sellout. William Shaw meets the most incendiary man in ...
Stereo MCs: High and Mighty: The irresistible rise of Stereo MCs
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 6 February 1993
Are they Prince times six? A Sly & The Family Stone for the Nineties? The best "new" dance band in Britain? ANDREW SMITH flies to ...
Rage Against The Machine: Rage Against The Machine (Epic/All formats)
Review by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 6 February 1993
THE RAP-rock crossover is a long-cherished ideal that has invariably tarnished the credentials of its various practitioners and collaborators. Just as Run DMC were consigned ...
Digable Planets: Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space) (WEA/All formats)
Review by Edwin Pouncey, New Musical Express, 13 February 1993
DIGGERS WITH ATTITUDE ...
Dr. Dre: The Chronic (Atlantic)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 20 February 1993
IT'S OFTEN been said that if NWA's last LP had a saving grace, it was Dr Dre's eerie and innovative production work. As far as ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 27 February 1993
Reality used to be a friend of theirs — now PM DAWN, the world's leading manufacturers of delicious hip hop soul, hate it with a ...
Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1993
Yikes! Ice Cube is America's most controversial (dead heat with Ice-T) and successful rapper, recently blasting good ole Garth Brooks off the top of the ...
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice-T: Rebel with a cause
Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, March 1993
When Ice-T was witch-hunted by the American establishment over his 'Cop Killer' song last year, he changed from LA gangster rapper to hip hop elder ...
Report and Interview by Amy Linden, Creem, March 1993
THE STEREO MC's are all settled into their surprisingly comfy touring vehicle, headed up the highways (or whatever the British term is). On the road ...
Profile by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 March 1993
He's armed and he's dangerous: Ice Cube's lyrics are about race hate, the Los Angeles gangs and the glory of the gun. He's America's worst ...
Report by David Toop, The Times, 12 March 1993
The angry sound of inner-city America is giving way to a stronger, more reflective and more commercial rap. David Toop reports ...
Ice-T: "Bring Me The Head of Charlton Heston"
Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 13 March 1993
America's most wanted... public enemy one... ICE-T's reputation is just about as real as he wants it to get right now. Ever since the 'Cop ...
Apache Indian, Cornershop, Fun-Da-Mental: Real Lives: Rock of Asians
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 March 1993
Britain's Asian community has long hosted a thriving pop scene, operating in a lucrative parallel universe to the chart mainstream. Now, CAROLINE SULLIVAN reports, radical ...
Tupac Shakur: 2 Pac: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z (Interscope)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 16 March 1993
'Holler If Ya Hear Me'; 'Pac's Theme (Interlude)'; 'Point The Finga'; 'Something 2 Die 4 (Interlude)'; 'Last Wordz'; 'Souljah's Revenge'; 'Peep Game'; 'Strugglin''; 'Guess Who's ...
Arrested Development: Town and Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 March 1993
ATLANTA hip hoppers Arrested Development are the very antithesis of Ice Cube, whose tour they follow by just a few days. They counter Cube's scatter-gun ...
Ice-T: Home Invasion (Rhyme Syndicate)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ...
Naughty By Nature: Hooray Homies
Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 20 March 1993
They're huge! They're massive! NAUGHTY BY NATURE are the rap equivalent of Nirvana, catapulted to success by the unstoppable 'OPP'. But as they hold promotional ...
Arrested Development: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by John Harris, New Musical Express, 27 March 1993
THE DEGENERATION GAME ...
Da Lench Mob, Ice Cube, Kam: Ice Cube, Kam, Da Lench Mob: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 March 1993
I'VE GOT TO tip my hat to the Brixton Academy for consistency. ...
Dismember, N.W.A: Art on Trial
Comment by David Toop, The Wire, April 1993
By downplaying or ridiculing the potential impact of extreme artforms such as death metal and hardcore HipHop, do the defences in censorship trials call into ...
Basehead: Not in Kansas Anymore (Imago)
Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, April 1993
THERE'S A nice irony in the fact that, give or take a vowel or two, Basehead is almost an anagram for Sebadoh. Like its 'zine-damaged ...
Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, Creem, April 1993
BEFORE SHE had even secured a record deal, Simone Johnson, aka Monie Love, was already one of the most in-demand rappers on the burgeoning Afrocentric ...
Review by James Hunter, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1993
The Bliss Album: A New Dawn ...
LL Cool J: LL Cool J: 14 Shots To The Dome (Def Jam)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 17 April 1993
THE CAREER of LL Cool J, which began almost 10 years ago with the first Def Jam release, has been a helter skelter of ups ...
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 27 April 1993
In this face to face interview conducted at his home in Beverly Hills, Ice-T talks to Jeff Lorez about the man behind the notorious myth... ...
Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, May 1993
ALLAH — NUMBER one deity in the world of Islam. Almighty soul controller, master and one God. Inspiration and divine power behind the words of ...
Ice-T: Home Invasion (Virgin/Rhyme Syndicate)
Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1993
ICE-T'S FIFTH album – his first post-riot record and, more importantly, his first following the 'Cop Killer' brouhaha and his subsequent departure from Sire – ...
David Bowie, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, The Rolling Stones, Run-DMC: Pete Rock and CL Smooth
Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, May 1993
MANAGER ADOFO Muhammad is talking up his brother and CL Smooth's success. "The unique sound is all incorporated in Pete Rock's flow — his art. ...
Brand New Heavies, The Pharcyde: Pharcyde
Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, May 1993
LAYERS OF sophisticated jazz are slinking their way through your speakers. Smokey strains of Blue Note beats collide with the mastery of John Coltrane, Donald ...
Guru, Run-DMC: Run DMC: Down With The Kings
Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, May 1993
It ain't a respect thing (even if it should be). It's the real thing. The kings are back. The gold, the fresh trainers and the ...
Live Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 1993
Mishaps Plague Watts Prophets Show ...
Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 3 May 1993
AS A TEENAGER growing up in the housing projects of north Toronto, Darrin O'Brien did not seem to have much of a future. An indifferent ...
LL Cool J: L.L. Cool J: 14 Shots to the Dome (Def Jam/Columbia 53325; CD and cassette)
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 9 May 1993
Making a Pitch To Rap's Hard Core ...
Live Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1993
RUN-D.M.C. holds a fistful of rap firsts — Top Five single, million-selling album, Rolling Stone cover — so it's hardly surprising that it's now the ...
Stereo MCs: Birch Placidy and the Fun Dance Kids
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 15 May 1993
Beaut mutants THE STEREO MCs, the first great British rap band, are making cowboys clench their buttocks in the achy-breaky Texas heartland and dispensing mellow ...
Anthrax, Angelo Badalamenti, Public Enemy: Anthrax: Rap Metal Dealers
Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 22 May 1993
Once upon a time, there was a super-competent trad-thrash band with a poodle-headed singer. They boldly entered the rock/rap crossover zone, collaborating with the cred-worthy ...
Stereo MCs: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Simon Warner, The Guardian, 24 May 1993
WITH THE ticket touts in the Manchester streets peddling their wares at up to £40 apiece, the Stereo MCs were unquestionably the hottest ticket in ...
Guru: Jazzmatazz Volume One (Chrysalis)
Review by Jon Young, Musician, June 1993
"IT WAS INDEED a privilege and a blessing to have worked on this project with such amazing people." Eastwood at the Oscars? Clapton on Grammy ...
Ice-T and Andrew Dice Clay: Ice and Dice
Interview by Mark Petracca, Creem, June 1993
No, not just another Friday the 13th film. Just a state of mind. ...
Interview by Jon Young, Musician, June 1993
"THE TITLE is sarcastic," says Prince Be softly. "On the first record, we tried to show bliss by example, through utopianism. This time we tried ...
Monie Love: In a Word or 2 (Warner Bros.)
Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1993
MONIE LOVE is a good storyteller, an adept rapper and a mediocre songwriter. Her lyrics flow and flow, but on In a Word or 2, ...
Report and Interview by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 17 June 1993
One Nation Under An Overpass ...
Naughty By Nature: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 19 June 1993
ALL THE WHITE LIBERALS in the house go: "Uh oh!" ...
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 20 June 1993
AS HOMAGES to male bonding go, it would be hard to beat 'Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang', the hit single from The Chronic, the latest ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: The Grand Old Men of Rap Strike Back
Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 20 June 1993
THE RAPPER Run (Joseph Simmons) snakes his way down the corridors leading to the green room at MTV's mid-Manhattan studio. Everywhere he turns, there's an ...
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 29 June 1993
SOUL IN THE PARK: David Toop at a north London gathering of night owls in the sunshine ...
Donald Byrd, Digable Planets, Guru: Digable Planets: Cool Like Us
Report and Interview by Pat Blashill, Details, July 1993
B-boys in berets and turtlenecks. Rappers with hippie tattoos. Gangstas with saxophones. What is rap coming to? Pat Blashill hangs with the Digable Planets and ...
Interview by RJ Smith, Details, July 1993
Rick Rubin built a recording empire from a dorm room at NYU. With Def American Recordings, he's taken the sound of the streets to the ...
Live Review by Eric Weisbard, L.A. Weekly, 8 July 1993
PASSING THROUGH San Francisco (the fourth stop on the tour) last Tuesday, Lollapalooza '93 showed signs of going to seed: the electronic billboard above the ...
Interview by John Harris, New Musical Express, 10 July 1993
It's the most exciting and important tour to take place this year. In the last six months, politics has roared back onto the musical agenda ...
Bell Biv DeVoe: Hootie Mack (MCA 10682; CD and cassette)
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 18 July 1993
When Rap Meets Rhythm-and-Blues ...
Live Review by Amy Linden, New York Daily News, 20 July 1993
Hormones in Harmony at Garden Summerfest sizzles with sex as rappers drop trousers & leave pants in their wake ...
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 20 July 1993
To quote the title of her new album, "Ain't No Other" quite like MC Lyte. And the lady has her head well screwed on, getting ...
Cypress Hill: Black Sunday (Ruffhouse/Columbia/All formats)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 24 July 1993
THE GRIM REEFERS ...
Funkdoobiest: Which Doobie U B? (Epic/All formats)
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 24 July 1993
CARTOONS ALL over the sleeve. Distorted snapshots and stupid-fresh pseudonyms for the band: Tribal Funkster, Son Doobie and Tomahawk Funk. Goofball LA trio Funkdoobiest seem ...
Cypress Hill: Black Sunday (Columbia 474075 2)
Review by David Toop, The Times, 30 July 1993
The days of whine and razors ...
The Pharcyde: Jazz Cafe, London
Live Review by Ian Fortnam, New Musical Express, 31 July 1993
HIP-HOP may have gained mass acceptance and corporate approval over recent years, but somewhere along the road it lost its sense of humour. Thankfully, the ...
The Pharcyde: Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (East West)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 August 1993
"DADDY, WHAT does 'crossover' mean?" ...
Ronny Jordan: The Revolution Starts Here!
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 14 September 1993
Ronny Jordan feels he was 'born to play' and, having notched up a quarter million sales with his debut album and walked off with the ...
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince: Boom shake shake the room for the Fresh Prince!
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 15 September 1993
WHEN WILL Smith walks into the room with his posse of baseball-capped, heavy duty "mates" (ie minders), you know someone really famous has arrived. And ...
KRS-One: Return Of The Boom Bap (Jive)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 September 1993
HIP-HOP pioneers have always found it difficult to get respect in any true sense years down the line. ...
Kool Moe Dee: Greatest Hits (Jive 01241-41493-4)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 28 September 1993
KOOL MOE Dee's Terminator-1 type shades and shiny tracksuits do seem somewhat outdated by today's hip-hop standards and, to many, Moe Dee himself may be ...
Lightnin' Rod: Great Recordings: Lightnin' Rod — Hustler's Convention
Retrospective by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, October 1993
In 1973, Jalal Nuriddin of The Last Poets changed his name to Lightnin' Rod and recorded Hustler's Convention, the first Blaxploitation audiodrama. Kodwo Eshun recalls ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: New Waves — The insider's guide to the Next Big Thing: Snoop Doggy Dogg
Comment by David Toop, The Times, 29 October 1993
SOMETIMES A musician is so obviously the next big thing that hailing the fact in advance seems like cheating. Only a small sample of Snoop ...
De La Soul: Buhloone Mindstate (Big Life BLRCD 25 CD/MC/LP)
Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, November 1993
ALTERED STATES ...
Digital Underground: The Body-Hat Syndrome (Tommy Boy)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1993
OVER THE roar of the multicolored cosmic Mothership crashing onto Planet Hip Hop, Digital Underground continue to pray in the wild sound factory of George ...
Live Review by Andrew Smith, The Guardian, 2 November 1993
IN 1992, WE thought we were unshockable. Then came news of an English band, those angry sons of Asian immigrants, who had found a chink ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 10 November 1993
AND THE FIRST QUESTION FROM THE TIN IS... ...
Stereo MCs: If Bob Marley Came To Nottingham
Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1993
"ARE YOU there, Milwaukee?" enquires a ghostly but undoubtedly English voice. It is around seven o'clock in the evening at the Marcus Amphitheatre in Milwaukee ...
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 3 December 1993
Must we fling this filth at our pop kids? ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 December 1993
TWO DIFFERENT versions of the art of gangsta rap. Twenty-one-year-old Los Angeleno Snoop Doggy Dogg is about to make history by having his debut album ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Muttley Crude: Snoop Doggy Dogg: Doggystyle (East West)
Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 4 December 1993
CULTURE ALIENATION, boredom and despair: such are the imperatives of Snoop Doggy Dogg's world. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 18 December 1993
From girls to women, SALT-N-PEPA have moved on from their Svengali-led days to create their own agenda of single motherhood, sex and answering back to ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg (1993)
Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages Audio, 22 December 1993
A month after his debut album topped the Billboard charts, Calvin Broadus Jr. talks about his Compton youth; about the influence of his mother and the music he grew up hearing; about his criminal youth and the difference between the penitentiary and the county jail; and about the society he grew up in, then and now. He also addresses the subject of gangsta rap and his somewhat misogynistic lyrics.
File format: mp3; file size: 41.6mb, interview length: 43' 19" sound quality: **½
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice hits meltdown — Ice-T & Body Count: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 December 1993
Macho rapper Ice-T goes all soft and squishy at Brixton Academy ...
Onyx, Run-DMC: Run DMC/Onyx/Boss: Palladium, NYC
Live Review by Ian Christe, Your Flesh, Summer 1993
PASS TWO METAL detectors and a sixteen-point patdown, then descend three stories of padded stairs into a vast ancient theatre outfitted with video gear. ...
Puff Daddy: Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, 1994
"IT'S ALL GOOD."Puffy’s conversation is peppered with this little nugget of current street-talk. ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Rebels Without a Pause
Interview by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, January 1994
Asian rappers Fun-Da-Mental burst onto the scene in a blaze of angry political rhetoric and eclectic samples. Now, even though the original band has split ...
Ice Cube: Lethal Injection (Island)
Review by Andy Gill, Q, January 1994
CUBE'S LATEST missive from the front line of black resentment opens with a homicidal racist gag, Dr Ice Cube getting his patient Mr White to ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 8 January 1994
KRS ONE IS, to all intents and purposes, Boogie Down Productions, although his late partner, DJ Scott LaRock, still oversees his work, "despite what others ...
Jodeci: Diary of a Mad Band (Uptown Records UPTC 10915; CD and cassette)
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 9 January 1994
The Hip-Hop's Great, but There's Just One Problem ...
Dr. Dre, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Dr. Dre On How To Make An Album Doggystyle
Interview by J.D. Considine, Musician, February 1994
DR. DRE ISN'T a good advertisement for music school. "With all these players out here, why should I waste this much time learning how to ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: A Dogg's Tale
Interview by Steven Daly, The Face, February 1994
Snoop Doggy Dogg is currently America's top rap star. He's also due to be tried later this year as an accessory to murder. In his ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Ruff Justice
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 February 1994
SNOOP DOGGY DOGG is America's most controversial performer, taking the street-tuff credentials of previous gangsta rappers to new extremes of 4 Realness. His album, Doggystyle, ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Cocking a Leg at Society
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 February 1994
To Snoop Doggy Dogg, the hard man of rap, women are 'bitches' and 'niggaz with attitude' like him pack a pistol. CAROLINE SULLIVAN talked to ...
Cypress Hill And The New US Rap
Report by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 19 February 1994
IN AMERICA, rap is big, big business. ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: The Equinox, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 19 February 1994
SNOOP IS in the house, and so are we, finally. The pre-match build-up is a work of art, a triumph of modern mythology and marketing. ...
The Fugees: Emigration Terrorists
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 19 February 1994
Fact: like it or lump it in with the nastier things in life, hip-hop is still growing like the tumour from hell. Fittingly, as the ...
Cypress Hill: The Royal Court, Liverpool
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 26 February 1994
'POOL 'N' THE HILL ...
The Beastie Boys: Cult of the Beasties
Interview by Simon Reynolds, i-D, March 1994
The Beastie Boys have gone from pop stardom to obscurity to being the biggest cult band in the world. Their last LP sold a million ...
Flavor Flav, Tupac Shakur, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Hip Hop: Trials and Errors
Report by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, March 1994
Three of Hip Hop's major stars — Snoop Doggy Dogg, 2 Pac and Flavor Flav — are preparing to face various charges of attempted murder ...
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice-T: Sold on Ice
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, GQ, March 1994
Never at a loss for words, gangsta rapper Ice-T has taken the literary plunge and produced a provocative manifesto, modestly titled The Ice Opinion ...
Schoolly D: Welcome to America (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
Review by Chuck Eddy, Vibe, March 1994
EARLY RAP imitated the world it was created in: celebratory house and street parties that suddenly erupted into bloody crossfire from gangster-leaning, stick-up kids walking ...
R Kelly: R. Kelly: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 March 1994
WITH RAP the genre of choice of so many young American black musicians, traditional soul looks endangered. Twenty five-year-old R Kelly offers one answer to ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 17 March 1994
BLACK FEMALE artists are assailed by an obligation to serve as role models that doesn't operate on their male colleagues with anything like the same ...
Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja: Gang Starr: Respect is Duo
Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 19 March 1994
Four albums down the line, GANG STARR are on the verge of promotion to the Premier League with their unique brand of rap. ANGUS BATEY ...
Cypress Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Ben Thompson, MOJO, April 1994
THERE'S A KID slumped at the top of the Brixton academy stairs, his head poised vomitatiously over a large plastic bin. All you can see ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: A Pussycat?
Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1994
Who's a busy homeboy then? His CV already bulges with a prison sentence, a US Number 1 LP and a still-fresh murder charge. Now, gangster ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: What's Your Problem? Absent fathers
Interview by Lisa Verrico, Vox, April 1994
SNOOP DOGGY Dogg, born Calvin Broadus, was brought up by his mother in the working-class suburb of Long Beach, Los Angeles. From early adolescence, when ...
Credit To The Nation: Rapped by Rappers
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 April 1994
Matty Hanson — aka Credit To The Nation's MC Fusion — has come under fire for his views on the values of gangsta rappers. Is ...
The Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 19 April 1994
"E'S, COKE, anything you want..." Yeah, you gotta admit it: Brixton knows how to party. No sooner have you navigated your way around the slurring ...
A Guy Called Gerald, Goldie: Jungle!: The Last Dance Underground
Report by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, May 1994
Jungle is a fierce and frenzied soundtrack to inner city Britain in '94. Based around raw, ragga-influenced white labels, raves and pirate radio stations, it's ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Now Is Not The Time To Talk To Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Interview by Angus Batey, unpublished, May 1994
Originally written for the NME, this article was not published ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 May 1994
Snoop Doggy Dogg comes over like a pup at the Brixton Academy ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Afro American: Snoop Doggy Dogg: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
THEORY HAS IT that an artist gets the audience he deserves. So what the f*** the theory would make of Snoop Doggy Dogg at Brixton ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 May 1994
A HOT South London night. The air is a heady mix of sweat, liquor, perfume… and bomb-ass skunk. Inside the Academy, a veritable ceremony is ...
Dr. Dre, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr Dre: Every Dogg Has His Dre
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 May 1994
They called him an "evil bastard", said he shouldn't be allowed in the country, that there would be riots outside his hotel and gigs. But ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Ill Communication (Capitol/20 tks/60 mins/FP)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
When the BEASTIE BOYS first hit, they changed the face of pop, dragging hip hop into white culture. Needless to say, the results were controversial ...
Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 21 May 1994
IT IS the night before the local elections, the one chance to hit the BNP where it really hurts... and Bath is sound asleep. Down ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Moseley Dance Centre, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
BRUM RUSH THE SHOW! ...
The Beastie Boys: We Clamorous Beasties
Interview by Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 21 May 1994
The Beastie Boys, icons to the sunstruck, tattooed youth of California have set up every American boy's dream empire — clothes, fanzine, record label and ...
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 28 May 1994
SHIRT UP AND DANCE ...
Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Rage — The Chronic Tour: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, June 1994
WHEN YOU think about it, the very fact that this gig took place at all seems more than a little miraculous. With one of the ...
Arrested Development: Speech: "Sampling is like picking up a spirit."
Interview by Jon Young, Musician, June 1994
SECOND ALBUMS are traditionally harder to make than first ones. Was that true for Arrested Development with Zingalamaduni? ...
The Beastie Boys: Triumph of the Ill
Report and Interview by Pat Blashill, Details, June 1994
They make music, movies, magazines, and menswear. And the Beastie Boys still find time to fight for the right to be stoopid. Pat Blashill discovers ...
The Beastie Boys: Ill Communication (Grand Royal/Capitol C27243-828599; CD and cassette)
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 5 June 1994
The Beastie Boys Strut Their Stuff ...
Dr. Dre, Warren G: Warren G: Nuthin' but a G thang
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 14 June 1994
Dre's l'il bro is carving his own particularly effective niche right now. Jeff Lorez gets some long distance information with Warren G. ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Rough Trade Shop, Covent Garden, London
Live Review by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 18 June 1994
'SECRET GIG' — Arf! Despite premature talk of fan mayhem and rioting in the plazas of Covent Garden this is a secret gig that isn't ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie work if you can get it
Profile by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 June 1994
After years in the doldrums the Beastie Boys are back-and packing out the Astoria ...
The Beastie Boys: The Filofax Of Life
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 25 June 1994
Beastie Boys have recovered from years of being f***ed about by record companies to build their very own self-contained business empire. They've also just made ...
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 26 June 1994
Exportable Euro-Rappers ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Ill Communication (Capitol/Grand Royal EFP222 9)
Review by Stephen Dalton, Vox, July 1994
BEARING A blatant allusion to their monstrous 1986 debut Licensed To Ill and a clutch of guitar-mayhem tracks recorded back in their native NYC, the ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 July 1994
HOUSE OF HOROWITZ ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 July 1994
MOST OF THE people Nas looked up to during an eventful adolescence in Queensbridge, New York City, are either dead or in jail. His DJ ...
Arrested Development: Bimbo's, San Francisco
Live Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, August 1994
AT ARRESTED Development concerts, its not enough to wave your hands around; "put your souls up" is the cry. Three songs in, Speech stopped everything ...
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, August 1994
LaFace's latest rap group is climbing the charts and having a 'Player's Ball' ...
Sir Mix-A-Lot: Chief Boot Knocka (American)
Review by Chuck Eddy, Spin, August 1994
SIR MIX-A-LOT blew it! On his new album, he says he's trying to make Tipper Gore and Rush Limbaugh restless, but he leaves out Reverend ...
House Of Pain: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 August 1994
Pain, but no gain ...
Interview by John Harris, New Musical Express, 6 August 1994
PUBLIC ENEMY were once unerring occupiers of the moral high ground, but guns, drugs, liquor and arrests have shown them to be as fallible as ...
Public Enemy: Flavor Flav: Coke Adds Strife
Interview by John Harris, New Musical Express, 13 August 1994
While PUBLIC ENEMY have been lying low for the past two years, errant rapper FLAVOR FLAV has been having very personal, and very public problems ...
Public Enemy: White Light, Black Noise
Interview by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, September 1994
PUBLIC ENEMY USED TO BE THE BIGGEST, FIERCEST RAP ACT IN THE WORLD. THEN GANGSTA SILENCED THEIR RIGHTEOUS RANTS. NOW THEY'RE BACK WITH A STARTLING NEW ...
Russell Simmons: Hip Hop's Top Dog
Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, September 1994
With faith in the power of undiluted black culture, Russell Simmons harnessed the sound of the underground and turned hip hop into a billion dollar ...
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, September 1994
A thirst for reckless beats and raw grooves fuels the Beatnuts in their quest through the urban badlands. ...
Warren G: Regulate… G Funk Era (Violator/RAL)
Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, September 1994
THE THING that gets me about Nate Dogg and Warren G.'s 'Regulate' is how, when MTV airs the video, you hear Nate Dogg sing the ...
Snap!: In tune with pop's crackle and Snap
Interview by Paul Sexton, The Times, 2 September 1994
Record sales of more than 15 million and a growing reputation for trend-setting have made two German former DJs a global sensation. Paul Sexton met ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
ON A REMARKABLE autumn's day on which Chelsea go from to two down to three up at Leeds, Everett True gets hospitalised because he's too ...
Coolio: Con Voyage: Coolio: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 10 September 1994
SOME PEOPLE with hidden agendas berate Arrested Development and Public Enemy endlessly for touring with rock bands. ...
Ice Cube / Gravediggaz: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 10 September 1994
TRY AND tie down hip-hop with yer baggage and it always finds a way to bust loose. Never mind asking "Has Rap Gone Too Far", ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
GRAVEDIGGAZ are into black magic. They want to dig up your mental graves. They list ways to commit suicide on their debut LP, Niggamortis. Hmm, ...
Ice Cube, Public Enemy: Ice Cube & Public Enemy: Patinoire De Malley, Lausanne
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 17 September 1994
Yodel, Bum Rush The Show ...
Gravediggaz: La Mort the Merrier — Gravediggaz: Niggamortis (Gee Street GEECDH 17tks/54mins/FP)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
Rap: reflecting the brutal realities of life for urban American blacks or providing ghoulish and vicarious thrills for the eavesdropping cultural tourist? Maybe both, suggests ...
Wu-Tang Clan: The Forum, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
KARATE KICKS ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Cooper, Rolling Stone, 22 September 1994
COOLIO gets a phat return on his dues with 'FANTASTIC VOYAGE' ...
Spearhead: Don't Spear the Rapper
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 24 September 1994
MICHAEL FRANTI, the man behind The Beatnigs' post-industrial clatter and key shouter with agit-rappers Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, has adopted a mellower vibe for his ...
Arrested Development: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 October 1994
IT TAKES A while, but I finally work out what it is they remind me of. ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Jungle Heritage
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 8 October 1994
SIMON REYNOLDS reports on the cyber-black world of A GUY CALLED GERALD. ...
Method Man, Redman: Method Man: The Tical (Def Jam); Redman: Dare Is a Darkside (Def Jam)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1994
WHAT IS reality in hip hop? Flicking a 50-cent lighter during an old-school concert while the ancient-as-angel-dust Sugarhill Gang chant that "Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn" ...
Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth: Smooth Like A Rock
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1994
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth are blowing up in the biz, but they still got each other's back. ...
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, November 1994
THURSDAY 1st September, Backstage stairwell, The Forum, Kentish Town, London. ...
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice-T: Seine In The Membrane
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 November 1994
It's not all being grim and Malcolm X when you're ICE-T. You also get to go on the road with your mates, play metal and ...
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 12 November 1994
HOMIE-CIDAL MANY ACTS A new Snoop Doggy Dogg record? Yes and no and a whole lot more. Murder Was The Case is an extremely violent 18-minute ...
The Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique (Capitol)
Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 19 November 1994
JUST CHILLIN', like Bob Dylan. Paul's Boutique, five years on from its release way back in August '89, is still an electrifying blast of cool. ...
Jewell, The Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound: Murder Dre Wrote
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 November 1994
DR DRE's G-normously successful DEATH ROW label is being hailed as a Motown for the Nineties. SIMON PRICE meets eargasm addict THE LADY OF RAGE, ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: Watch Out, Beagle's About
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 November 1994
SIMON PRICE meets SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, the Most Famous Rapper On Earth, whose murder trial comes up in three months, and asks him about Life ...
Retrospective and Interview by Frank Owen, Vibe, December 1994
Most of what you know about the old school is wrong. ...
Profile and Interview by William Shaw, Details, December 1994
Coolio's fantastic voyage, from crackhead to platinum rap star ...
Suicide: A Tribe Called Quest: Subterania, London
Live Review by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 3 December 1994
IN MANY ways. A Tribe Called Quest are one of hip-hop's best-kept secrets. Their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels... remains one of the defining moments ...
Audio transcript of interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages, Summer 1994
This is a transcript of Andy's audio interview with Ice-T. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Review by Carol Cooper, Newsday, 1995
IN THE early to mid ‘80s, two of the most successful rap records concerned vigilantism. The Rake’s 'Street Justice' and Kool Moe Dee’s 'Wild Wild ...
Method Man, Redman: Redman: Dare Iz A Darkside/Method Man: Tical (Def Jam/Island)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 14 January 1995
REDMAN'S Whut? Thee Album came out around the first Cypress Hill's and for those that investigated it was even more blunted to the bone, streaked ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Return of the Gerald
Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, February 1995
With 'Voodoo Ray' A Guy Called Gerald defined British acid house. With '28-Gun Bad Boy' he lit the fuse that became jungle. With his new ...
Naughty By Nature: Poverty Rap
Interview by Frank Broughton, Hip-Hop Connection, February 1995
Yet another Newark success story? Most definitely. Those naughty lil' devils, Naughty By Nature, are poised to return with a new album backed by a ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Black Secret Technology (Juke Box JB2 13tks/70mins/FP)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 18 February 1995
Freaked out by the photocopier? Frightened of the fax machine? Fascinated by both? Don't worry, our relationship with technology is necessarily double-edged – and it's ...
Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, March 1995
Ice-T, Ice Cube, LL Cool J... The West Coast of America is famous for its frozen rappers. Now cometh the latest million-selling iceman: Coolio ...
Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, March 1995
HE'S THE INVENTOR OF INTELLIGENT JUNGLE. HE'S HELD IN AWE BY ANDREW WEATHERALL. HE'S A PIONEER AND PRE-EMPTOR, A PRODUCER AND LABEL BOSS. HE'S LTJ ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Vibe, March 1995
AFTER YEARS of lamely aping U.S. rap, Britain has finally come up with not one but two responses to hip hop. There's trip hop, also ...
The Beastie Boys: Super Fly Guys
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 4 March 1995
The Beastie Boys made MM's Album of the Year in 1986. That was pretty cool. And for about 12 months their unique brand of juvenile ...
Report by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 7 March 1995
IN A CITY where racial tensions are concealed until they erupt, the public schools are where Angelenos deal straight-up with their differences. And in a ...
Luscious Jackson: The Jackson Four
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 March 1995
LUSCIOUS JACKSON are four luscious (Janet) Jackson-goes-hip hop Noo Yawk fly girlz whose scratchy white rap has been described as The Breeders-play-The Sugarhill Gang. SIMON ...
Gravediggaz: Rock City, Nottingham
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 March 1995
THE HITMAN AND HEARSE ...
Foul Play, Goldie, My Bloody Valentine, Omni Trio: Goldie et al: Jungle Boogie
Report by Simon Reynolds, Rolling Stone, 23 March 1995
Get down, get down: The U.K. moves to underground groove ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Wicked Guy!
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
A GUY CALLED GERALD is at the forefront of junglist innovation and future-shock technological experimentation. A guy called SIMON REYNOLDS joins him in virtual space. ...
Slick Rick: NO CELL OUT! Slick Rick: Behind Bars (Def Jam/lsland 523 847-2/11 tks/40 mins/FP)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
'The greatest living American poet bar none'? 'Hot-kniving the shit of God'? Oh, we know what you're thinking, children. Just another bleedin' baaad-boy banged up ...
Tupac Shakur: A Load Of Bollock: 2Pac: Me Against The World (Interscope)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 April 1995
Ner-ner, ner-ner slammm!!! And another one! Is 2Pac (sorry, make that 1Pac) just the shot in the balls rap so sorely needs, or a monorchid ...
Warren G: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 April 1995
OF THE adjectives applied to gangsta rappers, "endearing" is way down the list. Warren Griffin, the latest sensation from the wrong side of Long Beach, ...
Method Man: Method in the Madness
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 April 1995
Welcome to Florida, land of Disney, Dayton Beach and glorious Orlando. And paranoia, machine-gun toting security guards and camcorders shoved up strangers' crutches. METHOD MAN, ...
Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy: Puff Daddy: Born To Be Bad
Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, May 1995
A multi-platinum music mogul at just twenty four, Sean "Puffy" Combs is the face of future hip hop. meet a Bad Boy made good. ...
Interview by David Toop, The Face, July 1995
Ten years ago, David Toop met a young graffiti artist named Goldie. "When I was a kid," he said, "I had nothing to look at ...
Gang Starr, Guru: Guru: Reality Bites
Interview by Frank Broughton, Hip-Hop Connection, July 1995
For most other artists, one project like Jazzmatazz in a lifetime would be enough. Not for Guru. Jazzmatazz 2: The New Reality collects up many of the first LP's ...
Montell Jordan: This is how HE does it
Report and Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, July 1995
Montell Jordan, six foot eight of elegant, chart topping, soul-swinging, street talking star, is holding forth on a basketball court in Southern California. Telling jokes ...
Russell Simmons: The Emperor Of Rap
Interview by Ben Thompson, MOJO, July 1995
SO WHY DO THEY CALL RUSSELL Simmons 'Rush'? The Def Jam emperor loses little time in answering this question. ...
Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Vox, July 1995
Trip-hop is now part of pop's international language — but the pioneers of Britain's most successful musical export in years refuse to admit it exists... ...
Mobb Deep: The Infamous... (BMG/RCA 07863664882 16 tks/67 mins/FP)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 July 1995
I WASN'T expecting this. ...
Report by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 8 July 1995
The last time FUN-DA-MENTAL took a journalist to Pakistan, the writer came home a jibbering wreck and the band split. A return trip anyone? Bribes/blackmail/strict ...
Public Enemy: The Greatest Rap Band In The World... Ever!
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 15 July 1995
PUBLIC ENEMY are still the fastest, fiercest, radicalest hip hop act on the planet, still trying to right wrongs, fight the power and change the ...
Naughty by Nature: Poverty's Paradise (Tommy Boy; CD and cassette)
Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 16 July 1995
PERHAPS THE biggest crime a hip-hop act can commit is to go pop, to soften its sound to achieve mass appeal. Over the course of ...
Bushwick Bill: Phantom Of The Rapra (Rap-A-Lot/Noo Trybe V0SS91)
Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 22 July 1995
"Honky can't stop what honky started/A ghetto is what you made" — 'Mr President' ...
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: Rattling the Bones
Report and Interview by RJ Smith, Details, August 1995
Cleveland rappers Bone Thugs-N-Harmony always knew they'd be stars — their Ouija board told them so. RJ SMITH conducts a séance with hip-hop's hell-raisers. ...
Report by Angus Batey, Vox, August 1995
Snoop and Dr Dre's tales of the 'hoods of South Central may have redirected the media's fickle attention to the West Coast, but New York ...
Naughty By Nature: Naughty But Nice
Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, August 1995
Born in the ghetto, Naughty By Nature intend to stay there, despite the band's success ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 5 August 1995
GOLDIE is being called the Jimi Hendrix of jungle, the charismatic centre of an extraordinary new music. His debut album, Timeless, is a hugely inventive, ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Fear of a Black-Belt Planet
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 12 August 1995
In the last two weeks. Method Man and Gravediggaz have divebombed into the British charts. At last, Staten Island's utterly insane-in-the-membrane WU-TANG CLAN — Horrorcore ...
Wu-Tang Clan: The Island, Ilford
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 12 August 1995
SHAME ON THE NUH! ...
Review by David Toop, MOJO, September 1995
WITH A FEW notable exceptions, Jungle has thus far been a music for singles and endless drum 'n' bass compilations. As the genre's first high ...
The Last Poets, Bill Laswell: The Last Poets: Bill Laswell on how to Produce A Holy Terror
Interview by J.D. Considine, Musician, September 1995
USUALLY, THE relationship between words and music on a recording puts the music first and the words second. But when Bill Laswell began work on ...
Raekwon, RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Clan: Clan O'War
Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, September 1995
Staten Island's WU-TANG CLAN are the most notorious hip hop crew of the Nineties. And the biggest-selling. Here, RZA and Raekwon give a rare insight ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 2 September 1995
You may not know it, but you've already chilled to Money Mark's Starsky'n'Hutch keyboard grooves on the last Beastie Boys record. Now he's kickin' it ...
Cypress Hill, Ice Cube: Cypress Hill: Do Believe The Hype
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 16 September 1995
CYPRESS HILL's self-titled debut album changed the face of hip hop. Their second, Black Sunday, was the rap crossover LP of the early Nineties. But ...
Mobb Deep, Redman: Redman/Mobb Deep: Digbeth Institute, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
TWO GIGS separated by a fortnight, linked by a common grievance. As illustrations of the two ways a hip hop gig can go, they're pretty ...
Cypress Hill: Back in the Daze
Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, October 1995
CYPRESS HILL used cannabis to devastating effect in the marketing of their Black Sunday — racking up best-selling rap album in the process. Can they pull the ...
PM Dawn: Is P.M. Dawn's Prince Be the Brian Wilson of Hip-Hop? God only knows
Interview by Amy Linden, Rolling Stone, 19 October 1995
PRINCE BE sits behind the console of a studio in midtown Manhattan. "I am actually aching to stop working," he says with a sigh, leaning ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
Around these parts, we like a touch of evil. Artistic, mind. And one of the things that really fuels our tool is gangsta rap. Inventive, ...
Cypress Hill: Temple Of Boom (Ruff House 15 tks/67 mins)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 28 October 1995
CYPRESS HILL. Music for marijuana-addled bores and Top Cat fans, or what? Or what, gibbers DAVID BENNUN, as we stretcher him out of the Temple ...
The Chemical Brothers: Astoria, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 28 October 1995
OH NO, not the eyelids again... Nurse! ...
KRS-One: KRS–1: 1 From The Heart
Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, November 1995
KRS-1 the grand daddy of hip hop takes to the soap box for a speech on record labels, street cred and 'The Goddess Theory'. Listen ...
Money Mark: Mark's Keyboard Repair (Mo'Wax)
Review by Stephen Dalton, Vox, November 1995
Boys To Man ...
PM Dawn: P.M. Dawn: Diff'rent Strokes
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1995
Lost in space? No. P.M. Dawn return with a pretty (yet slammin') third album — and a rebel whisper that says there's nothing wrong with ...
PM Dawn: P.M. Dawn: Jesus Wept (Gee Streel/Island)
Review by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 2 November 1995
JESUS WEPT is a multitracked feast of guitar rock, pillow-soft pop, moody psychedelia and sugary-sweet R&B with only one straight-up rap track on the entire ...
Cypress Hill: Prophets of Boom
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 November 1995
Welcome, disciples, to the Temple Of Boom (temporarily relocated to Baker Street). Marijuana monks CYPRESS HILL are in attendance, ready to dispense sacred knowledge on ...
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony: Family Values
Profile and Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 21 November 1995
From out of Cleveland's mean streets to US stardom and chart status, B T-N-H maintain a closely-knit family circle. JEFF LOREZ pays a visit. ...
Coolio: Gangsta's Paradise (Tommy Boy 1141)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 21 November 1995
THE PHENOMENAL success of the single 'Gangsta's Paradise', taken from the Dangerous Minds soundtrack has hastened this, the album of the same name. It's Coolio's all important ...
The Pharcyde: Labcabcalifornia (Delicious Vinyl/Capitol)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 21 November 1995
THE PHARCYDE sneaked into our consciousness a few years back with the ridiculously infectious 'She Keeps On Passin' Me By' and they rode in strong ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, December 1995
At 15 Coolio embraced a life of crime and violence that left him addicted to crack and almost dead. His song 'Gangsta's Paradise' is the ...
Cypress Hill: III – Temple Of Boom
Review by David Toop, MOJO, December 1995
HIP HOP innovations are so swiftly assimilated and processed into cliché that their initial impact can become lost in foggy video memories of oversized hats, ...
Report by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, December 1995
Following the release of Mike Tyson and the acquittal of DJ Simpson the media circus is now focussing its attention on the spate of R&B ...
The Pharcyde: Pharcyde: Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, December 1995
WHEN THE Pharcyde dropped 1992's Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, it was obvious these hip hop cats had spent many evenings with the stereo and ...
Eric B. & Rakim, Rakim: Rakim: I'll Be Back
Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, December 1995
Once upon a rhyme, a young rapper called Rakim hooked up with a deejay named Eric B. The collision was cataclysmic and their impact deadly. ...
Interview by Mike Barnes, The Wire, December 1995
Every month we play a musician a series of records which they're asked to identify and comment on — with no prior knowledge of what ...
Tha Dogg Pound: Dogg Food (Death Row 17 tks/72 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 December 1995
TO CRITICISE G-funk for being lazy is a bit like dissing water for being wet, but the latest product to stagger blinking from the Death ...
Tha Dogg Pound: Doggy Food (Death Row/Interscope/Priority)
Review by Dave Marsh, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 December 1995
DOGG POUND DOWN AND DIRTY ...
The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slayer: Russell Simmons: Def Shepherd
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 December 1995
Yeah Boyee! DEF JAM, the record label that put the ROCK in hip-hop and brought you the likes of Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, is ...
Interview by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 14 December 1995
Coolio completes his fantastic voyage from the mean streets of Los Angeles to the top of the pop charts ...
GZA, Method Man: Method Man, GZA: Def Jam 10th Anniversary Party, Equinox, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 December 1995
DEF AND BLINDING ...
Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, Vox, 1996
WITH INDIEDOM firmly in the grip of the inane and the insipid, the doleful delinquents of 1986 were in dire and desperate need of a ...
Coolio: Paradise Lost And Found
Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, January 1996
Once the grim fictions of gangsta rap were Coolio's reality: gangs, guns, crack addiction, jail. Now he's swapped sin for salvation and notoriety for celebrity. ...
Cypress Hill: III (Temples of Boom) (Ruff House/Columbia)
Review by Chuck Eddy, Spin, January 1996
CYPRESS HILL'S stoned slowness on Temple of Boom is definite proof that hemp demolishes brain cells. Middle-of-the-road and lame-in-the-membrane is how Temples hits me. Only ...
Cypress Hill: Very Sane in the Brain
Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1996
Cypress Hill survives the rap race ...
Guide by Kodwo Eshun, The Face, January 1996
CALL IT drum & bass, breakbeat science or hardstep. As jungle accelerates faster into the future, it is splintering into a million different theme tunes ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 January 1996
Gangsta takes rap to new level ...
Eazy-E, N.W.A: E Bygone!: Eazy-E: Eternal E (Virgin)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 January 1996
THE BIBLE says that, in the last days, men will actively seek death and death will flee from them. So, as sad and ultimately preventable ...
G. Love & Special Sauce: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 13 January 1996
A whiter shade of blues ...
GZA: Liquid Swords (Geffen GEN24813)
Review by Tom Doyle, Q, February 1996
WHILE STATEN Island's nine-strong rap outfit Wu-Tang Clan have proved themselves one of the genre's most influential and commercially triumphant prospects, the open relationship within ...
Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, February 1996
HE WAS RAP'S FIRST KNICKER-WETTING SENSATION, A PROWLING PANTHER WHO BROUGHT THE SWEAT OF TEEN SEXUALITY INTO THE HIP HOP ARENA. TEN YEARS LATER, HE'S ...
DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, La Funk Mob, Money Mark, UNKLE: Mojo Rising: James Lavelle
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1996
Being head of exploding hip-prog record label Mo'Wax is nothing to sneeze at. ...
4 Hero: The Sound of Unimaginable Dreams
Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, March 1996
Dego and Mark are 4 Hero. And Jason's Optical Stairway. And Tom & Jerry. And the brains behind Reinforced Records. They gave Goldie a break ...
Coolio: He's Got The Whole World In His Hand
Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1996
Ex-crackhead, erstwhile firman and father of five, Coolio all but conquered the planet with 'Gangsta's Paradise' — but he's not letting it go to his ...
Tupac Shakur: 2Pac: All Eyez on Me (Death Row/Island 524 204-2)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 1 March 1996
THE GANGSTA-rap double-whammy of surviving both multiple wounding and prison has left Tupac Shakur in unrepentantly triumphalist mood on this daunting double-album. It's a toss-up ...
The Fugees: Fugees: The Score (Ruff House, 7tks/78mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 March 1996
THE SPECIALIST rap press is giving mad love to Fugees at the moment. ...
The Fugees: Fugees: Subterania, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 March 1996
BLUNTED BY SUCCESS ...
Report by Chris Campion, The Village Voice, April 1996
A LONG-RUNNING saga of legitimacy has embroiled the Last Poets in a situation that is rapidly echoing the sentiments of one of their own poems, ...
Cypress Hill: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 4 May 1996
INANE IN THE BRAIN ...
Iceberg Slim: Needles and Pimps
Retrospective by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 12 May 1996
Sean O'Hagan chills out on Iceberg Slim, king of the ghetto ...
Ice-T: Gangsta's Parad-Ice — Ice-T: Ice-T VI: Return of the Real (Virgin 21 tks/74 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
We like ICE-T, rap's renaissance man. He doesn't give a shit ...
Geto Boys: Southern Discomfort
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 May 1996
Deep in the heart of the redneck Bible Belt, squillion-selling rap supergroup GETO BOYS are living up to their paranoid bad-boy reputation. Bushwick Bill has ...
The Fugees: With Help From Roberta Flack, The Fugees Are Redefining Rap
Interview by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 26 May 1996
IT'S SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE the start of the recent Fugees show here at the Irvine Auditorium on the University of Pennsylvania campus, and the rap ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 June 1996
GANGSTER'S PARADIGM ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 1 June 1996
TRACE RELATIONS ...
The Fugees: Forum, Kentish Town, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 22 June 1996
THE 'GEE-FUNK ERA ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 June 1996
Having adopted the moniker of one Pablo Escobar, NAS ESCOBAR set about creating vivid lyrical depictions of life in his native New York tenement slums. ...
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Sunday Times, July 1996
IN 1989, DE LA Soul's debut album Three Feet High And Rising was hailed by New York's Village Voice as "the Sergeant Pepper of hip ...
Ice-T: Invisible Jukebox: Ice-T
Interview by Mike Barnes, The Wire, July 1996
Every month we play a musician a series of records which they're asked to identify and comment on — with no prior knowledge of what ...
Report and Interview by William Shaw, The Observer, 7 July 1996
New York can lay claim to having invented rap, but LA has violently rewritten the rules. William Shaw charts an increasingly bitter rivalry ...
Nas: Written Out — Nas: It Was Written (Columbia 14tks/59mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 13 July 1996
NAS is one of rap's supreme lyricists and vocal stylists. A pity, then, that his new album isn't worthy of his talents ...
Nas: Rap: Nas-ter Has Success 'Written' All Over Him
Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, New York Daily News, 25 July 1996
Speaking the Queensbridge English, recording artist is the city's No. 1 son ...
Busta Rhymes, Shyheim: Club UN, Tottenham, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 July 1996
POPPED-UP TOASTER ...
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Source, August 1996
FINAL EXAMS AT Morehouse College were a bitch. Nearly four in the morning on a starry autumn night years ago, I found myself making a ...
The Pharcyde: The Forum, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 3 August 1996
IT'S A SHAME ABOUT CABARET ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Beats, Rhymes and Life (Jive)
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, September 1996
LESS INTROVERTED THAN De La Soul and less weird than the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest were always the populists of the Native Tongues ...
Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Joe Bataan, New Order, Rockers Revenge: Arthur Baker: Legend!
Interview by Kris Needs, Muzik, September 1996
In the beginning, there was ARTHUR BAKER. And without him, dance music wouldn't be what it is today. For starters, we wouldn't have had 'Planet ...
Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, TLC: Clive Davis: Big Poppa
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1996
The VIBE Q: CLIVE DAVIS, ARISTA RECORDS' LEGENDARY PRESIDENT AND CEO, IS TRULY RUNNING THINGS. THINK NOT? ASK WHITNEY HOUSTON, PUFFY COMBS, TLC, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., OR L.A. AND ...
Review by Amy Linden, Fi, September 1996
TWO ALBUMS. Two groups. Two release dates. But for all intents and purposes De La Soul's Stakes Is High and A Tribe Called Quest's Beats, ...
Jermaine Dupri: Song Of The South
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1996
Whether shooting pool or making hit records, hotshot producer Jermaine Dupri has one goal: to be the best. By Michael A. Gonzales ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, September 1996
WHEN NENEH CHERRY was a toddler, she met Miles Davis. She remembers his gravelly growl of a voice, and recalls him opening his trumpet case ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 September 1996
HOW THE WESTWAY WAS WON ...
DJ Shadow: Endtroducing... (Mo'Wax 13tks/64mins)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
Tricks of the Shade ...
OutKast: ATLiens (LaFace 73008- 26029-2)
Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 17 September 1996
THIS IS certainly something of a change from their debut platinum selling set, but it makes for interesting listening never the less. OutKast's producers, Organized ...
Tupac Shakur: "Tupac always gave you something with his music"
Obituary by uncredited writer, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996
TUPAC AMARU Shakur, the US 'gangsta' rap star and actor shot in an ambush in Las Vegas on September 8, has died after a five-day ...
Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, New Order, Rockers Revenge: Arthur Baker: Baker Groove
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996
This week Vibes hops across to the Emerald Isle to hook up with one of the founding fathers of modern dance, the fabulous ARTHUR BAKER ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 28 September 1996
CHUCK D is back with a new solo album and a new mission — to destroy gangsta rap. The Maker listens in ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Tupac Shakur: War Of The Words
Report by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996
TUPAC SHAKUR's death has once again highlighted the feud between the East Coast and West Coast rap communities. ANGUS BATEY takes a look at hip-hop's ...
Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, October 1996
What happens when you remove all the boundaries? DJ Shadow's debut album, Entroducing, is a record without frontiers. ...
DJ Shadow: Endtroducing... (Mo'Wax)
Review by Push, Muzik, October 1996
STUTTERED BEATS, fluttered beats. Scratching harder and faster than the caretaker's cat at the local fleapit. Pianos which tease and prick, b-lines which cajole and ...
The Fugees, Lauryn Hill: Fugees: Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
Live Review by Cliff Jones, MOJO, October 1996
COOL ALWAYS HAS CONTEXT. Tonight that context is the growing awareness that hip hop and black American music in general have embraced a new set ...
LTJ Bukem, MC Conrad: LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad in... Mission Possible
Report and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, October 1996
LTJ Bukem, the man behind the 50,000 selling Logical Progression album, the excellent Good Looking and Looking Good labels and drum 'n' bass classics 'Music', ...
Nitin Sawhney : Nitin Sawhney: Displacing The Priest (Outcaste) ***
Review by David Bennun, Muzik, October 1996
SAWHNEY'S SECOND album is so omnivorously eclectic that it would be easy to mistake it for a new David Toop compilation. All the same, there ...
Coolio, Junior M.A.F.I.A., The Notorious B.I.G.: Notorious B.I.G.: B.I.G. Trouble
Report by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, October 1996
When the US hip hop elite hits the road, you expect sparks, right? When you put together names from the East and West Coast on ...
Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages Audio, October 1996
The Bristol maverick discusses his treatment by the music press and talks about being pigeonholed; about not repeating Maxinquaye; about recording in Jamaica and what went wrong with Massive Attack; about Trip Hop and his relationship with Martina Topley-Bird; about his criminal past and his gangster uncles; about his memories of Bristol, the Wild Bunch and Smith & Mighty; and about his role in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element...
File format: mp3; file size: 74.3mb, interview length: 1h 17' 26" sound quality: ***
The Fugees: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 1996
Incredibly hiphop: If the Fugees were any bigger, they'd explode. Caroline Sullivan finds out why ...
DJ Shadow: The Penumbra of the Beast
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 26 October 1996
The way Portishead took dance into uncharted territories in 1994, the way Tricky took chances in 1995, so DJ SHADOW is pushing back the envelope ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg
Profile and Interview by David Bennun, The Guardian, November 1996
"I'M GONNA live forever," says the man slumped in the chair opposite, his voice so soft it's barely more than a mumble. Nobody has ever ...
Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1996
THE FUNKY FOUR FROM ILLADELPHIA GET ECLECTIC. ...
Obituary by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, November 1996
At the age of 25, TUPAC SHAKUR was gunned down and died six days later in a Las Vegas hospital. His death was inevitable, but ...
Tupac Shakur: Farewell to Arms
Retrospective by David Toop, The Face, November 1996
Tupac Shakur was the rapper whose lyrics merged poetry with pain to make him an icon for America's doom generation. On September 13, at the ...
Comment by Frank Broughton, i-D, November 1996
Tupac Shakur was murdered last month in a drive-by shooting. Was rap's rising star a menace to society or just to himself? ...
The Fugees: Ready Or What?: The Fugees: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 2 November 1996
THREE NUMBERS. Over some 40 minutes prior to the encore, that's all they manage to play. Three numbers in full. And two of them are ...
Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Island, 10 tks/42 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 9 November 1996
2000 A SPACED ODYSSEY ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 16 November 1996
Snoop's poised defiance and masterful Gangsta cool, posthumous crap from 2Pac ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: Tha Doggfather (Death Row/Interscope INTD- 90038 £13.49)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 22 November 1996
DEDICATED "in loving memory" of rap star Tupac Shakur, shot dead in September, Tha Doggfather is another loathsome celebration of the black American thug lifestyle ...
Dr. Dre: The Dre Today: Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath (Interscope/MCA)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 30 November 1996
Don't be fooled by his past, DR DRE is a one-man Motown, a pop perfectionist for the 21st Century ...
Report and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, December 1996
More than any other British city Bristol has always had an identifiable musical sound. From Smith and Mighty, Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead, to current ...
Chuck D, Tricky: Chuck D and Tricky: Conversation Terrorists
Interview by Dele Fadele, Vox, December 1996
It was a most unlikely summit meeting when Chuck D, Public Enemy's motormouth mainspring and founding father of political rap, met Bristol maverick Tricky, hip-hop's ...
Ghostface Killah, Wu-Tang Clan: Ghostface Killer: The Grim Rapper
Profile and Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, December 1996
GHOSTFACE KILLER'S debut long-player, Ironman, is yet another exceptional release from Staten Island's favourite sons. But this outing is a little different. Bringing lightness to ...
Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, December 1996
The death of Tupac has left the hip hop bad boy vacancy wide open. MOBB DEEP'S Havoc and Prodigy have already more than filled his ...
Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, December 1996
Lyrics with depth and a smooth-sung flow? Hip hop with real instrumentation? Attitude? Humour? Great songs? You need OUTKAST. ...
Obituary by RJ Smith, Spin, December 1996
Tupac Shakur was more then just another million-selling gangsta rapper. He polarized the races like few pop stars, in death as in life. ...
Tupac Shakur: His life on Death Row ended in a Deathblow
Obituary by William Shaw, Details, December 1996
William Shaw remembers Tupac Shakur 1971-1996 ...
Overview by Pat Blashill, Details, December 1996
PAT BLASHILL TRACES THE HISTORY OF ELECTRO, THE UNSUNG SOURCE OF RAP, TECHNO, AND TRIP-HOP ...
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 6 December 1996
Beauty and the beast ...
Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 14 December 1996
IN THA DOGG HOUSE ...
Tupac Shakur: Sprayers for a lost soul
Report by Vivien Goldman, Daily Telegraph, 14 December 1996
The murder of rap star Tupac Shakur in September has brought the simmering rivalry between two New York graffiti artists to a head. Vivien Goldman ...
Puff Daddy: Sean 'Puffy' Combs: Multi-Million Dollar Man
Profile and Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, January 1997
At 26, SEAN 'PUFFY' COMBS is reputed to be worth some $170 million. But that's not all the East Coast hip hop mogul has a ...
Report and Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, January 1997
From healthy US hip hop act to global superstars in under twelve months, you could say 1996 has been a remarkable year for the FUGEES. ...
Why does everyone ignore "Jump Up" jungle?
Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, January 1997
Even Goldie has been dissing "jump up". But wasn't it the ragga stuff that put jungle back in the frame in the first place? ...
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 18 January 1997
With gangsta rap getting just a tad too "real" of late, NAS ESCOBAR comes as something of a relief. His last album, It Was Written ...
Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim: Lil' Kim & Foxy Brown: Mack Divas
Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, February 1997
What demons lie beneath the excessive glam and the in-yo face sexuality? The Source gets hip close and personal with hip-hop's twin testaments to divahood: ...
Coldcut, DJ Krush: Coldcut & DJ Food Vs DJ Krush: Cold Krush Cuts (Ninja Tune/CD only)
Review by Keith Cameron, Melody Maker, 1 February 1997
CHILLER ON THE LOOSE ...
The Roots: Illadelph Halflife (Geffen)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 February 1997
HIP HOP RULE NUMBER 4080: "live" instrumentation and hip hop don't mix. Hip hop rule Number 4081: except for The Roots. The exception, the exceptional, ...
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 7 February 1997
Rapping out a new note ...
Erykah Badu: Baduizm (Kedar Entertainment/Universal)
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 20 February 1997
PERHAPS THE first thing you notice about Erykah Badu is her uncanny vocal similarity to Billie Holiday – from the very beginning of Baduizm, Badu's ...
The Roots: Jazz Café, London; Effenaar, Eindhoven; Nighttown, Rotterdam
Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 22 February 1997
HOLD THE front page! Rap band in 'turns up' shock! Punters left reeling after American rappers successfully tour Europe... ...
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 1 March 1997
SOME PEOPLE, eh? They're never satisfied. Incredibly, not even vast pop success is enough for these blighters. ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 7 March 1997
THE WORLD outside this venue thought De La Soul was dead. Ever since their follow-up to the 1989's landmark 3 Feet High and Rising announced ...
De La Soul: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 March 1997
LIZA MINNELLI and Liberace don't even come into it. Once a long-serving band become a parody of themselves and start trawling around in ever-decreasing circles, ...
Jay Z: Jaÿ-Z: Cabaret Club, Stockholm
Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 March 1997
"YO! Give it up for Jaÿ-Z! Onstage for the first time in Sweden!" ...
The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-97)
Obituary by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 15 March 1997
NOTORIOUS BIG, born Christopher Wallace, had risen from poverty to become one of the most influential figures in the hip-hop world in an incredibly short ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Black Metropolis: Notorious R.I.P.
Obituary by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Press, 19 March 1997
THE CONCEPT of tragic irony is becoming all too popular in the hip hop nation; it has started to affect me on a personal level. ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Unity Church, Compton CA
Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 22 March 1997
SO THIS is what they mean when they say that going to gigs is like attending church. In LA's most notorious district, 800 souls are ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Bad Boy/Arista 78612-73011; two discs £15.99)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 28 March 1997
...
Cypress Hill, DJ Muggs: DJ Muggs: Mugg Shot
Profile and Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, April 1997
One third of the multi-million-selling Cypress Hill, DJ MUGGS has earmarked 1997 as his year. Taking a step back from the Hill, his first foray ...
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, April 1997
HOLDING BACK the tears, you can't help but think back to three years ago when the poetic masterblaster known as the Notorious B.I.G. dropped his ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Arista)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 April 1997
THE UNFORTUNATE and tragic death of Christopher Wallace in the early hours of March 9, 1997 will leave a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 April 1997
THE EARNEST young man sitting in a corner of London's empty Colombia Hotel bar on this late March afternoon doesn't look like a difficult customer ...
DJ Kool Herc, Grand Wizard Theodore: DJ Kool Herc and Grand Wizard Theodore
Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, May 1997
DJS KOOL HERC and Grand Wizard Theodore, who recently played in London as support to the Chemical Brothers, may not be up there with yer ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Murder Ballads: The Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Bad Boy)
Review by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 1 May 1997
IN A FRIGHTENING WAY, the current hip-hop scene recalls the end of Goodfellas: The major players are turning up dead, heading off to prison or ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Clan-destined: Wu-Tang Clan: The Rocket, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 3 May 1997
OK, YA WANNA KNOW what the new LP sounds like, right? Oh, man, oh Jesus, it's the bomb, baby. It's incredible. It's the LP that's ...
Warren G: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 17 May 1997
SNOOZE IN DA HOUSE! ...
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 24 May 1997
AFTER 11 years as a recording artist, surely even the gargantuan ego at the heart of KRS-One must have been surprised when 'Step Into A ...
Ghostface Killah, Method Man, RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Clan: Martial Lore
Special Feature by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 24 May 1997
Public Enemy's fall from grace left hip hop without a heroic focus. Enter WU-TANG CLAN, a crew from Staten Island whose ever-changing line-up has produced ...
Wu-Tang Clan: "Give us a chance to be truly wicked and we'll blow the whole shit up"
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 31 May 1997
So here we are in the wonderful and frightening world of Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan. A formidable collective of renegade rappers well versed in everything ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Forever (Loud/RCA 28tks/120mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 31 May 1997
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY Have the WU-TANG CLAN just made the greatest hip hop album of all time? ...
Luscious Jackson: Divan Du Monde, Paris
Live Review by Push, Muzik, June 1997
GUITARS ARE crap. It's a simple and obvious fact of modern life. Except when it comes to Luscious Jackson, that is. ...
Live Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, June 1997
THE END of the millennium is nigh! Most men will perish and the rest will get extremely stressed out and have to take lots of ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Raw Deluxe (Gee Street 11tks/52 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 7 June 1997
SEVEN YEARS is an eternity in hip hop. Cliché. Seven years is nothing in hip hop. Truth. It doesn't feel like it's been seven years ...
Wyclef Jean: Logical Procession: Wyclef Jean Featuring Refugee Allstars: The Carnival (Ruff House)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 21 June 1997
A LOT OF RUBBISH has been written about the Fugees since 'Killing Me Softly' elevated them to the dizzying pinnacle of pop stardom, and Wyclef ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 June 1997
ALL TOO FAMILIAL ...
Tupac Shakur: Hour Of The Gun: The Wasted Life And Brutal Death Of Tupac Shakur
Profile by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 1997
EVEN BY THE BRUTAL STANDARDS OF thug life, his was a particularly merciless encounter. It took less than two minutes for Mike Tyson to pummel ...
Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 1997
THEY LIVE in a house, a very big house, in the country. But considering that much of their energy, vision and ground-breaking ferocity derives from ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Phantoms of the Hip-hopera
Report and Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, July 1997
After four years of frenzied solo excursions, the members of Wu-Tang Clan reconvene as a group amid the usual circumstances — mystery, panic, tragedy — ...
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 25 July 1997
Elegy for a rapper ...
Puff Daddy: Smalls Wonder: Puff Daddy & The Family: No Way Out (Bad Boy Records)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 26 July 1997
IN LIFE, only death is certain. For the religious, the prospect of paradise beyond the great divide provides an energising, vital motivation. For the cynics, ...
Review by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, August 1997
TOKYO B-BOY DJ Krush, purveyor of the original spooked instrumental head nodder, is back. Alongside Shadow, and Mo' Wax's beat symphonies, Krush and co helped ...
The Beastie Boys, Beck, Hanson, The Rolling Stones: The Dust Brothers: Brothers of Invention
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Details, August 1997
They pulled poetry out of Beck. They wrung gold out of Hanson. Now they're remaking the Rolling Stones. Rob Tannenbaum meets the Dust Brothers. ...
Report and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, August 1997
IT HAPPENS like this: just when you're sitting comfortably, just when you least expect it, just from where you least expect it, along comes a ...
Coolio: My Soul (Tommy Boy) ***
Review by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 21 August 1997
Paradise Lost ...
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 30 August 1997
THE MAN christened Artis Ivey is back with his third opus, having conquered the pop cosmos with 'Gangsta's Paradise' two years ago. He's still got ...
Primal Scream, The Prodigy: The Prodigy, Primal Scream: Glasgow Green, Glasgow
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 31 August 1997
They're like the Sex Pistols. Via Mothercare ...
Tupac Shakur: Rebel For The Hell Of It: The Life Of Tupac Shakur Armond White (Quartet)
Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, MOJO, September 1997
TWENTY OR so years ago, in 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais', The Clash sang disapprovingly of those they deemed to be "turning rebellion into money". ...
Report and Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, September 1997
Ten years in the business and COLDCUT are still sticking firmly to their original philosophy of always being ahead of their time. Revolutionary software. System-booting ...
Coolio: To Live and Thrive in LA
Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, September 1997
Since 'Gangsta's Paradise' took over the world's radio-waves last year, untold riches and COOLIO have been close bedfellows. But does it make him happy? Despite ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, Vox, September 1997
TOKYO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW ...
Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim: Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown: Nasty Girls
Essay by Bethan Cole, i-D, September 1997
Sisters with voices? Or Ladies with an attitude? Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown are just as nasty as they wanna be ...
Ultramagnetic MCs: Critical Beatdown (Roadrunner/Next Plateau)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, September 1997
KOOL KEITH is Liam Howlett's favourite rapper. And this relic from an age before 'Diesel Power' and Dr. Octagon shows why. ...
Gravediggaz: The Pick, The Sickle & The Shovel (Gee Street 15tks/63mins)
Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
GRAVEDIGGERS, morbid souls who don't usually have much to say. Gravediggaz, however... ...
Roni Size and Reprazent: Victoria Park, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 27 September 1997
SIZE MATTERS! ...
Insane Clown Posse: The Great Milenko (Island)
Review by RJ Smith, Spin, October 1997
IN ITS OWN way, the deal must have made perfect sense. Here was a label, Hollywood, among the most staggeringly unsuccessful on Earth. In its ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Mixmag, October 1997
Arriving in the UK, via the QEII, after a six year break, rap legend KRS-One certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. If appearing on ...
Puff Daddy & The Family: No Way Out (Bad Boy Records)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, October 1997
That nigga that you see in the videos/That nigga with the jewels and the jiggy hoes/That nigga that'll die for his main man/That nigga with ...
Roni Size and Reprazent: Pet Projects Win Prizes
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 18 October 1997
RONI SIZE and REPRAZENT's Mercury Prize-winning brand of soulful drum'n'bass has made them the most successful junglist crossover act yet... NME finds out why. Breakbeats ...
Coolio: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 20 October 1997
Fantastic voyage of rap to suburbia ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: In My Lifetime Volume 1 (Northwestside)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 October 1997
THE FIRST WORDS you hear are spoken by Jay-Z himself, assuming a parodic Italian-American accent, imagining himself as a dying Al Pacino in Carlito's Way, ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 25 October 1997
MISSY "Misdemeanour" Elliott has been an invisible but insistent pivot of the pop world. ...
Firm, The (Hip Hop), Foxy Brown, Nas: The Firm: Funky Mafia!
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 October 1997
It's an offer you can't refuse. The chance to meet Mafia-inspired hip-hop outfit THE FIRM – namely mobsters Nas, Foxy Brown and AZ — and ...
Tupac Shakur: Eyewitness: The First Shooting of Tupac Shakur
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, November 1997
Halfway through his New York trial for rape and amidst growing tension between East and West Coast rappers, Tupac Shakur attended a recording session. He ...
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, November 1997
THERE'S A shadow across Rakim's face, but his brown eyes are shining. The man who is for many the greatest rapper ever to have picked ...
Roni Size and Reprazent: The best record of 1997
Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, November 1997
That's Roni Size and Reprazent's drum & bass classic New Forms. Or at least it is according to the Mercury Music Prize's panel of judges. ...
Coldcut, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: You Spin Me Round
Overview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1997
"Two turntables and a microphone," are, says Beck, "where it's at." For more than a decade Technics 1200 record decks have provided the backbone of ...
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 3 November 1997
Godfathers of Rap Churn Out Boogity Beat for Willing Crowd ...
DJ Shadow: Oxford Brookes University
Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 November 1997
IT'S ASKING a lot, of course, to hope that tonight, amid a boozed-up, loudmouthed, zany shirt-wearing crowd of freshers, DJ Shadow will come close to ...
Will Smith: Yuppify Guy!: Will Smith: Big Willie Style (Columbia)
Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 November 1997
HE'S COMIN' AT YA, loud and proud, mean and lean — straight outta, well, a palatial uptown apartment overlooking Central Park, probably. Heck, and he ...
Interview by Evelyn McDonnell, Rolling Stone, 13 November 1997
ONE WAY to control your career is to declare yourself sovereign. When 19-year-old Dana Owens came rapping out of Newark, N.J., in 1989, she assumed ...
Mary J. Blige: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 18 November 1997
Mary not so contrary ...
Rakim: The 18th Letter (Universal 17 tks/58 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
HE IS the resurrection. From 1987 to 1992, Rakim was every hip hopper's MC choice, the rapper's rapper, responsible (forget Eric B — the man ...
Tupac Shakur: Shakur Moneymaker: 2Pac: R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (Jive)
Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 22 November 1997
WHEN LIAM GALLAGHER sees fit to offer out the likes of Damon Blur and George Beatle, he's risking… ooh, you never can tell, really. A ...
Master P: Survival of the Illest
Report and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 27 November 1997
New Orleans' MASTER P builds a hip-hop empire from the underground up ...
The X-Ecutioners: New York's Turntable Wizards the X-Ecutioners Move the DJ Front and Center
Interview by Evelyn McDonnell, Rolling Stone, 27 November 1997
THEY MAY spin records, but don't call the X-Ecutioners DJs. "A DJ will play somebody else's record, say, 'All right, that was this tune,' and ...
Insane Clown Posse: Anarchy In The UK!
Interview by Neil Perry, Kerrang!, 29 November 1997
Straight outta Detroit — the most violent city in America — the INSANE CLOWN POSSE are coming to Britain. Prepare to be drowned in fizzy ...
Texas, Wu-Tang Clan: Beauty and the Beats: Texas meet the Wu-Tang Clan downtown
Report by Steven Daly, The Face, December 1997
It's the pop story of '97, the most unlikely end to a weird year: Texas collaborating with the Wu-Tang Clan. First, a Scottish rock band ...
DJ Shadow: Camel Bobsled Race (Q-Bert Mega Mix) (Mo'Wax/CD/Tape)
Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 December 1997
ALL THIS SCRATCHING'S MAKING ME BITCH! ...
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 December 1997
She writes Number Ones! Makes "wacky" videos! Is, like, totally fly! And MISSY "MISDEMEANOR" ELLIOTT, rap's brightest new talent, has come to save us… ...
Busta Rhymes: Bump'N'Grundies!
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 13 December 1997
Pants! Lewdness! Spinal Tap-esque shenanigans! Yes indeedy, it's rap megastar BUSTA RHYMES giving it his inimitable 'Woo hah!' on a Stateside hip-hop extravaganza. On the ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Condiment-al as Anything
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 December 1997
And you thought Girl Power was a new thang? Oh no, SALT-N-PEPA invented it a decade ago. The Maker catches up with the trio in ...
Special Feature by Craig McLean, The Face, 1998
It spans eight years, three continents and an aborted Fleetwood Mac cover. It features Richard Ashcroft, Thom Yorke and Mike D. How did DJ Shadow ...
De La Soul: Bar Cuba, Macclesfield
Live Review by Rob Chapman, MOJO, 1998
As part of a British mini-tour ahead of an album set for September, America’s most innovative hip hop outfit came to a small, friendly club ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: Vol.2…Hard Knock Life (Roc- A-Fella/Def Jam)
Review by Amy Linden, Vibe, 1998
ALTHOUGH RAPPER Jay-Z may be new to mainstream America, he has been a rising star in the hip hop community for years. ...
Queen Latifah: From Here to Royalty
Interview by Amy Linden, The Source, 1998
Y'all know Lah: She's our number one sister, our Queen for life. Ladies first and all. But y'all cats be wonderin'. Wantin' to know if ...
Gang Starr: The Greatness of Gang Starr
Report and Interview by Amy Linden, unpublished, 1998
IN 1997 EMI Records was in the process of folding, and among the groups who were up for grabs was Gang Starr, a veteran NYC ...
Asian Dub Foundation: Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Live Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, January 1998
FUCK POLITICS, let's dance, yeah? What say we wiggle across the dancefloor, gobble up the chemicals and frug our worries clean away? ...
Essay by James Maycock, The Guardian, January 1998
How & Why Black Rappers Exploit Racial Stereotypes (With references to historical precedents through 20th century) ...
LL Cool J: Tellin' it like it is
Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, January 1998
Million-selling rap king, actor, ladies' man and now a no-holds-barred autobiographer… who in their right minds could resist LL COOL J? ...
Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, January 1998
AT THIS moment she's so far out, floating in her own self-programmed audiogalactic, that no one else in hip hop or R&B can touch her. ...
Roni Size and Reprazent: Collective Consciousness
Report and Interview by David Stubbs, Vox, January 1998
Dust off your bus pass and get down with RONI SIZE and REPRAZENT. There's Bristol beats aplenty, Genghis Khan gets a look in, and skipping ...
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 9 January 1998
Mack 10 Delivers Gangsta Rap With a Smile and a Surprise ...
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 17 January 1998
Politicians hate them, Christians hate them and, since they beat him up, Thom Yorke probably does too. But those bonkers kids in America just love ...
Goldie: Saturnz Return (Ffrr Records)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, February 1998
AFTER YEARS of failing to cultivate any homegrown hip hop talents comparable to the likes of Rakim or the Notorious B.I.G., the infamous noise scientists ...
MC Lyte: Badder Than B-fore (East West 7559 621222)
Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, February 1998
"Ruffneck" girl Lana Moorer gains career time with chunky remix album. ...
Missy Elliott: All Made Up, Ready to Go
Profile and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 1 February 1998
There's no stopping Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott as she shakes up the male-dominated hip-hop world. ...
KRS-One Launches 'Hip-Hop Appreciation Week'
Report by Frank Tortorici, Addicted To Noise, 9 February 1998
Rapper brings rap and music community together to raise awareness. ...
The Beastie Boys, Money Mark: Money Mark: On the money
Interview by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 13 February 1998
There he was, fixing a gate — when along came a Beastie Boy. Tom Cox on the keyboard capers of the man who was nearly ...
Armand Van Helden's Sampleslaya: Enter the Meat Market (Columbia/RuffHouse Records, $15.98) ***
Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 March 1998
Traditional Hip-Hop, East Coast Style ...
Dust Junkys: Done & Dusted (Polydor) **½
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 7 March 1998
ENTER PLANET DUST ...
CappaDonna: The Pillage (Razor Sharp/Epic/All formats)
Comment by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 21 March 1998
THE 'DON IS the raspy-throated Wu-Tang junior partner who provided most of the standout raps on the Clan's disappointing second group album last year. This ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 26 March 1998
A HANDFUL of the best hip-hop records to be produced in the '90s includes TLC's Crazysexycool, D'Angelo's Brown Sugar, Mary J. Blige's My Life and ...
Cappadonna, Wu-Tang Clan: Cappadonna: Wu Who?
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 March 1998
Keep up! It's CAPPADONNA. You know, the latest of the Wu-Tang Clan to keep up the rapid onslaught of solo LPs from that camp. And ...
De La Soul, Puff Daddy, Run-DMC, Wu-Tang Clan: All About the Benjamins
Essay by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 2 April 1998
Hip-hop: The need, not the greed ...
Gang Starr: Moment Of Truth (Cooltempo/All formats)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 11 April 1998
IN HIP-HOP'S world of oversized egos and spiralling sales, few dare to admit weakness. So for veteran New York-based duo Gang Starr to return after ...
Daz Dillinger: Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back (Death Row) ***½
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 16 April 1998
CONFRONTED WITH a seeming domino effect of setbacks — including the murder of Tupac Shakur, the departure of Dr. Dre and the incarceration of CEO ...
Busta Rhymes: The Temple, London
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 18 April 1998
AND WHAT sort of name is 'Busta Rhymes' anyway? Sounds like a character from the Whizzer & Chips comic circa 1978. No, but seriously, the ...
Report by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 30 April 1998
IS ELECTRONICA STILL THE NEXT BIG THING? AT THE WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE, IT'S ALL THAT AND MORE ...
Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, May 1998
Back to skool: Tom Cox pays attention at the back as hip-hop gets a lesson in positivity ...
Dallas Austin, Tricky: Tricky: The Mad Father
Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, May 1998
They used to call him Tricky Kid, now they call him The Boss... He is the overworked businessman with his own label who is to ...
Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998
Take an assorted bunch of like-minded skunk rockers, big beaters and eclectic groovers, ply with brain-curdling tequila'n'ale cocktails, and then put them out LIVE! on ...
Money Mark: Hanover Grand, London
Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998
"MULLET!" YELLS a gobby punter, pointing at the member of Money Mark's band who sports the offending locks. "You've got a mullet!" And so begins ...
Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998
COMPANY FLOW are the future of rap. Their schizoid debut LP, Funcrusher Plus, is the biggest thing yet from Rawkus, arguably the most influential NY ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 May 1998
It's a Cream come true! We join the madness that's CREAMFIELDS in Winchester with Primal Scream! Cornershop! Roni Size! Run DMC! The full bloody monty! ...
Goodie Mob, The Roots: The Roots, Goodie Mob: House of Blues, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 1998
Roots, Goodie Mob Get Back to Basics ...
Tricky: Angels With Dirty Faces (Island)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 23 May 1998
Cherub Thumping! ...
Report by Frank Owen, The Village Voice, 26 May 1998
A CIRCLE CLEARS in the middle of the gloomy basement at Konkrete Jungle and into the arena glides 20-year-old Face, top rocking to the mechanical ...
The Beastie Boys: Adam Yauch on His Spiritual Journey: "I Don't Care If Somebody Makes Fun of Me"
Interview by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 28 May 1998
ALONG WITH his group, the Beastie Boys, Adam Yauch, 33, has grown up in public. Since their days of dodging the local authorities in city ...
Money Mark: Push The Button (Mo'Wax)
Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, June 1998
A QUICK recap: Money Mark used to be a carpenter. One day he was called out to mend the Beastie Boys' gate. They got on ...
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Eazy-E: Ruthless Records: It Ain't Eazy
Report and Interview by RJ Smith, Vibe, June 1998
What would you do if you inherited an infamous rap label with a catalogue of old hits and a fading reputation? Sell it for a ...
Tricky: Angels With Dirty Faces
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 1998
HEROES DON'T last long these days. Partly because the scene is shallow and restless; partly because cynicism is always muttering, "Why do we need heroes ...
Ultramagnetic MCs: Gone — The Essential Guide To Yesterday's Heroes: Ultramagnetic MCs
Retrospective by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 3 June 1998
WHO THEY? Revered underground hip-hop pioneers from the late-'80s, Moe Luv, TR Love, Ced Gee and Kool Keith have long been consigned to the penury ...
Rakim: Ladbroke Grove Subterania, London
Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 6 June 1998
HE CALLS himself "God". ...
Common: Camden Jazz Café, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 13 June 1998
OLD FEUDS die hard. While Common takes great pains to point out his argument with Ice Cube has been settled, it's still with some relish ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Metropole Hotel, Cork
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998
A FEW YEARS back, while the world fell as one for the deftly jazzy, pro-Afro delights of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, ...
Wild Style: Hip Hop Don't Stop
Retrospective by Neil Kulkarni, Uncut, July 1998
Re-released this month after 15 years, WILD STYLE isregarded as the seminal rap movie. Director Charlie Ahearn puts needle to the groove with Neil Kulkarni ...
Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 1998
Slam funkers: sixth release from rap collective once called "the greatest rock'n'roll band on the planet". ...
Tupac Shakur: Afeni Shakur: The Kick Inside
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 July 1998
It is two years since gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur's short life ended in a hail of bullets. Caroline Sullivan talks exclusively to his mother about ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty (Grand Royal)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 July 1998
Sick of introspective rock? Pining for the time when hip-hop was fun? So are the Beastie Boys. Caroline Sullivan fights for her right to party ...
DMX: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (Ruff Ryders/Def Jam) ***
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 9 July 1998
NEW YORK-SPAWNED RAPPER DMX has been priming listeners for his debut for months, reciting scene-stealing stanzas on releases by L.L. Cool J, Ice Cube and ...
Tupac Shakur: Revenge Killing?
Report by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 9 July 1998
Suspect in TUPAC killing shot in Compton ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Straight Out Of The Jungle (Gee Street)
Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 17 July 1998
BROOKLYN'S JUNGLE Brothers release great albums which no one buys and mediocre remixes which sell by the skipfull. ...
Report by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 1998
Rap hasn't merely survived the shocking deaths of hip-hop leaders Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. It's thriving now, thanks to a fresh infusion from today's ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty (Grand Royal/Capitol)
Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, August 1998
Partying rights might not be at the top of their list of priorities these days. So how exactly does a Beastie Boy grow up? ...
DMX: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (Def Jam)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Spin, August 1998
FROM THE jailhouse strut perfected by mush-mouthed Edward G. Robinson in the noir classic Little Caesar to the outlaw personae cultivated by dead hiphop heroes, ...
The Beastie Boys: Style Counselors — The Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty (Grand Royal/Capitol 49S4232)
Review by Tom Doyle, Q, August 1998
Now fighting for Tibet rather than the right to party, America's Most Influential have grown up. ...
UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo Wax)
Review by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, August 1998
New Adventures in Psy-Fi! ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (No Limit)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 1 August 1998
Snoop Dogg Retains His Bite ...
Queen Latifah: Order In The Court (Flavor Unit/Motown)
Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Rolling Stone, 6 August 1998
IN THE four years since Queen Latifah's last album went gold and she won a Grammy, rappers have been getting rich, showing tits and making ...
UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo'Wax)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 22 August 1998
SCI-FI ALLSTARS ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told (No Limit)
Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 29 August 1998
IT'S ONE OF THE most depressing stories in pop music. ...
A Tribe Called Quest: How The Quest Was Gone
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, September 1998
Say it ain't so! A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, one of the most loved and respected hip-hop bands ever, have bitten the dust. Here, they reveal ...
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
Review by Amy Linden, The Source, September 1998
WHAT DOES it say about hip-hop when one of the better hip-hop records of the year contains little actual rapping? Thoughtful, passionate, purposeful and unmistakably ...
The Fugees, Lauryn Hill: Lauryn Hill: Black Magic Woman
Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, September 1998
LAURYN MAY BE BEAUTIFUL. LAURYN MAY BE BRILLIANT. BUT WE LOVE HER. ...
Lauryn Hill: Triumph of the Hill — Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Columbia)
Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, September 1998
With her solo debut, Fugee Lauryn Hill claims a place in the pantheon of R&B greats. ...
UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo'Wax)
Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1998
Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, one of Metallica, a Beastie Boy: all on the same record. Whoo! ...
Review by James Hunter, Rolling Stone, 3 September 1998
PERFECT CHEMISTRY ...
Report by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 September 1998
THE CURRENT economic boom may have transformed large swathes of London's East End, but not Stratford. As the queue for FRESH '98 snakes around the ...
Black Eyed Peas: Behind The Front (Interscope) ****
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
EVERY ONCE in a while, some little sweetie in Hiphopsville receives one too many Valentines and gets all gooey on our asses. People generally think ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
PREHISTORY IN THE MAKING ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
TOKE THAT AND PARTY! ...
Cypress Hill: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 16 September 1998
Beat generation ...
Afrika Islam, Kurtis Blow: Kurtis Blow and Afrika Islam (1998)
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 27 September 1998
The pioneering DJ talks about inspirations like Pete DJ Jones; about being a B-Boy; attending Kool Herc parties; starting out as an MC and the rise of rap... until he gets into a shouting match with Afrika Islam. Beef!
File format: mp3; file size: 25mb, interview length: 27' 18" sound quality: ****
Afrika Bambaataa, Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, The Rock Steady Crew: Kool Lady Blue (1998)
Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 29 September 1998
Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue talks about moving to New York, working for Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood; getting into club promotion, and meeting Afrika Bambaataa and the Rock Steady Crew; going up to the Bronx and the Disco Fever club; starting her night at Club Negril, then moving to the Roxy; the diversity of the scene; hip hop exploding, and Bam and 'Planet Rock'; the importance of the DJs rather than the MCs; taking Trevor Horn up to the Bronx, and the Rock Steady Crew playing the Royal Variety Performance and meeting the Queen!
File format: mp3; file size: 48.1meg, interview length: 50' 06" sound quality: ***
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 30 September 1998
The pioneering DJ drives around the Bronx, pointing out the hip-hop sites while talking about the rec rooms, block parties, B-boys, breaks and everything that went into the form's invention.
File format: mp3; file size: 59mb, interview length: 1h 04' 28" sound quality: ***
A Tribe Called Quest: After The Love Is Gone: A Tribe Called Quest
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Source, October 1998
DRESSED IN A black T-shirt with THE LOVE MOVEMENT emblazoned in silver on the back, baggy jeans, and a blue denim fisherman's cap pulled down ...
DJ Spooky, UNKLE: UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo'Wax/London); DJ Spooky: Riddim Warfare (Outpost)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Vibe, October 1998
IF HOP HOP has (traditionally) functioned as a vehicle for moving butts, then DJ Spooky and DJ Shadow are two wigged-out wallflowers out on its ...
UNKLE: HMV, Oxford Street, London
Live Review by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, October 1998
Back to the Futura! UNKLE may not have mastered playing live yet, but they can still put on a show with a little help from ...
The Cold Crush Brothers' Charlie Chase (1998)
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1 October 1998
From discovering the breaks to the most enthralling stage act in hip hop's first decade, Cold Crush Brothers' Charlie Chase — a rare Hispanic DJ — takes us back to the park jams and the PALs, and the DJs like Bam, Flash and Theodore.
File format: mp3; file size: 54.4mb, interview length: 59' 27" sound quality: ****
Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2 October 1998
The pioneering hip hop DJ talks about his early days, acting as Grandmaster Flash's record boy; playing his first party in 1975 with the L Brothers; inventing needle drops and scratching; the emergence of the rapping MC; the move downtown and out into the wider world, and the pleasures of touring Japan!
File format: mp3; file size: 71.7mb, interview length: 1h 14' 41" sound quality: ****
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2 October 1998
The Winley Records man talks about writing for the Clovers, Ruth Brown and more for Atlantic Records in the '50s; starting his label (and being cursed out by Billie Holiday); hearing rap via his daughters; cutting Afrika Bambaataa's first sides, and putting together the Super Disco Brake's series of breakbeat albums.
File format: mp3; file size: 34mb, interview length: 37' 10" sound quality: ***
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 5 October 1998
From teenage dancing to Grandmaster Flowers in Brooklyn to Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage, via the early days of hip hop, making Wild Style with Charlie Ahearn, bringing uptown DJs to downtown clubs and art galleries — Freddy was there and tells all about it.
File format: mp3; file size: 74.1mb, interview length: 1h 20' 53" sound quality: ****
Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 5 October 1998
Sal Abbatiello, proprietor of the South Bronx club, Disco Fever, tells the tale of the DJs, MCs, hustlers, gangsters and the kids who made it the hottest club in early hip hop: Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and a cast of thousands.
File format: mp3; file size: 43mb, interview length: 46' 59" sound quality: ***
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 6 October 1998
The "Master of Records" tells the story from the first parties in the Bronx River Projects throught to 'Planet Rock' and beyond: Kool Herc and the breaks; gang culture and the Zulu Nation; hip hop's Jamaican roots; Kraftwerk, and Bam's eclecticism; the evolution of the MCs, and the downtown-uptown connection.
File format: mp3; file size: 65.8mb, interview length: 1h 11' 50" sound quality: ****
Cypress Hill: IV (Ruffhouse/Columbia) ***½
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 15 October 1998
LIKE MUCH current literature, hip-hop is obsessed with memoir. That's why the lead track on Cypress Hill's IV is so radical; 'Eye of the Pig' ...
112, Faith Evans, Puff Daddy, Total: Puff Daddy, Faith Evans, 112, Total: Sound Republic, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 19 October 1998
King of the bad boys ...
Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 29 October 1998
MASTER P is hip-hop's man of the year, and then some. It seems hardly a week goes by without a new release from his No ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Paid In Full: Platinum Edition (Island) *****
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 31 October 1998
IN THE LATE EIGHTIES, Eric B & Rakim were, simply, the coolest sonic and lyrical innovators hip hop had ever seen: street-level poets and musical ...
Faith Evans, The Notorious B.I.G.: Faith Evans: Faith healed
Interview by Paul Sexton, The Times, 31 October 1998
The most famous widow in R&B? Not anymore. Faith Evans, singer, mother and survivor, has come to terms with Notorious B.I.G.'s death, is making her ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Face, November 1998
You know him as That Bloke From The Fugees. The one who mutters "One time... two time" on 'Ready Or Not'. The one who isn't Lauryn Hill. ...
Rae & Christian: Northern Sulphuric Soul (Grand Central)
Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, November 1998
Landmark hip hop soul album from underground Manchester pair with guests Jeru the Damaja, the Jungle Brothers, Texas and more ...
4 Hero, Talvin Singh: Talvin Singh: O.K. (Talking Loud/Mercury); 4 Hero: Two Pages (Island)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Vibe, November 1998
Is electronic music turning into the underground equivalent of New Age music? ...
RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: RZA: The Digital Revolution
Interview by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 28 November 1998
One minute RZA's producing the Wu-Tang Clan, the next he's writing as his alter ego Bobby Digital, then he's off to star in the movies. ...
112, Faith Evans, Puff Daddy, Total: Puff Daddy & The Family: Sound Republic, London
Live Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, December 1998
Is this the greatest showman on earth? ...
RZA: The Man With The Microchip Brain
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, Spin, December 1998
Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA makes his first movie: the bizarre sci-fi hip-hop adventure flick, Bobby Digital ...
The Beastie Boys: There's Something about the Beastie Boys
Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Request, December 1998
I CAN STILL REMEMBER the morning, way back in the sweaty London summer of 1983, when three skinny New York wiseasses burst into the New ...
A Tribe Called Quest: The Final Gatherings — A Tribe Called Quest: House of Blues, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 3 December 1998
In its last LA shows, the influential hip-hop trio A Tribe Called Quest injects new life into its hit jams. It's a joyous party — ...
Busta Rhymes: Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front) (Elektra) **½
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 13 December 1998
Content Doesn't Rise to Level of Inventiveness ...
Total: Kima, Keisha & Pam (Bad Boy/Arista)
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 17 December 1998
TOTAL, THE Bad Boy Entertainment girl group promoted as "Puffy's angels," never quite reached gold status with their eponymous 1996 debut. The backlash against Bad ...
DJ Kool Herc: Adventures on the Wheels of Steel: DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of Hip Hop
Book Excerpt by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, 'Last Night a DJ Saved My Life', 1999
Take a Break Face your partner, holding hands. Tap one foot behind the other and bring your feet together again. Repeat with your other foot. (Your ...
Overview by David Bennun, Hot Air, 1999
A LITTLE over two minutes into The Fugees' 1996 hit 'Ready Or Not', the voice of Lauryn Hill is thrown into relief by a brief ...
Eric B. & Rakim, Marley Marl: Marley Marl
Interview by Alex Ogg, unpublished, 1999
Marley Marl talks about his inadvertent "invention" of the drum sample and his involvement in the first Eric B and Rakim record. This was originally ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 1999
1999: the year rap's most potent force joined the rank and file ...
Jay Z: The Life And Times Of Jay-Z: An Interview
Interview by Dan Gennoe, Flipside, 1999
REMIND SHAWN CARTER, aka Jay-Z, that his last long player, Vol.2...Hard Knock Life, which spawned the Annie-sampling single of the same name, sold 5 million ...
Faith Evans: Keep The Faith (Arista/Puff Daddy Records)
Review by Angus Batey, Muzik, January 1999
Notorious BIG's wife and R&B sensation's long-time-coming Puffy-produced second album ...
Review and Interview by Jon Young, Musician, January 1999
YOU PROBABLY think you've got P.M. Dawn figured out. After all, the lush melodies, intricate production, and cosmic sentiments expressed by Prince Be's brooding vocals ...
Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1999
Yo! Apocalypse: It's a mad, bad, Wu-Tang world ...
Timbaland: Tim's Bio – Life from da Bassment (Blackground)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, January 1999
MAYBE YOU'VE heard of the Jamaican tradition of "version" albums: a dozen or so tracks all built on top of the same bass-and-drum undercarriage. Different ...
Redman: Doc's Da Name 2000 (Def Jam)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 January 1999
A PSYCHE AS twisted as Redman's would be hard to find in a psychiatric hospital, let alone on the streets of New Jersey. But here ...
DMX: Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (Def Jam )
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 13 January 1999
It's like, we all got two sides to us, and it depends on what side of the bed you wake up on. That will depend ...
Jay-Z: Volume 2... Hard Knock Life (Northwestside)
Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 16 January 1999
Z TOP! ...
Beat Junkies: The World Famous Beat Junkies Volume 2 (Blackberry/Nu Gruv Alliance)
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 21 January 1999
A DJ scratch album that's a cut above the rest ...
Black Star Liner: Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! (WEA)
Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 29 January 1999
Dave Simpson adores Black Star Liner's mix of Bollywood soundtracks and skyscraping dance beats ...
Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, February 1999
Jay-Z samples the musical Annie, raps about champagne and has just spent five weeks at the top of the American album charts, and he still ...
Timbaland: Wired for Sound: Timbaland
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Request, February 1999
CREDITS: MISSY ELLIOTT'S SUPA DUPA FLY, AALIYAH'S ONE IN A MILLION, HIS OWN TIM'S BIO; LIFE FROM DA BASSMENT ...
Review by Evelyn McDonnell, The Village Voice, 2 February 1999
FOX ON THE RUN ...
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2 February 1999
The NME's NYC correspondent on the rise of hip hop and its impact on the downtown scene; clubs like the Roxy and the Funhouse; the dancefloor movers: Bambaataa, Arthur Baker, Jellybean Benitez and more.
File format: mp3; file size: 48.8mb, interview length: 53' 19" sound quality: ****
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1999
Two techno pioneers prove why they're legends ...
Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 8 February 1999
The real hip hop mother ...
Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 February 1999
When Lauryn Hill played Brixton, it looked like the venue was braced for a riot. But the only rampaging mob was on stage. Caroline Sullivan ...
Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 8 February 1999
Sunsplashed homage to Bob ...
Everlast: Whitey Ford Sings the Blues (Tommy Boy)
Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 10 February 1999
THE CDNOW ALBUM Advisor says that Everlast fans should also shop Billy Joel, the Dave Matthews Band, A Tribe Called Quest, the Beastie Boys, Lauryn ...
Foxy Brown: Myth Master: Foxy Brown: Chyna Doll
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 10 February 1999
The fabrication of Ms. Foxy Brown ...
Everlast: the Neverending's Story
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 13 February 1999
EVERLAST, THE former lead rapper in House Of Pain, has never seemed more humble. The arrogant extrovert on the Irish-American crew's worldwide Number One pop ...
Foxy Brown, Nas: Myth Master: The fabrication of Ms. Foxy Brown
Profile by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 18 February 1999
FOXY BROWN is a chickenhead. ...
Big Daddy Kane: Veteranz Day (Blakjam)
Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 20 February 1999
THOSE WITH CD-ROM capability get an added bonus on Big Daddy Kane's latest comeback effort: the chance to visit 'Kane's Lair', a place of unconvincing ...
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 21 February 1999
TLC Takes Care to Adopt Streamlined Approach ...
The Roots: Apocalypse Now: The Roots
Report and Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, Spin, March 1999
THE ROOTS' new album, Things Fall Apart, bears all the signs of the Big Statement. There are five separate covers, each featuring a disturbing historical ...
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Spin, March 1999
WHAT'S SO satisfying about the new offerings from Prince Paul and the Roots is how cut-off they seem from both indie-rap's 12-inch fetishism and pop-rap's ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, March 1999
USED TO BE, a hiphop love song was something like Rakim's 'Mahogany' or Shallah Raekwon's 'Ice Cream'- tunes celebrating shorties from around the way; hardrocks ...
Prince Paul: The Director's Cut: Prince Paul's Prince Among Thieves
Review by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 2 March 1999
NOBODY IN THE genre today sees more possibility in hip-hop than Prince Paul. I say that in the face of his tour de force A Prince ...
Overview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 2 March 1999
A TRIBE CALLED Quest died for the sins of hip hop in 1998, so the story goes. R.I.P. And roll away the stone. ...
The Roots: House of Blues, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 10 March 1999
A Stripped-Down Hip-Hop Beat ...
The Roots: Things Fall Apart (MCA)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 March 1999
ERUDITE, LITERATE and keenly aware of their surroundings, Philadelphia's the Roots have become an anomaly in hip-hop – even though they arguably stay truest to ...
Profile and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Vibe, April 1999
Having survived the end of his group, a coronary attack, and open-heart surgery, Eric "Everlast" Schrody scores big with a honky-tonk rock 'n' rap record. ...
Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, April 1999
FOLLOWING THE phenomenal success of The Score, in some critics' eyes the time was right for a Fugees backlash. After all, what was so great ...
Lauryn Hill: Soulless Diva: Lauryn Hill
Comment by Everett True, The Stranger, 1 April 1999
I'M NOT DENYING she has looks, and talent, and a silky-smooth voice which can seduce even the most cynical listener. ...
Too $hort: Can't Stay Away (Short Records/Jive) ***
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 1 April 1999
The don of pimped-out hip-hop returns ...
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 7 April 1999
The superstar DJ in wide-ranging discussion about DJ'ing and dance culture, from getting into hip hop and House to stadium tours with U2; the impact of Ecstasy; the performing DJ; remixing, and the techniques behind rocking a dancefloor.
File format: mp3; file size: 52.7mb, interview length: 57' 31" sound quality: ****
Eminem: The Slim Shady LP (Interscope)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 8 April 1999
This Week's big noise — Eminem ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 10 April 1999
20 Minute Party People ...
Ol' Dirty Bastard, Wu-Tang Clan: Ol' Dirty Bastard: America's Most Wanted
Report by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 10 April 1999
Ol' Dirty Bastard's rap sheet pisses on Mark Morrison's. But are the cops really out to get him? Are gangstas gunning for him? Or is ...
Eminem: The Slim Shady LP (Aftermath/Interscope)
Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 17 April 1999
MMM, LET'S TALK about sweeties! M&M's are the grey squirrels of the confectionery world, driving the indigenous British Smartie to the verge of extinction. A ...
Nas: A Dollar A Holler: Nas: I Am
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 28 April 1999
Two sides of Nas' coin ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Sugarhill Gang: Good Boys Of Rap
Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 30 April 1999
Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five And Melle Mel: 'Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel' (Sequel)The Sugarhill Gang: Rapper's Delights (Sequel)Various Artists: Sugarhill Club Classics ...
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Krayzie Bone: Krayzie Bone: Bone Thug, Not Boneheaded
Interview by Marc Weingarten, Vibe, May 1999
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Krayzie Bone isn't all that bananas. Especially when it's time to make moves that make serious dollars and much sense. ...
Missy Elliott: Missy In Action: The Divine Ms. Elliott
Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, May 1999
MISSY "MISDEMEANOR" Elliott is an infamously snappy dresser, so when she emerges from a discreet recess in her LA hotel room wearing nothing more elaborate ...
Roots Manuva: Brand New Second Hand (Big Dada) ****½
Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 1 May 1999
UK HIP HOP is only ever any good when it doesn't try to copy Americans all the time. A prodigious talent like Roots Manuva has ...
The Roots: Astoria, London WC2
Live Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 1 May 1999
YEAH, THE Roots are live hip-hop, but that ain't what makes 'em special. What makes The Roots special is just how good their itchy, firebrand ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 1 May 1999
IMAGINE, IF you will, "The Bible" performed in rhyme by young men in baseball hats. Breakdancing. It would have gone something like this. ...
Melky Sedeck, The Roots: The Roots, Melky Sedeck: Astoria, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
R&B. WE HATE that schmaltzy shit, don't we? Well, no, not when it's as sassy and spiritually uplifting as Melky Sedeck. ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Tupac Shakur: Suge Knight Linked to Notorious B.I.G. Murder
Report by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1999
LOS ANGELES homicide detectives have reportedly identified jailed Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight as a prime suspect in the murder of rap star Notorious ...
Company Flow, Mos Def: Rawkus Records: The young rap rebels
Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 28 May 1999
Rupert Murdoch funds underground hip-hop? As Rawkus Records know, it's strange but true. ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Allez G!: Snoop Dogg: Top Dogg (Virgin)
Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 29 May 1999
WHEN SNOOP DOGG released his Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told album last autumn, more than just the Doggy part of ...
Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, June 1999
Dr Dre-sponsored whiteboy rapper behaves like a git and sells millions of US albums ...
Live Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, June 1999
New York State of Rhyme ...
Lauryn Hill: Theatre at Madison Square Garden, NY
Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, June 1999
DID SOMEONE say breakout hit? Anyone who doubts the massive crossover impact of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill need only cast an eye across the ...
Special Feature by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, June 1999
Her father threatened her with guns, her teachers graded her bottom of the class and the music industry told her she'd never make it. Then ...
Lauryn Hill: Evening News Arena, Manchester
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 12 June 1999
EX OFFENDER ...
The Fugees, Lauryn Hill: Miss Education: Lauryn Hill
Interview by Simon Witter, The Times, 19 June 1999
With five Grammies on her mantelpiece, two children and a charity to her name, singer Lauryn Hill has achieved an awful lot at the tender ...
Missy Elliott: Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott: Da Real World (Gold Mind/EastWest)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 1999
JUST TWO albums into her solo career, Missy Elliott understands all too well that trying to keep one step ahead of the Zeitgeist isn't easy. ...
Heavy D. & the Boyz: Heavy D: There's Something About Heavy
Interview by Amy Linden, The Source, July 1999
WHEN HEAVY D was just a kid, when he was Dwight Myers, the youngest of six children in a Jamaican immigrant family, he used to ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 8 July 1999
Whither the Wu? For now, the Wu-Tang Clan's past is more exciting than its present ...
GZA/Genius: Beneath The Surface (MCA)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 17 July 1999
YOU'VE BEEN WU-TANGOED ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 24 July 1999
Once he was undisputed heavyweight champion of the rap universe, booming apocalyptic conspiracy theories from some of the most earth-shattering hip-hop albums of the last ...
Tim Westwood: White Lies, Black Truth
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 July 1999
A FRIEND OF mine was at the Notting Hill carnival a couple of years ago, and happened to catch Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood in ...
The Beastie Boys: Illin' Communication: The Beastie Boys and the Net
Interview by Jason Gross, Yahoo! Internet Life, August 1999
SEEMS LIKE A long strange trip for a band that started as a hardcore unit in 1980 to become a bestselling rap trio for a ...
Kool Keith: The Man Of 1000 Masks
Profile and Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, August 1999
WHEN HE'S NOT RAPPING ABOUT ALIEN AUTOPSIES AND FUNKY GYNECOLOGISTS, KOOL KEITH IS COMING UP WITH THE STRANGEST PERSONAS THIS SIDE OF PLANET JUPITER. HOW ...
Missy Elliott, Timbaland: Timbaland and Missy Elliott: Partners in the Engine Room of Rap
Comment by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 1 August 1999
POP-MUSIC history tends to focus on glamorous vocalists and visionary songwriters, but the evolution of black pop is another story: it's as much about changes ...
Limp Bizkit: Send Porn Stars, Funk and Money: The Limp Bizkit Story
Report and Interview by Steven Daly, Rolling Stone, 5 August 1999
"WHO WANTS to speak to me?" Fred Durst regards his cell phone with suspicion. "Adam Sandler?" The Limp Bizkit leader has been chatting with producer ...
Mark Morrison: How to beat a bad rap
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 August 1999
The baddest boy in pop is out of jail. But behind Mark Morrison's hard facade Caroline Sullivan finds a big pussycat who wants nothing more ...
Roots Manuva: The Venue, London ****
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 August 1999
YOU COULD probably write the history of British hip-hop in this space. The problem is less a dearth of homegrown talent than a lack of ...
Puff Daddy's New CD, Forever, Means A Chance For Promotion
Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 24 August 1999
THE SWITCH is flipped and the thin figure dressed in white, wearing a cap and dark glasses, sporting thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry and ...
Puff Daddy: Bentley Rhythm Not So Ace: Puff Daddy: Forever (Arista)
Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 28 August 1999
HIS DAD was a hustler, his mother a model, he went to private school and he drives a Bentley convertible. If he were British, Sean ...
The Sugarhill Gang: The Jazz Cafe, London **
Live Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 28 August 1999
Caught in a rap trap ...
Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 1 September 1999
The first thing I asked him to do was get me a tape from the studio. He came back with it in five minutes. The ...
Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 4 September 1999
THE SCOUSE THAT JAXX THRILLED ...
Mobb Deep: Murda Muzik (Loud/Epic)
Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 11 September 1999
IN QUEENSBRIDGE, NYC, when someone gets shot, they generally don't get up. Your homey isn't out drinking 40s and smoking blunts; he's laying on a ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 October 1999
LIVE HIP-hop is such a rare occurrence it's almost a duty to disregard the actual quality. However, Gang Starr don't need any excuses made for ...
Kid Rock: At Last! Could Kid Rock Be The Saviour Of Rock? Oops. Sorry.
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 9 October 1999
"HEY, SCATLAND! R U ready for some medal!? How many of you guyz are gonna getta 'shag' tonite!?" ...
Puff Daddy: It Isn't Easy Being a Superman
Comment by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 10 October 1999
A FEW SONGS into Forever, the recently released second album by the rapper-producer-entrepreneur Puff Daddy, there is a skit about people phoning the Player-Haters Anonymous ...
Wyclef Jean: House of Blues, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 18 October 1999
Wyclef Jeans Moves Keep 'em Guessing ...
Handsome Boy Modeling School: So… How's Your Girls?
Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 27 October 1999
AFTER A SOLILOQUY whose family shtick might be parodying a Wu-Tang kung fu sample, the opening track's bodacious soul-funk groove kicks under a jump-cut montage ...
Spearhead: Jazz Café, Camden, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 30 October 1999
...
Ol' Dirty Bastard: Nigga Please (Elektra)
Review by RJ Smith, Spin, November 1999
THE TRUE opener of this dazzling, daffy album gets buried near the end. Nigga Please should have begun with his mocking yet eerily touching cover ...
Public Enemy: Pride & Prejudice
Retrospective and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 1999
A TRIPLE X PRODUCTION STARRING CHUCK D, FLAVOR FLAV, PROFESSOR GRIFF AND THE PUBLIC ENEMY POSSE IN AN EPIC ROMANCE OE MAYHEM, OUTRAGE AND CULTURAL ...
Tommy Lee, Methods of Mayhem: Methods of Mayhem: Tommy Lee's Second Coming
Report and Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, Rolling Stone, 11 November 1999
Ex-Crüe drummer out of jail and back on the radio ...
Mos Def: Black on Both Sides (Rawkus)
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 11 November 1999
The star of Black Star takes a positive-minded, versatile solo turn ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 14 November 1999
Sloppy and unpopular. That's trailer trash for you ...
Coldcut: Shepherds Bush Empire, London ***
Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 17 November 1999
Ramraiders of the past ...
Mos Def: Black On Both Sides (Rawkus)
Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 20 November 1999
DESPITE HIP-HOP being commercially and creatively stronger than ever, the political content of rap is at an all-time low. ...
Eminem: The Magic Cuss: Eminem: Academy, Manchster
Live Review by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 20 November 1999
"YOU ALL KNOW Dr Dre is one of the greatest MOTHERF—IN' producers in hip-hop, right?" asks the DJ warming up the crowd before the first ...
Dr. Dre: Still D.R.E.: Dr Dre: 2001
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 24 November 1999
WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED defines the all-American midlife crisis as a period of psychological stress occurring in middle age, thought to be triggered by a physical, occupational ...
Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1999
High above central London, Jockey Slut assembled an illustrious panel to debate, Mercury Prize-style, the album of the year in the plush environs of Home's ...
Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, December 1999
Life is sweet for multi-platinum rap star Eminem, the doting dad who plays a murderous rapist from the white-trash dung hill. The world is his ...
Layo & Bushwacka!: Lowlife's Come...
Profile and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, December 1999
LAYO & BUSHWACKA HAVE MADE AN ALBUM AS TASTY AS FOOD AT THE END'S AKA RESTAURANT. EMMA WARREN CHOWS DOWN WITH THEM ON SOME SUBTERRAIN ...
A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip: Q-Tip: Amplified (Arista)/A Tribe Called Quest: The Anthology (Jive)
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 15 December 1999
THE GREATEST AESTHETIC lesson to learn from past masters like David Bowie and Madonna is the value of reinvention. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 December 1999
Stiff competition: Caroline Sullivan checks out the latest from two late rappers ...
Artful Dodger (2000s), Craig David: Craig David
Interview by Dan Gennoe, Front, 2000
With The Artful Dodger and a cry of "Re-e-wind, the crowd say bo selecta!" Craig David boinked his way up the Christmas charts. Only God, ...
Profile and Interview by David Bennun, Heat, 2000
"GOD SENT ME," Eminem once proclaimed, "to piss the world off." ...
Lil' Kim: The Notorious K.I.M.
Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 2000
MS. KIMBERLY "Lil' Kim" Jones, here's your most telling lyric: "You can never be me. You can only resemble." ...
Canibus, LL Cool J, Wyclef Jean: LL Cool J, Canibus and Wyclef Jean: The '4,3,2,1' Beef
Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2000
WHEN CANIBUS recorded a verse for LL Cool J's '4,3,2,1' in 1997, he can hardly have realised what was about to unfold. ...
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2000
"I ALWAYS like the idea of people getting together, like The Power Station, the Travelling Wilburys, groups like that," says Raphael Saadiq in all earnestness. ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, 2000
Ron Isley, Ginuwine and Mobb Deep assist Queensbridge rapper's fourth outing. ...
Review by Amy Linden, XXL, 2000
ECLECTICISM IS NOT usually associated with hip hop. Most artists, especially those who sell, want to maintain their base, yet in an effort to keep ...
Sleeve notes by Carol Cooper, 'Hip Hop Fever' (Warlock Records), 2000
NOBODY'S TRYING to say that Disco Fever was the only important hip-hop club. But for various reasons, the Fever is still remembered as the most ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: The Sounds Of Science
Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2000
Extensive compilation of their greatest hits, finest moments and rarities ...
Prince Paul: Eight reasons why Prince Paul rocks
Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, January 2000
1. Not content with merely putting skits on hip-hop albums, he invented the hip-hop skit as album. ...
Goodie Mob: World Party (Laface/Orista)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, January 2000
WHEN A BAND with something to say wants to communicate to the largest number of people, it generally resorts to what's known as "sweetening the ...
Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, January 2000
WHAT DOES IT say that the guy who led last year's pimp-rock pack was the son of a car dealer and a homemaker, a neat ...
Tupac Shakur: Life and Death in South Central LA
Book Excerpt by William Shaw, The Observer, 9 January 2000
South Central Los Angeles is notorious both for its violent gang warfare and for the gangsta rap that celebrates it, yet the media rarely ventures ...
Profile by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 10 January 2000
What follows is extraneous: outtakes and stray threads from my DMX feature in the new GQ. The dictates of celebrity profiles — establishing scene, nut ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Word According to B.I.G.: Notorious B.I.G.: Born Again
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 12 January 2000
AND SO WAS WRITTEN the MC genealogy of the late Notorious B.I.G.: Grandmaster Caz was the father of Grandmaster Melle Mel, Grandmaster Melle Mel the ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 19 January 2000
THIS ISN'T A generation-gap piece, really. I ain't even 30. But a lot of folks ain't authentically feeling Rakim Allah; they just takin' the "experts' ...
Mos Def: Are You Def Or Somefink?
Interview by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 20 January 2000
Er, yes, actually. Mos Def, Brooklyn rapper, dontcha know… ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: New Allegations Link Suge Knight to Murder of the Notorious B.I.G.
Report by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 20 January 2000
DEATH ROW RECORDS HEAD Marion "Suge" Knight, currently serving time for a parole violation at California's Mule Creek State Prison, has again been named as ...
Q-Tip: Quality Control: Q-Tip: Amplified (Arista) ****
Review by Ian Gittins, Q, February 2000
No slacking then from implausibly busy NY rapper. ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Wuclear Fission: A Nutcase and a Point Guard Rise Above Wu-Tang’s Solo Overkill
Overview by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 16 February 2000
THE STUPIDEST, greatest, lovingest, most problematic-yet-simple moment in pop last year was a guy not content to be called Ol' Dirty Bastard letting it all ...
Kid Koala: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Ninja Tune)
Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 23 February 2000
LISTENING TO Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, it's possible to imagine that generations of musical progress have brought us back to the dawn of jazz, that through ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: 2Pac & Outlawz: Still I Rise; Notorious B.I.G.: Born Again
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2000
NO REST for the wicked – more posthumous releases from the slain linchpins of East and West Coast gangsta rap. ...
DMX, Eve: Family Values in the Rap Business: Ruff Ryders, Cash Money and co.
Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 12 March 2000
WHEN THE RAPPER DMX accepted a trophy for best R&B album at the Billboard Music Awards last year, he took the stage flanked by a ...
Cypress Hill: Astoria, London ****
Live Review by Keith Cameron, The Guardian, 28 March 2000
THE ONGOING debate about the decriminalisation of cannabis seems redundant when a substantial proportion of the 1,800 people shoehorned into the Astoria have voted with ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: Something For The Weekend, Sir?
Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, April 2000
"How about freedom?" wonders rap nabob Jay-Z, on bail pending trial for a near-fatal stabbing and facing a possible 22-year jail term. Some distraction from ...
Kelis: The Harlem Hurricane Blows Up A Storm
Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2000
IT'S SCARILY early on a Monday morning and she says she's as out of it as I am ("I love the night, it just seems ...
Kelis: The 'I Hate You So Much Right Now' Woman: Kelis
Report and Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, April 2000
STRIDING PURPOSEFULLY down one of the seamiest streets in Soho, 20-year-old Kelis (pronounced kuh-leece) Rogers is a day-glo Amazon. ...
Common: Like Water For Chocolate
Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 6 April 2000
IT WEREN'T ALWAYS multiple Wu-pseudonyms and verbose flights of mystical lyrical fantasy down hip-hop's way. Back in the day, rappers wove their rhymes from the ...
Eminem: "Let's Get Raping You!"
Interview by Sylvia Patterson, New Musical Express, 22 April 2000
Yup, no need to worry about Eminem going "soft", he's as angry and fucked up as ever — threatening to rape NME, railing against boy/girl ...
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: BTNHResurrection
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Rolling Stone, 27 April 2000
CLEVELAND NATIVES Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have embodied the Nineties hip-hop ethos: Establish your street cred, and take your hardcore pop. ...
DMX, Jay Z, Juvenile, The Lox: Jay-Z, DMX, Juvenile and The Lox Albums
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2000
Huge over there, ignored over here – the state of the rap art, US-style: Jay-Z: Volume 3...Life And Times Of S Carter; ...
Lil' Kim Is The Baddest Girl Alive
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, May 2000
NEW YORK CITY'S Central Park South is a mixture of dyed-in-the-wool, Waspy Manhattan mega bucks and the glitz of the nouveau notorious. Side by side ...
Macy Gray, Mos Def: Macy Gray/Mos Def: Roseland Ballroom, New York City
Live Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Spin, May 2000
IF THERE WAS ever any doubt, the huge plaque onstage honoring the gold status of Mos Def's Black on Both Sides made it clear: The ...
Book Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, May 2000
HIP HOP NEEDS its users' manuals. How many of the millions who bought their in-vogue Fugees CD, say, could untangle the dialectic that daisychains together ...
Wu-Tang Clan is Sumthing ta Fuck Wit
Report by Frank Owen, The Village Voice, 23 May 2000
The world-famous Staten Island hip-hop collective has a government informer working within its ranks; at the same time, the group is being investigated by the ...
Public Enemy: New Trinity, Bristol
Live Review by Keith Cameron, The Guardian, 29 May 2000
THOUGH THEY NO longer dominate hip hop as they did 10 years ago, it's worth remembering that, before Public Enemy, rap was not an instinctively ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, URB, June 2000
FOR LEGENDARY MC, Divine Styler, music is recorded mindstate. The modulated wail of the muezzin that initiates Word Power 2: Directrix, his opus dei, is ...
Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, June 2000
ANYONE DISILLUSIONED with rap should cock an ear to the sounds leaking out from under the bunker doors of Brooklyn's Wordsound collective. The Crooklyn crew ...
J Dilla, Slum Village: Slum Village: Fantastic Volume II (Wordplay/Source)
Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, June 2000
THE DEBUT album from Slum Village (aka Detroit trio Jay Dee, Baatin and TB) has had a three-year delivery, protracted by label mergers and unexplained ...
Cypress Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 23 June 2000
CYPRESS HILL'S 1993 breakthrough Black Sunday straddled every hip-hop fault line. Racially, Italian-American rapper B-Real joined Latinos DJ Muggs and Sen-Dog in a traditionally black-American ...
Tupac Shakur: Jailhouse Rap: An Exclusive Conversation With Suge Knight
Interview by Roy Trakin, Hits, 19 July 2000
MULE CREEK State Prison is the fourth jail rap entrepreneur Marion "Suge" Knight has been locked up in since he was given a nine-year sentence ...
Jurassic 5: Quality Control (Interscope)
Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 19 July 2000
"IN THE sixties we believed in a myth – that music had the power to change people's lives," Stanley Booth writes in the afterword to ...
De La Soul: Spotlight: De La Soul
Report and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 21 July 2000
"WE REALLY don't have a fear of that 'out of sight, out of mind' thing," insists De La Soul's Dave (David Joliceur). ...
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 29 July 2000
Sit down, De La Soul want to tell you the greatest hip-hop story ever told… ...
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (Aftermath/Interscope) *****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Select, August 2000
Liberal-baiting rap superstar returns with autobiographical outing, officially the second fastest-selling album ever. ...
Foxy Brown: Ill Na Na (Def Jam) ***
Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, August 2000
First Lady of glam gangsta rap's 1996 album. ...
Retrospective by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, August 2000
TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR seemed to consider himself immortal, and there are certainly many who still refuse to believe the 25-year-old rapper died after a Las ...
Wu-Tang Clan Take L.A. On New Album
Interview by Marc Weingarten, Rolling Stone, 4 August 2000
In the studio with the Wu-Tang Clan ...
Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dogg: Suge Knight: Death Wish
Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 5 August 2000
His rise and his fall has been a story of violence, pig-headed machismo and ruthless determination. Currently biding his time in jail, Death Row boss ...
Report and Interview by RJ Smith, The New York Times, 6 August 2000
As entertainment entrepreneurs align the fantasy lands of rap, rock, wrestling and pornography, a generation of fans grows ever more brutish. ...
Special Feature by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 12 August 2000
Y2K has been something of an annus horribilis for Eminem (discounting the ten million album sales, that is). Faced with a lawsuit from his mum, ...
Nelly, Papa Roach: Nelly: Country Grammar; Papa Roach: Infest
Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 30 August 2000
LOOKING PAST Eminem, Britney, and Creed to the unknowns, this summer's most persistent chart-huggers have been a St. Louis rapper whose signing represents a rock ...
De La Soul: Art Official Intelligence (Mosaic Thump)
Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, September 2000
NO ONE who saw the packed, mostly young, black crowd reveling in the house party atmosphere of De La Soul's last UK gig in 1997 ...
The Clash, King Tubby, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry: Reggae: Back to the Roots
Essay by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, September 2000
According to the remixologists' gospel, the dub virus was so successful, it took out the word and eradicated its reggae song hosts. Simon Reynolds rediscovers ...
The Last Poets: Progenitors of Rap
Retrospective and Interview by David Dalton, Gadfly, September 2000
Perhaps it was the Vietnam War dragging on, nightly television footage of bombed villages, body bags and helicopters dropping flaming glue on Vietnamese farmers or ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 9 September 2000
Word up homie, knowwhatI'msayin'? Tim Westwood may talk like a herbert, but his contribution to hip-hop is unsurpassed on this side of the Atlanic. Now ...
Wyclef Jean: The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book (Columbia)
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 20 September 2000
EVER HAVE A bright idea, a 1000-watt bulb so blazin that it inevitably slides into the collective consciousness of pop culture? Even if the brainstorm ...
Dilated Peoples: 'Hip-Hop Culture Has Suffered. We Want To Reverse That'
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 4 October 2000
IT'S NOT JUST PUNK AND METAL THAT ARE KICKING OFF STATESIDE — SO IS HIP-HOP AS DILATED PEOPLES TELL US ...
Guru: Goodbye to all that Jazz: Guru's Jazzmatazz
Report and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 October 2000
LATE LAST YEAR Guru, the rapper from Gang Starr, compiled a wish-list of artists he wanted to work with on his upcoming Jazzmatazz album. ...
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 22 October 2000
'RINSE IT OUT for us, mate!' The bag being handed over in the foyer of this small but bustling recording studio is not full of ...
Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Xzibit: Eminem Takes The Bizkit!
Report by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 28 October 2000
What happens when America's two biggest antiheroes share the same stage? Join NME at Anger Management, the climactic enormodome showdown between Eminem and Limp Bizkit. ...
The Incredible Bongo Band: Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, November 2000
THE AVUNCULAR 56-year-old American sat in a suite in London's Dorchester Hotel doesn't immediately strike you as a rock'n'roll type, but Michael Viner has quite ...
Eminem, Outkast, Wu-Tang Clan: The Way They Are: Eminem and Friends
Review by Cleothus Hardcastle, Rock's Backpages, December 2000
HIP HOP, you don’t stop. Whatever it is that this hybrid of street poetics and processed beats represents for modern culture, it ain’t going away. ...
OutKast: This week's best new band is… Outkast
Profile and Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 6 December 2000
INCENDIARY HIP-HOP MISCHIEF ...
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 16 December 2000
Straight outta Compton, Dr. Dre shaped the future of gangsta rap with NWA and lived to tell the tale. Now, the man responsible for giving ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, 20 December 2000
YOUR MOUTH IS contorted into a G. Dubya-worthy smirk. Your mind is flooded with the sights and scents of your adolescence: your senior prom, that ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Snoop Dogg: The Workaholik
Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, Revolver, Winter 2000
Snoop finds time for big business, Doggystyle ...
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Fader, Spring 2000
MOS DEF is missing the Grammys. Holed up for the past two hours in studio one of the Rocket Rehearsal Studios, and unassuming red-brick building ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
David Mr Mix Hobbs; Chris Fresh Kid-Ice Won Wong; Brother Marquis Ross; Luther Campbell ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
Speech, b. Todd Thomas, 25 October 1968, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; DJ Headliner, b. Timothy Barnwell, 26 July 1967, New Jersey; Montsho Eshe, b. Temelca Gaither, ...
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2001
FROM THE drivers' seat of his black GMC jeep, Kool G Rap stares intently at the police car. Despite the air conditioning being turned up ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
Jill Cunniff, b. 1968, New York, USA; Gabby Glaser, b. 1968, New York; Kate Schellenbach, b. 1967, New York; Vivian Trimble, b. New York ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Stanley Burrell, 30 March 1962, Oakland, California, USA ...
Missy Elliott: Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Melissa Elliott, 1 July 1972, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Dana Owens, 18 March 1970, Newark, New Jersey, USA ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. 1966, Harlem, New York City, USA ...
Nikki Giovanni: Whaddya Mean You've Never Heard Of… Nikki Giovanni?
Retrospective by James Maycock, MOJO, 2001
IN THE CRAZY, HEADY DAYS of the Black Power era, Nikki Giovanni was one of the few female voices to offset the rampant machismo of ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. 25 September 1968, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Can't Go to Sleep
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, January 2001
WHAT THE HELL is going on with hiphop right about now? Rap's most popular, most talented MC â€" at one point in the running to ...
Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 6 January 2001
They claim to be outsiders, but psychedelic southern playas Big Boi and Dre are already two million LPs ahead of the rap competition. ...
Common: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 13 January 2001
HEADY ON A diet of wigga-impressing gangsta-rap and wall-to-wall Eminem, some critics have a tendency to write off Chicago's master of the 'conscious' rhyme as ...
Lil Wayne: Lights Out (Cash Money Records) ***½
Review by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone Online, 1 February 2001
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD LIL' WAYNE, one of B.G.'s fellow Hot Boys (along with Juvenile and Young Turk), has followed up his blinging '99 debut, Tha Block Is ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 2 February 2001
IT WAS easy to spot the Papa Roach fans striding through Soho. They travelled in packs — mainly males, but with the odd tomboy babe ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 2 February 2001
Teddy Thompson has inherited his dad's folk flair, says Lisa Verrico ...
Eminem: Love, Hate And The Only Important Pop Star Left
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 9 February 2001
Eminem: Evening News Arena, Manchester ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 9 February 2001
EMINEM'S REPUTATION as world's number one bad boy rapper precedes him. Amid scenes reminiscent of the Sex Pistols, his records have been banned by student ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 February 2001
Lina's delicious smoky big band sound ...
Heshima: Do the Harlesden Shuffle
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Evening Standard, 16 February 2001
NW10 is a patch of London that suffers a reputation for drugs and violence — a "murder hotspot" according to the Met. But Harlesden has ...
Eminem: It's Rock 'N' Roll, Stupid!
Comment by David Dalton, Gadfly, 22 February 2001
I KNOW NOW I really have turned into my parents. Did I really spend three hours watching this dopey, homogenized, pre-packaged pap? Dear Lord, I ...
Fun Lovin' Criminals: Loco (Chrysalis)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 February 2001
Felonious funk: Caroline Sullivan enjoys the wiseguy Lotharios of New York ...
Comment by Amy Linden, Honey, March 2001
IT WAS A seminal moment — as if life had just been discovered on Mars. The world's biggest boy band was on BET's 106 & ...
Film/DVD/TV Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2001
IN WHICH THE meanest mf-ers in contemporary hip hop, now wallowing in a gargantuan trough of dollars, give themselves 10 times more than enough rope, ...
Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 20 March 2001
One of the first to spin the same record on two turntables, Pete DJ Jones roamed the five boroughs with his mobile set up from 1970. Here he talks about (and plays!) the records; his influence on Grandmaster Flash and the early hip-hoppers and his MCs like Lovebug Starski.
File format: mp3; file size: 61.4mb, interview length: 1h 07' 01" sound quality: *****
Eminem: The London Arena, Docklands
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2001
FOR A FEW days there, between Internet babies and new genetic codes, Eminem's UK tour made him the leading media talking-point. ...
Outkast's André Benjamin (2001)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, April 2001
The flamboyant Mr Benjamin on Stankonia, the influence of Brit dance music, meeting Big Boi, early influences and much more.
File format: mp3; file size: 31.8mb, interview length: 34' 43" sound quality: * (phoner)
Trick Daddy: Trouble in Motion
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, April 2001
On the run from the ghetto vices of hard drugs, fast women and sheisty po-po, Trick Daddy sees peace at the finish line. But is ...
Black Eyed Peas: Mean Fiddler, London WC2
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 April 2001
NOW THAT hip-hop is a global lingua franca, anyone with the slimmest of credentials can lay claim to authenticity. ...
Outkast: Partners in Rhyme: OutKast
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 May 2001
One of them is a blonde-wigged, teetotal vegetarian who reads Pushkin. The other breeds pitbulls in his spare time. Together they have been called the ...
Tupac Shakur: 2Pac: Until The End Of Time; Various Artists: Death Row Records — Greatest Hits
Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2001
Flawed flashbacks to a turbulent chapter in hip hop history ...
Ice-T: Iceberg Slim: The Best-Selling Pimp Remembered By His Widow
Retrospective and Interview by James Maycock, Pride, June 2001
"YOU SEE, pimping's big business," growled an experienced pimp to Goldie, his aspiring protégé in the classic 1970's film, The Mack. Concluding his informal lecture, the ...
Missy Elliott: Miss E... So Addictive (The Gold Mind Inc/Elektra 7559626392)
Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, June 2001
Ian Penman gets out of his head on Miss E ...
Ludacris, OutKast: OutKast/Ludacris: The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York
Live Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, June 2001
REMEMBER WHEN hip-hop shows were sloppy mishmashes of mistimed records and ten people bellowing at once? ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, June 2001
IN A RECENT diatribe, American theorist Joe Carducci blamed digital studio techniques for extinguishing rock's vital spark. And he lambasted contemporary black music, "an 'R&B' ...
Outkast: Pretty In Pink: OutKast: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York *****
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2001
The future of hip hop looks rosy ...
Missy Elliott: Rhymes & Misdemeanours: Missy Elliott Gets Her Freak On
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, July 2001
The expression "It takes a village to raise a child" has quickly morphed from sage African proverb to the Have a Nice Day of social ...
Lil' Kim: Hello Nasty: Lil' Kim: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 July 2001
THERE'S SUCH A thing as hip-hop time. It doesn't generally apply to gigs, more to long-suffering journalists kept waiting for hours on end for an ...
Wyclef Jean: Brixton Academy, London **
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 10 July 2001
...
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Chicago Tribune, 22 July 2001
TO UNDERSTAND WHY the Roots are the world's best live-on-stage hip-hop act, you have to look past the front line of rappers and check out ...
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Music From the Motion Picture)
Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, August 2001
THIS SOUNDTRACK arrives from a country that doesn't exist (or maybe it's just called Britain). ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2001
Hot from the States: hip hop meets electronica ...
N.E.R.D.: Mojo Rising: N*E*R*D
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, August 2001
Rap and R&B excellence under the sway of moonwalking foxes and crazy Bonnie Raitt. ...
Interview by Angus Batey, Dazed & Confused, August 2001
SAUL WILLIAMS runs his hand through his dreadlocked mane and grins. Fighting off a heavy cold a few hours before his first UK headline show, ...
N.E.R.D.: The Search Is Over: N*E*R*D
Report and Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, August 2001
THEIR NAMES MIGHT not be familiar, but you'll know Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo by the sounds they make. As multi-million selling production team the ...
Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001
Trip hop supremo Adrian Thawes returns, restored to health, and helped by guests Cyndi Lauper and Red Hot Chili Peppers ...
Missy Elliott: Missy in Action: Missy Elliott
Profile and Interview by Ted Kessler, Observer Music Monthly, 5 August 2001
As a child, Missy Elliott sent daily letters and tapes to her heroes Michael and Janet Jackson, asking them to save her from abuse and ...
Pop Quiz: What does the new Top Ten list mean?
Comment by Nick Hornby, The New Yorker, 20 August 2001
IN 1973, FOR AN ESSAY published in The New York Review of Books, Gore Vidal read his way through the Times best-seller list in an ...
RZA: The RZA: Subterania, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 26 August 2001
AT SUBTERANIA, a man in a scruffy striped shirt, steel-rimmed specs and a battered fishing hat slouches onstage, half boho/half hobo, swigging a bottle of ...
Blade, Roots Manuva: The home boys: Roots Manuva and the UK posse
Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 September 2001
Who needs Eminem and P Diddy when we've got perfectly good British rappers? Dave Simpson talks to Roots Manuva and the UK posse ...
Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Suge Knight: Knight's Tale
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 15 September 2001
INCARCERATION, CORRUPT LA COPS, FEUDS WITH DRE AND SNOOP, DEATH ROW RECORDS, GOD AND POLITICS: THE GODFATHER OF GANGSTA RAP SUGE KNIGHT IS OUT OF ...
Book Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 18 September 2001
YOU HAD TO BE THERE to understand that the book has yet to be written encompassing all the sheer intensity of suspenseful events, mesmerizing mise-en-scène, ...
Princess Superstar: Queen Bitch
Interview by Lulu Le Vay, Jockey Slut, October 2001
From dork to doe-eyed sex kitten, Princess Superstar has seen the lot ...
Cannibal Ox: The Anti-Bling Kings: Cannibal Ox
Profile by Simon Reynolds, The Village Voice, 2 October 2001
Wormholed futurism with a mouthful of parables ...
Cornel West: Go See The Doctor: Cornel West's Sketches of My Culture
Review by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 16 October 2001
CORNEL WEST'S Sketches of My Culture is probably the first hip-hop record by a Harvard professor. I demand that academia reciprocate and immediately put Ol' Dirty Bastard ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York NY
Live Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 8 November 2001
Jay-Z Hustles ...
So Solid Crew: Ghetto Blasters: So Solid Crew
Profile and Interview by Andrew Smith, Observer Music Monthly, 25 November 2001
SHOTS RANG OUT and a man collapsed in a heap near the dance floor. Another lay slumped, bleeding profusely, in a doorway near the toilet. ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2001
Sixth album from Brooklyn rap don ...
Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 2001
Out of the garage and onto The Streets. Watch out, this boy makes bangers… ...
Kid Rock: Like a Motown Cowboy
Comment by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 18 December 2001
TWO GUYS MARCH into the Victor Recording Company office one summer day in 1922, mad flossing all the way: one dressed like a cowboy, the ...
Sylvia Robinson, The Sugarhill Gang: Sugar Hill Records: Here's To You, Mrs Robinson
Retrospective by Angus Batey, Mojo Collections, Winter 2001
She took Motown as her blueprint and signed the first all-female rap group. But, as Angus Batey discovers, Sylvia Robinson and the Sugarhill mob spent ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Michael Franti, Spearhead: A Q&A With Michael Franti
Interview by Stevie Chick, unpublished, Spring 2001
MICHAEL FRANTI has been one of the most consistently insightful, incisive, and intelligent voices in politicised pop music for almost 15 years now. ...
Eminem: Trailer Made: Eminem B-Side Buyer's Guide
Guide by Dorian Lynskey, Mojo Collections, Summer 2001
Eminem was just another basement hip hop hopeful, then he had an exceedingly profitable trip to the loo. Dorian Lynskey plots a wax history. ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002
MOBO winner and friend of the Wu Tang raises Brit-hop's game. ...
Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2002
BUSTA RHYMES has a heavy cold and a brutal schedule, and he's already running three hours late. ...
CeeLo Green: Cee Lo Green: Cee Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002
Goodie Mob star scores another homerun for the Atlanta hip hop massive ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The True Life Adventures Of Flash
Sleeve notes by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Nuphonic Records, 2002
Chapter 1 FLASH ISN’T THE type of guy to start talking about "How it feels...", but that’s just what you want to ask him. How does ...
So Solid Crew: They Don't Know (Independiente/Relentless)****
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, January 2002
Distinctive debut from UKG crew with colourful personal lives ...
Whitney Houston, OutKast: Whitney Houston: Houston, still a problem
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 4 January 2002
Troubled superstar Whitney Houston overdoses on sugar, says Lisa Verrico ...
Gorillaz: Damon and the fine art of faking it
Report by Stevie Chick, The Evening Standard, 15 January 2002
At this year's Brit Awards, Damon Albarn's creation, Gorillaz, look set to upstage the fake bands they so like to mock. Stevie Chick reports. ...
Ludacris: Word of Mouf (Def Jam South)
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 17 January 2002
The South's most freewheeling mouth? ...
Madlib: Grooving on Artistic Freedom
Profile and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 20 January 2002
Madlib's funhouse creations have won a notable following. But rap stardom isn't his goal. ...
Mobb Deep: Infamy (Loud/Columbia)
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 31 January 2002
Rappers ride spooky thing into ground ...
Mobb Deep: Infamy (Loud/Columbia) **½
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 31 January 2002
Rappers ride spooky thing into ground ...
OutKast: Southern Gents: OutKast: Big Boi And Dre Present... OutKast (LaFace/Arista) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2002
Yee-haw! Technicolour hip hop rises again ...
N.E.R.D.: N*E*R*D: Producers Who Shape-Shift
Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2002
After years of helping others create hip-hop hits, N*E*R*D makes its own album and turns the genre inside-out. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Bizarre, March 2002
WITH AN ARREST record that's more extensive than his discography, it's a wonder that Ol' Dirty Bastard (aka Big Baby Jesus, Dirtdog, Osiris and plain ...
OutKast: Kicking up a Stank (Arista) *****
Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2002
Best of dirty South rappers' first three albums interspersed with new material ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, March 2002
Mike Skinner talks about finding his voice, making Original Pirate Material, writing, politics, getting high and about life itself.
File format: mp3; file size: 44.2mb; Interview length: 48' 13"; sound quality: ****
Profile and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, March 2002
GEEZERS NEED EXCITEMENT. WHICH IS WHERE THE STREETS, AKA MIKE SKINNER, COMES IN. THE PEOPLE'S POET IN TWO-STEP'S GARMS, HE IS THE WIMP MADE GOOD, ...
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 2 March 2002
ANYONE WHO attended the rap triple bill at the Universal Amphitheater on Thursday looking for a complex worldview or an evolved take on the usual ...
N.E.R.D.: In Search Of... (Virgin)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 10 March 2002
AS THE IN-DEMAND production team the Neptunes, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo have tended to build hip-hop hits around hard, in-your-face hooks that aren't easily ...
Busta Rhymes, Beverley Knight: Busta Rhymes: Genesis/Beverley Knight: Who I Am
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 15 March 2002
Busta Rhymes is back on song, Lisa Verrico is pleased to report — and Beverley Knight never left it ...
The Streets: UK Rap: The word on The Streets
Interview by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 15 March 2002
WHEN MIKE SKINNER, aka The Streets, the 22-year-old lyrical king of British rap, discovers I live within the sound of Bow Bells, he's immediately curious. ...
Ol' Dirty Bastard, Wu-Tang Clan: Ol' Dirty Bastard: Portrait Of The Artist In Jail
Report and Interview by William Shaw, The Guardian, 22 March 2002
He was the clown prince of hip-hop, famously appearing onstage with the Wu-Tang Clan while on the run from the police. Now Ol' Dirty Bastard ...
Nas: House of Blues, West Hollywood
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 29 March 2002
THE CYCLES OF pop music history are as hard to fathom as the mysteries of the cosmos, or at least the logic behind choosing Grammy ...
Charli Baltimore: No more drama
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, XXL, April 2002
Refocused and full of determination, Charli says she's got what it takes to rock the mic right. B.I.G.'s former mistress, Ms. B-More, has returned to ...
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Source, April 2002
THINGS ARE ABOUT to change. Trust. The rap industry may soon find itself caught out there as many hiphop fans seek sounds more suited for ...
N.E.R.D.: In Search Of … (Virgin Records)
Review by Yancey Strickler, Flak Magazine, 1 April 2002
DON'T EVEN BOTHER picking up N.E.R.D.'s In Search Of… because within six months, you'll be hearing it everywhere. Much like Moby's Play, this record will ...
Book Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 2 April 2002
Generation Hiphop's Aesthetics ...
OutKast, The Roots: Audiotistic: "Happy Hip-Hop" Sets Festival's Vibe
Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 11 April 2002
The organizers of Audiotistic expect 37,000 fans to show up for an event that plays against type. ...
Lisa Lopes: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 April 2002
Rebel hit singer notorious for breaking the old R&B rules. ...
Lisa Lopes, TLC: Lisa Lopes: Rollercoaster career of a troubled star
Obituary by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 27 April 2002
THE POP world lost one of its most colourful characters yesterday with the death of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. ...
Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, May 2002
AFTER GENRE-DEFINING albums by Roots Manuva and Skinnyman, up steps Tony Olabode, aka Tony Rotton (after Johnny Rotten apparently), aka Blak Twang for a slice ...
CeeLo Green: Cee-Lo Green: Cee-Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections
Review by Amy Linden, XXL, May 2002
HE ISN'T a gospel singer, but there's no denying that there's a whole lot of chu'ch in Cee-Lo. Yet since the singer/rapper and founding member ...
Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, May 2002
CAN IT BE mere coincidence that the fourth Eminem album hits the streets in the same week that the third series of Big Brother begins ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Gangsta Scrap: Nick Broomfield’s Biggie And Tupac
Film/DVD/TV Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2002
Suge Knight: the new Al Capone? Exposing the truth behind the Rap Wars ...
The Coup: Working Through His Anger
Profile and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2002
Boots Riley of the rap group the Coup lashes out against the war in Afghanistan and the corporate co-opting of hip-hop music. ...
Afrika Bambaataa, Slum Village: Afrika Bambaataa/Slum Village: El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2002
HIP-HOP'S PAST and present converged at the El Rey Theatre on Thursday, and the results were predictably erratic. The first act, Slum Village, is a ...
Busta Rhymes: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 May 2002
BUSTA RHYMES is massive. Not necessarily in a physical sense — though he cuts an imposing figure — but in a metaphysical kinda way. ...
Biggie and Tupac: directed by Nick Broomfield
Review by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, June 2002
WHATEVER your take on Broomfield and his bumbling public school fecklessness, there's no denying the bloke makes riveting documentaries. Following up the chilling Kurt and ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Director's Cut: Nick Broomfield on Biggie & Tupac
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Uncut, June 2002
THE DIRECTOR OF KURT & COURTNEY ON HIS BRILLIANT NEW DOCUMENTARY INVESTIGATING THE MURDERS OF RAP SUPERSTARS TUPAC SHAKUR AND BIGGIE SMALLS. ...
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, June 2002
IMMORTALIZED IN Woody Allen movies and Seinfeld, Manhattan's Upper West Side is old school New York. Graced with wide avenues and imposing buildings — the ...
Foxy Brown: Stratford Rex, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 June 2002
ON A BILL heavy with London-based garage crews, motormouth MCs and well-dressed ruffnecks striking thug poses, Foxy Brown is the main attraction. ...
DJ Shadow: To The Batcave: DJ Shadow's The Private Press
Review by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 4 June 2002
OUT-OF-BODY Experience, heaven version: "I saw my life before my eyes, and that is no shit… I saw myself walking in and out of countless ...
Eminem: The Eminem Show (Aftermath)
Review by Peter Murphy, Hot Press, 6 June 2002
WELCOME TO artimitateslife.com, a multi-streamed gush of live webcam feed where we get to see Mr Marshall Mathers as Truman trapped in some Gollywood remake ...
Review by Marc Weingarten, Slate, 25 June 2002
Nelly's Confusion: Is the rapper a preacher or a party animal? Don't ask him. ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Biggie & Tupac: Fear Of A Black Messiah
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, July 2002
Nick Broomfield's new film may well have solved the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. Angus Batey went to seek out the facts. ...
Interview by Will Hermes, Spin, July 2002
NOW THAT MOBY AND FATBOY SLIM HAVE BECOME POP-CULTURE POSTER BOYS, IS IT TIME FOR HIP-HOP MONK JOSH DAVIS, A.K.A. DJ SHADOW, TO CLAIM HIS ...
Lauryn Hill: MTV Unplugged 2.0
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, July 2002
I can faithfully, honestly say that hiphop is dead. – Q-Tip Hiphop being counterculture, underground culture, that's sorta dead. It's all mainstream. It's just ...
Nelly: There's Joy in Nellyville
Profile and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2002
A potential big-league baseball player, the St. Louis rapper keeps his eye on the ball when it comes to music. ...
Interview by William Shaw, Blender, August 2002
Eminem may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. But there doesn't seem to be much else that's beyond the hip-hop ...
MC Romeo, So Solid Crew: MC Romeo: Alpha Romeo
Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, August 2002
IN THE TOP floor of the London bus that is taking me to interview fast-talking UK garage heartthrob MC Romeo, an effervescent group of black ...
The Fugees, Wyclef Jean: Wyclef Jean (2002)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, August 2002
From the Fugees to Tom Jones, Haiti's very own Wyclef Jean talks hip hop, crack vs. music, martial arts and Cab Calloway
File format: mp3 File size: 26.4mb Interview length: 28' 50" Sound quality: ****
Gorillaz, Linkin Park: Linkin Park: Reanimation/Space Monkeyz Vs. Gorillaz: Laika Come Home
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, September 2002
WHO INVENTED the remix? Let P. Diddy debate that one with a posse of royalty-deprived Jamaican dub producers. ...
N.E.R.D.: N*E*R*D: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, September 2002
JUST GOES to show how wrong I can be. Figured me plus a few brainiac dumdums were the only ones nebbish enough to catch the ...
Public Enemy: 'Fight The Power'
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, September 2002
Vital statistics on Public Enemy's 'Fight The Power' ...
Profile by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 5 October 2002
They raced from zero to inner-city heroes in one summer, then stalled in scandal. But don't write off So Solid – there's a serious business ...
Ms Dynamite, So Solid Crew, The Streets: The Streets: The British Can't Rap, Haven't You Heard?
Overview by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 20 October 2002
THE BRITISH have always had a flair for taking black American music, giving it a twist and then exporting it back, stylishly repackaged. Blues, R&B, ...
The Streets: Bowery Ballroom, New York City
Live Review by Will Hermes, The Village Voice, 29 October 2002
TALK ABOUT BRINGING coal to Newcastle. Sunday's New York debut of U.K. MC The Streets (a/k/a Mike "A Day in the Life of a Geezer" Skinner) drew ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: 'Hard Knock Life'
Profile by Johnny Black, Blender, November 2002
Vital Statistics on Jay-Z's hit ...
Tom Jones, Wyclef Jean: Tom Jones and Wyclef Jean
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Touch, November 2002
SO YOU'RE sitting there, in the London Metropole hotel, chatting to Wyclef Jean about his new LP, Maqsquerade. ...
Wyclef Jean, Tom Jones: Tom Jones: Soul mates
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 2 November 2002
What do you get if you cross hip-hop superstar Wyclef Jean with the voice from the Valleys? The most soulful record of Tom Jones's career, ...
Comment by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 5 November 2002
IN THE money scene of 8 Mile, the young white Detroit rapper Rabbit Smith (played by young white Detroit rapper Eminem) battles a series of ...
Comment by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 12 November 2002
TWO EVENTS of lasting significance occurred last week: the breakdown of the Democratic party and the breakthrough of Eminem. His debut film, 8 Mile, became the ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 12 November 2002
FOR THE PAST few years, Xzibit has been tipped to become a hip hop superstar. Yet despite teaming up with Dr Dre on his last ...
Dru Hill: Dru World Order (Def Soul)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 1 December 2002
FUNNY HOW A little taste of failure can send a high-flying artist crashing down to earth. Two years ago, Sisqo's 'Thong Song' was a ubiquitous ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2002
DESPITE HAVING THE biggest forehead in hip hop, Jay-Z would never name an album after anything cerebral. His follow-up to last year's triple platinum The ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2002
COMPARE JAY-Z's clumsy raps with his fellow New Yorker Talib Kweli's flowing rhymes and you imagine the two would be poles apart. ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2002
ON PAPER, 2002 has been a bumper year for hip hop. Eminem was man of the moment again, Ashanti appeared out of nowhere and shot ...
Guide by Yancey Strickler, Flak Magazine, 31 December 2002
Yancey's Tracks: 1. 'Losing My Edge' | LCD Soundsystem 2. 'No One Knows' | Queens of the Stone Age 3. 'Let's Push Things Forward' | The Streets 4. 'Soft ...
Retrospective by Yancey Strickler, Neumu, 31 December 2002
In terms of great music, 2002 is as good a year as I can remember. It says a lot that when making this list, and ...
Busta Rhymes: A Drink With Busta Rhymes
Interview by Dan Gennoe, Esquire, 2003
ESQUIRE: What's your poison? ...
Retrospective by Greg Wilson, electrofunkroots.co.uk, 2003
THEY SAY THAT lightening doesn't strike twice, but where there's a rule there's always the exception. Case-in-point concerns that maverick maestro of musical mayhem, Mr ...
Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, 2003
NOTE: The Black Album was not only Jay-Z's eighth studio album, reportedly it was also meant to be his swansong: a collection of jams meant ...
Missy Elliott: Built To Last: Missy Elliott: Under Construction (East West) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2003
Saluting hip hop's past while embracing the future. ...
The Roots: Forward To The Roots
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, January 2003
FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS the city of Philadelphia has sponsored the Philadelphia College Festival. Held directly across the steps of the Art Museum (home ...
Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2003
Eighth album from rap renegades is a 21-track jumble of new tracks, live performances and fan remixes. ...
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Nation, January 2003
RUSSELL SIMMONS, known for decades as Rush to his friends, is of average height and build for a man his age (45), with a clean-shaven ...
The Roots: Hip Hop Erudition And Wit
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2003
"I'M ALIVE NOW!" BARKS AHMIR ?uestlove Thompson, drummer and de facto leader of Philadelphia hip hop band The Roots, and music press consumer of impeccable ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 January 2003
DOES HIP-HOP glamorise gun culture? It depends who you ask. Guns have been part of the baggage of hip-hop since 1988, when Los Angeles's NWA ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 17 January 2003
Someone should have taken Kim Howells to see The Roots live in London, a black hip-hop band fronted by two frantic rappers playing to a ...
Eminem: The Most Hotly Anticipated Movie Of The Year!
Report by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 18 January 2003
…but is it any good? NME gives you the ultimate lowdown on Eminem's forthcoming blockbuster 8 Mile ...
Busta Rhymes: It Ain't Safe No More
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 24 January 2003
BUSTA RHYMES is another artist obsessed with September 11, partly because his home was just streets away from the twin towers and partly because he ...
Interview by Ted Kessler, The Guardian, 25 January 2003
America's favourite hip-hop artist Jay-Z is hanging up his mic. After all, what's left to talk about when you've achieved everything? Ted Kessler raps things ...
Eminem: Taking Over Tinseltown
Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2003
Is EMINEM the hip hop James Dean? ...
Clipse, Melanie C, Moloko, Spice Girls: Melanie C: Reason/Moloko: Statues/Clipse: Lord Willin'
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 21 February 2003
Melanie C has too much going for her to rejoin the Spice Girls. ...
Comment by Miles Marshall Lewis, L.A. Weekly, March 2003
Jaded Hiphop-Purist Insight #1: You cannot spit in the wind without being hit by 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. ...
Common: Against The Grain: Common
Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Source, March 2003
EIGHT DAYS BEFORE Jimi Hendrix's sixtieth birthday, Common sits comfortably in the guitar god's apartment sipping Poland Spring. ...
Eminem: What's SO F***ing Great About Eminem?
Essay by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2003
The worst character traits imaginable assembled into violent, cautionary cartoons have produced the charismatic star of the moment, now further immortalised in an acclaimed movie. ...
Linkin Park: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 7 March 2003
WITH EACH successive press release, the sales figures for Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, spiral upwards remorselessly — 13m, 14m, now apparently as many ...
Ms Dynamite, The Streets: Letter from London: The Streets and Ms Dynamite
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Los Angeles Times, 23 March 2003
WHEN THE BEATLES flew over from England in the '60s, it seemed the whole of young America gathered at the airport to scream a welcome. ...
Jurassic 5: Brixton Academy, London SW9
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 25 March 2003
EMINEM MAY have the biggest British hip-hop shows of the year coming up, but he'll have a hard time keeping the crowd as entertained as ...
Comment by Ted Kessler, New Statesman, 31 March 2003
Ted Kessler on the rise of a new rap star who just can't stay out of trouble ...
More Fire Crew: More Fire Crew C.V.
Review and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, April 2003
SOMEONE'S GOTTA COIN a snappy name for the genre represented by So Solid and the hordes of MC crews who came in their wake. UK ...
Interview by Chris Campion, Dazed & Confused, April 2003
The influence of the crush grooves produced by Def Jam and American Recordings founder, Rick Rubin, are stronger than ever. ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: The Best of Run DMC
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 5 April 2003
Run DMC inspired a generation to turn hip-hop into a multi-billion dollar industry, says GAVIN MARTIN ...
The Fugees: 'Killing Me Softly'
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, May 2003
Vital statistics on The Fugees' 'Killing Me Softly' ...
50 Cent: Paramount Theatre, Seattle
Live Review by Eric Weisbard, Rolling Stone, 12 May 2003
Hip-hop's biggest new name plays it safe and quick ...
Lil' Kim: La Bella Mafia (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2003
Rapper-turned-actress hams her way through third album ...
The Roots: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, June 2003
Philadelphia's venerated hip hop orchestra deliver a joyous lesson in the genre's elastic embrace ...
Profile by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 20 June 2003
In the hood: Eminem is pulling out all the stops for his European tour ...
Live Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 23 June 2003
HE'S THE LEADING pop icon of his generation, the undisputed Elvis of his era, and for many of the 65,000 fans who attend his concert, ...
LL Cool J: Beacon Theatre, New York
Live Review by Mac Randall, New York Daily News, 23 June 2003
At Beacon, everybody loves Cool James ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Hits, Rarities & Remixes
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2003
THE TIP-OFF TO all of a Tribe Called Quest's considerable talent was the grainy, mischievous curl in rapper Q-Tip's voice: Tribe were abstract imps who ...
Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2003
How New York's hippie hoppers ushered in the philosophical D.A.I.S.Y. Age. And then pronounced themselves Dead. ...
Northern State: Dying in Stereo EP
Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 1 July 2003
THE FIRST THAT you'll read about Northern State in just about any review are their stats – these are three 20-something women who are from ...
Review by Amy Linden, The Village Voice, 23 July 2003
ABOUT A YEAR ago, a hard-working street team slapped up promotional snipes that asked: "Who is Joe Budden?" According to a highly subjective survey (conducted ...
Dizzee Rascal: Bringing It All Back Home
Profile and Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 1 August 2003
THE FIRST TIME you hear Boy in da Corner, it's a jolt. The debut album of 18-year-old Dizzee Rascal has just been nominated for the ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 August 2003
JUST BECAUSE So Solid Crew are paranoid, it doesn't mean someone isn't after them. Since the 30-odd-strong UK garage cartel emerged from Battersea in south ...
Interview by JoE Silva, Remix, 1 August 2003
WE ARE ROLLING in a ridiculously immaculate Land Rover beneath a calm Atlanta skyline just after sunset. ...
Damon Dash: Dash it, says Posh Damon
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 9 August 2003
Dash — a man who wears a new pair of shoes every day — has given Victoria Beckham a hip-hop makeover. Chris Campion met him ...
Review by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, 9 August 2003
LISA MAFFIA'S former fiancé — So Solid Crew co-founder Jason "G-Man" Phillips — was recently sentenced to four years in prison for firearms offences. In ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, September 2003
JUST HOURS after winning an impressive trio of MOBO awards at the Royal Albert Hall, gangsta rap superstar 50 Cent played his biggest UK show ...
Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, September 2003
Back in 1986 hip hop entered a golden age — lyrical revolution, sonic innovation, and individuality — that gave rise to such rap legends as ...
Dizzee Rascal: Street Smarts: Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner (Dirtee Stank/XL) *****
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, September 2003
Eighteen-year-old London MC — and recovering victim of a recent stabbing incident in Ayia Napa — forges the freshest urban sound of 2003 ...
Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 1 September 2003
IN 1996 JOSH DAVIS RELEASED ...Endtroducing, an expansive, intricate and morose tapestry of samples that wove brass, pianos, filtersweeps and hip hop beats together, creating ...
Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 1 September 2003
AS THE SUMMER rushes headlong into its second half, it's perhaps a pertinent portion of information to note: at least half of the hottest summer ...
Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 1 September 2003
SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT because she's come from there. She started off with So Solid Crew but as soon as they started breaking ...
Interview by David Hemingway, unpublished, 1 September 2003
A transcript of an interview that subsequently became an XLR8R feature ...
Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, The Village Voice, 10 September 2003
SO THE GRAPEVINE has Hollyweird pondering a film based on late-1970s TV Dixiana The Dukes of Hazzard. The Grandfather Clause prevents me from voting for ...
So Solid Crew: Urbane Warriors
Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 19 September 2003
So Solid Crew are back to give us hip-hop with a social conscience, says Angus Batey ...
OutKast: Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 23 September 2003
DRE, A.K.A. ANDRE 3000, a.k.a. Andre Lauren Benjamin, says he's run out of ways to express himself via hip hop. Big Boi, a.k.a. Antwan Andre ...
Grand Wizard Theodore: Yes Yes Y'all and it don't stop, to the beat y'all and it don't stop
Comment by Mark Pringle, Rock's Backpages, October 2003
RBP's very own Mark Pringle got invited to curate the inaugural exhibition – Yes Yes Y'all: hip hop from scratch – at the Hospital in ...
Kurtis Blow on 'The Breaks', the evolution of sampling, and 'Sun City'
Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 4 October 2003
KURTIS BLOW gets a lot more airplay these days than he did in the '80s. That's because back in the day – when the long-term ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 October 2003
Fannypack are young, smutty and fresh — and they might just make hip-hop fun again. Caroline Sullivan meets them. ...
Erykah Badu: Worldwide Underground
Review by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 15 October 2003
SHE WAS QUEEN of the head-wrap set. A generation of young black folks trying to navigate the pitfalls of cultural negation in an era when ...
Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 23 October 2003
For more than 20 years, hip-hop culture has shaped the face of popular music, fashion, even political debate. And for the past decade, Vibe magazine ...
N.E.R.D., Justin Timberlake: Justin Timberlake joins N.E.R.D.: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Josh Rinkoff, Rock's Backpages, November 2003
WHITE, BLACK, Jewish, Muslim. Butcher, baker, candlestick maker. They are all here tonight. Where I hear you ask? Babylon? Brent Cross? No. Tonight I ...
Missy Elliott: This is Not a Test
Review by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 16 November 2003
WAY BACK IN 1997, when Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott launched her debut album Supa Dupa Fly with the touching dedication "To my mom... I would not ...
Eminem, DJ Kool Herc, Vanilla Ice: How to get hip to rap
Guide by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 21 November 2003
EMINEM IS in trouble again, this time over lyrics he wrote a decade ago. The owners of the American hip-hop magazine The Source have outed ...
Wyclef Jean: "I preach to the streets"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 November 2003
Why did Wyclef Jean help Tom Jones do hip-hop? Why has he got 62 guns? And what's he doing with 20,000 songs on a Dictaphone? ...
Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, December 2003
For ten years hip hop duo OutKast have crafted wild, genre-defying music. Now, following their 2-CD masterpiece, it looks like that relationship might well be ...
Wyclef Jean: The Preacher's Son ****
Review and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, December 2003
That "one time, two times" bloke out of the Fugees makes an album for MOJO readers. No, really. ...
Missy Elliott: This Is Not a Test!
Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 1 December 2003
Miss E… So Addictive, spearheaded by the epochal 'Get Ur Freak On', marked a zenith for Missy Elliott and her long-term conspirator Tim Mosley, as ...
Nelly Furtado: Looking back to go forward
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2003
Pressured by the expectations for her new album, Nelly Furtado dug into her Latin roots for inspiration, she tells Lisa Verrico. ...
Black Eyed Peas: Give Peas Peas A Chance
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 12 December 2003
HOW THEIR ANTI-WAR SONG AND A FAMOUS FRIEND HELPED BLACK EYED PEAS HIT THE JACKPOT. BY GAVIN MARTIN ...
Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner
Review by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 2004
PRECOCIOUS BOW roughneck Dylan Mills knocked up his first single (scabrous teen pregnancy shocker 'I Luv You') in downtime from his school music class at ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Gangsters: Snoop Dogg and Michael Imperioli
Report and Interview by Amy Linden, Complex, 2004
"What is it about the gangster mythology...that grabs those of us, especially men outside 'the life'? What is about guys like (the late) John Gotti, ...
OutKast: Speakboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)
Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004
THE YIN AND YANG of epicene dandy André 3000 and straight-up, pit-bull-ownin’ Big Boi may yet prove OutKast’s undoing. If so, the duo at least ...
Interview by Amy Linden, Complex, 2004
IT'S A RAINY MARCH morning in NYC; the Beastie Boys are in the hiz-ouse or rather the photo studio and the topic on the table ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) *****
Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2004
A final autobiographical confession from one of rap's giants ...
Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2004
Virginia's avant-garde hip hop twosome are still on the right track on their respective new LPs, but have they started to run out of steam? ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 16 January 2004
BY THE STANDARDS of British hip-hop, Blak Twang (aka Tony Olabode) is a crusty old veteran. It's hard work playing the Americans at their own ...
Kelis: Ice Queen Kelis Blows Her Cool
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 January 2004
KELIS IS BACK WITH A SAUCY ALBUM AND A BAD ATTITUDE ...
Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner (XL/Matador)
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, February 2004
Speaking in Tongues: East London rap star Dizzee Rascal's war of words ...
Aim, Rae & Christian: Grand Central: Label of Love
Profile by David Hemingway, Record Collector, February 2004
THE UK'S PREMIER soul label, Grand Central, has released music by a hip-hop artiste who cites the Smiths as his greatest influence, a future-funk musician ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Observer Music Monthly, 22 February 2004
Outkast are a rap act like no other - as interested in Kate Bush as in hardcore hip hop, and as likely to be found ...
N.E.R.D.: N*E*R*D: Fly or Die (Virgin)****
Review by Ben Thompson, Observer Music Monthly, 21 March 2004
IF ITS ILLUSTRIOUS predecessor – 2001's visionary soft-porn psychedelic soul masterpiece In Search of... – was anything to go by, the release of a new ...
Dilated Peoples: Neighborhood Watch
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 12 April 2004
DILATED PEOPLES' progress from hip hop underground to world stage is slow, but unmistakable. Three albums in, their belief that success and integrity don't have ...
N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams: N.E.R.D.: Recombinators
Profile and Interview by James Hunter, L.A. Weekly, 22 April 2004
PHARRELL WILLIAMS doesn't shout. Today, the co-producer of Jay-Z and Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake and No Doubt (and others) is sort of urgently whispering ...
The Streets: Dead Cert: The Streets
Interview by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 25 April 2004
'I LOVE THE NAME "The Streets",' muses 24 year-old Mike Skinner - at once the mercurial creative-director, canny CEO and flaky spokesmodel of that thriving ...
N.E.R.D.: Dweebs In Pepperland: N*E*R*D: Fly Or Die (Virgin)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, May 2004
As producers, the Neptunes rule the world. But as N*E*R*D they're losing their way — by Dorian Lynskey ...
Kanye West: The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) ****
Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, May 2004
Super-producer takes up the mike for his "solo" debut. ...
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, May 2004
Ten Years Ago, Method Man was unquestionably one of the rap game's top MCs. In 2004, he's knows more for his movies and TV appearances ...
N.E.R.D.: N*E*R*D: Fly Or Die (Virgin) ****
Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, May 2004
The Neptunes party like it's 1973 ...
The Beastie Boys: The Beasties and their Boroughs
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2004
"HEY, BUCKINGHAM PALACE!" says Mike Diamond in high, pinched New York tones as Beastie Boys' mini-bus swings past the ugly royal pile. "Hence all the ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy: Sean Combs: Diddy-cized
Overview by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 18 May 2004
Hip-hop has always been — and always be — about fabulousness and myth. — Scott Poulson-Bryant, "This is Not a Puff Piece" The hip-hop ...
The Streets: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 18 May 2004
THE DEBUT ALBUM by Mike Skinner, a.k.a. The Streets, (Original Pirate Material) was a touching, thoughtful ode to all the aspects of modern Britain its ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 May 2004
A PROTEGE OF Jay-Z and Damon Dash, Kanye West is not one to hide his light under a bushel. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Observer Music Monthly, 23 May 2004
FRIDAY NIGHT AT Pals Bar & Brasserie in Croydon. An idolatrous battle cry curls through the venue. "You doan wanna war wid whoo? War wid ...
Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 28 May 2004
Winners of a Radio 3 award, Senegal's top hip-hop trio Daara J are back on the road. Tim Cooper meets them in Paris. ...
The Streets: Irving Plaza, New York City
Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 30 June 2004
LISTENING TO The Streets, one gets a clear indication that Mike Skinner is a punk. He's the kind of guy who'd borrow your car and ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Sound on Sound, July 2004
Arif Mardin has engineered and produced an incredible array of classic records from artists such as Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Diana Ross, the Bee Gees ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: To The 5 Boroughs
Review by Ben Thompson, MOJO, July 2004
THERE WAS NO mistaking the rush of pleasure induced by early radio plays of this album's first single. As the delirious turntable stabs of 'Check ...
Lenny Kravitz: Express yourself
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, July 2004
Hip-hop's favorite rock guitarist shows us his soul. ...
Interview by Dan Gennoe, GQ, July 2004
MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD'S debut album, Quixotic, has been a long time coming. So long in fact, that it's become the stuff of myth, with rumours of ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Chasing The Heron
Report and Interview by James Maycock, The Times, 16 July 2004
"I'M ADDICTED to creating," mutters a grizzled, slightly stoned Gil Scott-Heron. "I use other things from time to time." It's late afternoon on Friday 3rd ...
Interview by Ian Watson, Sunday Herald, August 2004
WHAT DID YOU do last night? Nice meal? Drink with friends? Sweat your own body weight in a packed nightclub? Well, guess what? 50 Cent ...
Profile and Interview by Lulu Le Vay, X-Ray, August 2004
TUESDAY JULY 29th 2003. It has only been three weeks since teen ghetto rapper turned breakneck industry sensation Dizzee Rascal was pulled off his scooter ...
The Roots: The Tipping Point (MCA) ***
Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, August 2004
Philadelphia freedom: A sixth album of adventurous, organic hip hop from the city of brotherly love. By Stevie Chick ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 5 September 2004
And the name of the world's worst band is... ...
Kanye West: "Arrogant? Not me. I just knew I was going to win…"
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Telegraph Magazine, 11 September 2004
OHIO STATE University is marching to the beat of a college dropout. Not just any college dropout mind, but rapper and producer Kanye West, who ...
Estelle: "The only way I'm going on the cover of FHM is in a body bag"
Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 27 September 2004
Estelle, the loudest new voice in hip-hop, talks to Dave Simpson ...
Jermaine Dupri, Janet Jackson: Jermaine Dupri: In Control
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, October 2004
JERMAINE DUPRI maps out the path to Ms. Nipplegate's heart, fights for P. Diddy-style props, and reveals his secret for crafting hits. Michael A. Gonzales ...
Dizzee Rascal: Lovable Rogue: Dizzee Rascal: Showtime (XL) *****
Review by Ben Thompson, MOJO, October 2004
Deft and ultimately devastating follow up to 2003's Mercury Prize-winning debut. ...
Jay Z, R Kelly: R. Kelly & Jay-Z: Unfinished Business
Review by Dan Gennoe, Yahoo! Music, October 2004
R. KELLY AND JAY-Z. Whichever way you cut it, it's an odd pairing. ...
Report and Interview by Simon Garfield, The Observer, 3 October 2004
He's a white DJ who became the most powerful European voice in hardcore hip-hop. Here, on the 10th anniversary of his Radio 1 show, Tim ...
Dizzee Rascal, So Solid Crew, Wiley: London Calling
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 2004
Dizzee Rascal is the first artist to score two five-star MOJO reviews with successive albums. Yet Britain's freshest music star is only the most visible ...
Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, November 2004
THIS ISN'T the same young actor/poet/rapper who stared confidently out from the sleeve of his debut, 1999's Black On Both Sides, scion of the new ...
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz: Crunk Juice
Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, The Village Voice, 30 November 2004
"EYE-UNH!," "Hunh!," and "Hiuiiii!" were universally accepted as James Brown lyrics before crunk king Jonathan "Lil Jon" Smith was conceived. Dave Chappelle may have elevated ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Dogg: The Dogg's Still Hot
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 2 December 2004
HIGH IN THE Hollywood Hills, at a barbecue held to celebrate the release of his latest album, Snoop Dogg is deep in conference with his ...
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 11 December 2004
What happens when veteran soul drummers and top hip-hop DJs improvise together? Chris Campion reports. ...
Interview by Amy Linden, Complex, Summer 2004
WHEN KANYE WEST'S much-anticipated debut The College Dropout hit stores in early February, its blend of inventive production – via a by-now trademark predilection for ...
Missy Elliott: The Cookbook (Atlantic/Goldmind)
Review by Dan Gennoe, Yahoo! Music, 2005
IN HER nine year career, Missy Elliott's barely put a foot wrong. And she's not about to start with album number six. ...
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, January 2005
To hell with the bitches and so-called fame, Ludacris just isn't as crazy as his rappin' name. Beef with Bill O'Reilly, T.I. and Chingy be ...
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz: Lil Jon: Time to crunk it up
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 15 January 2005
He's crazy. He's drunk. He is "crunk". Angus Batey meets Lil Jon ...
The Game: The Documentary (Interscope)
Review by Angus Batey, The Times, 29 January 2005
JACEYON TAYLOR, aka the Game, is keen to point out to his listeners that rap was not his first calling. The 25-year-old turned to music ...
Lady Sovereign, M.I.A.: M.I.A. and Lady Sovereign: A Far Cry From North-West London
Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, Sunday Telegraph, 30 January 2005
Two of this year's most eagerly anticipated records come from young women with some striking similarities. Ben Thompson talks to M.I.A. and Lady Sovereign. ...
Profile and Interview by Ken Scrudato, Flaunt, February 2005
NEARLY TWENTY years before 9/11/01 – before New Yorkers and other Americans decided to believe that great tragedy had begun and ended with them – ...
Black Eyed Peas: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 2 February 2005
CAN IT ONLY be 18 months since the Black Eyed Peas were jostling each other for space on the tiny stage of the 400-capacity Jazz ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Hammersmith Apollo, W6
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 14 February 2005
"YOU GOTTA love Snoop," a teenage boy in a backwards baseball cap told me as we waited for the rap star Snoop Dogg to show ...
Lil' Kim: Big Verdict: Lil' Kim Is Seriously Fucked
Comment by Amy Linden, The Village Voice, 18 March 2005
ON MARCH 3, in the midst of her highly publicized trial in Manhattan Federal court, a clearly beleaguered Lil' Kim issued a statement through the ...
Nas: Hip-Hop Violence: Pop Goes The Weasel
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 March 2005
FOR THE RECORD: guns don't go bang but pop, a noise a lot like a jumbo bottle of champagne being opened. As this was a ...
Live Review by Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 30 March 2005
THE PROBLEM with turning your life into your career is that you never get a day off. This irony dawns on Lady Sovereign tonight, as ...
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Plan B, April 2005
"BOREDOM IS SO PRODUCTIVE. It makes you want to please yourself and no one else. I'm just hopeful that other people can dig what I'm ...
Goldie Lookin' Chain: Goldie Lookin Chain
Interview by Simon Price, The Independent, 3 April 2005
One minute they were an unknown posse from Gwent, the next they were music industry darlings. Are Goldie Lookin Chain — the "Welsh Wu-Tang Clan" ...
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Metro, 7 April 2005
IT'S BEEN A long time coming, but finally things are moving for the feisty Fulham-born singer and rapper Estelle. Fast. So fast, in fact, that ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 April 2005
She's a revolutionary's daughter and her music oozes attitude. Dorian Lynskey meets MIA. ...
Review by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 24 April 2005
Dizzee's ex-grime crew discover pop. Ben Thompson is pleased ...
Faith Evans: Time To Try Again
Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 30 April 2005
Two UK No 1s have not made the former Mrs BIG a household name in this country. Faith Evan's new album might just do it ...
Black Eyed Peas: Brixton Academy, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 May 2005
ALMOST ALONE among hiphoppers, the Black Eyed Peas have a sense of humility, so they must cringe at their label's hype. Whoever decided this amiable LA fourpiece ...
Dizzee Rascal: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 26 May 2005
DIZZEE RASCAL saunters on stage sporting the infectious grin of a boy who feels that every day is Christmas. Though he starts with 'Sittin' Here', ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 27 May 2005
LAST YEAR was the year grime failed to break big, and nobody failed to break big quite like Wiley. His excellent solo debut was festooned ...
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, June 2005
SONY STUDIOS, New York, March 25. With aromatherapy candles lit and a soul-food spread in the back. Common plays his latest album for a bunch ...
LL Cool J, Faith Evans: Grant Park, Chicago
Live Review by Mark Pringle, Rock's Backpages, July 2005
NOW WE KNOW why the Ladies Love Cool James: it’s not for his remarkably buff 40-something body (though they do love that); not even for ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Cardiff International Arena
Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 6 July 2005
HE MAY have caused a minor rumpus with his expletive-laden lyrics at Live 8, but the dapper rapper Snoop Dogg was in unruffled mood on ...
Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages Audio, 8 July 2005
The erstwhile Josh Davis talks about how his world was changed by hip hop; how, in search of breaks, he became an obsessive collector; the ins-and-outs of sampling, and tells tales from the world of crate digging.
File format: mp3; file size: 61.1mb, interview length: 1h 06' 41" sound quality: ** (phoner)
Kanye West: Street Smarts: Kanye West: Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella) ****
Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2005
Second enthralling album from hip hop's new multi-faceted main man ...
Kanye West: Natural Born Show-off: Kanye West
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 August 2005
PRESS PLAYBACKS tend to be uncomfortable affairs. A record label, eager to unveil its latest prestige release but terrified of a stray copy leaking on ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Observer Music Monthly, 21 August 2005
He's the top-selling artist in the world, his life story is being filmed by an Oscar-nominated director and he's moved on from being a rap ...
Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 12 September 2005
Fresh US hip-hop on a bucolic tip ...
Goldie Lookin' Chain: Safe As Fuck (Atlantic)
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 19 September 2005
THE PROBLEM WITH jokes is that they're only really funny the first time round. Nowhere is this truer than in music. ...
Lil' Kim: The Naked Truth (Atlantic)
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 29 September 2005
IF TIMING IS everything, Lil' Kim's couldn't be much worse. ...
Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, October 2005
WHEN MS DYNAMITE'S debut album was dismissed by some critics in 2002 as "tiresome finger-wagging", it seemed the erstwhile Niomi McLean-Daley was getting a rough ...
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 1 October 2005
FUNNY WHAT mainstream appeal can do to an artist. Ms Dynamite has never sounded like someone who strived too hard to achieve it, but her ...
Emmanuel Jal: Straight Out of Sudan: A Child Soldier Raps
Interview by Will Hermes, The New York Times, 2 October 2005
THE CONSENSUS among American rappers may be that happiness, as John Lennon once sang, is a warm gun, but Emmanuel Jal is more ambivalent on ...
Live Review by Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 12 October 2005
"BUT ANYWAY, back to the album ... " This will prove the leitmotif of tonight's show, as the Roll Deep collective find themselves yo-yoing between ...
The Sugarhill Gang: Hip-Hop Happens: The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'
Retrospective and Interview by Steven Daly, Vanity Fair, November 2005
Released in 1979, the single 'Rapper's Delight' launched hip-hop as a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon. The opportunistic 15-minute track also revived the career of its producer, a ...
Gorillaz: Opera House, Manchester
Live Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 3 November 2005
AS IF IT HADN'T escaped the attention of the Gorillaz co-creator, we're in the Oasis heartlands. And in the city where more than anywhere else ...
Nik Cohn: Triksta – Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Book Review by Will Hermes, The New York Times, 4 December 2005
The Rap Before the Rain ...
Nik Cohn: Triksta – Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, The Independent, 9 December 2005
JUST AFTER THE first printing of this iconic writer's account of his cultural and musical misadventures in an iconic city, the situation changed almost beyond ...
Nik Cohn: Triksta – Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Book Review by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 11 December 2005
Nik Cohn tells how the alienation and anger of New Orleans exploded into a whole new genre of hip hop in his best book yet. ...
Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: The Breakthrough
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 19 December 2005
THE EIGHTH ALBUM of Mary J Blige's 13 year career, is, like so many before it, a slick and elegant record. Another quality product from ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2006
ANYONE FEARING that the Day-Glo brilliance of 2003's triple Grammy winner, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, might have marked the height of the Atlanta duo's R&B powers ...
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2006
ONE OF the most unexpected meetings in English Parliamentary history took place in late October, when Rhymefest sat down with Conservative Party leader David Cameron. ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2006
He inspired Townshend and Bowie to create Tommy and Ziggy Stardust, wrote the article that became Saturday Night Fever and penned the greatest pop book ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 23 January 2006
LONG BEFORE Basement Jaxx or Fatboy Slim, Matt Black and Jonathan More were Britain's original kings of big beats. ...
Various Artists: Run the Road Volume 2 (Vice)
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, February 2006
U.K. rap's coming-out party gets its second act ...
Comment by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 1 February 2006
By making public his struggles with living a devout life, Kanye West makes such a lifestyle so much more accessible and valuable to the very ...
Sway: This Is My Demo (Dcypha)
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 3 February 2006
IF THIS is the moment that Derek Asafo — aka Sway — crosses over, you can hardly blame him for exercising a little caution. For ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2006
REARED WITH THE USUAL HIP-HOP CV ("the projects", spells in the slammer), Jaheim Hoagland was so precociously naughty that, by age 16, he was already ...
The Thick of Hip: Touré's Never Drank the Kool-Aid
Book Review by Angus Batey, The Times, 25 February 2006
WRITING ABOUT MUSIC, Elvis Costello once remarked, is like dancing about architecture. If that were true, writing about hip hop, with its inherent wordiness, its ...
Roots Manuva: Britain's deepest rap star
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 9 March 2006
ROOTS MANUVA, king of British hip hop, tells Angus Batey about his new album, his "moronic" sense of humour — and why he pretended he ...
Live Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, PopMatters, 19 March 2006
College Dropout Studies Abroad ...
Plan B: Islington Academy, London
Live Review by Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 1 April 2006
THERE ARE THINGS that get said only for the shock factor, and then there are things that are just shocking. Plan B's subject matter, with ...
The Streets: The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 7 April 2006
DOES IT SIGNAL the beginning of the end when an artist casts around for inspiration and can think of nothing to write about other than ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 21 April 2006
EVER SINCE HE emerged from the shadow of his chums in Outkast and Goodie Mob to establish himself as a solo artist, Cee-Lo Green has ...
The Streets: The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living (679) ****
Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2006
MIKE SKINNER'S EXISTENCE has been transformed by success and fortune. It's a fortune accrued by observing, in startlingly prosaic detail, a life of Wetherspoons and ...
Tom Silverman: No Expense Spared
Interview by Larry Jaffee, MediaPack, May 2006
Tom Silverman, the pioneer rap music label owner of New York-based Tommy Boy Records, is unusual among his label head peers. He's willing to spend ...
The Streets: Colston Hall, Bristol
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 8 May 2006
FAME, ACCLAIM and sudden wealth can be terrible burdens for a young pop star. Such is the overriding theme of The Hardest Way to Make ...
The Beastie Boys: Awesome Welles: The Beastie Boys' Home Movie
Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, June 2006
THE WAY Beastie Boys rapper turned movie director Adam "MCA" Yauch tells it, the idea to film the band's sold-out homecoming gig at Madison Square ...
Gnarls Barkley: Say Yes To Droogs!
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, June 2006
Welcome Gnarls Barkley, The Hip Hop Superband Who've Scored The Planet's First Download-Only Number 1. ...
Plan B: Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 16 June 2006
AS EUREKA moments go, Ben Drew's was so obvious it seems perverse that he didn't think of it before. ...
Busta Rhymes: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 17 June 2006
LOOKING AS IF HE'S BEEN STYLED BY MR T, and garlanded in enough bling to sink a small island, Busta Rhymes bounces on to the ...
Kanye West: Late Orchestration (Mercury/Def Jam) ***
Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2006
Superstar rapper reinvents his sound at intimate London show ...
The Neptunes, N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams: Pharrell Williams: Sorry, laydeez, he's booked
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 21 July 2006
Music is my one true love, says blingtastic baron of beats, Pharrell Williams ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 July 2006
For Peaches, the famously X-rated rapper, the personal has just got political. Caroline Sullivan hears about her beef with Bush ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Angry in the UK: Fun-da-mental
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 4 August 2006
Fun-Da-Mental's new album gives voice to Muslim rage, says its creator Aki Nawaz ...
Timbaland: "I'm up here. Everyone else is down there."
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 8 August 2006
TIM "TIMBALAND" Mosley, the most in-demand music producer in the world, is tired. But the task of staying awake is made easier because, right now, ...
Akala: Exploding on to the scene
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 18 August 2006
Mobo nominee MC Akala is more than just Ms Dynamite's little brother. ...
Ice Cube: Respectability? It Can Wait
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 August 2006
He went from gangsta notoriety to Hollywood stardom. Now Ice Cube has returned to the studio – to show today's rappers where they've gone wrong. ...
Kool Keith: Welcome to the weird world of Kool Keith, rap's kookiest star
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 31 August 2006
CALL HIM Black Elvis, Dr Dooom, Mr Gerbik or just plain Matthew. Kool Keith (real name Keith Thornton) responds to all of them. ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 September 2006
THE THREE GIRLS on the south London station platform couldn't have been more than 13, and as they waited for the train, they were singing, ...
Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 23 September 2006
FEW POP "retirements" have caused as many eyebrows to raise as that of Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z. ...
Review by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 23 September 2006
FROM ARRESTED Development to the Streets, hip-hop history is littered with rappers who wowed critics and had pop hits but left the cognoscenti cold. ...
Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, October 2006
After their last album suggested a split, OutKast get it together again in spectacular fashion. Just don't call it a comeback, says Angus Batey. ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, October 2006
SAYING THAT P Diddy is a unique individual is putting it politely. At once influential and laughable, a new album from the man who took ...
The Roots: They're A (Funky) American Band
Profile by Jason Gross, Creative Loafing, 5 October 2006
"WHAT KIND OF music do they play?" a Def Jam receptionist innocently asked, when queried about the Roots. Although self-classified as a rap group, the ...
Missy Elliott: NIA, Birmingham
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 6 October 2006
IT IS an inspiring testament to the broad church of pop that a comically eccentric, musically adventurous, downright surreal figure such as Missy Elliott can ...
Ghostface Killah: Coronet, London ***
Live Review by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 11 October 2006
"IF YOU listen to my lyrics, you'll know I'm a soul baby," confesses Dennis Coles midway through a typically eccentric set. "And you've got to ...
Jay Z: Hova's Slight Return: Jay-Z: Kingdom Come
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 21 November 2006
Jay-Z's aura finally outshines his art — what a drag it is getting old ...
Nas: Why The Grammys Have Ditched Rap
Comment by Edward Helmore, The Guardian, 15 December 2006
RAP MUSIC, and the commotion, fur and bling that often accompanies its biggest stars, will be noticeably absent from the Grammy awards in Los Angeles ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 18 December 2006
SO HERE IT IS. The one and only Flavor Flav, releasing what he's promising will be his one and only solo album. ...
Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, January 2007
JERRY HELLER may just have the most undeservedly bad rep in the history of hip hop. ...
Just Jack: Bar Academy, London N1
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 12 January 2007
HE BOUNDS on stage like a kid on Christmas morning — eyes saucer-sized, smile a mile wide and body like a beanpole. If Jack Allsopp ...
Lady Sovereign: Public Warning (Def Jam/Casual)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2007
Public Warning by "white midget" Lady Sovereign — a few years too long in the oven, but funny in parts. ...
Lady Sovereign: Public Warning
Review by Mike Diver, Drowned in Sound, 7 February 2007
"I SEE YOUR FIRST PRIORITIES are discussing me in Maccy D's at about half-three." ...
Interview by Amy Linden, unpublished, March 2007
This interview was conducted March 2007, the day Amy's Back to Black dropped. As part of the overall story we talked about her relationship to ...
P. Diddy, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: P. Diddy and Snoop Dogg at Wembley: A Preview
Report by John Lewis, So London, March 2007
RATHER LIKE the Iran-Iraq war, or the Schleswig-Holstein Question, no one can quite remember the origins of the 1990s "rap wars". It was a rivalry ...
Review by Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 8 March 2007
I BLAME KANYE WEST and his unprecedented success in climbing out from behind the boards to become America's ten-times platinum darling, Time magazine cover boy ...
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Plan B, April 2007
WHAT ARE you playing at? "Not what you think" whispers Infinite Livez, Big Dada's most wayward emissary and co–creator (alongside Swedish electrojazz–duo Stade) of a ...
Interview by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 22 April 2007
Dizzee Rascal is not proud of everything in his past, he tells Ben Thompson in a remarkably frank interview. But he's more than happy with ...
Brother Ali: The Undisputed Truth
Review by Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 25 April 2007
BROTHER ALI'S DEBUT RECORD, 2003's Shadows' lack of cohesion was best summed up in a ham-handed punch-line, wherein Ali declared he was "a cross between ...
Russell Simmons: Taking the words out of their mouths
Comment by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 30 April 2007
When Russell Simmons says rappers should stop saying "bitch", "ho" and "nigger", he doesn't go far enough. ...
Review by Alfred Soto, Stylus, 9 May 2007
NE-YO'S A TRADITIONALIST, alright: like many of his R&B forebears, he has proven incapable of recording an album's worth of material. There's no noticeable advance ...
Review by Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 7 June 2007
FROM HYPHY TO CRUNK to snap to grime to whatever the fuck Subtle is, hip-hop has split into a wide variety of sub-genres since its ...
Dizzee Rascal: 'I Was Just Being Cheeky'
Interview by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times, 9 June 2007
TOP OF the world, that's how Dizzee Rascal feels. Early sales of his new album Maths and English indicate a top-10 hit. "It's a couple ...
Pharoahe Monch: Hip-hop gets its sense of humour back
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 16 June 2007
PHAROAHE MONCH'S sales record is modest, but his music makes up in resonance and impact what it may lack in commercial clout. ...
Review by Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 29 June 2007
HIP-HOP HISTORY IS LITTERED with MCs blessed with scythe-sharp flows and Byzantine lyrics who couldn't pick out a dope beat if their life depended on ...
Interview by John Lewis, London Lite, July 2007
IT'S BEEN QUITE a year for Lady Sovereign. She's met Gordon Brown at Downing Street to discuss hoodies ("he was all right, you know, not ...
Gym Class Heroes: The Forum, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 24 July 2007
THAT GYM CLASS Heroes owe their sudden success to a Supertramp sample should tickle parents of their predominately teenage fans. ...
Retrospective by Will Hermes, The Village Voice, 31 July 2007
OH YES, it was wicked cool: getting jacked at machete-point on the subway after a night of clubbing, and at bayonet-point outside of high school. ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 17 August 2007
THERE'S A SORT OF junkyard, trash-culture exuberance about M.I.A.'s beats that infuses the Anglo-Tamil rapper's work with freshness and immediacy. ...
Robert Glasper: "I'd like Wynton to listen to my iPod"
Interview by John Lewis, The Guardian, 17 August 2007
Jazz may be pianist Robert Glasper's first love, but hip-hop deserves equal respect, he tells John Lewis ...
Kanye West: Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 20 August 2007
HE MAY be a royally approved rapper after his appearance at the Diana memorial concert, but Kanye West recently took issue with Princes William and ...
Sean Kingston: Instant Messenger
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 31 August 2007
Three months ago, no one had heard of Sean Kingston. Now he has a No 1 single and a MOBO nomination – all thanks to ...
Facing Off: Blackface, Minstrels and Hip Hop
Comment by Miles Marshall Lewis, Dazed & Confused, September 2007
In the year that Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blow and Eric B called for a clean-up of attitudes and language in hip hop, Miles Marshall Lewis, ...
Review by Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 5 September 2007
FEW HAVE DONE BETTER THAN THE DEF JUX CREW in capturing the twitchy fractured neurotransmitters of the George Bush/Paris Hilton American schizophrenia of the '00s. ...
Kanye West: Graduation (Def Jam/Mercury) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 7 September 2007
WHATEVER YOU THINK of Kanye West — genius, prat, prattish genius — chances are he has thought it first. ...
Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 9 September 2007
THE MEDIA joust in America pitting Kanye West against 50 Cent – both releasing albums on the same day – is reminiscent of the 1995 ...
Public Enemy: The Public Enemy Remix Project's 'Bring the Noise' b/w 'Give It Up'
Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 26 September 2007
ALTHOUGH TECHNO (and its subsequent sub-genres) is now associated more with its white European exponents than its black American progenitors, Ultra Records' new series of ...
Comment by Kandia Crazy Horse, The Village Voice, 16 October 2007
The Detroit Cowboy tells his congregation about the world, flesh, and the Devil. ...
Review by Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 24 October 2007
NOW THAT "FIASCOGATE" has crushed the dreams of the Okayplayer message board junkies who'd hoped to anoint him the rightful heir to the Native Tongues ...
A Love From Outer Space: Why Greg Tate Matters
Essay by Michael A. Gonzales, Blackadelic Pop, 25 October 2007
THIS MORNING, I couldn't write. Though I'm on deadline to finish a Village Voice critique about my favorite band Apollo Heights (whose disc White Music ...
Roots Manuva: The war on jiggification
Report and Interview by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 26 October 2007
Stevie Chick on how UK hip-hop got its groove ...
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em: Soulja Boy Tell'em: SouljaBoyTellem.com
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, November 2007
THE MOST-VIEWED artist website on the internet. A record-breaking Myspace page. Seven weeks at the top of the US charts (singles, airplay and ringtone), a ...
Interview by Maureen Paton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 30 November 2007
The Grime pioneer takes a cab drive around his youthful stamping ground of Bow: remembering his childhood; times in and out of school; his scrapes with the law; starting to make music, pirate radio and the nascent Grime scene; his stabbing in Ayia Napa... and addressing the Oxford Union!
File format: mp3; file size: 75.6mb, interview length: 1h 18' 42" sound quality: ***
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 4 December 2007
RIGHT NOW, all we know about Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams – their first album in six years – is that at least two members (Ghostface ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 4 December 2007
RIGHT NOW, all we know about Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams – their first album in six years – is that at least two members (Ghostface ...
RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Clan: Putting the record straight
Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 10 December 2007
The hunger has returned: Wu-Tang Clan, with group leader RZA are back and ready to rule the hip hop world again with new album 8 ...
M.I.A.: Coronet Theatre, London SE1
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 22 December 2007
SHE IS LESS well-known than Amy Winehouse's hair and her sales to date wouldn't fund Beyoncé's laundry bill, yet Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has ...
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Stop Smiling, Winter 2007
FROM CINEMATIC outlaws Vito Corleone (The Godfather) and Priest (Super Fly) to real life dons like John Gotti and Nicky Barnes, the mythology of gangsterism ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2008
Four years and two albums into his "retirement", hip hop's chief tycoon relocates his mojo. ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 30 January 2008
IF YOUNG ROCK ACTS are struggling to sell albums, someone forgot to tell Linkin Park. Seven years since their debut, Hybrid Theory, won a Grammy, ...
Craig David: A Star Called David
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 31 January 2008
He is a black soul singer with a reputation as a ladies' man. So how come Craig David seems like such a nice Jewish boy? ...
50 Cent: Always The Lion In The Room
Interview by Ben Thompson, Financial Times, 8 February 2008
ON MEETING the rapper and business mogul 50 Cent, the first thing you notice is that he's a lot smaller than he looks onstage. In ...
Realistic Crew, Suhancos: "This is Hungary - we don't have stars": Realistic Crew and Suhancos
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 29 February 2008
Hungarian hip-hop has been going strong since 1984, and its musicians are keen to be recognised globally. The problem: they're just not Hungarian enough. Angus ...
Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, 25 March 2008
IN 2006, TWO avant-garde hip-hoppers — a producer known for DJ'ing in a mouse costume and a Dirty South MC who abandoned a legendary crew ...
R Kelly: Trapped In The Closet, Chapters 1-22 ***
Film/DVD/TV Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2008
Some people thought the R&B man had gone mad. He has now. ...
The Roots: It's Like A Jungle Sometimes...
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 25 April 2008
They are a hip-hop purist's dream, constantly touring and constantly praised. But behind the scenes, the Roots have a fight on their hands. Angus Batey ...
Jason Moran: Make A Date: Jason Moran
Interview by John Lewis, Metro, May 2008
WHEN THE eccentric jazz legend Thelonious Monk died in 1982, Jason Moran was only seven years old. Aged 11, Moran was in his dad's car ...
Ice Cube: Make A Date: Ice Cube
Interview by John Lewis, Metro, June 2008
THERE WAS ONCE a time when Ice Cube was actually considered a threat to civic order. Police would bust NWA shows. Op-ed columns in U.S. ...
Tricky: Return Of The Bristol Rover
Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, 21 June 2008
After exploding on to the trip-hop scene with Massive Attack and as a solo artist, Tricky decamped to America to go through what some see ...
Report by John Doran, The Quietus, 24 June 2008
Quietus Editor John Doran gets drunk, falls over, destroys phone, makes noise like "broken panther" and has Proustian recall of two run ins with rap ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, Venue , July 2008
HOME, THE saying goes, is a place you grow up wanting to leave and grow old wanting to return to. The most restless, prolific, exotic, ...
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 11 July 2008
"I'LL BE HONEST with you, and I'll be honest with your paper," sighs Robert Diggs, managing to sound both emphatic and resigned at the same ...
Review by Ben Thompson, The Guardian, 13 July 2008
ALL THE GREAT British writer/producers of the past two decades have found their own trademark equilibrium between guest vocals and backing tracks. ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 18 July 2008
FOR MY money, Nas remains New York's most potent rapper, operating with an insight and intelligence few exponents can equal. ...
Dizzee Rascal: Truthfully Born To Do It
Interview by Mike Diver, Drowned in Sound, 1 August 2008
DIZZEE RASCAL'S 'Dance Wiv Me', featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome, has sat at the top of the UK singles chart for the past four Sundays. ...
Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 18 September 2008
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons helped Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys make it big. But is his greatest talent self-promotion? Angus Batey meets ...
The Streets: Everything Is Borrowed
Review by Ian Gittins, The Quietus, 18 September 2008
MIKE SKINNER'S artistic forte has always been his quicksilver, meticulous eye for detail. He has chronicled his life like a roguish, Ecstasy-generation Pepys. ...
DJ Kool Herc: D.J. Kool Herc: The Holy House of Hip-hop
Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Magazine, 28 September 2008
On August 11, 1973, D.J. Kool Herc didn't know he was revolutionizing pop music – he was just trying to keep people dancing. The rec ...
The Streets: Everything Is Borrowed **
Review by David Quantick, Q, October 2008
The last one honked. This is possibly even worse. ...
50 Cent: From The Firing Line To The Firing Range
Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 1 October 2008
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is in a strangely revealing mood as he discusses working with De Niro and Pacino, how getting shot harmed his record ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 November 2008
DIZZEE RASCAL, who in 2003 carried off the Mercury music prize, recently told Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman he was thinking of running for prime minister. He seems ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 24 November 2008
AROUND THE RELEASE of last album, 2007's Graduation, something changed with Kanye West. The most infectious and commercially astute voice in hip hop added to ...
Common: Universal Mind Control (Island)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 5 December 2008
APART FROM HIS recent shift into movies, Common seems to be approaching his hip-hop career in a perversely roundabout manner. ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: AUDIO: Grandmaster Flash (2009)
Audio transcript of interview by Andrew Purcell, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2009
This is a transcript of Andrew's audio interview with Flash. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, 2009
HE NEVER MADE that much of an impact in the UK, but over in the States Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, aka Ginuwine, has, for the last ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Flash (2009)
Interview by Andrew Purcell, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2009
Flash talks about his latest album The Bridge, but then takes us back to the Bronx in the mid-'70s, his technical innovations, experiences with Sugar Hill records, and his addiction and the lost years.
File format: mp3; file size: 61.8mb, interview length: 1h 07' 31" sound quality: ****
The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy: Notorious (dir. George Tillman Jr.)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, January 2009
Despite some excellent acting and drama, Notorious biopic whitewashes Biggie Small’s gangsta life and death ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2009
AT THE END of August, Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis was waiting for her flight to the Democratic National Convention in Denver when a fellow passenger ...
Akon: Indigo, O2, Greenwich, SE10
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 28 January 2009
"ARE YOU ready for Akon?" cried a DJ in comedy glasses, a kilt and tartan waistcoat. An hour on, he was still posing the same ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique – 20th Anniversary Remastered Edition
Review by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 19 February 2009
IN 1989, FEW people imagined that the bratty trio who took "You Gotta Fight for Your Right" to the Top 10 would do more than ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Flash: All Hands On Deck
Profile and Interview by Andrew Purcell, The Guardian, 27 February 2009
They thought he was mad, they spat him off stage, he hit the drugs... But Grandmaster Flash gave 'DJ' a whole new meaning. Andrew Purcell ...
Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, April 2009
I GUESS you could say he's been away. But he's never strayed far. ...
Guide by Mike Diver, Clash, 6 April 2009
WITH RADIO 1 presently celebrating 30 years of all things hip-hop – check out Trevor Nelson's page for more – we at Clash figured: why ...
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 April 2009
GRIME IS THE NEW POP. The screams that greet support act Tinchy Stryder are shrill enough, but when N-Dubz bound on they're almost deafening. The ...
Interview by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, 13 May 2009
WHEN IT COMES TO Eminem, a lot of backstory probably isn't necessary. Especially in Detroit. But, really, that's pretty much true anywhere in the civilized ...
Review by John Aizlewood, The Evening Standard, 15 May 2009
He's back and better than ever ...
Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, June 2009
John Lewis talks to Wembley's grime-pop diva Lady Sovereign about that "difficult" second album. ...
Ornette Coleman, The Roots: The Roots with Ornette Coleman: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by John Lewis, The Guardian, 17 June 2009
IT SEEMS fitting that Philadelphia hip-hoppers the Roots should help kick off Ornette Coleman's Meltdown festival. ...
The Beastie Boys: Interview Preview
Retrospective and Interview by Mike Diver, Clash, 10 July 2009
Clash recently spent some quality face-to-face time with the three members of the Beastie Boys: Adam Yauch a.k.a. MCA, Michael Diamond a.k.a. Mike D, and ...
The Demise of Vibe and the Future of Criticism
Comment by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 23 July 2009
THERE'S NO SMALL irony to the fact that the announcement of the folding of Vibe magazine occurred the day after the death of Michael Jackson. ...
Beyoncé, Jay-Z: Beyoncé and Jay-Z: America's other first couple
Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 9 August 2009
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are black America’s second most famous couple: young, rich and with a direct line to the White House. ...
Review by Paul Moody, Q, September 2009
TWO YEARS AGO, Jamie T's debut Panic Prevention laid down roots for a new kind of British pop; a frantic urban fusion of ska, hip ...
Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, September 2009
IN 2001, SHAWN "Jay-Z" Carter released The Blueprint, a critical and commercial smash which set a standard the Brooklyn-born rap mogul has struggled to match ...
Profile by Stephen Dalton, The National, September 2009
WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA branded rapper Kanye West a "jackass" for his one-man stage invasion at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York last Sunday, ...
Coldplay, Jay-Z: Coldplay/Jay-Z: Lancashire Cricket Club, Manchester
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 September 2009
THERE ARE only a few bands big enough to ask artists who are at the very top of their own genres to work as their ...
Jamie T: 'I Love Living Out Of A Bag'
Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 24 September 2009
The hip-hop poet is ready to take to the road after relishing some home comforts ...
Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, October 2009
He's gone from grime-star chancer to award-winning chart topper. Now, with his fourth album, Dizzee Rascal is about to go stratospheric. John Lewis braces for ...
Shafiq Husayn: Shafiq En'a Freeka
Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, 5 October 2009
One-third of futurist hip hop cartel Sa-Ra Creative Partners goes solo, brilliantly. ...
Dizzee Rascal: Roundhouse, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 October 2009
"DIZZEE RASCAL for prime minister, yeah?" As if to emphasise that he is more than just an east London grime MC these days, Rascal ended ...
Def Jam at 25: The Yankees of Hip-Hop Labels, Reconsidered
Comment by Amy Linden, The Village Voice, 27 October 2009
WHAT IS IT about hip-hop that, inevitably, almost any conversation revolves around dates – around how far back in the day you can claim to ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Cash for Questions
Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, November 2009
YOU CAME TO BLAME THEM FOR EMINEM AND (WRONGLY) HAIL THEIR INVENTION OF THE MULLET. THEIR AGENDA ENCOMPASSED DEBBIE HARRY'S "DOME-SKI" AND THE PROSPECT OF ...
Dizzee Rascal: Dizzee Heights or The Year Of The Rascal
Interview by Ian Gittins, Wonderland, November 2009
"I wake up, every day is a daydream/Everything in my life ain't what it seems..."– 'Bonkers', Dizzee Rascal ...
Review by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 21 November 2009
MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T, but it's impossible to listen to Rihanna's new record without hunting for clues about her feelings towards Chris Brown, the former boyfriend ...
Rihanna: Rated R (Mercury) ***
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 27 November 2009
IN NO OTHER field of music does the autobiographical imperative wield as much power as it does in R&B. ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Malice N Wonderland (Priority Records)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, December 2009
A fine X to mark this spot in Snoop's always interesting career. ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: The new mellow Snoop Dogg still has bite
Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 4 December 2009
Snoop Dogg: "Now that I'm more concerned and caring and a father and a husband — it seems the less respect I get" ...
Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 22 December 2009
SHE WRITES all her own songs, can play them live and has never been seen emerging from a club looking the worse for wear. Alicia ...
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, 2010
AFFECTING, EMPOWERING FARE from a young rapper sparking with ambition. ...
The Black Keys: Blackroc: Cold Fusion
Profile and Interview by Alan Light, Relix, January 2010
NEVER BEFORE HAVE THE PURE ELEMENTS OF HIP-HOP AND ROCK BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CATALYZED TO CREATE SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW – UNTIL NOW. BLAKROC, THE CREATION OF ...
So Solid Crew: 'What We're Doing Is Bigger Than Music'
Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 14 January 2010
After a dramatic rise and a messy, destructive fall, So Solid are back. This time they intend to keep the tunes – and the money ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Back on Message: Gil Scott-Heron retools for a new generation
Interview by Alan Light, Mother Jones, March 2010
The revolution will not go better with Coke The revolution will not fight the germs that cause bad breath The revolution will put you in ...
Aidonia, Mavado: This Month In... Dancehall: Why Only Jamaicans Should Use Autotune
Overview by Neil Kulkarni, The Quietus, 3 March 2010
Neil Kulkarni delivers a swingeing blow to the whingers. Imagine a glitter and blood encrusted Doc Marten stamping on the face of autotune for all ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 8 April 2010
N-DUBZ SHOW that pop's generation gap is alive and well. For anyone over 21, the north London trio's trademark hats look like the sort of ...
Damian Marley, Nas: Nas and Damian Marley: Distant Relatives (Def Jam)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, May 2010
WHEN NAS CONFIRMED this collaboration with Damian Marley, he mentioned how hip hop and reggae are intertwined. ...
Drake, Paramore: Paramore, Drake Rock Into the Night at New Jersey's Bamboozle
Live Review by Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2010
DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS of the two-day New Jersey parking-lot festival known as the Bamboozle, attendees wander around the Meadowlands grounds, scoring rides on the ...
Damon Albarn, Gorillaz: Monkey see, monkey do, monkey tour: the Gorillaz are back
Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 10 May 2010
"I SAY! They're fancy!" exclaims Jamie Hewlett when Damon Albarn strides into the pair's West London headquarters. The object of his fascination? Albarn, his sidekick ...
Paul Edwards: How To Rap – The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC (Virgin)
Book Review by Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, 17 May 2010
"You want to be able to stand out from the others and just be distinct, period. A lot of shit sounds the same, so when ...
Eminem: Recovery (Aftermath Entertainment)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, June 2010
On his seventh album Eminem is more genuinely impassioned than he's sounded in years. ...
Eminem: Recovery (Aftermath/Interscope) ***
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 18 June 2010
PERHAPS Eminem's single most impressive achievement has been to shift hip-hop's focus from being primarily concerned with sociological issues, into the murkier realm of psychology. ...
The Roots: How I Got Over (Mercury/Def Jam)
Review by John Lewis, Metro, 27 June 2010
PHILADELPHIA'S ROOTS aren't really like any other hip hop acts. They're a proper live band, for starters (you might have seen them guesting as the ...
Professor Green: Alive Till I'm Dead
Review by Martin Aston, bbc.co.uk, July 2010
As fizzy, dramatic and inventive as pop should be without losing his initial grime edge. Stephen Manderson's stage alias echoes the big-band era of jazz giants ...
Janelle Monáe: The ArchAndroid
Preview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 9 July 2010
Another girl, another planet, another experience ...
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 10 July 2010
"I WANT TO be an outsider," she said, eating a truffle-flavoured French fry. A feature in the New York Times on the Sri Lankan-born, London-raised ...
Example, Professor Green, The Streets: Professor Green and Example are Streets ahead as rap stars
Profile and Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 13 July 2010
With the two young London rappers enjoying mainstream success, they explain how they outgrew their mentor, Mike Skinner. ...
Professor Green: Alive Till I'm Dead
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 July 2010
YOUNG EAST LONDONER Stephen Paul Manderson, aka Professor Green, has already had a rocky career. A recording apprenticeship with Mike 'The Streets' Skinner's label The ...
Plan B on overcoming his anger
Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 17 July 2010
His hit 'She Said' is the song of the year so far, and half a million people have bought his critically acclaimed album. But if ...
M.I.A.: M.I.A: /\/\/\Y/\ (XL) ***
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, August 2010
Embattled hip-pop star returns, guns blazing. Misses target. ...
Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, August 2010
IT'S BEEN 25 years since the rappers we know and love as Salt-N-Pepa burst into our consciousness. They are now forty-something women, living in suburban ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 August 2010
This 25-year-old MC is clearly going to be massive but it remains to be seen if he is the true saviour of Real Hip-Hop ...
Nicki Minaj: New Band of the Day: Nicki Minaj
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 August 2010
Can Nicki Minaj challenge the likes of Lady Gaga when it comes to future-female pop star? Or will her super-sexualised persona seem dated in six ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Wonderland, September 2010
THE SINGER ON BALANCING MUSIC, MOTHERHOOD, CLUBBING AND COOKING ...
The Last Poets: After The Party: Music and the Black Panthers
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 2 September 2010
ONE DAY LAST DECEMBER, Umar Bin Hassan of the Last Poets attended a gathering in Chicago to commemorate local Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, ...
Tinie Tempah, The Prince Of Grime, Hits The Big Time
Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 2 October 2010
Tinie Tempah, our new rap superstar, talks music, fashion and royal hobnobbing ...
Blade, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Ruthless Rap Assassins: The hip-hop heritage society
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 7 October 2010
Why aren't Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and other classic hip-hop acts lovingly reissued in the same way as other genres? Because guardians of rap's ...
Faith Evans, Soul-Singing Widow of Biggie Smalls, Misses Kum Kau Kitchen
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Magazine, 17 October 2010
FAITH EVANS, the soul singer once married to rapper Biggie Smalls (who was shot in 1997; she has since remarried), recently launched her sixth studio ...
The Gaslamp Killer: A bright spark hits the decks
Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 18 October 2010
Kooky DJ the Gaslamp Killer, known for his psychedelic sounds, talks to Metro about his experimental style, which includes work by Italian composers and dirty ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 26 October 2010
Still tripping on the ghosts of the past ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: The Hits Collection — Volume One (Def Jam)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, November 2010
ONE OF JAY-Z'S biggest UK hits, 'Empire State of Mind', possesses a title that can be taken different ways. It alludes to the rapper's hometown, ...
Kanye West : My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, November 2010
AFTER THE disappointing reviews and sales of his autotune-laden 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a magnificent return to form ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, November 2010
THE LEVELS OF anticipation surrounding Nicki Minaj's debut album have been so delirious that you almost expect Pink Friday not to be delivered by digital ...
CeeLo Green: Cee Lo Green: The Fearless Cee Lo Green
Interview by Amy Linden, The Village Voice, 10 November 2010
Will The Lady Killer and 'Fuck You' finally turn him into a solo superstar? ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 16 November 2010
IF DIE Antwoord are a joke, they're a painfully acute one. This over-the-top South African rap-rave trio, comprising rappers Ninja and Yolandi Visser and a ...
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Def Jam) *****
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 19 November 2010
RECORDED IN HAWAII at a rumoured cost of some $3 million, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of pop's gaudiest, most grandiose efforts of ...
Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday (Island) ***
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 19 November 2010
THERE'S NOTHING on Pink Friday with quite the incendiary impact of her cameo on Kanye West's 'Monster', but there's enough to confirm the buzz about ...
Book Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 3 December 2010
JAY-Z IS A GREAT American artist — and he'd be the first to tell you so. Decoded is an elegantly designed, incisively written bid for ...
Wyclef Jean: "Fans are calling me the new Dylan"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 December 2010
WHAT SCUPPERED Wyclef Jean's bid to be president of Haiti? Well, it wasn't modesty. On the eve of the election result, the rapper talks death ...
Justin Bieber, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Asher Roth: Industry Profile: Scooter Braun
Profile and Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 13 December 2010
This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Scooter Braun, founder, SB Projects ...
Plan B: 'Strickland Banks may be soul, but it's still real life': Plan B
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 16 December 2010
THE INTERNATIONAL lingua franca of Christmas TV is fromage and France's leading commercial channel, TF1, is no exception. Having arrived in Paris on a lunchtime ...
Janelle Monáe: Postbahnhof, Berlin — Not The Archandroid We're Looking For
Live Review by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 17 December 2010
Janelle Monáe's got it all, so why do we need any more? Wyndham Wallace reports from her recent Berlin show… ...
N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams: Pharrell Williams: Neptune Rising
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Man About Town, Winter 2010
PHARRELL Vs THE FASHIONISTAS ...
Dan Charnas: The Big Payback – The History of the Business of Hip-Hop
Book Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 4 January 2011
"HERE'S A LITTLE story that must be told," Dan Charnas writes by way of an ironic introduction to his brick-sized epic, quoting a classic rap ...
Drake: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 10 January 2011
DRAKE was one of 2010's more singular success stories. ...
Chase and Status: No More Idols (Vertigo)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 28 January 2011
I'VE NO idea who's responsible for the African rap on 'No Problem', which opens Chase and Status's album, but he deserves the kind of star ...
The Streets: Computers and Blues
Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 9 February 2011
YOU'LL HAVE TO meet us halfway on this, but Mike Skinner's swansong plays like a cracking old wake – Skinner's of course. ...
Lupe Fiasco: "I have the right to speak out"
Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 3 March 2011
"SOLZHENITSYN PUT IT VERY QUAINTLY," says Lupe Fiasco. "Basically, there's a duality in everything — there's two sides to every story. Sometimes they complement each ...
Review by Johnny Sharp, bbc.co.uk, 8 March 2011
Chicago rapper's delayed third album features several inspired moments. ...
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All: Odd Future: Youth and Young Manhood
Guide by John Calvert, The Quietus, 8 March 2011
After Tyler The Creator signed to XL recently, John Calvert decided to sift through hundreds and hundreds of tracks to bring you the best — ...
Eminem: Slim Shady's Rap-Sheet Of Relapse And Recovery
Profile by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 1 April 2011
Eminem soared from drug-filled poverty to adulation and notoriety, and then collapsed into gilded, narcotic, seclusion. But, after his latest comeback, his biographer Nick Hasted ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 26 April 2011
THE SUPPOSEDLY marginal, insular London grime scene keeps throwing up mainstream pop stars. In the wake of Dizzee Rascal and Tinie Tempah, 20-year-old Tottenham rapper ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, May 2011
The Beasties' seventh LP is catnip for fans of their classic early-'90s output. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 May 2011
Tyler the Creator touches down to talk goblins, chillwave and the trouble with saying stupid stuff ...
Tyler, The Creator: Goblin (XL)
Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 10 May 2011
OUR FRIEND and writer for The Stool Pigeon and this organ Kev Kharas recently went to interview Tyler The Creator. The mewling twit (Mr Creator ...
Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 24 May 2011
"And every proton and neutron in every atom . . . swollen and throbbing, off-color, sick, with just no chance of throwing up to relieve ...
Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 26 May 2011
FORGET THE controversy. No, wait, we can't. The controversy is a breath of fresh air. If you listen to the album you might be confused ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, June 2011
He's kept grime moving forwards with some truly audacious sounds. ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Growing Up With Gil Scott-Heron: In Loving Memory
Memoir by Danny Goldberg, AlterNet, 11 June 2011
GIL SCOTT-HERON'S death last week at the age of 62 stimulated a wave of appreciation from critics and the jazz and hip hop communities who ...
DJ Kool Herc DJs his first block party
Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 13 June 2011
DJ Kool Herc DJs his first block party (his sister's birthday) on 13 August 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York ...
Retrospective by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 13 June 2011
AMONG hip-hop's canonical creation myths, few are as perfectly formed as Grand Wizard Theodore's invention of scratching. ...
Hip-Hop and Festivals: An Awkward Relationship
Comment by Ben Myers, The Guardian, 23 June 2011
When they get it right, rappers can rival stadium rock acts. But a mere gust of wind can expose how few MCs can hack festivals ...
Death Grips: Relentless Raw Movement: Death Grips Interviewed
Interview by John Calvert, The Quietus, 14 July 2011
Death Grips are the single most exciting new thing we have heard in 2011. John Calvert asks Flatlander about their methodology, hip hop, Odd Future, ...
Lil Wayne: Tha Carter IV (Cash Money Records)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, August 2011
Studio LP number nine from the multi-million seller could be his UK breakthrough proper ...
Goldie, Pat Metheny: When Goldie Met Metheny
Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, August 2011
Obsessed drum'n'bass muscle writes daily letters to jazz wizard (and to Beethoven and Elgar). Eventually he posts one. Word arranges a summit ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 19 August 2011
IN THE WAKE of last week's riots, the North London rapper Jermaine Scott, aka Wretch 32, is bound to be tagged as the Voice of ...
Example: Playing in the Shadows
Review by John Aizlewood, bbc.co.uk, 5 September 2011
A third album which should establish Example as a chart-topper for the long haul. ...
Childish Gambino: New band of the week — Childish Gambino
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 September 2011
As comedians dabbling in rap go, Donald Glover has lot more going on than Will Smith. ...
A Tribe Called Quest: 20 Years On: A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory Revisited
Retrospective by Angus Batey, The Quietus, 10 October 2011
20 years after it was released and a month before the UK premiere of the Tribe Called Quest documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life, Angus Batey ...
Outkast: An Album of the Year 2000: OutKast: Stankonia
Retrospective by Mike Diver, Drowned in Sound, 26 October 2011
WHAT INITIALLY seems like a throwaway title of nonsensical playfulness is actually a very astute summary of the first truly great rap record of the ...
Drake: Take Care (Cash Money Records)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, November 2011
Drake is here for the long run — and he's already outrunning most. ...
Heavy D. & the Boyz: Heavy D: obituary
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 9 November 2011
THE RAPPER HEAVY D, who has died suddenly aged 44, after collapsing at his home, was among a handful of hip-hop stars from the 1980s ...
Tinie Tempah, O2 Arena, London ***
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 9 November 2011
I HEARD PEOPLE close to Tinie Tempah talk passionately about how his appeal and personal qualities were part of a Britain that went beyond race, ...
Heavy D. & the Boyz: Why Heavy D. Matters
Obituary by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 10 November 2011
Though many remember him as "the overweight lover," Heavy D was much more than one of hip-hop's first pop stars. He made some of his ...
The Last Poets: Waiting For The Revolution
Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, December 2011
From the volatile streets of Harlem in the late '60s, THE LAST POETS were among the earliest voices of radical black youth in America. With ...
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2012
Hill’s multi-award-winning debut became part of the mainstream on its own terms. ...
Comment by Juliette Jagger, juliettejagger.com, January 2012
HIP-HOP ARTISTS are reigning supreme right now because they are the only one's who have real shit. In the midst of this rock drought we ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 January 2012
Watch out, Nicki Minaj, there's a host of feisty, eccentric female rappers on your trail – and not all of them are here to pay their ...
Childish Gambino: The Basement at the Camp, EC1
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 27 January 2012
IT IS ABOUT time someone challenged the "get rich or die trying" stereotype that has dominated hip-hop music on its journey from ghetto art to ...
Don Cornelius: Love, Peace, and Hair Grease: Remembering Soul Train's Don Cornelius
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 2 February 2012
Artists from Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys to Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band reminisce about the life and legacy of the late Don Cornelius, whose show ...
Speech Debelle Inspired by Tupac on Second Album
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 3 February 2012
In the two years since Speech Debelle won the Mercury Prize for her debut album Speech Therapy, she has seen her life turn around. ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 15 February 2012
POP STARS become producers, but producers rarely become pop stars. Mark Ronson, for one, has unintentionally demonstrated the pitfalls awaiting studio wizards who step from ...
Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 16 February 2012
COMEDY RAP act or conceptual art project? Whatever your opinion on rave-rappers Die Antwoord, their new album is a rare treat — South African pop ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Notorious B.I.G.: Forever
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, XXL, March 2012
It's been 15 years since the greatest rapper of all time, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., was taken from hip-hop, but his legacy continues to loom large. ...
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All: The OF Tape Vol. 2
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, 20 March 2012
'Post-fame' follow-up to notorious rap crew's 2008 online-only debut. ...
Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday – Roman Reloaded
Review by Kate Allen, idolmag.co.uk, April 2012
Tenacious, amusing and, above all, "the best — make no mistake, with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Nicki Minaj is here to reaffirm her rap territory ...
Martina Topley-Bird, Tricky: Tricky
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 18 April 2012
Seventeen years ago, Maxinquaye made Tricky an unlikely pop star, and made him angry and unhappy. Now, though, he and Martina Topley-Bird are ready to ...
Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 20 April 2012
"Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, jazz musicians, and entertainers, Their satanic music is driven by marijuana."— Harry J. Anslinger, America's First Drug Czar ...
Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 26 April 2012
THERE’S HIGH comedy afoot on the old web-machine these days. Press attempts to answer the question "What are Death Grips?" have taken a turn for ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2012
Tyler, The Creator breaks new ground with every release, jokes about rape and "faggots", and runs LA rap crew Odd Future the way he wants. ...
Jay Z, Kanye West: Jay-Z and Kanye West: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 20 May 2012
JAY-Z AND Kanye West are hip-hop's current two main players, and they are pathologically keen to celebrate the fact. ...
A$AP Rocky: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 7 June 2012
"I WANT EVERYONE TO GET THEIR MONEY'S WORTH," says A$AP Rocky, the self-described "pretty motherfucker from Harlem". "I want someone to leave here passed out." ...
Nicki Minaj: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Ben Thompson, Seven, 29 June 2012
THERE ARE two contrasting sides to rapper Nicki Minaj's musical identity — both were fighting for attention at the Hammersmith Apollo. ...
Jay-Z: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Alan Light, MSN.com, July 2012
LIKE ANY REAL MC, Jay-Z loves a challenge. He just takes things to a higher level than, well, anyone. So it wasn't enough that on ...
Rick Ross: God Forgives, I Don't (Def Jam)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, July 2012
KNOWN TO MANY UK listeners as a gravel-voiced guest on innumerable rap hits, Rick Ross has enjoyed considerable stateside success for several years. His 2006 ...
Frank Ocean: The Future's Bright: Frank Ocean's Channel Orange Track-by-Track
Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 3 July 2012
John Calvert heads along to a London studio for a first listen to the forthcoming album (much anticipated round these parts) from Frank Ocean ...
Frank Ocean Comes Out: A Brave Move In The Exaggeratedly Heterosexual World Of Hip Hop
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, New Statesman, 4 July 2012
What it means to be the first out gay star in urban music. ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 31 July 2012
PLAN B'S THIRD album, Ill Manors, went straight into the album chart at No. 1 this week, despite being a spectacular musical contrast to the ...
Nicki Minaj: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, The Fly, August 2012
THREE HOURS before Nicki Minaj is due onstage, there are miles of fans queuing outside the Apollo. Many have camped out overnight, sleeping in bin ...
Kendrick Lamar: New band of the week: Kendrick Lamar
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 August 2012
Independent, idiosyncratic 25-year-old rapper from Compton who's been making waves in hip-hop circles and has just cooked up a recipe for the big-time ...
MF DOOM: Doom: "It's all new, all fun"
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 August 2012
Rapper (MF) DOOM is back in London, the city where he was born, with Key to the Kuffs, an album that references rhyming slang and ...
Obituary by Amy Linden, XXL, September 2012
THE DEATH OF a young person evokes its own peculiar grief. And when that death is a suicide – grief mushrooms into something more painful ...
Afrika Bambaataa, Terry Farley, Larry Levan, David Mancuso: How Clubbing Changed The World
Essay by Greg Wilson, Rock's Backpages, 14 September 2012
LAST MONTH I was over in Chicago chilling out in my hotel room ahead of my first gig in the city, at Smart Bar, a ...
Angel Haze: Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 11 October 2012
In the latest Calvert Report, our man John Calvert starts to feel unusual as he sees Angel Haze live at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. ...
Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), November 2012
If Santi "Santigold" White's strong and independent voice on her two studio albums Santogold and Master Of My Make-Believe hadn't already marked out the performer ...
Death Grips: Pleasure in suffering? The problem with Death Grips live
Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 13 November 2012
A scholar of Death Grips, John Calvert expected to prostrate himself before the menace of MC Ride and Zach Hill. But is this the punk ...
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, January 2013
Debut album proper from the hyped New York rapper doesn't quite deliver ...
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, January 2013
Edinburgh-based rap trio impresses with this potential-rich collection. ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 14 January 2013
NEW YORK rapper A$AP Rocky's debut has been a long time in the making. Originally scheduled for release last September, it was then mysteriously delayed ...
Kendrick Lamar: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 January 2013
ON A snowy night in London, Compton seems as distant as Mars. Twenty-five years ago the Los Angeles suburb was the epicentre of a hip-hop ...
Kendrick Lamar: Bottled Lightning: Kendrick Lamar: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 23 January 2013
John Calvert heads to a cold Hammersmith to be blown away by Kendrick Lamar — "A private epiphany, the rest is history" ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Flash: Dogstar, Brixton, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 29 January 2013
IT FEELS oddly incongruous to witness one of the legendary founding fathers of a billion-dollar musical genre playing to 300 people in a modest pub-style ...
Modestep: Evolution Theory (Max)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 2013
IF PENDULUM rule the teen-rave market, Modestep seem destined to reel in their little brothers and sisters. ...
Iggy Azalea: One to watch: Iggy Azalea
Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Guardian, 24 March 2013
IGGY AZALEA has a highly developed sense of the absurd. She saw paparazzi outside her hotel this morning and felt obliged to put on dark ...
Retrospective and Interview by Amy Linden, Red Bull Academy Magazine, April 2013
IT'S DIFFICULT for a generation raised on Carrie and the girls, luxury condos and cabs that have no problem taking you to Brooklyn to wrap ...
Tyler, The Creator: Q&A: Tyler, the Creator
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 11 April 2013
The Odd Future leader on homophobia, Miley Cyrus and why Tumblr is "sad". ...
Lady Leshurr: Lady Lesshur: "The industry just doesn't know what to do with women"
Interview by Kate Mossman, The Guardian, 20 April 2013
The Midlands-born MC on morals, inspiration and why the UK needs a female rap star ...
Interview by John Lewis, Baku, May 2013
WE'RE AT THE O2 in London to see Craig David's first UK tour in four years, and there's a weird buzz of excitement. Just over ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: How we made: Jiggs Chase and Ed Fletcher on 'The Message'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 May 2013
The producer and MC of the hip-hop classic recall trying to persuade Grandmaster Flash to grow a social conscience. ...
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London ****
Live Review by David Bennun, Event Magazine, 1 June 2013
Just drop the chat and give us the rap, Mac ...
Report and Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 7 June 2013
Hip hop heads often get misty-eyed about the 'golden age' of hip hop. But when was it? The formative years of Grandmaster Flash and Sugarhill ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: Magna Carta Holy Grail
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, July 2013
WHAT DO YOU do when you are a multi-millionaire businessman who hangs out with the Obamas but still wants to be a gangsta? ...
Neneh Cherry, RocketNumberNine: Neneh Cherry and RocketNumberNine: Pavilion Theatre, Manchester
Live Review by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2013
NOT KNOWING what's coming can work both ways. In keeping with Manchester International Festival's remit of unveiling original and provocative new work, Neneh Cherry and ...
Iggy Azalea: "I haven't got daddy issues!"
Interview by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 10 July 2013
IN 2004, A 14-year-old Australian white girl named Amethyst Kelly heard Tupac Shakur for the first time. Blown away by his poetic intensity, she resolved ...
Lil' Kim: The hip hop star is a little big woman in a man's world
Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 11 July 2013
"I'M A GIRLY GIRL," says Lil Kim. "I'm strong but I'm very timid. Very dainty." This, of course, is the same Lil Kim who wrote ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Brixton Academy, London SW9
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 28 July 2013
In more than 25 years, I have never before witnessed an entire Brixton Academy audience bounce along in sweat-soaked unison ...
Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah: "This is What London Is": The Growth of Grime
Book Excerpt by Lloyd Bradley, Serpent's Tail Books, August 2013
"WHEN I INITIALLY started producing, I started grabbing reggae influences, hip-hop influences, mixing it with my own London flava, then you got the MCs on ...
Silibil n' Brains: Rap stars straight outta Dundee
Report and Interview by James Medd, The Times, 17 August 2013
THEY SHOULD HAVE been huge. Silibil n' Brains arrived in the UK in 2004, a pair of white Californian rappers: a double Eminem or two ...
Live Review by Simon Price, The Independent, 24 August 2013
Art-pop kings remind the world why they rank among this century's finest songwriters with a truly scintillating comeback gig. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 August 2013
SUNNY DISPOSITIONS and chirpy tunefulness saw Rizzle Kicks achieve a double-platinum debut in 2011. ...
Review by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, September 2013
IN A post Kanye-West-interview-with-Zane-Lowe world, Drake is looking like an average Joe. He's a heavyweight big-name, big-bucks star, yet he registers nowhere on the insanity ...
Elvis Costello, The Roots: Elvis Costello and Questlove
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, MOJO, September 2013
Forged in the unlikely surroundings of an American late-night TV show, the transatlantic union between Elvis Costello and The Roots' drummer and co-frontman Questlove has ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2013
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN the world's two most famous rappers start to lose their grip on the mic? ...
Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj: Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne: The Blueprint Group
Profile and Interview by Kate Allen, IDOL, September 2013
"The Blueprint Group makes brands out of rappers and turns their dreams of success into a reality." ...
Nas: The Golden G's: On Nas and Aging in Hip-Hop
Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 10 September 2013
How Nas has been able to stay relevant through 20 years in hip-hop. ...
Vintage Vision: Enter Wild Style, 30 Years Later
Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 27 September 2013
THIRTY YEARS have passed since the cinematic rap classic Wild Style opened in a grimy Times Square theatre in 1983, and much has changed in ...
Dizzee Rascal: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 September 2013
Beyond the celeb-friends roundup, Dizzee's agility and cheery-badman appeal is undeniable ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 2013
WHEN A label announces that one of its major autumn pop releases contains "no obviously constructed singles", it usually signals that the artist has lost their mojo. ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 4 November 2013
Rappers are arguably more vulnerable than any other artists to difficult second album syndrome. ...
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 5 November 2013
IF MAYA ARULPRAGASAM has a persecution complex, she's earned it. ...
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Review by Mike Diver, Clash, 12 November 2013
RAP WOULD BE poorer without Eminem in it. His voice is a colourful, powerful, persuasive one – and his career achievements have undeniably brought a greater ...
Ol' Dirty Bastard, Wu-Tang Clan: Enter Wu-Tang's 20th Birthday
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 15 November 2013
Reminiscing on the 20th anniversary of the Wu-Tang Clan's debut, Michael A. Gonzales wonders if it was all so simple then. ...
Childish Gambino: Because The Internet
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 December 2013
CHILDISH GAMBINO, the creation of US actor/standup Donald Glover, was initially seen by some as too plugged in to media circles to be persuasive as a rapper. ...
Ice Cube, N.W.A, Public Enemy: When Ice Cube Was Hardcore
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 6 December 2013
ON THE HEELS OF RECENT ICE CUBE AND PUBLIC ENEMY ALBUM RE-RELEASES, MICHAEL A. GONZALES RECALLS WHEN ICE CUBE WAS HARD ...
The Sequence: Funk You Up – The Complete Sugarhill Recordings
Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, 2014
SUGARHILL RECORDS was formed in 1979 by Joe and Sylvia Robinson and by early 1980 had presented the world with a "new" music – rap. ...
Lightnin' Rod's Hustlers Convention: Rap's Great Lost Album
Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Guardian, 30 January 2014
A FULL DECADE before Public Enemy revolutionised the world of rap, Chuck D first encountered the album he describes today as "a verbal roadmap for people trying to ...
Angel Haze: Gorilla, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 9 March 2014
"I KNOW I haven't done a bunch of shows, so thanks y'all for coming out to see me eventually," says Angel Haze, reflecting on her ...
Tinie Tempah: The Most Stylish Man In Music
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 25 March 2014
From the outset, rapper Tinie Tempah was determined to stand out from the crowd. He talks to Sheryl Garratt about the evolution of his style ...
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 11 April 2014
WHEN 20-YEAR-OLD MC Nas released his stellar debut Illmatic two decades ago this month, I must've been on the only person on Planet Hip-Hop who ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 16 April 2014
THE MULTI-RACIAL trio Company Flow were one of rap's great underground hopes back in the '90s, their Funcrusher Plus album suggesting alternatives to the gangsta ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 21 April 2014
AZALEA IS certainly one of the most singular pop success stories of recent years. ...
Review by Lucy O'Brien, The Quietus, 29 April 2014
"WHEN THE SMOKE clears I'm the last bandit," Iggy Azalea raps optimistically on 'Walk The Line', a stand-out track on her long-awaited debut album. ...
Jay Z, Public Enemy: Still Smokin': 30 Years of Crack's Influence on Pop Culture
Essay by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 2 May 2014
With Showtime announcing John Singleton's upcoming Snowfall series, crack cocaine's sway on pop culture continues to grow ...
Dr. Dre: Dr Dre: The hip-hop head with a business brain
Guide by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 10 May 2014
The man cited by his peers as the most significant force in hip-hop is set to become its richest operator. But what does his $3.2bn ...
Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 24 May 2014
Prince William high-fives him. Harry Styles is his wingman at fashion shows. Lewis Hamilton asks him for styling tips ... why everyone wants to know ...
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 6 June 2014
WITH BLACK MUSIC Month here, it's a perfect time to reflect on the aural architects who helped shaped the noir soundtracks to our lives. ...
Flying Lotus: Colston Hall, Bristol
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 10 June 2014
"BRISTOL, IT'S been a while," beamed the electronic explorer Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison, as he welcomed an excitable young crowd to one of his ...
Iggy Azalea: "I Have Never Had Any Musicians Tell Me That I Wasn't Authentic"
Interview by Kate Mossman, The Observer, 29 June 2014
The Australian rapper has endured her fair share of controversy in a brief, spectacular career, but seems well equipped to fight her way to the ...
Retrospective and Interview by Alan Light, MOJO, July 2014
IT IS THE winter that never ends in New York City, and on this mid-April evening, the rain outside is gradually turning to snow. The ...
Black Sky Thinking: White Power And Black Pop: The Real Problem With 1Xtra's Power List
Comment by Neil Kulkarni, The Quietus, 16 July 2014
Neil Kulkarni dissects the recent BBC 1Xtra Power List which featured three white acts in the top four... ...
Sleaford Mods: Hairy Dog, Derby
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 1 September 2014
A BRACING BREATH of foul air from the rumbling guts of the East Midlands music scene, Sleaford Mods have graduated from obscure cult act to ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 3 September 2014
ONE OF several early 1990s hip-hop acts who seemed to confirm F Scott Fitzgerald's maxim that there are no second acts in American life, the ...
Jungle, Pharrell Williams: Pharrell Williams/Jungle: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 11 September 2014
He looks dapper, and he opens the show with a brilliant blast of robot funk, but the R&B pioneer is a bit too reserved on ...
Kate Tempest: Poet, performer, novelist: the rise of the uncategorisable Kate Tempest
Report and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 12 September 2014
Mercury nomination and place on prestigious list of poets are well-deserved accolades for bright young performer ...
Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 21 September 2014
The one-time leading light of 90s R&B ditched neo-soul subtleties in favour of ear-splitting hip-hop on the first date of her short UK tour ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, The Guardian, 4 December 2014
Unclassifiable, esoteric and revered by the hip-hop cognoscenti, Divine Styler releases his first album in 14 years, Def Mask — a tour de force of ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 11 December 2014
The Edinburgh hip-hop trio weave disparate influences together to generate a jaw-droppingly synchronised anarchy ...
Professor Green: Roundhouse, London NW1
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 15 December 2014
THAT BRITISH kids briefly believed that British rap was where it's at is starting to seem like a dream. The days when Dizzee Rascal and ...
Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back/Fear Of A Black Planet (Deluxe Editions)
Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2015
BOTH THE music industry and the media have a way of attaching such an air of historical significance to certain records that it's easy to ...
Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Lives On
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 February 2015
Political activist, rap pioneer and poet Gil Scott-Heron shaped the sound of today – from Talib Kweli and Kanye West to Kendrick Lamar. His friends ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Sunday Times, 1 March 2015
Touted by Lorde and Kanye West, Raury has the nerve to live up to his billing ...
Kendrick Lamar Voices the Ferguson Era
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Ebony, 17 March 2015
WE CAN FINALLY take Black Messiah off repeat; masterpiece two has arrived. To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar's thematically and musically layered 16-track sophomore album, ...
Cannibal Ox: Blade Of The Ronin
Review by Mike Diver, The Quietus, 20 March 2015
CANNIBAL OX'S 2001 debut album The Cold Vein was New York hip hop given the bumps by a clutch of skin-peeled T-800s, shaken by ice-core ...
Common: Center of Chaos: Common's Electric Circus
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 24 March 2015
In the wake of the wide-ranging To Pimp a Butterfly, Michael A. Gonzales looks back to Common's most ambitious full-length. ...
Live Review by Kate Allen, FMS, 30 March 2015
IT'S SAD but it's edifying: whilst one rap pretender, who shalt remain nameless, postpones an entire tour due to "production delays", Nicki Minaj presses on ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 31 March 2015
Nicki Minaj delivered tongue-twisting raps with spectacular ease. ...
Umar Bin Hassan: Last Poet Umar Bin Hassan Returns for Revolution
Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 7 April 2015
Are We Trapped, the latest from the voice of the Last Poets, flaunts the original Black revolutionary spirit that still inspires the likes of Kendrick ...
BadBadNotGood, Ghostface Killah: Ghostface Killah: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 18 May 2015
Toronto jazz trio BadBadNotGood deliver razor-edge grooves to join the most prolific Wu outside the Clan for a frenetic tour through his back pages ...
Kate Tempest: The Great Escape festival, Brighton
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 18 May 2015
Kate Tempest stands out proudly in midst of hustling between scattered venues ...
Kendrick Lamar: "I am Trayvon Martin. I'm all of these kids."
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 21 June 2015
LAST YEAR, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented research demonstrating that "youth living in inner cities show a higher ...
Kanye West: A Triumph of Kanye West's will
Live Review by David Bennun, Intelligent Life, 28 June 2015
"RAP IS THE new rock'n'roll. We the rock stars. And I'm the biggest of all of them." ...
Tyler, the Creator: Cherry Bomb
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 June 2015
IT'S A GOOD TIME for Odd Future fans. Earl Sweatshirt's new album just dropped, Frank Ocean's follow-up to Channel Orange is imminent and there's even a Golf Wang app: "Tyler ...
The Sugarhill Gang: Jump On It ! – Complete Sugarhill Recordings
Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, July 2015
"All the other rappers didn't consider the Sugar Hill Gang to be real rappers. They just got lucky. They hadn't lived the life they hadn't ...
Tyler, the Creator: Cherry Bomb (Columbia)
Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, July 2015
Odd Future man's fourth solo joint blows hot and cold. ...
Live Review by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 16 July 2015
The New York hip hop duo were at their best as they unleashed the cavernous thunder and pungent rhymes of their classic album The Cold ...
Afrika Bambaataa, Mark Ronson: Afrika Bambaataa and Mark Ronson: Uptown and Downtown Funk Masters
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 27 October 2015
The pair remember two influential generations of hip-hop dance parties ahead of being honoured next month for their contributions to New York City's club scene. ...
Interview by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 22 December 2015
We are beyond fascinated by California rapper Vince Staples, who is scheduled to bring his critically acclaimed debut album Summertime '06 to New Zealand for ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 12 January 2016
No matter how fast he rapped, or how randomly he switched between snippets of songs, the crowd howled along ...
Live Review by Ben Thompson, The Guardian, 16 January 2016
EYES FLASHING IN THE SHADOW of her pristine white baseball cap with its breaking black heart motif — the brim seems to have been extended ...
Loyle Carner: Garage, London ★★★★☆
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 22 February 2016
Soul-Searching Hip-Hop With Charged Intensity The fresh-faced British rapper's unsentimental candour is coupled with a thrilling love for language and J Dilla-inspired beats ...
Kanye West: The Life Of Pablo (GOOD Music/Def Jam)
Review by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, April 2016
The seventh album by Kanye West dismantles the traditional concept of the album while laying bare its author's inner conflicts. ...
Drake: How Drake became the all-pervading master of hyper-reality rap
Comment by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 28 April 2016
The Canadian artist's success at spreading both his sound and self far and wide owes much to his desire to be everything to everybody – ...
Kendrick Lamar: untitled unmastered (Interscope/Top Dawg)
Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, May 2016
LAST YEAR, under enormous pressure, rapper Kendrick Lamar released one of the most culturally and socially resonant albums in memory, To Pimp A Butterfly. ...
Interview by Alan Light, Mother Jones, July 2016
We caught up with the hip-hop legend behind Baz Luhrmann's latest creation ...
Drake: Streaming is skewing the pop charts
Comment by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 7 August 2016
Drake's 'One Dance' was No 1 for 15 weeks. The charts are stalling and need a rethink ...
The Get Down Proves Why The Bronx Will Always Matter
Memoir by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Fader, 11 August 2016
Why the 1970s depicted in Baz Luhrmann’s new Netflix series is an accurate portrait of that era. ...
Tommy Boy At 35: Tom Silverman Talks Hip-Hop's Most Iconic Indie Label
Retrospective and Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, Genius, 18 August 2016
A history of the brand that brought the world Afrika Bambaataa, De La Soul, and Queen Latifah. No account of early hip-hop industry is complete without ...
Banks & Steelz: Anything But Words
Review by John Calvert, New Musical Express, 2 September 2016
THE RAP-ROCK fusion album is a hard one to get right. Examples of success in this weird little corner of music do exist — Dälek's ...
Kanye West: Kanye West: TD Garden, Boston
Live Review by Maura Johnston, The Boston Globe, 4 September 2016
"IT'S A GOOD YEAR to be a Kanye West fan," Kanye West said near the end of his show at TD Garden on Saturday night. ...
De La Soul Is (Not) Dead: Inside the Anonymous Nobody
Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 7 September 2016
30 years after the release of its groundbreaking first album, 3 Feet High and Rising, we catch up with this legendary crew. ...
Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, N.W.A: Jerry Heller, 1940-2016
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 7 September 2016
Music manager who launched NWA and set up Ruthless Records with Eazy-E ...
Sean Paul: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 September 2016
The sparky showboater's glory days may be some way behind him, but his rueful rhythms haven't just aged well over the years – they carry ...
Essay by John Lewis, The Guardian, 6 October 2016
A generation of jazz musicians has grown up with hip-hop in its blood. The result is the thrilling reinvention of a genre that has been ...
Mary J. Blige, Maxwell: Mary J. Blige/Maxwell: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 October 2016
Blige commands the stage with raw rage and consciousness-raising while neo-soul pioneer Maxwell melts the room with trademark loose grooves. ...
Wretch 32: O2 Forum, Kentish Town, London
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 10 November 2016
Though there were strong moments, the break-out grime star sometimes blurred the line between touching and naff, says Rick Pearson. ...
A Tribe Called Quest: We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, NPR, 11 November 2016
EXPLAINING THE return of A Tribe Called Quest to the pop firmament is nigh impossible without hyperbole, so here goes: Imagine the Beatles had reunited ...
Chance the Rapper: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 November 2016
The hip hop boundary-breaker had a triumphant night in Manchester, keeping his audience on their toes with a mix of humility, eclecticism and spirituality. ...
Slick Rick: "You learn from prison time – what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 November 2016
His morality tales of ghetto life made the Anglo-American rapper famous – and chillingly predicted his imprisonment for attempted murder. Now, 13 years since he ...
Skepta: Alexandra Palace, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 4 December 2016
RECEIVED WISDOM has long held that grime, the attitudinal amalgam of garage, jungle, rap and electro that ripped out of east London's sink estates at ...
A Tribe Called Quest: We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, January 2017
With their secretly recorded sixth and final album, A Tribe Called Quest address the state of their nation with fury, humour and love. ...
Common: Black America Again (Def Jam/ARTium CD/DL)
Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, January 2017
HARKING BACK to the late 1960s/early 70s protest pop when The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron led the rhythmic revolution with powerful poetics soaked in ...
JPEGMAFIA x Freaky: The Second Amendment (Deathbomb Arc)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, The Wire, January 2017
TIME AGAIN for hiphop to look beyond its normal loci of national and international significance and focus on those scenes so cut off from the ...
Guide by Miles Marshall Lewis, Essence, 11 February 2017
Six artists you may have already heard of who will be gracing the Grammys red carpet for the first time. ...
Loyle Carner: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 February 2017
The south Londoner's heartfelt rapping had the crowd on their feet and singing from start to finish ...
Loyle Carner: I believe in yesterday
Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 26 February 2017
Losing his stepdad made him the rapper he is today. ...
Loyle Carner: I believe in yesterday
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 26 February 2017
Losing his stepdad made him the rapper he is today ...
Run the Jewels: Run The Jewels 3
Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, March 2017
Alt-rap activists Killer Mike and El-P rage against the obscene on politically charged third album. ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 20 March 2017
Drake's More Life is Another All-Purpose Emoji ...
Thundercat: Gorilla, Manchester
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 March 2017
The gifted bassist and Kendrick Lamar sidekick twists fusion, soul and hip-hop into magical shapes. ...
Live Review by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 29 March 2017
The prodigious bassist's songs veer between jazz fusion and intimate, soulful pop – augmented live by detours into wild improvisation ...
Run The Jewels: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, April 2017
SOME OBSERVATIONS after having experienced Run The Jewels live for the first time: ...
Stormzy: O2 Academy, Leicester
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 5 April 2017
With just a laptop DJ as accompaniment, the south London grime star commanded the packed room like a whirling typhoon of kinetic energy ...
Swet Shop Boys: Webster Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 14 April 2017
SWET SHOP BOYS performed a very neat trick at Webster Hall on Wednesday night: they made Pakistan cool again and brought the 90 million odd ...
Live Review by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 17 April 2017
.Paak barely pauses for breath in this irresistible sprint through his hard luck/good fortune tracks: this is a man unafraid to break a sweat to ...
Review by Julian Marszalek, Classic Rock, 19 May 2017
It's like the past 17 years never happened ...
Kendrick Lamar: DAMN. (Interscope)
Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, June 2017
Kung Fu Kenny strikes again ...
Young Fathers: Meltdown Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 12 June 2017
GIVEN THAT THIS year's Meltdown is curated by MIA, an artist who's made a career out of being as contrarian as is humanly possible, Friday night's ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 13 June 2017
Damon Albarn's one-time cartoon band should have been spectacular, but too often the songs amounted to less than the sum of their parts ...
A Tribe Called Quest, Miles Davis, Kendrick Lamar: The Sound In Our Veins
Memoir by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Fader, 30 June 2017
"How would someone young get turned on to jazz, an art form with its most innovative days behind it?" ...
Linkin Park, Stormzy: Linkin Park: O2, London — nu-metal escapees move beyond teen angst
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 4 July 2017
Pop-R&B smashes and an appearance from Stormzy underline just how far the band have come since the dark days of Limp Bizkit ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Apollo Theater, Harlem
Live Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 10 July 2017
Eric B. & Rakim play to their die-hard fans at Paid in Full tribute show ...
Tyler, the Creator: Flower Boy
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 21 July 2017
Is the rapper once banned from the UK for homophobic lyrics now coming out? Either way, this heavenly hip-hop record visits multicoloured corners of his ...
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 6 August 2017
He doesn't have a record label, but he's huge on Instagram and gets mobbed "like Justin Bieber" in Russia. Lil Peep tells Lisa Verrico why ...
Stormzy is the star the world was waiting for
Profile by Dorian Lynskey, GQ, October 2017
He's the showman his scene's been waiting for and grime's thunderous hit-maker is setting the record with guts and grace. ...
Salt-N-Pepa, Vanilla Ice: I Love the '90s: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 3 October 2017
It may have been a carnival of naff nostalgia, but thousands of middle-aged ravers came to party like it was 1995. ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 8 December 2017
This extraordinary, eloquent teenager is as adept at educating his audience as he is at entertaining them. ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 15 December 2017
THE MAIN THING that sets Eminem apart from virtually all other rappers is the conflicted nature of his character. Where most wallow in wearyingly cliched ...
Interview by Ben Merlis, Rock's Backpages Audio, 9 March 2018
The legendary Warners exec talks about the label's involvement in hip hop, and their associtation with the Tommy Boy and Cold Chillin' labels; Quincy Jones and Back On The Block; fellow execs like Benny Medina; Reprise Records, and Frank Sinatra's resistance to rock'n'roll; Ice-T, 'Cop Killer' and the resulting pressure on the label; his career in the music business, starting with Norman Granz's Verve Records; his Brooklyn roots, and growing up in Los Angeles.
File format: mp3; file size: 56.3meg, interview length: 58' 37" sound quality: ****
Yah Mo Be There: Mo Ostin on Sinatra, the Beatles... and Cold Chillin' Records
Audio transcript of interview by Ben Merlis, Rock's Backpages, 9 March 2018
Ben interviewed Mo Ostin for his book Goin' Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin' Records (BMG Books, 2019) at his home ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 13 March 2018
An imperious rapper with a fierce flow, a bootylicious body and a stripper's wardrobe, she had brashness, self-belief and raw sex appeal ...
Macklemore: Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 2 April 2018
WHEN HE WAS A STRUGGLING UNKNOWN, Seattle's Ben Haggerty, AKA Macklemore, pondered being a white rapper: "I give everything I have when I write a ...
Sampa the Great: After the Australian Music Prize, Sampa the Great wants to set her story straight
Interview by Jenny Valentish, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 5 April 2018
SAMPA THE GREAT didn't get the memo that artists should be of the tortured persuasion. She peppers her speech with gales of laughter. She wants ...
Kendrick Lamar: Sorry, rock fans. Hip hop is the only genre that matters right now.
Comment by Marc Weingarten, The Washington Post, 17 April 2018
NO ONE WHO has heard Kendrick Lamar's stunning album Damn could be at all surprised that it is the first nonclassical or jazz recording to ...
Kendrick Lamar: From street kid to Pulitzer: why Kendrick Lamar deserves the prize
Profile by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 April 2018
The clarity, complexity and honesty of his lyrics alone merit the highest award for the hip-hop star and "greatest rapper alive". The first Pulitzer prize for ...
James Blake, Kendrick Lamar: Kendrick Lamar plus James Blake: Genting Arena, Birmingham, Feb 9
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2018
This dazzling, audacious arena show will be talked about for years to come, but the rapper at the centre of it all stays humble ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 4 May 2018
He may have a new-found mellow maturity, but even his softer songs still had an off-putting edge of boorish, hectoring aggression ...
Plan B: Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose (Atlantic)
Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 6 May 2018
LAST TIME we heard from Ben Drew, six years ago, he was the Poet Laureate of Broken Britain, listing the London riots, crack addiction and ...
Beyoncé, Jay-Z: Beyoncé and Jay-Z: London Stadium
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 18 June 2018
STILL CRAZY in love? That's the message that Jay-Z and Beyoncé are keen to project during their On The Run II tour, which came to ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Won't stop rockin'
Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, August 2018
They've survived splits, breakdowns and the unsolved murder of DJ Jam Master Jay, but Run-DMC are still causing hard times for sucker MCs ...
Princess Nokia: O2 Forum, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 22 August 2018
PLAYING HER BIGGEST British headline show to date, Princess Nokia came across as a highly energetic, slightly chaotic, hot mess of molten superstar potential. ...
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 9 September 2018
American rapper and music producer who confronted his personal history of substance abuse in his lyrics ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 September 2018
An in-depth history of the most important pop innovation of the last 20 years, from Cher's 'Believe' to Kanye West to Migos ...
Kanye West: Inside the mind of Kanye West: Searching for... Kanye (BBC Three)
Preview by Patrick Clarke, bbc.co.uk, 14 December 2018
The rapper has hit the headlines almost as much for his mental health as his music this year, but what's really going on? ...
Young Fathers: Albert Hall, Manchester
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 25 January 2019
As they proved in this pounding, whooping, sense-blitzing spectacle, the rap trio are fast becoming one of Britain's most exciting live bands ...
Davido: O2 Arena, London — Afrobeats' alpha male takes Nigeria to the world
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 January 2019
Aided by Idris Elba and Popcaan, the Nigerian singer underlines his global credentials by tying together US rap and African pop ...
Little Simz is the uncompromising MC with a raw vision for UK hip-hop
Profile and Interview by Neil Kulkarni, DJ Magazine, 6 March 2019
Grey Area is the most raw and direct record yet from Little Simz. DJ Mag talks to the MC and visionary about being in the ...
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 12 March 2019
Rap's royal highness is as exciting as she is infuriating. ...
Cypress Hill, Tricky, Barry White: It's Like That: The Makings of a Hip-Hop Writer
Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Longreads, June 2019
Hip-hop was a different kind of music that needed a different kind of writer to cover it. This is how Michael A. Gonzales came of ...
De La Soul, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan: Gods of Rap: Manchester Arena, May 11
Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2019
Believe the hype: Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan and De La Soul deliver a hip-hop masterclass ...
Anderson .Paak: O2 Academy, Birmingham
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 26 August 2019
High levels of crowd-pleasing showmanship ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 7 October 2019
KANO'S LYRICS often sound like a wake, mixing mournfulness and anger as they raise a toast to fallen friends on abandoned estates, victims of crushing ...
Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Ke$ha, Kendrick Lamar, Usher: Activism, Identity Politics, and Pop's Great Awokening
Comment by Jason King, Pitchfork, 11 October 2019
From Beyoncé to Kendrick to Kesha, pop's turn to political activism produced some of the decade's most memorable moments. ...
Little Simz: Mama Roux’s, Birmingham
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 24 October 2019
LAUNCHING HER latest nationwide tour with a cosy sold-out show in Birmingham, Little Simz radiated easy confidence, musical dexterity and enormous charm. ...
Lil Peep: Everybody's Everything
Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 15 November 2019
LIL PEEP'S DEATH from a drugs overdose in 2017 hasn't stopped a thriving industry continuing in the emo rapper's wake. Last year's Come Over When ...
Sampa the Great: Rough Trade, Bristol
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 19 November 2019
RADIATING THE kind of energy that could power a small city, the rising Afro-soul star Sampa the Great played to a rapturous crowd in Bristol. ...
Skepta: O2 Academy, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Metro, 28 November 2019
"BIRMINGHAM, I need your energy," hollered grime veteran Skepta from the stage as the hungry crowd moshed in a rampaging circle. ...
Skepta: Olympia Exhibition Centre, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 2 December 2019
Skepta turned Olympia from home of horse shows to rave venue ...
Report and Interview by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 7 December 2019
A new series of Slow Burn re-examines the deaths of two of music's biggest stars. "We still haven't had closure," says its host. ...
Krept and Konan: Academy, Bristol
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 27 January 2020
Krept and Konan played a lively set in Bristol that was global in scope ...
Mura Masa: RYC (Raw Youth Collage) (Polydor)
Review by Daryl Easlea, MOJO, February 2020
Whip-smart second album by Guernsey's foremost electronic dance pioneer. ...
Ice-T: "I don't hate cops – I hate racists"
Interview by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 13 March 2020
ON SEPTEMBER 30th, 1992, Ice-T performed a concert with his metal band Body Count at the Jack Adams Stadium in San Diego. On a bill ...
Retrospective by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 24 April 2020
ONE OF MY favourite memories of a life spent loitering in the company of musicians is of the time the Beastie Boys danced for me. ...
Slick Rick: "You Have To Win Respect": Slick Rick On 30 Years Of Great Adventures
Retrospective and Interview by Ben Merlis, uDiscoverMusic, 27 May 2020
As The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick celebrates its 30th anniversary, The Ruler talks about taking his environment "and turning it into a story". ...
Profile and Interview by John Lewis, The Guardian, 27 May 2020
The city's young jazz community has flourished by drawing on everything from hip-hop to calypso and highlife, creating a unique cosmopolitan sound. ...
"It's All Rebel Music": How Janette Beckman Documented The Early Days Of Def Jam
Retrospective and Interview by Ben Merlis, uDiscoverMusic, 19 June 2020
In Def Jam's docu-series 'Through The Lens', photographer Janette Beckman talks documenting the early days of hip-hop. ...
Public Enemy: Chuck D: "The presidency aged Obama – what will it do to Biden?"
Interview by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 13 July 2020
The hip-hop pioneer talks about the ongoing protests in America, the forthcoming presidential election and how to face down the KKK. ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The iNews, 7 August 2020
The flinching star Mike Skinner still has something to say after lockdown ...
Junglepussy: JP4 (Secretly Canadian)
Review by David Bennun, Metro, 22 October 2020
HOW MUCH fun is Shayna McHayle, more felicitously known as Junglepussy? More fun than a boxful of puppies with sharp little teeth and a bone ...
Obituary by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 1 January 2021
A hip-hop genius who built his own universe of poetry ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Best Eric B And Rakim Songs: 20 Trailblazing Tracks
Guide by Ben Merlis, uDiscoverMusic, 28 January 2021
Measuring up to anything laid down a quarter century ago, the best Eric B And Rakim songs remain timeless and hugely influential. ...
Slept on Soul: Paul Mooney's Race
Column by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 28 May 2021
AS A CHILD of the 1970s, I grew-up as a fan of racy Black comedy albums. My "summer mother" Aunt Ricky had a stash of ...
Biz Markie: Hip-Hop Legend Biz Markie Dies At 57
Obituary by Ben Merlis, uDiscoverMusic, 17 July 2021
Known as "The Clown Prince of Hip-Hop", Biz Markie's larger-than-life persona was equally matched by his musical brilliance. ...
Little Simz: Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Review by John Lewis, Uncut, October 2021
Epic fourth album by the award-winning north London rapper ...
John Singleton: How John Singleton's Soundtracks Brought The Black Experience To The Big Screen
Guide by Ben Merlis, uDiscoverMusic, 6 January 2022
Director John Singleton left behind more than just a cinematic legacy; his soundtracks brought the black experience to life on the big screen. ...
Kendrick Lamar: Glastonbury Festival
Live Review by Patrick Clarke, The Quietus, 28 June 2022
Kendrick Lamar might not be our saviour, but his headline slot at Glastonbury 2022 is a staggering demonstration of how an embrace of complexity and ...
Interview by Patrick Clarke, New Musical Express, 9 August 2022
It's long been mooted that the fêted producer and The Roots' lead MC had a stellar collaboration in them. Now Cheat Codes is finally here ...
Lil Nas X: Eventim Apollo, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 14 November 2022
LIL NAS X will for ever be famous as the first pop star to spring from TikTok. It was there, in 2019, that his country-meets-trap ...
Report by Chris Campion, Los Angeles Times, 31 December 2022
IN THE EARLY 1980s, New York artist Rammellzee made two trips to Los Angeles with his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat. The second, in March 1983, inspired ...
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