Category: hip-hop
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roc marciano, the alchemist – the elephant man’s bones
I first heard this record while cycling uphill, one cheap bud dangling out of my earhole. I didn’t get it. No shit. I got home and put it on the speaker. There we go. From the top. An insidious fog descends when TEMB is allowed to immerse; the tracks appear in and out of the […]
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mos def – black on both sides (1999)
Prince’s wild overpromising on what the year 1999 might hold had given way to stark outlooks of either hope or destruction. After deaths on the East and West coasts, hip-hop was embarking on an ego-led, bustling bling age. Between two fractious eras, Mos Def collated everything he saw and experienced in the capricious world and […]
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your best friend jippy, dan o – fresh tracks for autodidacts
The duo of American space age cartoonishness and lo-fi hip-hop has been a romance of the century; there are few better examples of how, as a composite part of its package, the aesthetics around an album inevitably inform the music. It is one of MF Doom’s great legacies. Perth’s your best friend jippy has a […]
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danger mouse, black thought – cheat codes
I always thought there should be a name for art that brings together an old-timey tune with audio or visuals depicting justified unrest. Consider the Breaking Bad soundtrack—were those songs produced with that narrative in mind? Cheat Codes samples impeccably, cleanly, and with that same powerful dichotomy in mind. This is stark hip-hop that manages, […]
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t-rock – i grind i hustle 2
T-Rock began deep within the ostentation of the bling era, with album covers like magical sweet wrappers and bars so explicit that Theresa May would have barred his entire family from entering the UK. Having spent a not inconsiderable time on Skate 3 blaring hip-hop in the years 2010-2014, as well as having a brother […]
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