New Releases in Hip Hop
Drake is not your typical rapper: the biracial, half-Jewish MC grew up a child actor in a wealthy part of Toronto. But with his new album Thank Me Later, the 23-year-old may be poised for chart-topping...
View ArticleCopy Cat: Dajaz1 Goes Free
A popular hip hop music site called Dajaz1 was recently returned to its owner after being seized by the federal government in November 2010. Despite RIAA assertions that the site had committed...
View ArticleJean Grae: In Studio
After releasing a free mixtape called “Cookies or Comas” last year, New York City rapper Jean Grae ups the culinary ante with her forthcoming album, “Cake or Death.” She joins us in the studio for a...
View ArticleThose Dirty, Dirty Dozens
Long before rap, there was “the dozens” – the African-American street rhyming tradition that author Elijah Wald defines as “halfway between ‘yo mama’ jokes and rap freestyle battling.” He joins us to...
View ArticleFrank Ocean Comes Out; D'Angelo Comes Back
Music and culture writer Dream Hampton joins us to talk about two R&B stars making headlines: Odd Future member Frank Ocean, who last week publicly detailed his former relationship with a man, and...
View ArticlePick Three: Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Nas
We get a taste of three new releases from hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar and R&B singers Frank Ocean and Nas, hand-selected by writer, blogger and co-host of the MTV show “Hip Hop POV” Sowmya...
View ArticleBitch Bad? Dissecting Pop Music's Favorite Five-Letter Word
Last month, both rapper Kanye West's "Perfect Bitch" and Lupe Fiasco's "Bitch Bad" rekindled an age-old debate about the use of the word "bitch" in music. Pop music critic Ann Powers recently wrote...
View ArticleGig Alert: Tanya Morgan
Tanya Morgan"Rock The Bells"Playing on Tuesday at Public AssemblyGet: Tickets ($10) | DirectionsTanya Morgan doesn’t sound like a Tanya Morgan, and that’s the point. The creation of Brooklyn MCs...
View ArticleSean 'Diddy' Combs For Musician In Chief
Throughout the past several weeks, Soundcheck has been accepting nominations for our first Musician In Chief. Soundcheck's bullpen contributors have nominated musicians, and made a case for why that...
View ArticleJovanotti: A Euro Superstar Makes His U.S. Debut
The name Jovanotti might not mean much to Americans. But the Tuscan artist has been putting out best-selling albums overseas since the late 1980s -- including his 2011 record Ora, which premiered at...
View ArticleOnce Rhymed About, Obama Finds Less Support from Hip Hop in 2012
Before the 2008 presidential election, hip hop stars like Nas, Young Jeezy and Sean "Diddy" Combs enthusiastically endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama through speech and song. But four years later, the...
View ArticleA Year For Newcomers: Sowmya Krishnamurthy's 2012 Music Survey
For hip hop journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy, 2012 was all about newcomers -- namely, the young rapper Kendrick Lamar, and R&B singers The Weeknd and Frank Ocean. The trio of breakout stars, ranging...
View Article'Rage Is Back' Mixtape Provides A Novel Twist To Book Promotion
Adam Mansbach is most known for his children's book for adults, Go The F--- To Sleep, but his new novel, Rage Is Back, looks to further cement the New York Times bestselling author as an innovative...
View ArticleEddie Huang and Heems on Hip Hop and Culture; Revisiting A Heavy Metal Cookbook
In this episode: A conversation about Wu-Tang, sneakers, race and authenticity with Eddie Huang and Heems. Last week, Soundcheck hosted a conversation with chef, author and hip hop-head Eddie Huang and...
View ArticleTalib Kweli: Soundcheck Live In The Greene Space
Both as a solo artist and one-half of the hip-hop duo Black Star (with Yasiin Bey, the rapper and actor formerly known as Mos Def), Talib Kweli has become known for his broad-ranging lyrics and...
View ArticleTony Visconti on Bowie; Blocking Out Noise; Talib Kweli Live
In this episode: Veteran producer Tony Visconti recently teamed up with David Bowie to ambush the pop world with the from-out-of-nowhere album “The Next Day.” Visconti talks about the secrecy that...
View ArticleSummer Of '93: The Hip Hop World Before Wu-Tang; Brit-Punk From Wire
Join Soundcheck all this week as we revisit landmark albums, singles and watershed moments that sizzled in the summer of 1993. Plus, special guests join us to look back at movies, pop culture and city...
View ArticleSummer Of '93: Hip Hop Before Wu-Tang
November of 1993 might have brought us Wu-Tang Clan's groundbreaking debut Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, but there was still plenty going on in hip hop in the hot summer months leading up to it....
View ArticleSummer Of '93: Digable Planets' Ishmael Butler; Movie Soundtracks; Minor Empire
Join Soundcheck all this week as we revisit landmark albums, singles and watershed moments that sizzled in the summer of 1993. Plus, special guests join us to look back at movies, pop culture and city...
View ArticleJohn Schaefer Watches The VMAs So You Don't Have To
If you, like me, are one of those people given to saying "I remember when MTV actually played music videos," then you're probably too old to be watching the VMAs. So I watched last night’s Video Music...
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