And in other cultural news…The Seven

There is now a Hip Hop version of Oedipus Rex
For those of you who don’tknow the story of Oedipus Rex, it’s a Greek tragedy about a young man who kills his father and marries his mother. That’s the basic jist of the story. Wikipedia has a better explanation.. This play is called The Seven and [...]

I have no idea how I feel about this…

The Smithsonian Institution is preparing for an exhibit on Hip Hop

The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is announcing its plans to embark on a collecting initiative, “Hip-Hop Won’tStop: the Beat, the Rhymes, the Life.”
The project, the beginnings of a permanent collections, will gather objects that trace hip-hop’s origins in the Bronx [...]

Actual J Dilla Conversation

Me: Man, you know J-Dilla died?
Friend: Who?
Me: J Dilla????
Friend: Don’tknow who he is..
Me: you know….he produced Tribe Called Quest, Common, Slum Village…
Friend: Oh, ok
Friend: Was he shot??
How sad.

Where Art is War…or Capitalism

I think 2006 is the year of the graffiti comeback.
The other night, I was watching the Boondocks episode where Riley turns the walls of his neighbors??? houses into works of art by spray painting graffiti. His neighbors throw around flattering suggestions of the artist???s greatness because of the realism and details of the work. [...]

MC Hammer Has A Blog

Well….are we really surprised? Everyone and their mutha has one now. In addition to some Sidekick pics of him playing minor league baseball (huh?), the dude actually has some interesting things to say about hip-hop.
Instead of trying to lock up Hip Hop, allow us to continue to create hope and legal economic opportunities in these [...]

Interview: Mozez

Originally posted at Blogcritics:
Mozez will not make you get up and dance. He will, however, make you think. In a music world where poppy tunes and heavy beats rule, it is refreshing to hear an artist who does not rely on catchy hooks to make his statement.
Along the same vein as Thievery Corporation [...]

How you know Gangsta Rappers are getting old…

…when they get used in Avis Commercials:
Montage
Gangsta Rap
I saw both these ads on TV and all I could do was shake my head.

Should've Been A Classic: Ty - Upwards

“Politicians got me preparin' for their war/Don’tbe silly boy….I'm stayin' on the dance floor”
Ty - “Dreams” (feat. Eska)
Ty - “Groovement”
from Upwards
As a musician, Ty seems like one of those dudes who just lays back in the corner, waiting to strike. While other dudes are in your face, the UK MC has relied on low-key [...]

Exhibition Update: Elements in Style

When many hear “Washington DC”, their first thought isn’tabout art. Yet there are tons of galleries in the area that a lot of people who aren’tartist’s themselves know about. There are also a lot of cool exhibitions that most will pass up.
At the beginning of this month, an exhibition opened up in the new [...]

I'm SO Sick of Love Songs…(no really I am)

(dude just looks like an r&b cat, i don’tknow who he is)
Now I'm not really an R&B dude (Hov!), but I do pay attention to slow jams/love songs that considered “the cut”. So over the course of the last year or so there seems to have been a good amount of slow R&B songs [...]

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