 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Articles Written By Marcus K. Dowling
Marcus Dowling is one of the premier music journalists in the DC Metropolitan area. His writing, clear, poignant and thoughtful, can not just be found here, but at other premium sites around the internet as True Genius Requires Insanity, DC megablog Brightest Young Things, and Atlanta's soon to be print Art Nouveau Magazine. Also, he has interviewed everyone from established legends like Teena Marie, Darude and Warren G, to rising names like DJ Blaqstarr, Nadastrom, Miz Metro and a plethora more of all levels of note in between.
INTERVIEW: Hip hop veteran Greg Nice still has the pulse of the dance floor…
With all due respect to every blipster emcee and party starter that tried, and in many cases has succeeded in doing this hip hop/party/electro thing, you were clearly close, but ultimately doing it wrong. Let’s re-introduce the man to the table who has been doing it right all along, who is back at the forefront [...]
REVIEW: Mike Posner – 31 Minutes to Takeoff
Let’s all be glad this isn’t 2004. If it were, suburban Detroit native and Duke graduate Mike Posner would have just graduated from the Mickey Mouse/Lou Pearlman factory into a rosy cheeked R & B album that, since not likely produced by Timbaland, would have flopped, and left him to be a soulless J.C. Chasez [...]
REVIEW: Rick Ross – Teflon Don
Rick Ross feat. Kanye West – Live Fast, Die Young [Audio clip: view full post to listen] After being publicly outed as a corrections officer, having 50 Cent vow, then try his damnedest to “ruin your life, for fun,” and shooting one of the most ridiculous rap videos of all time for “Magnificent,” in which [...]
REVIEW: Big Boi – Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty
In 1994, I became obsessed with hip hop and music in general. The album that did it, Outkast’s debut, Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik. Prior to that point, all I knew about Southern hip hop was that I thought the Geto Boys were the most “real” rap group I’d ever heard in my life, “My Mind’s Playing Tricks On [...]
ALBUM REVIEW: The Roots – How I Got Over
This album didn’t have to end up this way. The Roots are pop stars now. The Roots – The Day (feat. Blu, Phonte & Patty Crash) [Audio clip: view full post to listen] In 2010, let’s consider it impressive that the world’s most trendsetting hip hop band crafted an album as influenced by indie pop [...]
REVIEW: Drake – Thank Me Later
I know way too many people here right now That I didn’t know last year, who the fuck are y’all? I swear it feels like the last few nights We been everywhere and back But I just can’t remember it all – Drake, “Over” Drake’s the first superstar of the second decade of the 21st [...]
Interview with Baltimore Photographer Josh Sisk’s and his “Under the Strobelight” Exhibition – Baltimore – 4/24/10
If not already aware, Baltimore’s Josh Sisk is quickly becoming in this site’s opinion the dominant music photographer of this generation. Photographing subjects from at all levels of the rock spectrum in locales as diverse as from the stage to the studio to the club, to even recording in their bedrooms, Sisk is rapidly becoming [...]
ALBUM REVIEW: B.O.B. – The Adventures of Bobby Ray
B.O.B. feat Janelle Monae – The Kids [Audio clip: view full post to listen] B.O.B. feat Eminem and Hayley Williams – Airplanes Part 2 [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Let’s all hope and pray that Atlanta’s Bobby Ray Simmons never changes. With a disarming charm and wit and wholesome nature that makes every [...]
ALBUM REVIEW: Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
Erykah Badu‘s rise to fame has always been intrinsically tied to her uncompromising nature and unique soul sound. Blending a dizzying mix of new age theory with Afrocentrism, boom bap hip hop and classic soul and R & B sounds, Badu has crafted creative artistry that intrigues the mind and opens the soul. With her [...]
Interview: Jesse Saunders – Going “On and On” with the Chicago house music innovator
Prepare to be taken to school. Yes, the Jungle Brothers talk about “house music all night long” on the legendary 1990 cut “Girl I’ll House You,” but imagine a time before there was any house music at all. The disco era of the 1970s and early 80s had ended, and dance music was preparing for [...]
REVIEW: Gil Scott Heron – I’m New Here
Let it be said here that the best albums have the richest back stories. Tracking down the Rikers Island imprisoned, possibly HIV-infected poet laureate of African-American revolutionary politics to record an album isn’t exactly a stroke of genius. But for XL Recordings boss Richard Russell to think that mainstream culture once again needed a dose [...]
REVIEW: Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
. I’ve listened to Monica, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige in the last six months, and on no level does anything they’ve done compare To Sharon Jones. Sharon Jones was a woman born ten years too late. Her voice, an instrument of robust soul, was meant for such session musicians as the Funk Brothers [...]
Send me your track
 |
 | Subscribe by RSS |
 | Follow on Twitter |
 | Friend on Facebook |
ALBUM REVIEW: Gilles Peterson presents: Worldwide
Gilles Peterson has been a champion of new music for the past 10 years thanks to his BBC Radio 1 program, Worldwide, as well as being the head of several influential record labels, the latest being Brownswood Recordings. But the music isn’t just new, like…it’s not the new Justin Bieber or Katy Perry record. The [...]
Mixtape Review: G.O.O.D. Ass Mixtape
Download: Kanye West and Perajok Present: G.O.O.D. Ass Mixtape G.O.O.D. Ass Mixtape is a sprawling 30-track collection that was put together by Russian blogger/Kanye fan/ MTV Russia Host, Perajok. This unofficial mixtape includes music from all G.O.O.D. Music members and is a compilation of recent leaks and releases from the G.O.O.D. fam. G.O.O.D. Ass Mixtape [...]
SINGLE REVIEW: “HUFF + PUFF” by Just A Band
This joint right here is real sexy-like. Your body will automatically go into autopilot: your head will start boppin’, and you’ll break into a soulful yet swingin’ two-step (think of the Robert Palmer video girls…on speed). The very beginning of the song reminds me of Supernature-era Goldfrapp with heavy synths keys, some la-la-las, and a [...]
REVIEW: Forget Spotify, MOG is the future of Music
Disclaimer: The Couch Sessions is a part of the MOG Music Network MOG All Access can be found at MOG.com. Music in the Cloud. If you’ve frequented music business websites like I have you might have heard of the that term being the “next big thing” in music. A revolution that will have a greater [...]
