Salt-N-Pepa’s barrier-pushing debut spiced up hip-hop with a dash of femininity. (82.5/100)
Hip-Hop has always been a boys club. From it’s origins in the South Bronx park jams of the late ’70s to its current iteration as the multi-billion dollar engine of popular culture, the music and lifestyle have been dominated by men. All too often, they’ve eagerly used its platform to flex their masculinity. But as hip-hop approached its 10th year in the record industry, a trio of college students connected by happenstance and laid the blueprint for female artists to not only crash the party, but steal the show — literally.
Salt-N-Pepa’s first single, “The Showstoppa” was initially recorded as…
The Star-Spangled history of the anthem in sports, and why its time has passed
The most divisive figure in American sports reared its head yet again this past week. I’m not talking about Tom Brady capturing his 7th Super Bowl ring, or Lebron James’ Lakers heating up in their quest to repeat as NBA champions. I’m talking about the omnipresent “Star-Spangled Banner,” the Unites States’ national anthem, which has been a staple of American sports for 100 years.
For the last five of those, the anthem has been a near constant source of consternation, dividing fans, athletes, and the public at large. It all began on that faithful day in August of 2016 when…
A journey through the jams that defined the often overlooked hip-hop pioneers.
With the passing of founding member John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, fans of true school hip-hop find ourselves thinking back on the fun filled moments soundtracked by Whodini’s funky beats. Newer generations of hip-hop junkies may wonder what all of the fuss is about. While they were instrumental in laying the foundation for rap’s emergence into the mainstream, history has too often excluded them from chapters on the genre’s formative years, focusing instead on peers like Run-DMC and LL Cool J.
Whether you’re looking back or learning, here’s a playlist that captures the energy, innovation, and spirit of these musical trailblazers.
1. “Magic’s Wand” (1982)
Whodini’s…
In a year of sickness, anger, and fear, music’s most outspoken genre had a lot to say.
Hip-hop has generally been at its best during times of turmoil. Whether to the late ’80s crack epidemic, the weaponization of the the justice system in the ’90s, or the war and recession of the early 2000s, hip-hop responded with the urgency, honesty, and creativity that has propelled the genre into a cultural force.
2020 was no exception. Large segments of the entertainment industry spent most of the year paralyzed, unsure how to adapt to a world in quarantine or address the issues of social justice that the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks. …
By embodying the rhythms of the bottom, A Tribe Called Quest solidified their spot atop hip-hop. (95/100)
What is the low end theory? I’m not talking about The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest’s watershed sophomore album. Any music fan with even a passing interest in hip-hop is already well versed in its rumbling soundscapes. I’m talking about the theory itself; the metaphysical foundation which the album embodies sonically and conceptually, but never quite spells out?
In returning to one of the defining albums of my youth nearly three decades after its release, I can’t shake the feeling that it’s a musical theory of evolution, both intensely personal for the members of the now iconic Queens…
PANDEMIC SATIRE
A checklist to get you through the next round of quarantine with your safety and sanity intact.
There’s going to be another lockdown. Probably sooner than later. California is already under a Stay at Home order. With coronavirus cases spiking daily and super-spreader holiday gatherings in full swing, it’s virtually inevitable that the rest of the country will join them. In the spirit of altruism, I present to you this handy checklist of supplies that will help you survive with your sanity at least somewhat intact.
1.) Toilet Paper
Ice-T’s “reality rap” broke down the machinations of power through the eyes of a gangster. (76.5/100)
Despite being commonly lauded as one of the founding fathers of gangsta rap, Ice-T has never embraced the now ubiquitous moniker of hip-hop’s most profitable subgenre. For over three decades he has consistently countered danger seeking interviewers with the decidedly less hyperbolic “reality rap.” The term fits Ice-T. Sparse, economical, incisive, and layered far thicker with substance than meets the casual eye. Unlike most of his fellow late 80s O.G.s, Ice-T doesn’t simply spin street tales for sensation’s sake. He uses the philosophies of gangsters, hustlers, and pimps to explore much the underpinnings of the systems and institutions that control…
Three things we can do to avoid falling back to sleep.
Few feelings are more surreal than awaking from a nightmare. Once the groggy disorientation subsides, the first tangible feeling to arrive is relief. It was all a dream. We’re not actually in danger. We’ve comfortably returned to a familiar world grounded in all the comforts of home: our bed, our slippers, our dog excitedly wagging its tale, eager for a morning walk around a familiar neighborhood. Soon our coffee from the corner café will push the nightmare, with all of its dark shadows and shapeless monsters, back into the recesses of our overcrowded minds.
But we haven’t truly escaped. At…
Hip-Hop’s first “event album” exceeded expectations and became the template for ’90s G-Funk. (94.5/100)
Like in sports, the greats in music (particularly the Darwinian pugilism of hip-hop) are separated from the mere skilled technicians by their ability to deliver when the stakes are highest. In 1993, Snoop Doggy Dogg was hip-hop’s most heralded rookie and Doggystyle, his instant classic debut, delivered like a collegiate Michael Jordan swishing the game winning shot for the National Championship against Georgetown.
In hindsight, Dr. Dre deployed every bit of the meticulousness personified in his production in the unveiling of his prized protégé. Despite Snoop’s uncanny ability to glide his nasal drawl in and out of the pockets of…
Goodie Mob embodied the substance and sustenance of America’s Dirty South. (91/100)
Soul food isn’t simply a meal, it’s a seance. Each divinely seasoned bite channels the ancestors who languished on slaves ships and toiled in cotton fields. Those very ancestors took discarded food scraps and crafted ingenious concoctions that nourished the body, mind, and spirit through the most trying of times. Soul food also represents an inherent paradox. The same platters that fed the beleaguered soul also weighed heavy on it, planting the seeds of high blood pressure, hypertension, and other ailments that still claim black lives at disproportionate rates. …
Jeffrey Harvey
Cynical idealist, vintage futurist, habitual line stepper. I write on all things modern culture: media, technology, politics, and according to Medium, movies.
