On 9/8
@djtara
& I are celebrating one of the greatest musicians of the hip-hop generation, Kamal Fareed
@QtipTheAbstract
If you’re a fan of ATCQ, Mobb Deep, Solange, Janet Jackson, Danny Brown, Dilla, Nas, or Busta, then this party is for YOU!!!
tix:
The 48 Laws of Power is a modern classic. Not a day passed where I hadn't thought about the ammoral relevations backed by historical examples
Some highlights 👇👇👇
@hw4vr
what we do is called design. it’s not limited to being called “streetwear”. design-is-design. the moral of the story is beware of whatever box your labeled as. challenge it. defy it. do not be defined by it✨
Elijah, an 11-year-old Black boy, just published his first zine and it’s one of the most interesting indie publications out. He interviewed the lead singer of Devo, gives his impressions of Jacob Lawrence’s artwork and catches up with Jack from J*Davey.
hip-hop is the only genre where young artists get cool points for not knowing shit and that’s ass backwards given the fact hip-hop is constantly building on and borrowing from older versions of itself
One day we gotta talk about the elite capture of radical Black feminism and how the “radical”part was removed in favor of self-promotion, careerism, and vibes.
“‘Lockdown’ is a carceral term, it comes from the experience of people in PRISON. . . we [who are quarantining] are not experiencing the same thing” — Angela Davis
Questlove said a new Roots album is dropping in 2023 and that the first single, “Misunderstood” features Erykah Badu and Tierra Whack. Funk Flex is getting the premiere. Kinda a big deal!
Y’all really cool with Adam22 making fun of a Cuban Doll for getting beat by Tadoe? Y’all gonna have your artists appear on his show for press runs and give him sponsorship money?
‘Kanye West’s Fashion Beatdowns’ — Kanye West rates Diddy, Pharrell, Justin Timberlake & André 3000’s style for the October/November Issue of Complex Magazine (2003)
“Pharrell is the coolest dresser of the new millennium.” — Kanye West
Music journalists: We need to have conversation about the ethics of reporting on/writing about music that uses samples—especially when it’s by independent artists.
We should not be in the business of snitching or making it easy for artists to get sued or C&Ded.
There’s no mysterious masked Mach Hommy w/o DOOM as the precursor. No Bandana or Pinata without Madvillain, no Earl or Tyler or any of the countless other producers emcees he inspired. Rest in Power DOOM.
107-year old Viola Fletcher wearing her first-ever pair of Air Jordans. Mother Fletcher is the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
[📸: silhouettetulsa/IG]
I created “The Ones” as a concept; a daily new hip-hop song of the day write up at a time when blogs were dead but there was a deluge of new and noteworthy rap music. The songs were selected by immersed fans (Al + me) and not any cultural tourists.
I’ve always found it interesting how some people miss all the street shit DOOM is referring to on Operation: Doomsday in the haste to write him off as strictly “backpack.” Some people hear, other people listen. Context is always important.
Oh shit, just remember I got fired from Complex way back in the day for sending an email to Marc Ecko about how the white male EIC at the time was racist and didn’t respect hip-hop. Lolz
I'm the Associate Producer and Interviewer of this concert film/mini-doc. It's a good watch if you're into Kamasi's music, jazz, and culture within context.
I know we’re not supposed to give Jack any credit (🙄) but I do give him props for dealing with a subject that too many (male) rappers would never touch.
Whether you like or dislike the execution, I’m glad someone made a song like this.
That rapper is not a deep thinker. He equates art with provocation (and self-promotion) and that’s where it ends.
He has nothing profound or substantial to say beyond the incitement itself. He just wants the attention.
He’ll lash out and double down when criticized. Man-child.
Many culture vultures, colonizers, and opportunists in hip-hop get over by positioning themselves as “the youth” or “voice of the youth”
I hope you see it.
This is genius Albert Einstein who refused to speak at white colleges and at the end of his life spoke exclusively at black universities
"The separation of races is not a disease of colored people but a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it."
For those who don’t know,
@WALASIA
fka Miranda Jane was an editor at Stress magazine, Mass Appeal, and a founding editor at Complex. She is THE person who introduced Madlib and DOOM and planted the seed for the idea of Madvillainy (she’s the female voice on “Fancy Clown”)
If you are are a white arbiter of what’s good in hip-hop, what’s your take on anti-Blackness and how does it inform your work?
What self-reflection have you done? Let us know. Way more interesting than your “best albums” takes.
The L.A Beat scene, so-called lo-fi hip-hop, “experimental” rap, the sample-based loop-heavy rap of today can be traced back to the influence of this album