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Posts Tagged Hip-Hop

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March 10, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Could Parasitic Fandom Ever Mean Anything: When Eminem Wrote Stan

When Eminem sang a song called Stan, he imagined a world where a crazy fan was outraged by the star not recognising how much he cared, too busy to reply uninterested in acknowledging that it was the fans that helped make stars who they were, how they are and what they became. It’s a lurid […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Blog, Could Parasitic Fandom Ever Mean Anything, Could Parasitic Fandom Ever Mean Anything: When Eminem Wrote Stan, Dido, Eminem, Essay, Hip-Hop, Rap, Song, Stan, Thank You, To follow me in all the right places check out the Linktree right here. And to subscribe to my Substack newsletter “Sounds Good” click here, When Eminem Wrote Stan ·

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November 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 273: Dai Henwood

Hi and welcome to episode 273 of Sweetman Podcast – finding my way back into podcasting after a nearly three-month break. As with last year’s lockdowns I paused the podcast. But we’re back now – at least through until the end of the year. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual […]
Posted in Blog, Podcasts · Tagged Acast, Anchor, Anti-Vax, Auckland, Carolyn Henwood, Chat, Circa Theatre, Comedian, Comedy, Conversation, Coronavirus, Covid, Covid-19, Dai Henwood, ep.273, Game Show, Hip-Hop, Interview, iTunes, Lockdown, Now We Are Four: Sweetman Podcast’s 4th Birthday, Phone Interview, Phoner, Podcast, Protests, Rap, Ray Henwood, Reviews, Seven Days, Simon, Simon Sweetman, Soundcloud, Spotify, Sweetman, Sweetman Podcast, Sweetman Podcast # 273, Sweetman Podcast # 273: Dai Henwood, Theatre, TV, Twitter, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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July 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 49 – “Poetic Justice”: Music From The Motion Picture

V/A, Poetic Justice [OST] 1993 I’ll let you in on what used to be a secret. A one-time guilty pleasure of mine was the film Poetic Justice. A film about poetry. As a teenager I was there for this. Waiting for it. I loved this movie – it’s not great, but it is charming. And […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged [OST], 1993, 2pac, Brad Mehldau: Mon chien Stupide (Bande originale du film), Crap Albums I Love # 49, Film, Hip-Hop, Janet Jackson, John Singleton, Movie, Music From The Motion Picture, Poetic Justice, Poetry, R'n'B, Score, Shit That's Good, Shit That's Good - Crap Albums I Love, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 49, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 49 – “Poetic Justice”: Music From The Motion Picture, Soundtrack, Stanley Clarke, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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July 6, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

In Praise of Hanif Abdurraqib

Hanif Abdurraqib is a writer of words, observer of worlds. He’s a poet, essayist, cultural critic. I remember reading some of his articles on pop music – and liking them, but things really came alive for me with the release of his second book, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, a selection of essays. It […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged A Tribe Called Quest, Audiobook, Critic, Essays, Hanif Abdurraqib, Hip-Hop, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, In Praise Of, In Praise of Hanif Abdurraqib, Journalist, Music, Performance, Podcast, Poet, Poetry, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, Writer, Writing ·

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January 31, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Double K (Michael Turner)

Sad news overnight to hear of the passing of Michael Turner aka Double K from the brilliant hip-hop duo People Under The Stairs. No cause of death announced as yet but he was just 43. Sad news indeed for hip-hop fans, perhaps particularly on the back of the recent shock announcement of the death of […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Double K, Double K (Michael Turner), Eulogy, Hip-Hop, Michael Turner, O.S.T., People Under The Stairs, PUTS, Question in The Form of An Answer, R.I.P., R.I.P. Double K (Michael Turner), Rap, The Next Step ·

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December 13, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Pete Rock & The Soul Brothers: PeteStrumentals 3

Pete Rock & The Soul Brothers PeteStrumentals 3 Tru Soul Pete Rock – the legend. The man. One of my favourite hip-hop producers and for his PeteStrumentals series alone I am grateful. I know I’m not alone in this. But his first volume in this series was a revelation, arriving, as it did, in an […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Hip-Hop, Pete Rock, Pete Rock & The Soul Brothers, Pete Rock & The Soul Brothers: PeteStrumentals 3, PeteStrumentals, PeteStrumentals 3, The Soul Brothers, Tru Soul, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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December 2, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Dinner Party: Dinner Party – Dessert

Dinner Party Dinner Party: Dessert Sounds of Crenshaw / EMPIRE In the middle of this year (the American summer) a supergroup rather quietly snuck into place. All of its members had worked together in various combinations or at least mixed in the same musical circles – but it’s a stacked deck: Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 9th Wonder, Album Review, Alt. Versions, Bilal, Dessert, Dinner Party, Dinner Party: Dessert, Dinner Party: Dinner Party - Dessert, Edit, EP, Herbie Hancock, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Kamasi Washington, Mini-Album, Phoelix, R'n'B, Remix, Robert Glasper, Snoop Dogg, Sounds of Crenshaw / EMPIRE, Supergroup, Tank and The Bangas, Tarriona 'Tank' Ball, Terrace Martin, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 26, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Megan Thee Stallion: Good News

Megan Thee Stallion Good News 300 Entertainment It’s hard to believe that this is Megan Thee Stallion’s debut album. And I mean that in purely musical terms – 2019’s “mixtape” Fever felt like an album-quality collection, and was a broad announcement; my introduction. I loved that set of songs, played it often – it gave […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 300 Entertainment, Album, Fever, Good News, Hip-Hop, Megan Thee Stallion, Megan Thee Stallion: Good News, Rap, Suga, WAP, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 237: Jackson Nieuwland

Welcome to episode 237 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify […]
Posted in Blog, Podcasts · Tagged Acast, Anchor, Anchor FM, Apple, Basketball, Bookstore, Chat, Compound Press, Conversation, Depression, Discussion, ep.237, Fluidity, Foodcourt, Gender, Hip-Hop, I AM A HUMAN BEING, IIML, Interview, iTunes, Jackson Nieuwland, Journey, Librarian, Library, Mental Health, Non-Binary, Podcast, Podcatcher, Poet, Poetry, Simon Sweetman, Soundcloud, Spotify, Sweetman Podcast, Sweetman Podcast # 237, Sweetman Podcast # 237: Jackson Nieuwland, Sweetman Podcast: Jackon Neiuwland, Wellington, Writer, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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October 30, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys Music

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys Music Capitol There are at least two other (very good) Beastie Boys compilations on the market and still (and always) available and the best one is absolutely The Sounds of Science an anthology that features as many unreleased songs as it does ‘hits’. And that’s the one that soundtracked several of […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Beastie Boys, Beastie Boys Book, Beastie Boys Music, Beastie Boys Story, Beasties, Book, Compilation, Film, Greatest Hits, Hip-Hop, Rap, Soundtrack, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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October 26, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

James Brown: The Samples

James Brown The Samples UMG Recordings, Inc. There used to be one million James Brown compilations. Now there is one million and one. The Samples isn’t the definitive greatest hits, nor can it replace it, and you don’t need it at all but it’s still a brilliant compilation of brilliant music by one of the […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Compilation, Funk, Hip-Hop, James Brown, James Brown: The Samples, Samples, The Samples, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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September 23, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 37 – Ma$e, “Welcome Back”

Ma$e, Welcome Back 2004 Mase. He was the new protégé after Biggie bought it. And back when Puff Daddy was blowing smoke up other people’s arses, not just his own. Mase hit in big with Harlem World and with his guest appearances in the late 1990s. Then he went soft. Welcome Back was his “comeback” […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged "Weclome Back", “Welcome Back”, 2004, 90s, Comeback, Crap, Crap Albums, Crap Albums I Love # 37, Harlem World, Hip-Hop, Ma$e, Mase, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Rap, Shit, Shit That's Good, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 37 – Ma$e, Welcome Back Kotter, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·
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