Posts Tagged Rap
Archive
January 11, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
L’Orange: The Ordinary Man
L’Orange The Ordinary Man Mello Music Group If Chilly Gonzalez and DJ DSL collaborated it might come out sounding exactly like the music that Nashville-based producer L’Orange harvests. Chilled beats provide the framework for a dust-off of old jazz and blues samples. It’s a winning formula. One L’Orange knows just how (correctly) to milk, never […]Archive
November 20, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Tour Announcement: Big Boi – Two NZ Shows (March, 2018)
Seven-time Grammy Award-winning artist Big Boi is returning to New Zealand for two headline performances in March, 2018. The Atlanta-born rapper, producer, songwriter – and one half of Outkast – will play the Studio in Auckland on Friday, March 16 and Meow in Wellington on Saturday, March 17. Tickets on sale at 9am, Thursday, November 23 justtheticketnz.comArchive
September 25, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Tour Announcement: Vince Staples to Play Two NZ Shows (Jan, 2018)
Vince Staples has announced his hotly anticipated return to our shores this January for two huge headline dates. The critically acclaimed rapper brings with him the momentum of his stellar sophomore album, Big Fish Theory, to Wellington’s San Fran on January 12 and Auckland’s Powerstation on January 13. Tickets for both shows go on sale at […]Archive
September 14, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 18 – Mike D (Michael Diamond)
I realised, just recently, that I needed to include Mike D (or Michael Diamond) of the Beastie Boys in these files. There might not be many people out there that think of him as one of the world’s greatest drummers – but for me he was formative, crucial; super important. It comes from being the […]Archive
April 25, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Taking The Power Back: Ten of the Most Important Hip-Hop Albums in my Life
We all know that lists are subjective – that is the point of them. So I’ve decided to do a series of top ten albums across genres. They’ll appear sporadically. And rather than call them “Top Ten” I will call them ten of the most important – sorry if that sounds pretentious. It’s not meant […]Archive
March 16, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Filth Doesn’t Need To Be Filthy: They Did Dirt Better, Smarter In The 30s, 40s and 50s…
The old Coasters song Poison Ivy is about a woman that carries a dose of the clap – “you’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion” – there are warnings the whole way through the song, most obviously “you can look but you better not touch”. But even in the song’s opening line the overtly […]Archive
January 6, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
How Hip-Hop Got Its Various Starts: A Wee Intro Rap…
Allegedly the term hip-hop came from a little-known rapper, Cowboy, simply because it was one of his favourite lines…the line itself has been ripped off countless times. Most notably, in the early days of rap, with the Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight. The antecedents of hip-hop can be traced back to many different forms of musical […]Archive
December 13, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
A Tribe Called Quest: We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service
A Tribe Called Quest We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service Epic Records Group All at once the new (“comeback” ) record from A Tribe Called Quest, their first in 18 years is a tribute to the spirit of the group and a continuation; it’s also a tribute to fallen soldier, Phife Dawg, […]Archive
November 28, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 603
Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill (1986) Easily one of the most important, influential albums for me – one of the things I could point to and say “I discovered this!” Actually, my friend Aaron had it first. Probably from his older brother. But as soon as I heard it I was sold. I remember exactly […]Archive
November 6, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Watch This (Office) Space, Or Rather Listen To It: Revisiting The Office Space Soundtrack
One of my favourite movie soundtracks is for the film Office Space. I only discovered that there was an actual soundtrack album about 10 years after I first saw the film. The movie’s closer to 20 years old now. I have always liked the film – and I liked the music as part of the […]Archive
November 5, 2016 by Simon Sweetman