BY WILL LAMPLEY
Hip-Hop is a young man’s game, but as the pioneers of Gangsta Rap have became film stars and headphone moguls, the subgenre faded off into the distance, making way for the shiny suit era (post-Biggie Bad Boy), middle class rap (Kanye West, Childish Gambino), and emotional rap (Drake, Lil B).
Continue reading Gangsta Rap in 2014 : “I been selling crack since like the 5th grade”
There are just 15 days (September 30th) until the eligibility period ends for the 57th annual Grammy awards. In what looks to be an arguably week year for critically acclaimed albums, and what has also been the year for surprise releases, some of your favorite artists could still swoop in and steal the most prestigious award in music. We certainly wouldn’t rule it out.
Continue reading Who Can Still Win the 57th Album of the Year Grammy?
BY DAN GARCIA
Last November, Tyler the Creator got his wish when he convinced Kanye to perform Tyler’s favorite Ye song ‘Late’ at the Odd Future Carnival, a song that Kanye had not performed in years. Although Kanye consistently delivers two-hour long setlists at his tours, full of hits from his debut The College Dropout to his latest Yeezus, there are many B-side songs that we would love to see live. We reached out to Kanye fans at KanyeToThe to compile a (dark twisted) fantasy setlist full of other B-Side classics.
BY WILL LAMPLEY
Yearly, hip-hop magazine XXL does a freshman cover, showcasing nearly a dozen rising stars. Sometimes, these lists are underwhelming, leaving obvious choices out (Drake, Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, etc) but sometimes they can also be packed with to-be stars (2011’s issue).
Now that a couple years have passed, it would definitely be interesting to observe how well some of 2012’s freshman have fared, because frankly, the gap between superstars and unknowns is huge.
Let’s begin.
The autotune crooner was already known by the time this cover was released and he’s done well for himself. While his record sales are mundane for someone at his status, his singles are still popular. Future Vandross has went completely left from his original trap persona to dive into writing for R&B artists and defying the odds, as most wrote him off to be a one hit wonder since his hit ‘Tony Montana’.
Back in 2012, to the general public, this guy was just a Chris Brown look-a-like with an overly simple rap name/aesthetic. But to the mixtape circuit, he was moving around and grinding heavy. The grind finally paid off once he scored two Chris Brown features and DJ Mustard produced hits. The sad thing is he’s only known for singles.
Detroit MC Danny Brown was known by 2012 but he’s only worked harder since the cover has passed, dropping a critically acclaimed album, opening for Eminem and touring worldwide. He has no plans of stopping and is fully satisfied with sacrificing radio spins for quality music.
French’s album flopped. But he didn’t let that stop him, he instead continued to release hits as well as linking with Khloe Kardashian the goddess, solidifying his pop culture relevancy. Let’s see how he responds to the break-up.
Who would’ve thought? The seemingly random white rapper Macklemore, independent, corny and somewhat conscious, went on to release his Grammy award winning album in late 2012 and ran 2013 as the biggest pop artist. I still don’t get it.
BY TER STAFF
No one is better at their job than interviewer, Nardwuar the Human Serviette. In his top notch and second-to-none research, the Nard will find and uncover things about an artist that even their mother doesn’t know. Throughout his extensive catalog of interviews we have learned that Chance the Rapper owns a tobacco field in North Carolina, Drake thinks about porn star Cherokee before bed, and much more. Although he certainly puts on for his city, Vancouver, Nardwuar also uncovers local joints from some of your favorite rapper’s hometowns. Here is our list of 8 local joints we need to visit and learned about from Nardwuar interviews.
Continue reading 8 Local Joints We Learned About from Nardwuar Interviews
BY DAN GARCIA
In our inaugural summer, we got to see, enjoy and cover a lot of great shows during the festival season. Working with Pigeons and Planes, I did their coverage at Lollapalooza and exclusively for The ER we were approved to cover Chicago’s North Coast Music Festival. Check out the best shots we took over the summer, with artists such as Eminem, Outkast, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, Snoop Dogg, Childish Gambino and much more!
BY DAN GARCIA
This past weekend Talib Kweli set us up with one of Chicago’s emerging young artists, K’Valentine. From Chicago’s South Side, K’Valentine started her rap career from her passion for poetry and has been actively committed to her music since she began rapping. While speaking with K’Valentine backstage at the North Coast Music Festival after her performance with Kweli, she told us about her journey over the past few years, how she first got in touch with Talib, and her upcoming project “Organically Earned” (you heard it here first!), due out later this year and executively produced by Talib Kweli.
BY DAN GARCIA
Yesterday ended North Coast Music Festival’s 5th Anniversary. With performances by artists such as Bassnectar, Talib Kweli, Kid Cudi, Action Bronson, Riff Raff and many others, the festival closed out with a headlining performance by Snoop Dogg. Check out some of our Sunday photos.
BY DAN GARCIA
Talib Kweli continues to be one of the most active voices in hip-hop and black culture since his inception into the genre during the mid-1990s in Brooklyn, New York. If you don’t best know him for his music, including his critically acclaimed albums and singles (such as his hit ‘Get By‘), his work Mos Def (making up half of the legendary rap duo Black Star) or being the artist who first introduced us to Kanye West (inviting the young Chicago producer/rapper to tour with him), you may likely know him for his social activism. Often praised for the messages in his music, rapping about equality, compassion, and issues of great dignity (gravitas if you will), Kweli is not afraid to go to extra lengths to commit himself to the issues he raps about.
BY DAN GARCIA
Today began North Coast Music Festival’s second day of acts, with performances by artists such as Talib Kweli, Little Dragon, Kid Cudi and many others. Tomorrow will close the festival’s 5th Anniversary with performances by Snoop Dogg, Riff Raff and more.
The Early Registration 