Recent posts: Breaking Bits

Entering The Grammy Museum’s latest ” Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit”, in the center of the room, an eye-catching case with studded jeweled nails worn by Bay Area rapper Saweetie, rests. Contributing this trendsetting piece of hip-hop art is celebrity artist and nail salon owner Temeka Jackson. Beginning her nail art journey as the first Black nail technician in New Haven, Connecticut, she’s appeared in reality shows like “Next Top Nail Artist” and “Nailed It”. Today, staying booked and busy, her custom creations reign on red carpets, music video sets and magazine covers on the reg.

Getting the unique opportunity to preview Los Angeles’ Grammy Museum’s latest exhibit before doors opened on Friday, Dilla’s personal cassette tapes, Andre 3000’s flamboyant feathery suede jumpsuit, Saweetie’s elaborate nail art, and a B-Boy posed in mid-head spin all awaited me inside.

SPUNSUGAR DO IT THEMSELVES IN NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR UPCOMING SINGLE ‘SAN JOSE’ DROPPING SEPTEMBER 29TH 2023- Swedish three-piece Spunsugar is releasing DIY-chic music video for new track ‘San Jose’, the third single from their upcoming new album ‘A Hole Forever,’ via Adrian Recordings on September 29th, 2023, with forthcoming sophomore album due to release on November 17th, 2023.

Welcoming WAASH to the Light Organ Family– Andrew Bishop, a versatile musician hailing from Vancouver, has firmly established himself as a prominent figure in the city’s pop music scene. He’s been a part of various groups, including Twin River, Alex Little & The Suspicious Minds, dwi, and White Ash Falls.
Now, he embarks on a new musical journey under the moniker WAASH, merging his prolific songwriting skills with a passion for expansive shoegaze soundscapes. This marks both the culmination of his musical career and an exciting fresh start.

While perusing through the stacked lineup for Bull City’s 5^thAnnual Art of Cool Fest earlier this fall, my eyes immediately stopped at one name. Dwele. Universally known for hailing from the historic Midwestern music metropolis of Detroit, he respectfully pays homage to the greats that came before but blazed his own action-packed melodic trail since his demo debut ‘The Rize’ in 2000. His career’s gone fascinating places, linking up with Raphael Saadiq, Eric Roberson, Slum Village, Common, Phife, Raheem Devaughn, DJ Quik and Kanye.

Returning for its 5th year, the Art of Cool Fest brought the perfect combo of hip-hop heat and smooth soul back to NC’s beloved Bull City. Fans were treated to monumental moments like DJ sets by 9th Wonder and Spinderella, a live set by Q-Boro’s own Nas and a surprise last minute reunion of Little Brother as music coming from The Armory and The Bulls Athletic Park speakers blasted sentimental favs. Also in search of R&B band bops, we made sure to race around town to catch Dwele, Erykah Badu, Young Bull, Maxwell and Anthony Hamilton throughout the worthwhile action-packed weekend.

Keep your eyes locked for info for next year’s fest HERE!

Now that 2017 is a wrap, it’s time to give props to the artists and bands that caught my attention and never let go. The projects that stood out among the rest. The projects that kept me coming back.

Peep the #CarlitasCuts list below and my fav song off each project! If you like what you hear, go buy it!

Prince-“Purple Rain Deluxe (Expanded Edition)”

Gwen Bunn- “Safe Travels”

Rapsody- “Laila’s Wisdom”

Miguel- “War & Leisure”

H.E.R- “H.E.R”

Adelitas Way- “Notorious”

R.LUM.R- “AFTERIMAGE”

Sadistik- “Altars”

Daniel Caesar- “Freudian”

Hurray For The Riff Raff- “The Navigator”

Kesha- “Rainbow”

Bomba Estéreo- “Ayo”

Mega Ran- “Extra Credit”

La Pingos Orquesta- “Peregrino”

The Doppelgangaz- “Dopp Hopp”

Emily Estefan- “Take Whatever You Want”

Sabrina Claudio- “About Time”

DJ Colette- “Retrospective”

Valerie June- “The Order of Time”

Suzi Analogue- “Zonez: Vol 3: The World Unwinds But The Sounds Hold Me Tight”

Goldlink- “At What Cost”

Various Artists- “Insecure (Music from the HBO Original Series), Season 2”

La Misa Negra- “La Misa Negra”

Björk – “Utopia”

Chris Stapleton- “From A Room: Volume 1”

Prophets of Rage- “Prophets of Rage”

Ozuna- “Odisea”

Nai Palm- “Needle Paw”

Joey DeFrancesco and The People- “Project Freedom”

Willow- “The 1st”

Takashi Tsuzuki- “It’s Not Fair”

Dua Lipa- “Dua Lipa (Deluxe)”

Ambrose Akinmusire- “A Rift in Decorum-Live at The Village Vanguard”

As many 90’s classic albums continue to hit the critical 25th Anniversary mark, genre purists cannot forget to commemorate 1992’s ‘The Chronic’. Released December 15, 1992, the monstrous solo album from future legend Dr. Dre bore its enduring mark into a crowded landmark year and introduced a new wave of East Coast impressionable hip-hop listeners, perhaps too young to know N.W.A., to the trademark West Coast P-Funk homage-paying Death Row Records sound for the first time. If an album perfectly encapsulated a time and place with its vivid corresponding videos, this would be at the top of the list. ‘The Chronic’, combined with the searing ‘Deep Cover’ soundtrack title-track released earlier in ‘92, introduced the world to Snoop Dogg, another future legend in his own right, provided a remarkable 1-2 punch, leaving their stamps on hip-hop history for all eternity.

When delving further into the credits for these enduring pieces of music, one key collaborator’s name, who contributed basslines you cannot get out of the head years later, stuck out from the rest. Prepping to attend this year’s MoogFest, I purposely sought out producer and musician Colin Wolfe to discuss these two projects with Dr. Dre and discovered an extensive and impressive discography highlighting another fruitful partnership with legendary ATL producer Dallas Austin. Rifling through Colin’s prominent laundry list of credits as composer, producer or bass musician, he’s worked with artists like Monica, TLC, Michael Jackson, Outkast, Aretha Franklin, Erick Sermon, Janet Jackson and George Clinton to name a few.

On a particularly hot and muggy day in Durham, NC, I sat down with Colin Wolfe who shared insightful and funny anecdotes (including an unexpected MJ pet Bubbles The Chimp story) and behind the scenes tidbits of working in two powerhouse creative compounds which shaped the history of hip-hop and R&B during their “golden eras”. Peep the interview clips below!