Recent posts: hiphop

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.

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!

As the clock continues to tick down on a strange but musically productive year, the producers who placed a lasting impression on critical projects in 2016 def deserve year-end props. Terrace Martin, one such artist/producer, garners such recognition, with undeniably dope contributions, releasing his 2017 “Best R&B Album” Grammy-nominated solo project ‘Velvet Portraits’ as well as producing for several artists like Rapsody, Schoolboy Q, YG, Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington to name a few. Already a two-time Grammy winner for his work on Kendrick Lamar’s brilliant ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’, it’s probably safe to assume 2017 will be just as hectic. Starting his career, working for Diddy in high school, set Terrace on his accolade-filled musical path.

Earlier in 2016, I chatted with Terrace at a press conference at Durham’s Art of Cool Fest which also provided a rare opportunity to see him live. Taking time out of his busy schedule, I got a chance to ask about his experience working with Busta Rhymes, Stevie Wonder and Snoop, a description of his production process and his Grammy-winning experience with Kendrick. Listen to the soundclips BELOW and go cop his latest solo project HERE!

Continuing to highlight the artists that left their mark as we wind down a very busy and strange 2016, Mello Music Group (MMG) artist Mr. Lif def comes to mind. A well respected Boston repping MC, his trademark flow and memorable collabos with other legendary statesmen within the indie hip-hop scene precede him. Dropping a dope pensive solo album ‘Don’t Look Down’ as well as ‘The Life and Death of Scenery’ project with MMG mate L’Orange, Mr. Lif’s toured internationally for a loyal fanbase worldwide during a fruitful, productive year.

Connecting with him earlier this year, I chatted with Mr. Lif about his early music memories being a curious kid, getting in trouble with the family record player, hypothetical teen dream music fests featuring Public Enemy and The Fat Boys and his time working with Definitive Jux and El-P. Peep the interview soundclips below and buy the new projects HERE and HERE!

As the clock runs down on 2016, we continue taking a look at the live artists who made an impression during this busy year. The ones that delivered memorable performances you couldn’t forget. One such artist making #CarlitasCut is Rhode Island’s own raucous rebel B. Dolan. Getting his start on spoken word and poetry scenes in the late 90’s, he later found a home and a fruitful, productive partner in crime in Sage Francis and Strange Famous Records. If you’ve been checking for him online, you’ll notice his sense of humor and his activist passion for causes like knowmore.org, a corporate crime database users can use to search on key corporations they support.

Hitting the road this year in support of his latest effort ‘Kill The Wolf’, I caught up with B. Dolan earlier in the year at Treefort Music Fest to ask weird questions about how he’s evolved as an artist, his prized collection of rare vinyl, his brotherhood/old married couple relationship with Sage Francis, his top 5 MCs of all-time, working with Aesop Rock and his female pug family member. Get the deets on B. Dolan live dates and what he’s up to now HERE!

Now that’s 2016’s winding down, it’s naturally time to begin thinking about “Best Of” live acts of the year. With thousands of international and local fests and shows to pick from, the competition’s fierce. One of this year’s best live artists making #CarlitasCut is Phoenix’s Mega Ran. Seeing him perform live at Boise’s Treefort Fest earlier this year, he commanded the attention of the whole room as everyone crowded in the middle to watch him expertly freestyle about the oddest items taken from audience members’ pockets. Between appearing at Comic-Cons, consistently hitting the road with artists like MC Lars and Sadistik, Mega Ran’s also found the time to release multiple podcasts and projects including ‘Mat Mania: The Album’ which features a collabo with Murs.

Not familiar with nerdcore before attending the fest, Mega Ran’s talent opened up a new world to a dope underground community. Earlier this year, I chatted with Mega at Treefort about an assortment of topics- his childhood in Philly (where he once aspired to be a dentist), his missed connection with The Roots’ Black Thought, making hip-hop history, A Tribe Called Quest influences and of course, his fav video games. Peep the soundclips below and get tix to see Mega Ran on tour throughout the rest of the year HERE!