Pairing wine and vinyl with Cinderblock People, part I
A Harlem store pairs wine with records, creating realness in an age of political disconnect and tyrannical clouds. Cinderblock People, a record store in northwest Harlem, is wedged between …
Features
Femdot is on a mission to out-rap everyone like it’s ’94
“My foundation is that I am trying to out-rap everyone like it’s ’94 or something; I can rap over anything. I want to interest you, even if I am just talking about going to the store,” says …
Jo Mersa Marley: Following the calling
Though he bears the Marley surname and has been heavily influenced by his father, Jo Mersa does not walk in the shadows of his musical lineage – he walks beside it, guided by it – as he …
An Evening in with the boys from Post Animal
Riding under the 606, I pass through a graffiti underpass and pull up to a house on the border of Logan Square and Humboldt Park. The gentlemen from Post Animal have invited me over so we …
Manifesto is on a mission to give voices to the hip hop community
Manifesto is an organization built by activists, artists, and creatives with the goal of bringing people together into a collective that not only hosts a major hip hop culture festival in …
Reggae Sumfest brings best of reggae legends, new acts, and a few surprises to Jamaica
Admittedly, like most people, when planning to travel for a music festival I’m likely to head out to Texas or some of the more eclectic corners of Europe but this year I’ve experienced …
An identity of its own: Chicago’s evolving hip-hop culture (Part I)
Chicago is known for many things: the food, the skyline, the brutal winters and unforgettable summers; but at its core is the music, specifically the hip-hop music, which is the foundation …
Red Bull Sound Select: Developing Toronto’s artists one showcase at a time
Toronto is a city stacked with all sorts of talent across a variety of disciplines but while there may be hundreds of actors there seems to be an infinite number of musicians trying to catch …
UNITY Charity: empowering youth through hip hop arts
*** When looking at cultural genres, hip hop, historically, has a bad reputation. But bad neighbourhoods, bad attitudes and misguided glory generated by bullet marks on certain celebrities …
How FME won the summer and this festival season
A I can’t tell what time it is, but by the looks of it the sun is about to come up. The area around the building is still crowded with people and where I am, in that very moment, three …