Privaledge — JoeWorld

Hip Hop/Rap
Ryan Querbach
Philadelphia-hailing rapper Privaledge, who is known more locally for his affiliation with Oklahoma City Thunder superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden, released his new mixtape, JoeWorld, last week. The project, a free online release, does not disappoint. 

 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Strangers — The Strangers

Hip Hop/Rap
Joshua Boydston
The last we heard from Moore emcee Jon Tefic (formerly Methotrexate), he had put out the stellar Camelpacks & Battlerapz, a smart full-length that acted as a tribute in equal parts to A Tribe Called Quest and Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. Half a year later, Tefic is back, but with producer Shawn C at his side. Meet The Strangers.

 

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Double R — Dr. Digital

Hip Hop/Rap
Joshua Boydston
If I had to guess what field of medicine Moore-based rapper Double R (of Purple Mouth Bandits) had in mind for Dr. Digital, I’d have to go with psychiatry. Frankly, this album is pretty crazy.

 

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Josh Sallee — Probable Flaws

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
It’s pretty obvious that local rapper Josh Sallee graduated college between his debut album, Return to Sender, and his second full-length, Probable Flaws.

 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Raekwon — Unexpected Victory

Here’s the best from a new year’s bumper crop of hip-hop mixtapes.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
My favorite hip-hop moment from 2011 was when the speed-rap once-superstar Busta Rhymes, now almost 40, resurfaced from the 1990s on Chris Brown’s excellent “Look at Me Now” single, as confident as if he’d been around all this time.

 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Methotrexate — Camelpacks & Battlerapz

Hip Hop/Rap
Joshua Boydston
Just in his early 20s, Oklahoma City’s Methotrexate is an original in a genre inundated with anyone having access to a mic and a MacBook.

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day One — Art by Death

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
“Art by Death” is something you probably won’t hear every day.

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Weeknd — Echoes of Silence

The best trilogy since ‘Lord of the Rings.’ At least in the field of eerie, Canadian R&B.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
Two leering, damaged R&B mixtapes in and I was nearly certain that provocative Toronto collective The Weeknd (the brainchild of remarkable singer Abel Tesfaye) had exhausted its scuzzy-production-and-luxurious pop-voice-singing-about-banging-groupies shtick.

 

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Drake — Take Care

Canadian crooner raps less, slow-jams more on his visionary, 80-minute sophomore LP.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
If the minimal, Toronto R&B sound of Drake and collaborators Abel Tesfaye (AKA, The Weeknd), Boi-1da and Doc McKinney winds up as influential on hip-hop as many critics seem to think, then “Take Care”’s legacy will be long-lasting and often-marked.

 

Monday, December 5, 2011

The Roots — undun

Playing Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show hasn’t pulled The Roots up from ... their roots.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
You can — if you concentrate hard — faintly hear a baby bawling at the very beginning of The Roots’ new album, “undun.” That’s because the record follows a fictional life that isn’t so fictional.

 

Monday, December 5, 2011

Terius Nash – 1977

R&B’s hitmaker du jour drops his first record sans moniker.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
As far as human beings go, Terius Nash may well be one of the most sought-after. Here’s a brief list of songs he’s written/produced for megastars:

 

Friday, September 2, 2011

The Weeknd — Thursday

Damaged and menacing, The Weeknd continue to push R&B to its scariest limits.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
I was finishing up college when the then-more-mysterious R&B project The Weeknd dropped their first mixtape, “House of Balloons,” for free online. Unfortunately for 21-year-old Canadian Abel Tesfaye (who’s credited as singer and songwriter) not enough has changed in that time to warrant increased praise for “Thursday,” although that’s not to say he’s produced (with the help of veteran Doc McKinney and the also-mysterious Illangelo) a bad album.

 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Kanye West and Jay-Z — Watch the Throne

Modern-day hip-hop legends pair up to go ‘hard as a motherf***er.’

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
Hey, have you guys heard of this new rap band called Kanye West and Jay-Z? Yeah, apparently they released an album exclusively on iTunes last week that pissed off a lot of record-store owners. Not sure if you’ve heard of it, so I’ll try to break down “Watch the Throne” for you, since these guys are kinda obscure.

 

Monday, August 15, 2011

Theophilus London — Timez Are Weird These Days

He’s a long way from the next Kanye.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
Judging by the ads Warner Bros. Records is running on Pitchfork, the lack of coverage in more conventional rap and hip-hop media outlets, and hired-gun producer Dan Carey’s résumé (Hot Chip, M.I.A., La Roux), the juggernaut label is marketing Theophilus London’s debut LP, “Timez Are Weird These Days,” toward hipsters instead of a more conventional hip-hop audience.

 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Shabazz Palaces — Black Up

Hooks? We don't need no stinkin' hooks

Hip Hop/Rap
Ryan Querbach
To assign adjectives to Shabazz Palaces’ music is a difficult task, but if I had to take a stab at it, I’d call it original, often offbeat, weird and yet, still awesome.

 

Friday, July 15, 2011