HIP-HOP REVIEWS: The Get By Let GoGood chemistry is hard to come by, but spend a little time with the Get By (rappers Justis and Mantis, and DJ Pangea) or listen to their new record, Let Go, and you get a feel for the creative potential. Over a decade after meeting each other while attending high school in...
INTERVIEWS: Mayer Hawthorne's New Good DaysMayer Hawthorne hasn't been home for more than two weeks at a time in the past couple of years. An L.A. rental is mostly just "a storage facility for records," says the singer from a tour bus in the no man's land between Oregon and Northern California. But that doesn't mean he hasn't been living...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Spank Rock Everything is Boring and Everyone is a Fucking LiarSpank Rock's 2006 album, YoYoYoYoYo, was the harbinger of party rap. Back then, MC Spank Rock and producer XXXChange's filthy, bassed-out music was trendsetting, but what now that the shtick's been stolen by everyone from Will.I.Am to Ke$ha? Everything is Boring and Everyone is a Fucking...
SPARK: The Translator ScrewWHAT IS IT? Also know as chopped and screwed, slowed not throw and chopped not slooped, screw was fathered in late '80, early '90s Houston, TX by now-deceased DJ Screw. It's a subgenre of hip-hop remixing largely defined by a slowed tempo. WHY IS IT CALLED THAT? Delaying BPM and altering...
INTERVIEWS: KreayshawnLess than five months ago no one really knew who Kreayshawn was. Internet gluttons that we are, over one million clicks in five days on her bizarre, rowdy video for "Gucci, Gucci" made it so the 21-year-old rapper/director from Oakland, CA (born Natassia Zolot) landed a lucrative record deal...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Blake Carrington Dare 2 DreamBlake Carrington might be hip-hop's first motivational speaker. You'd think it's the eternally beautiful California sky talking ― he recently relocated from Toronto to Los Angeles ― but as Carrington speaks at length on recording, moving and lessons learned the hard way, you realize...
ON THE COVER: Odd Future Teeth of the StormNo one in the last 18 months has garnered as much attention, controversy, buzz and hype as the Odd Future collective. At the same time, few acts in music history have been as challenging to get a grip on. Odd Future is not its biggest voice, Tyler, the Creator. The presence of out lesbian Syd Tha...
SOUL, FUNK & WORLD REVIEWS: Beyoncé 4Though she's been churning out hits for over a decade, there's an inherent, cynical tendency to treat Beyoncé as a childlike cog in the pop machine, as if her main responsibility (to us) is charting. But like idol Michael Jackson, Beyoncé was groomed from a young age for stardom and has, for some...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Araabmuzik Electronic DreamBefore the drums hit, the first 15 seconds of Rhode Island MPC don Araabmuzik's Electronic Dream sets up the airy, spectral premise for the subsequent ten tracks. Contributions to this past winter's zany Dipset Trance Party mixtape provide the thematic roots for this debut album, but...
CONCERT REVIEWS: The Black Keys Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto ON July 7Nearly a year ago, Akron, OH duo the Black Keys played back-to-back nights at Toronto's hangar-like Kool Haus. Now, they've made a significant step up by playing their first arena show at the Molson Amphitheatre. Shout out to the thousands of people who duly bypassed Honda Indy-related road...
INTERVIEWS: The Universe of Shabazz PalacesMy motivation isn't linear or recognizable in a quantifiable way," explains Seattle musician and Digable Planets member, Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, of his latest group project Shabazz Palaces. Black Up, Shabazz's official debut, is the first rap release from cult indie label Sub Pop –...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Lil B I'm Gay (I'm Happy)It seems Lil B took the opportunity to actually make an artistic statement with his latest release, I'm Gay (I'm Happy). The album's title, much maligned (and discussed) by the media, was thought of as some type of hip-hop hoax, but there's a lot going on underneath. This couldn't come at a...
CONCERT REVIEWS: Adele Air Canada Centre, Toronto ON May 18A stadium show, Adele Adkins's very first, was unexpected but warranted for the bona fide British pop star. Though the bowl was halved to provide a more intimate, accessible performance, it couldn't contain the magnitude of Adele's transformation from round-the-way every-girl to polished yet...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Tyler, the Creator GoblinGoblin is the post-implosion sophomore record from Odd Future's charismatic lead bully, Tyler, the Creator. For all the supposedly unanimous publicity tailing the L.A.-based troupe around the overzealous, troll-y, cache-cashing Internet, Goblin is hella divisive. Tempering...
CONCERT REVIEWS: TV on the Radio Sound Academy, Toronto ON April 18Ten years since TV on the Radio's inception, the quiet praise and slow-blooming success of the band's latest, Nine Types of Light, hints at prolific longevity. More playful and laid-back than the Brooklyn quintet's previous output, Nine Types' immediate translation onstage is...
DANCE & ELECTRONIC REVIEWS: Katy B On A MissionWhile buzz engorges James Blake's minor celebrity into a murky void, British singer Katy B is a more accurate peg on which to hang dub-step's crossover ambition. Club-focused, but clear-eyed, the young singer/songwriter (a BRIT School grad) came up via white label garage, UK funky and house...
INTERVIEWS: Mac MillerMac Miller speaks in narrative, swerving from his response to a question to related story to theatrical quip, then right back to the original thought. It's more opinion (and words) than many artists part with during a standard pre-show interview, but Mac ― an 18-year-old rapper from...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Big K.R.I.T. Return of 4evaWisely wasting no time capitalizing on his XXL Freshman list nod, Big K.R.I.T. doesn't sacrifice any quality on Return of 4eva. Since last year's K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, the Mississippian rapper has quickly ascended to represent the vanguard of outré-ish, 808-heavy, hella derivative...
HIP-HOP REVIEWS: Wiz Khalifa Rolling PapersIt kind of makes sense that the best/worst song on Wiz Khalifa's third studio (first major label) release, Rolling Papers, is Rebecca Black dead ringer "No Sleep." The weird, tables-turned success of Black's "Friday" is due to its sordid catchiness, and if "No Sleep" (and Rolling...
SOUL, FUNK & WORLD REVIEWS: The Weeknd House of BalloonsDespite the label-less status of enigmatic Toronto, ON project the Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), that it was first brought to light via Drake suggests things aren't as indie as they seem. At worst, we've been fooled by a ground-up, buzz-seeking marketing plan; at best, it's a damn good plan. Regardless,...
POP & ROCK: Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
Good chemistry is hard to come by, but spend a little time with the Get By (rappers Justis and Mantis, and DJ Pangea) or listen to their new record, Let Go, and you get a feel for the creative potential. Over a decade after meeting each other while attending high school in...
Mayer Hawthorne hasn't been home for more than two weeks at a time in the past couple of years. An L.A. rental is mostly just "a storage facility for records," says the singer from a tour bus in the no man's land between Oregon and Northern California. But that doesn't mean he hasn't been living...
Spank Rock's 2006 album, YoYoYoYoYo, was the harbinger of party rap. Back then, MC Spank Rock and producer XXXChange's filthy, bassed-out music was trendsetting, but what now that the shtick's been stolen by everyone from Will.I.Am to Ke$ha? Everything is Boring and Everyone is a Fucking...
WHAT IS IT? Also know as chopped and screwed, slowed not throw and chopped not slooped, screw was fathered in late '80, early '90s Houston, TX by now-deceased DJ Screw. It's a subgenre of hip-hop remixing largely defined by a slowed tempo. WHY IS IT CALLED THAT? Delaying BPM and altering...
Less than five months ago no one really knew who Kreayshawn was. Internet gluttons that we are, over one million clicks in five days on her bizarre, rowdy video for "Gucci, Gucci" made it so the 21-year-old rapper/director from Oakland, CA (born Natassia Zolot) landed a lucrative record deal...
Blake Carrington might be hip-hop's first motivational speaker. You'd think it's the eternally beautiful California sky talking ― he recently relocated from Toronto to Los Angeles ― but as Carrington speaks at length on recording, moving and lessons learned the hard way, you realize...
No one in the last 18 months has garnered as much attention, controversy, buzz and hype as the Odd Future collective. At the same time, few acts in music history have been as challenging to get a grip on. Odd Future is not its biggest voice, Tyler, the Creator. The presence of out lesbian Syd Tha...
Though she's been churning out hits for over a decade, there's an inherent, cynical tendency to treat Beyoncé as a childlike cog in the pop machine, as if her main responsibility (to us) is charting. But like idol Michael Jackson, Beyoncé was groomed from a young age for stardom and has, for some...
Before the drums hit, the first 15 seconds of Rhode Island MPC don Araabmuzik's Electronic Dream sets up the airy, spectral premise for the subsequent ten tracks. Contributions to this past winter's zany Dipset Trance Party mixtape provide the thematic roots for this debut album, but...
Nearly a year ago, Akron, OH duo the Black Keys played back-to-back nights at Toronto's hangar-like Kool Haus. Now, they've made a significant step up by playing their first arena show at the Molson Amphitheatre. Shout out to the thousands of people who duly bypassed Honda Indy-related road...
My motivation isn't linear or recognizable in a quantifiable way," explains Seattle musician and Digable Planets member, Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, of his latest group project Shabazz Palaces. Black Up, Shabazz's official debut, is the first rap release from cult indie label Sub Pop –...
It seems Lil B took the opportunity to actually make an artistic statement with his latest release, I'm Gay (I'm Happy). The album's title, much maligned (and discussed) by the media, was thought of as some type of hip-hop hoax, but there's a lot going on underneath. This couldn't come at a...
A stadium show, Adele Adkins's very first, was unexpected but warranted for the bona fide British pop star. Though the bowl was halved to provide a more intimate, accessible performance, it couldn't contain the magnitude of Adele's transformation from round-the-way every-girl to polished yet...
Goblin is the post-implosion sophomore record from Odd Future's charismatic lead bully, Tyler, the Creator. For all the supposedly unanimous publicity tailing the L.A.-based troupe around the overzealous, troll-y, cache-cashing Internet, Goblin is hella divisive. Tempering...
Ten years since TV on the Radio's inception, the quiet praise and slow-blooming success of the band's latest, Nine Types of Light, hints at prolific longevity. More playful and laid-back than the Brooklyn quintet's previous output, Nine Types' immediate translation onstage is...
Mac Miller speaks in narrative, swerving from his response to a question to related story to theatrical quip, then right back to the original thought. It's more opinion (and words) than many artists part with during a standard pre-show interview, but Mac ― an 18-year-old rapper from...
Wisely wasting no time capitalizing on his XXL Freshman list nod, Big K.R.I.T. doesn't sacrifice any quality on Return of 4eva. Since last year's K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, the Mississippian rapper has quickly ascended to represent the vanguard of outré-ish, 808-heavy, hella derivative...
It kind of makes sense that the best/worst song on Wiz Khalifa's third studio (first major label) release, Rolling Papers, is Rebecca Black dead ringer "No Sleep." The weird, tables-turned success of Black's "Friday" is due to its sordid catchiness, and if "No Sleep" (and Rolling...
Despite the label-less status of enigmatic Toronto, ON project the Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), that it was first brought to light via Drake suggests things aren't as indie as they seem. At worst, we've been fooled by a ground-up, buzz-seeking marketing plan; at best, it's a damn good plan. Regardless,...
