Point of View

Pop's Bastards

Are Mash-ups a Clever Culture Jam or Mere Cynical Sarcasm?

PUBLISHED Apr 1, 2003

The riff is unmistakable, that plangent three-chord lament leavened by Kurt Cobain's innate melodic verve, but something about "Smells Like...

The Year That Never Was

PUBLISHED Mar 1, 2003

The year 2002 didn't really happen. Honest. Looking back on 12 months dominated by retro-minded musicians, it seems more like a photocopy o...

True Colours

With Increasing White Presence, Hip-hop Is Singing the Blues

PUBLISHED Feb 1, 2003

Mike Ladd has seen the future - and the future is now. The slam poet turned English professor turned experimental MC is calling from the bi...

Real Time

How Mainstream Hip-Hop Lapped the Underground

PUBLISHED Nov 1, 2002

Since hip-hop broke wide in the mid-‘80s, the form's sonic evolution has typically progressed from the bottom up. The underground has tradi...