hip hop Archive
24 Mar 2021
Get Bach: Secret Agent 23 Skidoo’s ‘Bach Beat Symphonies’
Grammy-winning “kid-hop” musician Secret Agent 23 Skidoo is both prolific and adventurous. Since debuting with the 2008 album Easy, the Asheville- and New York City-based artist has carved out a […]
15 Nov 2020
30 Days Out, November 2020 #2: Samara Jade, G. Love, Amanda Anne Platt, The Krüger Brothers
We’re back to actual live shows, with restrictions. Livestream fatigue set in rather quickly, didn’t it? Turns out humans need to be together. But hey: we’ve gotta do it safely […]
15 Jun 2020
30 Days Out, June 2020 #2: Hearts Gone South, Angel Olsen, Natural Born Leaders, The Get Right Band
If you’re at all like me, you may have noticed this phenomenon: when you take on a new task, you stumble as you learn your way through it. And by […]
29 Feb 2020
Shaun Boothe: History Through Hip-hop
Shaun Boothe was inspired to create his Unauthorized Biography series after music icon James Brown passed away in 2006. “Brown was a big inspiration of mine, and a musical genius,” […]
09 Feb 2020
Album Review: Vvitchgang Coven – s/t
Music consumers can be forgiven for thinking that every possible combination of genres has been explored and exploited. Hip-hop/country? Check. Christian death metal? Yes. Hard rock-meets bluegrass? Sure; years ago, […]
02 Dec 2019
Rock and Bounce: Big Freedia and Low Cut Connie
Note: This story was originally published in October in Mountain Xpress. Combing different musical genres is more common than it was a generation ago; the barriers between styles have been […]
12 Oct 2019
Album Review: DJ Audio — ‘Hottest in the City, Vol. 1’
When we last checked in on the work of DJ Audio, the Asheville hip hop artist born Ethan Conner had just released an EP, Shut it Down. That collection of […]
07 Oct 2019
The Midnight Hour: Looking Back to Move Forward
Evoking the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance while exploring modern musical territory, The Midnight Hour combines jazz arrangements with a decidedly hip hop aesthetic. Led by two leading lights of […]
22 Sep 2019
Album Review: DJ Besbleve — You Good?
“You good?” is a common way to address a friend; it’s a tidy way of asking if everything is okay in their world. But – as Asheville-based DJ Besbleve (born […]
13 Sep 2019
Arrested Development: The Speech Interview, Part Three
Continued from Part Two … For decades it’s been the case that American artists – especially the more interesting ones – tend to do better in Europe and Asia. The […]