LISTED REVIEWS
Write down his name, because Jonwayne might be the up-and-coming rapper. After a bunch of releases -with the three cassettes on Stones Throw Records as highlights- the 23-year old American has come up with a long-awaited album. Weird, confusing and not anything close to real hip-hop music. But also quite brilliant.
POSTED 11|04|2013
‘Look On The Blight Side’ is more than rapping, beats and scratches. It’s an experimental, very musical piece with complex arrangements, a dazzling array of instruments and sweet-sour chants. Honestly: we miss jolly one-liners like ‘I hope a hospital's near, before I OD on Old E’ and the frivol boom bap by JJ Brown. But how can one inspire others if you stick with the same old recipe?
POSTED 11|04|2013
Tanya Morgan is back, broadened their sound, grew more mature but kept in touch with their inner child. Just like The Beatles with 'Rubber Soul'.
POSTED 10|01|2013
Detroit may well be bankrupt, its hip-hop scene is far from death. Clear Soul Forces got the chance to prove it in a pretty crowded DOKBox. Energy, vivid rhymes and a lack of clichés, a recurrent feature among young, independent, hip-hop acts. There’s just some more work to do on a production level…
POSTED 09|19|2013
A compilation of 11 workman's songs that sollicitate for radio airplay. Not easy, but we're sure he will appeal to both the overground and the underground. Wordsmith does it with (working) class.
POSTED 09|17|2013
'Bend But Don't Break' is a pumped-up fist but also a style piece: a gracious exercise in the art of lyricism.
POSTED 08|27|2013
The DJ of Grazzhoppa's Big Band called in the help of like-minded friends/musicians with a crave for 90's hip-hop to jump in the kitchen and jar some everlasts through the mixer.
POSTED 05|31|2013
Known for his affinity with silver linings and jazzy arrangements -after all named after Rahsaan Roland Kirk- Raashan drops a record that's rewarming and tinging like a first sun ray.
POSTED 05|03|2013
The spikey metaphor in 'Colored Water Fountain' – striking symbol of racial segregation- puts politicians in the dock, while the poignant autobiographical stories in 'Coal' and 'Winter Eve 87' are highlights that underline Castro's creativity and concern.
POSTED 03|18|2013
On 'The Gaza Trip', the Israel born rapper from Miami grasps the nettle and touches a complex matter in an uncomplex manner, with a blunt and unbiased opinion.
POSTED 02|25|2013from the vaults
