Back in the early ’00s, Jay “J-Zone” Mumford was a different type of “throwback” rapper. While many artists outside of the mainstream positioned themselves as the heirs to Rakim or the Native Tongues or KRS-One, Zone had a different set of “role models.” Just like many other hip-hop heads, he…

The Jacksonville artist reflects on the power of his “Nerd English” on the 10th anniversary of his album’s release Everyone knows that these days it’s cool to be a nerd. “Nerd culture” has now spearheaded the global entertainment industry for over a decade, driving everything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Star Wars to Game of Thrones to countless other pop culture fixtures. For Niam “Willie Evans, Jr.” Jones…

Everyone knows that these days it’s cool to be a “nerd.” “Nerd culture” has now spearheaded the global entertainment industry for over a decade, driving everything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Star Wars to Game of Thrones to countless other pop culture fixtures. But for Niam “Willie Evans, Jr.”…

Shante Scott Franklin, aka Curren$y, and Daniel Alan Maman, aka The Alchemist, share a lot in common. Both have been working since the 1990s. Both have gone through numerous artistic progressions since their careers began. Both are known for their adaptability. The New Orleans born Curren$y sounds great over nearly…

On March 21, 2021, Chris “Thes One” Portugal went on Twitch to give a “live, all vinyl memorial mix tribute to his fallen brother” Michael “Double K” Turner. Double K had passed in late January, and Thes One understandably took the loss of his longtime friend and collaborator very hard…

“Wow, ‘my production,’” Dan Charnas chuckles. “I haven’t heard that in a while: ‘Following my production.’” As strange as it may seem in 2021, author, journalist, podcaster, and professor Dan Charnas used to be a producer. Hell, he even used to run the hip-hop division of American Records, the imprint…

We continue with our in-depth conversation with Kwest Tha Madd Lad, regarding the 25th anniversary of his debut album, This Is My First Album (1996). In our first installment, Kwest discussed how he got signed to American Records and the process of recording the album. In part 2, he gets…

Thomas “Kwest Tha Madd Lad” St. John didn’t have any grand designs when he recorded his debut release, This Is My First Album. “I just put out an album,” he muses, “an album of shit that I wanted to put out, and that was how I wanted to do it.” …

By the mid-2000s, Dennis “Ghostface Killah” Coles was the indisputable star of the Wu-Tang Clan. …