Barry’s Beats

When Barry White’s essence left this earth on the morning of July 4th, a large chunk of music history was lost. Not just R&B, Soul or whatever you feel like calling it. All music. His contributions to R&B music are common knowledge, but sadly many a hip-hop head is unaware of the influence Barry White […]

My Cousin Tupac

The Tupac Shakur that I knew was a family member, a cousin to be specific. He wasn’t a rapper, actor, gangsta or dancer – just the creative cousin of the family. Some of my earliest memories of ‘Pac are of me staying the night on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore, where he lived. In 1985, him […]

Hip-Hop’s First World War

Damn straight we at war, and hip-hop is wounded. On street corners from Brooklyn to Brixton, South Central to Shanghai, arguments, conflicts and battle raps occur to overstand whose side you on? Pop hop or "real" hip-hop? Regardless of where a hip hopper is located, the world bows down in respect to what the African-American […]