Many of us spend our lives pursuing a certain vision. An idea, a dream, a blueprint. There is something we are supposed to work on, in this life. No matter what we do, and no matter what else we think we are doing, this is what we work on, every … Read the rest
Phife Dawg aka Malik Taylor, the raspy half of the seminal hiphop band A Tribe Called Quest, has died at the age of 45. The brilliant, funny, wise, immensely talented and lovable rapper from Queens had suffered from diabetes and other ailments for years. Despite his renown as one … Read the rest
I’ve been trying for a while now to come to terms with the emergence of Ta-Nehisi Coates as the clearest voice of black defiance and determination during the police violence outrages of the past couple years. The appeal of Coates’s basic message of empowerment through self-awareness is obvious, but I … Read the rest
There’s a moment in Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove
Actually, … Read the rest
it seems strange, like yellow smoke
pushin’ up against the window panes
and ain’t a damn thing changed
i know, cause i been trying to find an antidote
while women come and go
talking of michelangelo
What! These lyrics wafted past me this weekend during a family gathering, and stopped … Read the rest
(Rock star memoirs are a hot book trend these days. But many readers may not realize that the rock memoir format has deep, twisted roots. Rock musicians have been writing memoirs for decades, often without receiving the publicity that new books by the likes of Keith Richards and Neil … Read the rest
It’s hard for me to describe how big an influence the Beastie Boys have had on my life. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, I found lifesaving inspiration in records like Paul’s Boutique and Check Your Head that I could not have found anywhere else. If it were not … Read the rest
Ahh, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg! They must be the best hiphop duo of all time (or, at least, they’re tied with these guys), although both rappers refuse to call themselves a duo and insist that A Tribe Called Quest has always been four people: Q-Tip the Abstract, Phife Diggy, … Read the rest
My Infamous Life, the new memoir by classic rapper Prodigy of Mobb Deep, kicks off with a surprise: Albert “Prodigy” Johnson carries an amazing musical legacy in his genes. His grandfather Budd Johnson was a bebop saxophonist who worked with Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy … Read the rest