A couple of days ago we talked about the need to reclaim the word “pacifism” and return it to general use. We believe the time is ripe right now — if Bernie Sanders can bring “socialism” back from the dead we’re sure pacifism can’t be far behind.
Pacifism is not … Read the rest
2010 was a banner year for crime fiction. The final installment of Stieg Larsson’s seminal Girl trilogy continued raising the genre’s status and the film release of Winter’s Bone opened millions of eyes to crime’s literary underground, where virtuosos like Daniel Woodrell, Jim Nesbit and David Peace — today’s Dostoevsky, … Read the rest
The last decade has brought a massive infusion of new talent to crime fiction and its sub-genres. Brilliant young writers all over the world are brushing off stale literary conventions and using their formidable skills to write stories in which things actually happen. And with these guys – they’re usually … Read the rest
You may be wondering why someone would write a top ten of 2009 list three months into 2010. Well I have two excuses. One: I didn’t want to write a list until I was absolutely certain I had read every book that had a chance of making it on the … Read the rest
Yeah, of course Blueprint is my number one hiphop album of the last ten years. It’s not like it was a very hard choice (and it’s not like a few of you didn’t guess it). I already wrote about why I love the album so much here.
I … Read the rest
As we near the top of the Hiphop Masterpieces of the 2000s list, a common thread begins to emerge: business. How to succeed in a cutthroat business environment has always been, to a surprising and largely unrecognized degree, one of hiphop’s core lyrical themes. Inspired by films like The Godfather… Read the rest
Many music critics placed Kanye West’s first album College Dropout near the top of their best-of-the-decade lists. That was an excellent record, featuring his lyrical breakthrough “Through The Wire”, but for the LitKicks Best Five of the 2000s I’m going with Ye’s third album Graduation, the conclusion of his … Read the rest
Now Peter Piper picked peppers, and Run rocked rhymes
I’m 50 Cent, I write a little bit but I pop nines …
Oh, he was so authentic. 50 Cent feels like a cartoon character lately, because his last three albums were weak and nobody wants to hear over and over … Read the rest
(Here’s a list for the ages. The first decade of our new millennium will be remembered for many things, but during these years there has been no creative form more alive, more original, and more attuned to a unique sense of craft than hiphop. Born in the late 70s, exploding … Read the rest