With so much happening in the city, not the least of which preparations for ManifesTO, we’ve been busy, to say the least. Talib Kweli dropped by the Phoenix late last month to promote his new album Eardrum, and Jean Grae came along to support the Blacksmith movement. Unfortunately, our resident correspondent Noah couldn’t make it [...]
This is a late one since I had too many events with actual reviews to post first. These photos are from the same event as the Little Brother shots I posted a while back, only at night. Unfortunately, ?uestlove didn’t make it to the show, but the awesome folks over at REMG more than made [...]
Written by Noah Goodbaum | Photography by Philip Litevsky
I don’t really know Jesse Ohtake. Before the night of Saturday the 24th, I don’t think I’d ever met Jesse Ohtake. I knew the name ‘Jesse Ohtake’—enough reputable cats an’ dames in the T-Dot rap scene scream his name that it sorta occurred to me I oughta [...]
Written by Noah Goodbaum | Photography by Philip Litevsky
Dear God I hope Down With Webster don’t read this.
For denizens of virtually any locale that doesn’t boast the initials N, Y, and C—hell, probably even in NYC—going to local rap shows is a little like enduring a production of “Romeo & Juliet” put on by fourth-graders: [...]
I finally got to check out one of the bands that excited me most in the last few years - Little Brother. Phonte and Big Pooh, sans recently departed band-mate and one of the hottest producers in the game today, 9th Wonder, took the stage at the Rogers Picnic two Sunday’s ago at the Historic [...]
Lots of Wikipedia schooling today for everyone. I didn’t end up covering the entire Four Elements Festival, but a concert celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Wild Style can’t be missed. D.I.T.C’s Lord Finesse with a surprise appearance by DJ Roc Raida of the X-Ecutioners doing some crazy turntablist solo AND duo action (Yes, Finesse can [...]
Original Gangster Ice-T along with long-time DJ Evil-E and with no less than four local opening acts was at the undersold Phoenix this past Thursday. As low attendance as the show turned out to be, Ice-T didn’t let the crowd down and rocked the house with excellent delivery of all of his old hits and [...]
What can I say? Nasir Jones holding it down in the T. Back to back classics from It Ain’t Hard to Tell to If I Ruled the World, Imagine That to more modern material like One Mic and Made You Look, this show was classic Hip Hop at it’s finest. The energy in the crowd [...]
What’s that? That’s right. Rakim, along with screaming (but still legendary) DJ sidekick Kid Kapri. Think of everything you’d ever wanted to hear live by Rakim. That was what the show was like. However the only thing more annoying than Kapri’s incessant screaming to hype up the crowd was the towel that the Paid in [...]
The Humble Magnificent, Boston native Edan and his collaborator Dagha dropped in to the Horseshoe with my favourite turntable magicians InsideAminD and local hip hop group InsideAminD and local hip hop group Soliva Spit Society opening. I’ve only started listening to Edan a few months before the show, but I gotta say, the guy is [...]
