Oliver Wang

Hip-hop’s “King of New York” competition has entered an intriguing three-way standoff. NYC politics may seem parochial to Nelly and Eminem, who have enough Grammys, groupies and green to ignore the race. For the rest of us, though, the ongoing contest pitting Jay-Z against Nas and now 50 Cent provides......

Pity poor Jay Z. On The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse, the heralded hip-hop hustler complains, ”[I] thought niggas would appreciate what I came in and did since ’96, every year. Something must be seriously wrong with the world, I know y‘all ain’t hatin‘“ (”Some People Hate“). Jay......

It doesn‘t get more ghetto than this. Rap music’s lionization of the drug dealer is as old as rap itself, and throughout the years we‘ve seen such anthems as Ice-T’s metaphoric ”I‘m Your Pusher,“ Biggie’s comedic ”Ten Crack Commandments,“ and the greatest of ‘em all, N.W.A’s ”Dopeman,“ not to mention......

What’s gangsta? This question came to mind the other day while watching the classic hip-hop film Wild Style, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. In one of the movie‘s most famous scenes, the Cold Crush quartet faces off against the Fantastic 5 for a lyrical and b-ball showdown. By today’s......

It’s dark, concrete surrounds, and there‘s a line of riot police wearing smiley faces. London’s Banksy has painted one of his signature ”weapons of mass distraction“ murals on the walls of this downtown industrial warehouse, into which a stream of young urban bohos slowly pours. Keyboardist Money Mark is scheduled......

Photo by Jonathan Mannion WHAT MAKES EMINEM SO INFURIATING AND BRILLIANT is the cutting self-awareness of his own pop phenomenon. You could pen volumes on the racial politics behind his stardom, but on The Eminem Show's "White America," Em's already beaten you to the punch, rhyming "Let's do the math/If......

Hip-hop’s independents day comes early this year. With new albums by Blackalicious and J-Live, the indie underground is showing signs of life after a near decade spent more DOA than DIY. Ironically, indies have faltered in a manner opposite to that of their commercial peers. Today‘s hip-pop may be all......

FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP Temptations (Project Blowed) FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP Version 2.0 (Beats and Rhymes) MIKAH 9 Timetable (Kaihou) Ever since releasing their germinal To Whom It May Concern just over 10 years ago, the Freestyle Fellowship have anchored California’s flourishing hip-hop underground. Aceyalone, Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E. and Self Jupiter didn’t just inspire......

In this post-postmodern era, it seems trite to observe that no music or musician is truly lost to history. Who’d have thought that, 17 years after his death, Marvin Gaye would have a new hit stomping over urban radio in the form of “Music,” his “duet” with Erick Sermon? It......

THE COUPParty Music (75 Ark) With their community politics and anti-authoritarian attitude, The Coup can seem as anachronistic as Boots‘ signature Afro. But they only seem out of step because hip-hop has gotten out of touch with reality. In a climate where the music’s apolitical stupor makes it incapable of......