Oliver Wang

Ever hear of the L.A. Boyz? During the 1990s, this Orange County trio of two brothers and their cousin amassed 10 albums, two compilations and three autobiographies, yet never once blipped onto American pop radar. Instead, the Boyz were huge stars in Taiwan after relocating there in the early ’90s......

BLACKALICIOUS Nia (Quannum) It seems appropriate that an album whose title translates to Purpose took five years to gestate. Blackalicious‘ Nia comes half a decade after the Oakland duo’s Melodica EP, half a lifetime, it feels, after the group‘s QuannumSolesides family (DJ Shadow, Latyrx) first manned the vanguard of California’s......

JAY-Z Vol. 3 . . . Life and Times of S. Carter (Roc-A-Fella) No pop icon can hope to stay on top forever, but Jay-Z’s making one hell of a run. Like Puffy at the height of his career, Jay-Z attracts attention from adoring pop fans and eager player-haters alike......

Photo by Glen E. FriedmanThe Beastie Boys have always fallen on the wrong side of hip-hop's authenticity tracks. It's not just that they're white -- though it doesn't help -- but their constantly evolving sound has rarely synced up with hip-hop convention. But rather than seem out of step, the......

Photo by Brian CrossWHETHER ETCHED IN VINYL, SHELLAC OR digital disc, every record tells a story -- where the music began, who recorded it, how it traveled across the world, and who bought and treasured it. For funk collectors, no item holds more remarkable tales than the 7-inch single. While......

A TRIBE CALLED QUESTThe Anthology (Jive) Despite its reputation for long-term amnesia, hip-hop is increasingly trying to revisit its past. The most banal example has been the recent rash of ”2000“-suffixed titles of recycled classics. Rockers are notorious for retreading old ground too, but at least they don’t name their......

It was more than just black and Puerto Rican B-boys in hip-hop's early days. Women have been an integral part of the breakin', writin' and rappin' (r)evolution since hip-hop's genesis in the late 1970s. But involvement and visibility are two different things; while women MCs have historically been a vibrant......