Scott T. Sterling

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Young / Gifted / Beautiful / Black

Scott T. Sterling
First things first: Murs is better than your favorite rapper, and he knows it. While the glory continues to fall on overamplified rap clichés like The Game (whose microphone I’d just bet goes to 11), Murs is L.A.’s truest representative in America’s hip-hop congress. Blessed with a husky, authoritative flow,......
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The Streets, Actually

Scott T. Sterling
“Memories of Los Angeles? Um, let me think . . . ” It takes Mike Skinner, the mastermind behind U.K. hip-hop act The Streets, a few beats to recall his own personal L.A. story. “It’s all pretty hazy, really. We did a really long press day once after being up all night, and......
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Smokin!

Scott T. Sterling
Kurt Cobain must be spinning ’round like a record in his grave. For all of the noise about the supposed cultural/musical paradigm shift created by Nirvana cleansing the world of supposed dinosaurs like Def Leppard, how is it that in 2006 rock music is flabbier and more toothless than ever?......
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Oh, You Brut!

Scott T. Sterling
God, I am so glad I don’t have to write about the Arctic Monkeys right now. The last thing any of us need is another jaunty British band with an ocean’s worth of breathless hype to distract us from matters at hand. You know what I’m talking about: Place indie......

Of Mice and Gorillaz

Scott T. Sterling
Danger Mouse’s sprawling loft ensconced deep in downtown Los Angeles is hardly the kind of crib that’s expected of the modern music-production wunderkind. Instead of housing an ostentatious display of production gadgetry and whiz-bang technophile toys, it’s the sort of open, generous space that’s more post-collegiate crash pad, a spot......
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Before Bling

Scott T. Sterling
Photo by Henry ChalfantDeep into Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, something both sobering and undeniable is realized: What’s touted these days as “hip-hop history” is nothing more than the latest edition of American pop-culture folklore. Lionized moments like DJ Kool Herc mixing the......