Trauma can be inherited, generationally compounded by relatives who pass on their pain through destructive action or the self-destructive coping mechanisms they impart. Lukah has made music for two-thirds of his life, but when the 30-year-old rapper/producer finally found his sound, he honed in on the accretive effects of trauma. On January’s When the Black […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that highlights exceptional rising rappers. To read previous columns, click here. If you’ve watched televised sports since late May, you’ve heard Solemn Brigham rap. His energetic southern voice soundtracks a Gatorade commercial that runs more often than Sydney McLaughlin and the ad’s other athletes. Every rerun finds you […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that highlights exceptional rising rappers. To read previous columns, click here. If the sun were shining, Reaper Mook and NiceGuyxVinny would be sitting in the shadow of a lighthouse. But few rays crack the concrete sky on this overcast mid-August afternoon in downtown Long Beach. The locally-revered rapper […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that highlights exceptional rising rappers. To read previous columns, click here. There’s nothing inherently wrong with horrorcore. The word emerged as a shorthand for rap that shares commonalities with horror films, songs that traffic in physical and psychological terror. Geto Boys’ “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” one of […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that highlights exceptional rising rappers. To read previous columns, click here. The conventional rap album cycle died sometime between the mid and late 2000s. No more waiting months (or longer) between the first album single and the release. Blame Napster and the like, countless G-Unit mixtapes, Tha Carter […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that doubles as a scouting report. Each month, SPIN selects a rapper (or group of rappers) who could be Rookie of the Year candidates turned Hall-of-Famers or forgettable flashes in the pan. Only the passing seasons (and the number of streams) will tell. To read previous columns, click […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that doubles as a scouting report. Each month, SPIN selects a rapper (or group of rappers) who could be Rookie of the Year candidates turned Hall-of-Famers or forgettable flashes in the pan. Only the passing seasons (and the number of streams) will tell. To read previous columns, click […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that doubles as a scouting report. Each month, SPIN selects a rapper (or group of rappers) who could be Rookie of the Year candidates turned Hall-of-Famers or forgettable flashes in the pan. Only the passing seasons (and the number of streams) will tell. To read previous columns, click here. Academia […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that doubles as a scouting report. Each month, SPIN selects a new starting five, a group of rappers who could be Rookie of the Year candidates turned Hall-of-Famers or forgettable flashes in the pan. Only the passing seasons (and the number of streams) will tell. To read previous […]
Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that doubles as a scouting report. Each month, SPIN selects a new starting five, a group of rappers who could be Rookie of the Year candidates turned Hall-of-Famers or forgettable flashes in the pan. Only the passing seasons (and the number of streams) will tell. To read previous […]