I talked to Mike Will about his productions for Gucci Mane and Future at Fader’s Beat Construction.
Eric Ducker talked to me about Goodie Mob and disappointment at Daily Swarm’s Rational Conversation.
ATLANTA RAP CHATS
Spin: Future "Pluto" Review
I wrote about the not-rap of rapper Future at Spin.
I got columns, bruh. I talked to “Beez In The Trap” and former No Limit soldier Kenoe for the Beat Construction series at Fader. Then I went to Houston (in my mind) for my RBMA carpetbagging column, highlighting Killa Kyleon and the very underrated ’90s crew Coppertone Conspiracy.
From Public Radio International’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn
keywords: rap, chat, me, jesse, kendrick, gunplay, mike, el, tip, bun.
Spin: Fat Trel "Nightmare On E Street" Review
I reviewed Fat Trel’s Nightmare On E Street for Spin. It’s kind of a mess. (The tape, that is. Hopefully not the review.)
One thing I didn’t have space to get into though is how, ultimately, its messiness doesn’t matter. In her ridiculous diss campaign Rah Digga clowned Trel for not having any fans outside of DC and while that’s not entirely true, his fanbase is still definitively grassroots at this point. This works in his favor though. E Street is a good enough local/underground rap album. Even in its confused current state, it still in the upper-echelon of DC rap albums. DC has never exactly been a rap city and DC Rap has never exactly been an album genre.
Sum Shit I Wrote
Sorry this space has been so empty for so long, it’s been a hectic few weeks. But here are some of the Fruitkwans of those Labtekwons: I wrote about Nicki Minaj and emerging urban music maximalism at MTV Hive, I talked to Waka & Lil Wayne sound engineer KY about hard work and waveforms for my Beat Construction column at Fader and the Fade Gods also just posted my Young Sam profile from their most recent issue.
Hit the jump if you want to see a teenager do a vertical windmill in the presence of Young Sam.
“Every time I hear something that I can’t explain I know it has to be good. Or I want to learn about it, at least. If you can’t explain it you can’t call it good or bad, you just have to learn it.”
— Raye Rich of FKi. I interviewed the Travis Porter producers for the latest installment of Fader’s Beat Construction series and I also live by this code.
RBMA: Noz Investigates Nashville
I’m doing a new column for RBMA that takes a then/now look at regional rap scenes. First up is Nashville, focusing on pioneers the Blow Pop Crew and present day favorite Starlito.
From Public Radio International’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn:
Blogger Andrew Noz from Cocaine Blunts kicks off this week’s show by recommending some recent favorites from the world of rap — ‘Stupid Hoe’ from Nicki Minaj, and ‘Walking Lick’ by Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame.
Fader: Beat Constuction - Harry Fraud Q&A
Fader’s Beat Construction producer column is back and I will be the one constructing it. For the first installment I interviewed Brooklyn’s Harry Fraud about working with French Montana, growing up with West Coast rap and how his dad managed ’90s Alt-Pop stars Sugar Ray (but not The Beatles).
Check for a new Beat Construction interview every other Monday.
