I reviewed Tyga’s Careless World at Spin. It is definitely a rap album.
Spin: Tyga "Careless World" Review
Fader: Ab-Soul Q&A
Fader just ran the full transcript of the conversation I had with Ab-Soul while researching the Black Hippy feature. Soul is a great rapper and a pretty fascinating person, one worth paying attention to. After the interview I asked him if he had anything else to add to the conversation, which is pretty customary Interview 101 stuff. It has become close to useless in the era of self promotion, as everyone just says “CHECK ME OUT ON TWITTER @RAPPERRAPPERNAMENAME. ALBUM DROPS NEVERUARY.” but Soul gave what might be the single greatest answer I have ever received: “Uh… save the whales?”
Soul falling backwards off of a treadmill, legs twisted like some sort of bumbling cartoon character was also pretty priceless. We bought out the gym that day, ten deep in street clothes. The woman at the desk refused to believe that Black Hippy were rappers because she had never seen them on TV. “They’re loser rappers,” TDE’s Dave Free jokingly explained, to which the she responded “Why would anybody want to write an article about loser rappers?”
I have since decided to have that question engraved on my headstone.
Complex: Mystikal Breaks Down His 25 Most Essential Songs
In which I talk to Mystikal, one of the greatest rappers of all time, about his rap songs. This was the most fun I’ve had on a phone interview in a minute, dude is as hilarious and energetic in conversation as he is on record. You’ll notice that a few of the entries start with the denotation [Whistles]. I had to cut like a dozen such [Whistles] from the piece because that was his first response to every other record I mentioned. And they weren’t short [Whistles], either, they made seconds seem like minutes. He was carpet bombing my call recorder.
Beyond that he seems genuinely humbled by the second chance he’s been given. I look forward to hearing him make the best of it.
I wrote an article about Kendrick Lamar and Black Hippy for Fader. You should read it.
(If you pick up the issue itself, I also hit the far opposite end of the LA rap scene with a short profile of Young Sam, The King of Jerk.)
MTV Hive: Gucci Mane "Trap Back" Review
I was inside of a hive and I reviewed a tape.
From Public Radio International’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn”
Blogger Noz from Cocaine Blunts recommends some tracks you might have missed — ‘I Am A Vampire’ from Cousin Fik and ‘Blu Diamonds’ from Pyramid Vritra.
Spin: Rick Ross "Rich Forever" Review
I reviewed the Rozay tape at Spin.
NPR: J. Prince Interview
I interviewed Rap-A-Lot head honcho J. Prince at NPR, making for what is probably the first time the esteemed public radio institution has run the words cutting a woman’s breasts and f—-ing the dead body. Hopefully it won’t be the last.
Hit the jump for a quick outtake about regional demand and the origins of Scarface’s name.
This week from Public Radio International’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn:
Hip hop blogger Andrew Noz kicks off the show with a couple of rap picks — Gas Station from SL Jones and Kissin Pink from A$AP Rocky.
This has been live for like a week but nobody told me. I still can’t listen to the sound of my own voice but you should and you should also fuck with the legend @JesseThorn. Full episode is available here.
