Barcelona-based beatmaker Thijsenterprise drops mammoth beat tape, Stepbacks & Setbacks, dedicated to some important people in his life. “Old school hip-hop with soul and jazz samples, dusty breaks and raw chops.” With a description like that, I just had to listen when this dropped in my inbox. Thijsenterprise (real name Reinier Thijs) is a producer from Barcelona and Stepbacks & Setbacks is his latest project. 42…
Childhood Cassettes looks at the tapes we listened to as young rapscallions. Today’s edition is all about Roberta Flack (and friends). It’s been just over a year since the last edition and today’s follows a similar theme. Most of the music I was exposed to came courtesy of my dad and his car mixtapes. One of them featured Roberta Flack and some extras, but I’ve left…
There’s not one but two songs for this week’s Song For Sunday: Prince’s She Spoke To Me and Michael Jackson’s Call On Me. I was torn between Prince (for obvious reasons) and Michael Jackson for this week’s edition of Song for Sunday. But then I remembered it’s been 6 months since the last one so having two in one week makes up for it. Kinda….
Jakarta’s 12th dubplate is Moroccan / Israeli singer and producer J.Lamotta’s The Conscious Tree. This album is the epitome of musical and cultural blending. J.Lamotta is of Moroccan and Israeli descent. She sings and produces her own music. She lives in Berlin and her new album, The Conscious Tree, welds jazz, soul, and hip hop together in all its earthen glory. The intro opens with the…
The loss of Prince in April 2015 hit millions of fans in the heart, mind, and soul. I’m still reeling from it. The private star kept much of his work protected from copying or “unauthorised distribution” (ie. his videos on YouTube) but his death opened those floodgates. It also allowed for further critical analysis of his work. After all, morality is often a time of…
To celebrate Thelonious Monk’s 100th birthday, we take a look at five samples from the iconic jazz pianist. He was a trailblazer with his improv style, wide-ranging melodic shifts, and trademark fashions. Thelonious Monk was born on this day in 1917. We have been blessed to have had him in our presence, physically and musically. In commemoration of this, we have compiled a list of…
We’re on a Vulfpeck tip, so join us in celebrating their latest single called Baby I Don’t Know Oh Oh. Vulfpeck have an uncanny knack of making the simple sound exquisite. Baby I Don’t Know Oh Oh is a cut off their upcoming album and features frequent collaborator Charles Jones, whose velvety smooth vocals marry up beautifully with the band’s instrumentation. It sounds like the new…
When you wanna go to CHUUUCH but play things casual, Cory Henry is at hand. Here he is at NAMM 2017 on the Hammond XK5. And yes, that is Dr Lonnie Smith in the background.
Somi’s They’re Like Ghost is our Song for Sunday. Heard this today on Somi’s latest album, Petite Afrique. Absolutely gorgeous. Nothing more to stay. Stream it below.
Mashup maestro Amerigo Gazaway previews his latest project, melding the raps of Common and iconic music of Stevie Wonder. This is A Common Wonder. Fela Soul. Yasiin Gaye. Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde. The Trill Is Gone. There’s no debating Amerigo Gazaway’s emphatic talent when it comes to combining artists of different eras and now he has a new project up his sleeve….