Hip hop

“It’s more than me being a filmmaker,” Questlove says in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now . “I’m in the business of correcting and restoring history.” His new career launched with last year’s spectacular documentary Summer of Soul — a likely Oscar contender with a soundtrack album dropping this week — and he details the making of the film in the episode. To hear the entire discussion, press play above, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify . Questlove has lined up six or seven other movie projects that may keep him busy through the 2030s, starting with a documentary on the life of Sly Stone . At its core, he says the doc will explore the phenomenon of the “troubled artist. What happens when you try to force a square peg into a circle?… This could explain a lot about how we perceive artists, from Prince to Michael Jackson to [Dave] Chappelle.” In the in-depth interview, Questlove also discusses his future on The Tonight Show , the state of the … [Read more...] about Questlove on ‘The Beatles: Get Back’: ‘That’s Hip-Hop!’

A favorite within Michigan ’s increasingly dominant rap scene, Babyface Ray made his career with the kind of deadpan raps that are as icy as winter in the Midwest. Like a Blaxploitation character in rap form, the menacing bars he spits arrive with an almost impossible equanimity. “I done seen it all. That’s why I am so cool,” the 31-year-old rapper says over Zoom in Los Angeles. “Nothing really fazes me.” Ray’s new album Face , out today, opens with an audacious beat switch that illustrates the rapper’s confident nonchalance. Midway through “My Thoughts 3/ Pops Prayer,” a sample of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” unfurls beneath Ray’s devilishly casual flow — like a Mafia don calmly ordering a hit while seated at a deli, as Journey blasts in the background. “Countin’ money when I’m stressed out/Money counters still ain’t as fast as me,” he raps. If he was stressed, you wouldn’t hear it in his voice. Few rappers are able to combine a nonchalant flow with the ups … [Read more...] about How Detroit Rapper Babyface Ray Already Made One of the Year’s Best Rap Albums

If the whole millionaire rapper thing gets old for Kendrick Lamar ... Patriots star Chandler Jones tells TMZ Sports he has a job offer for the Compton MC ... as the team's official world ambassador. Kendrick got the whole 'net talking about the Pats (again) by rockin' a throwback New England jacket in the his latest video "King Kunta" -- which has 2 million views on Youtube. Chandler says he's been paying attention to the internet hubbub and wants Kendrick to be a global ambassador for the Patriots ... spreading the love of Tom Brady to the whole world. "It would be really cool. I'm a huge fan of his and a lot of people on my team are too." It's not a crazy idea ... other pro sports teams like the Raptors and Wizards have enlisted huge hip hop stars like Drake and Wale to be their ambassadors ... and Jones thinks he can convince owner Robert Kraft to go for the idea. "I've seen [Kraft] in a lot of photos with iconic rappers like Rick Ross and artists … [Read more...] about Patriots Star To Kendrick Lamar — Join Us … Be Our Ambassador

For a certain strain of rap fan, Earl Sweatshirt’s elite lyricism has made him a god among men. But rather than coast on that deification, the California rapper (whose real name is Thebe Kgositsile) has spent his career defying expectations. His response to listeners seeking replays of his 2010 mixtape Earl , which introduced him as a devilish lyrical wunderkind, has been relentless reinvention. On his first two albums, those revisions were muted, taking place mostly on the level of subject matter and sound. But on 2018’s Some Rap Songs and 2019’s Feet of Clay , he directly pushed against notions of rap greatness as merely the sum of one’s verbiage, embracing the clipped rhythms and nonlinearity of the hip-hop margins. His elliptic, woozy songwriting, crammed with texture and motion, yet shunning structure and cogency, subverted ideas about how rap songs could sound and be arranged. Sick! continues that trend, charting new territory for Earl while continuing … [Read more...] about Earl Sweatshirt Wrecks Rap’s Rules on ‘Sick!’

“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time,” began the 22-Grammy winner Kanye West in an Instagram rant today, “I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix .” West was referring to the three-part documentary Jeen-Yuhs which is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 6PM MTN time. “Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image. Thank you in advance.” Jeen-Yuhs is directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and  Chike Ozah.  Producers are Simmons, Chike Ozah and Leah Natasha Thomas and covers West in three acts, taking us behind the iconic music with never-before-seen footage from 21 years of the performing artist’s life. The docu covers West rise from hip hop artist to being a worldwide franchise, with a snapshot of his failed 2020 presidential bid as well as the death of his mother Donda West. Deadline reached out to Netflix for statement. We’ll update you when we have it. … [Read more...] about Kanye West On Upcoming Sundance Netflix Doc ‘Jeen-Yuhs’: “I Must Get Final Edit…Open The Edit Room Immediately”

A very capable and talented artist, DJ Pranav Desai is one of the most energetic DJs in the world. He holds the ability to cheer up the entire crowd within minutes. Based in Mumbai, he has a varied style of Lounge, Hip Hop, RnB, Bollywood & House music. The kind of energy he brings into his work is reflected at venues. Being extremely passionate about the work, DJ holds multiple records. Jamie Lynn's Shocking Revelation About Britney Spears In Her New Book Photos In the past few years, DJ Pranav Desai has shown immense strength and through his dedication, he has been able to reach to the top. Not necessarily as a producer, but as a revered DJ. His love for music has taken him places. The kind of electrifying atmosphere he creates around the clubs and other venues is visible, separating him from others in the field. Self-motivation and confidence have driven the DJ towards success. His joyful music is not just a better option for a wild night out in town, … [Read more...] about The Success Story Of An Energetic DJ Pranav Desai

The influence of the Greek “weird wave,” and to a lesser extent the moral mazes of Austria’s Michael Haneke, have been seeping into U.S. indie cinema for quite a while now, and Riley Stearns ’ third feature, Dual , comfortably fits into the Sundance slot taken last year by Pascual Sisto’s bizarre dysfunctional family satire John And The Hole . Stearns doesn’t quite nail the macabre mundanity of absurdist classics such as Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster — in which the residents of a drab seaside spa hotel must find a soulmate within 45 days or be turned into an animal — but he gives it a good shot, drawing a surprisingly committed performance from Karen Gillan in the kind of role usually earmarked for Aubrey Plaza in her spiky Ingrid Goes West mode. The opening sequence of Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Dual sets the tone, albeit a little clumsily. A regular Joe in sneakers, jeans and a grey hoodie stands on a football pitch where … [Read more...] about Sundance Review: Karen Gillan In ‘Dual’

It’s the late 1990s. James Dewitt Yancey — known as Jay Dee, and later as J Dilla — was already a well-known hip-hop beatmaker, working on records by A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, and The Pharcyde as part of a production collective called the Ummah, started by his mentor Q-Tip. But Yancey’s music was going through a bizarre transformation. The rhythms he was generating on his MPC drum machine had started to “limp,” fusing straight and swung grooves into a revolutionary new sonic language. Within a couple of years, Dilla’s digital broken beats would permeate hip-hop, R&B, and pop; and more important, be adopted by a generation of traditional musicians. Dilla, who died in 2006, has become an iconic figure in rap history. In the following excerpt from Dan Charnas’ excellent new book, Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm ( MacMillan, out Feb. 1 ), the author tells the story of how Jay Dee’s “Dilla … [Read more...] about How J Dilla Reinvented Rhythm

Detroit hip-hop producer and rapper Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla, died on Friday at the age of thirty-two. He had battled lupus for three years, recently touring Europe in a wheelchair, but he concealed the downturn in his health from his manager and close friends. Born James Yancey, Dee made his name in the Nineties working with De La Soul, Pharcyde and Busta Rhymes, and as a member of A Tribe Called Quest’s production trio, the Ummah. Some of Dee’s most significant production came in 2000, with Common’s breakthrough, Like Water for Chocolate , and D’Angelo’s last effort, the instant R&B classic Voodoo . As he became increasingly known beyond the Detroit underground, Dee also produced tracks for Janet Jackson, Macy Gray and Erykah Badu. After opening for Tribe on their 1998 farewell tour, Dee’s hip-hop trio Slum Village — with high-school friends Baatin and T3 — released their 2000 debut, Fantastic, Vol. 2 , with guests D’Angelo and former Tribe MC Q-Tip. Dee’s first solo … [Read more...] about J Dilla Dead at Thirty-two

Tyler , the Creator provided the music for late designer Virgil Abloh ’s Men’s Fall-Winter 2022 Collection during Paris Fashion Week . While the Louis Vuitton fashion show took place earlier this week, the rapper posted behind-the-scenes photos and video from the event on social media Sunday, with Tyler acknowledging conductor Gustavo Dudamel — who led the Chineke! Orchestra — as well as arranger Arthur Verocai and musical director Benji B for the 20-minute presentation, which doubled as a tribute to Abloh, who died in Nov. 2021 at the age of 41 . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tyler, The Creator (@feliciathegoat) “I can not articulate what this means to me,” Tyler — who also appeared briefly riding a bike during the fashion show — wrote on Instagram. “Eyes with the water works because these sounds filled the air.” Following Abloh’s death after a private cancer battle, Tyler was among the … [Read more...] about Tyler, the Creator Provides Soundtrack for Virgil Abloh’s Paris Fashion Week Show