hip-hop
Indie Rock Is Too White; Meanwhile Two Black Dudes Are Behind the Baddest Punk Rock Records of 2015
We, as Americans, have a long, proud history of segregating music. Rock and country are white. Rap, hip-hop, soul, and R'N'B are black. Go further back, and jazz music was off limits to those of fair skin with and over-protective parents. Removing one word, "indie rock," from the history of music segregation will do little to change the musical landscape. No "indie rock" simply means people will need another phrase to describe music outside of the top 40, ideally, something less wordy than, "Underground rock music, and some electronic music, and a metal band or two, and every once in a while something popular like Kanye." Yet, what grates me the most about the whiteness of indie rock think piece in 2015 is that these writers are missing the big picture. On this very day, in the year 2015 of our lord, the two most exciting bands in indie rock/underground rock/punk rock/not top 40 rock, are lead by black men: MC Ride of Death Grips and Lamont "Bim" Thomas of Obnox.
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A Jam Packed Tuesday with White Fence, Earth, Shabazz Palaces and Zola Jesus
Ten years ago, Tim Pressley fronted the LA psychedelic rock band, Darker My Love, a rock band first, who favored shoegaze volume over ...
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An All-Star Jam Packed Tuesday with New Pornographers, Spoon, J Mascis, Mastodon, and Death Grips
By now, you should be able to tell when an artist is talking out of his arse in a gamely attempt to get music journos to type any old ...
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A Jam Packed Wednesday with Herzog, Bob Mould, Zig Zags, and Shabazz Palaces
The buzzsaw pop of Herzog has long been a favorite of locals in the Cleveland rock scene, and now, it seems as if others are beginning to ...
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The Rockometer: Money Store by Death Grips
Death Grips
Money Store
Epic
Death Grips are angry. Even a cursory listen to Money Store, the Sacramento trio's first album for Epic ...
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Top Jam: Let Them Talk by Spoek Mathambo
On his debut record for Sub Pop, South African Spoek Mathambo's vision of township tech encompasses everything from rap, funk, soul, 8-bit ...
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The Rockometer: 13 Chambers by Wugazi
Wugazi
13 Chambers
Self-Released
Ostensibly, a mash-up of the post-hardcore band, Fugazi, and the hip-hop gang, The Wu-Tang Clan, Wugazi's 13 ...
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The Rockometer: Black Up by Shabazz Palaces
Shabazz Palaces
Black Up
Sub Pop
Be honest. If I told you there was this great, forward-thinking rap album released on the venerable, ...
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