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Post-Disco: Uptown Meets Downtown — Hip Hop, Punk, and the Art World
Whenever the connection between hip hop and punk is mentioned, the assumption is that we’re talking…
The Sample Clearance “Tax” and the Primary Beneficiaries of the Sample Clearance System
When the music industry first took notice of sampling, their burning question had to have been: How can…
Q-Tip Needle Dropping, As Kanye West and No I.D. Look On
“By 1977, many DJs had followed Kool Herc’s lead, none more notable than Grandmaster Flash and Afrika…
Excerpts from The BeatTips Manual: How DJ Premier Sees Himself As a Producer
"I’m always a consumer first. Then I’m a DJ. Then I’m a producer. And then I’m
an artist!"
What The Music Taught Me: John Klemmer – “Free Soul” and Jazz Fusion
John Klemmer’s “Free Soul” was one of the first records I ever hunted down and bought at a record…
What’s a Loop Really About?
Here's a very important point: No song "comes with" a loop in the way that most people think. Instead,…
Sample Flips: Screwball – “Who Shot Rudy?” (Prod. by K. Jones)
The hip hop Queensbridge tradition is well-documented. From Marley Marl, to Nas, Cormega and Mobb Deep,…
Excerpts from The BeatTips Manual: How DJ Premier Sees Himself As a Producer
"I’m always a consumer first. Then I’m a DJ. Then I’m a producer. And then I’m
an artist!"
Mainstream Rap Is Not The Boogeyman: Why The Mainstream Imbalance Argument Falls Flat
Departures from traditions usually lead to new traditions, which are themselves reimagined (repurposed…
How Black British Music Survives Through Collective Memory
The lineage of Black music in Britain exists in the collective memories of all the sounds that enrich our…