Any arts critic who maintains otherwise is bullshitting you: At the end of the day, we’re all fans.
No, you won’t see us at comics conventions dressed up as Thor. And we didn’t find Fanboys—that slight 2008 comedy in which a quintet of Star Wars geeks breaks into George Lucas’ ranch—the slightest bit adorable.
When we call [...]
If nothing else, Judah knows how to indulge his fantasies, no matter how bizarre or outlandish. On 2010's The Amber Rose Instrumentals, the Northeast D.C. native imagined a brief rendezvous with Rose, only to be dumped for her then-boyfriend Kanye West. Following the moderate success of the summery "Sundresses and Sandals," Judah promoted the song with [...]
D.C. legend Black Indian told us this summer that his Judah-produced comeback I Tried to Tell You would sound grown-up but not totally old-ass, and he was right. The 14-track mixtape is a cohesive, professional statement from a dude who decided emphatically not to let his legacy wither. He generally sticks to three themes: 1) [...]
He was one of the few 1990s D.C. rappers to get national exposure and a major-label deal, but Black Indian has been relatively quiet in recent years. That trend will reverse itself in September, when he releases I Tried To Tell You, a new mixtape produced by Judah, best known for working with Wale and [...]
In 2007, Temple Hills-based producer Judah garnered acclaim for the three instrumentals he provided Wale for his 100 Miles and Running mixtape, all of which were understated and sufficiently swanky, allowing the MC to shine without the unnecessary glitz that has crippled his recent work.
Since then, Judah's creative vision has taken him to unusual places, from [...]
If something is national news, it's almost certainly going to inspire a rap track. Hip-hop is, after all, one of our fastest mediums. So it's no surprise that the death of Osama bin Laden is already yielding a growing body of music.
It's not all inspired, of course: In Tennessee, rapper Swiperboy—the pseudonym of University of Tennessee [...]
The DMV Awards show isn't the first local awards program to shut down early because of violence. Last year, the Minnesota hip-hop scene suffered the same fate.
As organizers remember it, the 2010 Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards show was running relatively smooth. A minor altercation had taken place, but security staff quickly defused the situation before [...]
Producer-driven albums can be tricky to execute, especially if your name isn't Flying Lotus, Madlib or J-Dilla. The producer bold enough to let his beats talk better have kick-ass instrumentals—or kick-ass vocalists—on hand.
Luckily Soulful!, a resident producer of the D.C.-based InnerLoop imprint, has both. On Mumbo Sauce and Drumbreaks, the young artist not only creates a richly [...]
Gentle readers, today Far Out vs. Hot Dang is here to warn you not to reflect too much upon 2010. Nostalgia generally is for suckers. You'll thank us for saying it now, rather than three weeks from now. And while you're striving to avoid suckerishness, we've got the usual dose of cool-ish shit and hot-ish [...]
I'll freely admit that I didn't hear about Chris McDonald until today. Thank you, DC Mumbo Sauce. The basics: McDonald is a Maryland rapper and he's made lots of songs. We've mentioned him once on Arts Desk, and the post was more about Judah.
But let's get to the meat of the matter: McDonald's new promo [...]
