In October, Kokayi dropped Robots & Dinosaurs, a captivating opus that discussed childhood love, suicide, and agism with refreshing maturity. Now, the Northeast D.C. resident has enlisted eight notable producers to recreate the LP. On the remix project, those chilling themes have been repackaged under bouncy dance beats, resulting in an upbeat sound, even if the message remains [...]
I've had no shame expressing my considerable adoration for Kokayi's Robots & Dinosaurs album, which dropped last October. That record, in my opinion, was the best hip-hop project to come out of the D.C. area last year. It's great because Kokayi's range is great: He's a thoughtful lyricist, singer, and seasoned producer.
After releasing two well-received [...]
As of press time, Carolyn Malachi had 1,365 followers on Twitter. Two hundred and six people had liked her artist page on Facebook. When she put out her Lions, Fires & Squares EP in August, the most notable piece of American press was a One Track Mind column in Washington City Paper. That release’s best song, [...]
D.C. MC Kokayi performed an awesome, off-the-cuff mini-set on the City Paper parking deck last week, in which he mutated some of his best-known songs on the fly with accompaniment by a beat-boxing and spoons-playing Christylez Bacon. You can see another side of Kokayi—plus higher production values!—in a series of Gibson-sponsored videos posted on local blog [...]
Well, it snowed yesterday, so today we had some music on our parking deck. Them's the rules. Over coffee, rapper Kokayi performed a few of his hits—"RoxTar," "Knowus Mayne," and "Hiphop"—with accompaniment from Christylez Bacon, who beat-boxed and played the spoons. We reviewed Kokayi's album Robots & Dinosaurs when it came out in the fall, [...]
In case you were wondering, Far Out vs. Hot Dang is eternal, and therefore it cannot retire. So in 2021, when you're reflecting on the excellently formative things of your mental youth, Far Out vs. Hot Dang will not be among them, because it will not have gone away. We'll be there in the Thunderdome, [...]
As 2010 comes to a close, members and observers of the D.C. hip-hop scene are debating who's the hottest MC, and whether or not we have a great one. The year also saw a seemingly endless stream of mixtapes—from D.C. Don Juan and UCB, to Kingpen Slim and Raheem DeVaughn. In 2011, listeners should expect [...]
An occasional feature in which esteemed D.C. rapper Head-Roc shares what’s on his mind.
OK, so I'm looking at the front cover of this past week’s Washington City Paper “2010 Music in Review” edition. Wait, or is it “2010 in Music Review?” I honestly don’t know. It’s a little confusing to me. Still, I get that [...]
Last Friday morning, D.C. music veteran Kokayi seemed elated to break the news: "yo @oddisee @yuthe78er @uptownxo did y'all know your album is on the Grammy pre-nom list? for Best album..congrats!" he typed on Twitter. By that night, Oddisee, yU, and X.O.—collectively known as The Diamond District—all reacted differently on their respective accounts.
Oddisee, the group's [...]
We've got spies, vices and vagina—you know, all the stuff that Official Washington totally loves. But do not accuse Far Out vs. Hot Dang of catering to anyone. This weekly assemblage will confound you at times. But its mysteries are thrilling. Are you strong enough to handle them?
New agers actually have bodies and make noise
"The [...]
