Hip Hop Culture

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By | January 01, 0001

Ivory and ebony

Jake One and Freeway aren't hip-hop's first multi-racial tag team
Hip-hop will never be post-racial. Pigment plays a major role at every level, and that's not always a bad thing.
By CHRIS FARAONE | February 16, 2010

Man at work

Statik Selektah is so busy, it bugs him out
It's easy to manufacture illusions of rap stardom. Any MySpace whiteboy with a few grand can fill a mixtape with big cameos, and for a little more, guests will even shout his name out. But though such pay-for-spray practices have kept established artists eating they've also compromised the organic dynamics that once pushed the genre forward.
By CHRIS FARAONE | January 20, 2010

RJD2 | The Colossus

RJ's Electrical Connections (2010)
RJD2 has fallen prey to self-doubt — having decided, it would seem, that sample-based music lacks authenticity, he's embarked on an ill-advised attempt to become a "performer."
By MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | January 13, 2010

Of Doctor Tremendanus and the giant furry jellyfish

Monsters, Inc.
It was New Year’s Eve and in the belly of the Roxy nightclub, away from the teeming Bright Night crowds, there were monsters on the loose: creatures with protruding noses, googly eyes, and spindly legs.
By ABIGAIL CROCKER | January 06, 2010

Taking the B-boys to School

The Other MIT Crew
You may have noticed, hip-hop dance has gone legit — or at least slightly commercial.
By LISA SPINELLI | April 22, 2009

Cheer of a black planet

Hip-Hop Worldwide: More Than a Nation conference
It's hip-hop week at Harvard University. And while that statement is far less ironic than it would have been 15 years ago, it's still relatively humorous.
By CHRIS FARAONE | March 11, 2009

Hope for the Nation

Jon Hope's Mass Appeal
Pick up the latest issue of XXL magazine and flip to the "Show and Prove" section and you'll spot Providence hip-hop artist Jon Hope — and rightly so.
By CHRIS CONTI | February 25, 2009

Flipping out

One local dance crew has stolen the spotlight . . . and pissed off a lot of people in the process
Status Quo is assuredly not a breaking crew. They do incorporate some breakin' and krumping in their sets, but, in their own words, they are entertainers first.
By LISA SPINELLI | January 29, 2009

Word to the mother

Hip-hop moms serve waaay more than dinner
As a prepubescent thug, I often complained about the audio rotation on my father's car stereo, which primarily consisted of a steady mix of Moody Blues and books on tape.
By CHRIS FARAONE | February 02, 2009

Starting from Scratch

The Upsetter screens at the Coolidge
If the hip-hop generation ever calls for martial law, the revolution will be sponsored by Scion. The rectangularly adventurous car company is our closest corporate ally, bankrolling a large segment of the low-slung-pants community, and providing the rest of us with sweet events that rarely dent the pocket.
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 25, 2008

Reks in effect

Lawtown MC bounces back
Since jumping skills-first onto Boston’s rap scene seven years ago, Lawrence-born MC Reks has earned a variety of reputations.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 28, 2008

Breakdancing is fun

Your mamma breakdances.
Check it out!
By WEB TEAM BREAKDANCERS | July 28, 2008

Experiment illness

RJD2 at Paradise Rock Club, May 3, 2008
The good news is that it doesn’t appear RJ’s insistence on artistic challenge will be his undoing.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 06, 2008

Breaking it down

Letters to the Boston editor, April 18, 2008
There are so many things wrong with this review, both factually and in his dismissal and apparent ignorance of the whole culture of hip-hop.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | April 16, 2008

Planet B-Boy

Retire the breakdance, already
Breakdancing seemed over and done in the ’80s, but hip-hop culture has pumped it alive, combining the original head-spinning street maves with rap, gymnastics, kung fu, MTV, and Broadway.
By GERALD PEARY | April 02, 2008

Mash-up your prejudices

DJ Spooky remixes The Birth of a Nation
The work of DJ Spooky demonstrates through art the kind of philosophical progress Obama calls for.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | February 04, 2008

Subliminal cruelty

DJ Spooky at the Institute of Contemporary Art, January 26, 2008
In any experiment, failure isn’t the greatest risk — cruelty is.
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | January 29, 2008

Beyond illbient

DJ Spooky goes global
When I get DJ Spooky on the phone a week ago Tuesday, he’s fresh home in New York City from Antarctica.
By JON GARELICK | January 14, 2008

Going on sale: November 16, 2007

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
Moe., James Blunt, Chapel/Chapter, and more
By GOING ON SALE | November 13, 2007

Sound and silence

Old and new images meet at the RISD Museum
The RISD exhibit reminds us that filmmakers at the forefront of the medium have been consistently drawn to the novelty of the medium.
By GREG COOK | September 18, 2007

Skill ride

Pharoahe Monch’s timely return
All it took was a Godzilla sample and a simple, forceful “Simon says get the fuck up” for Pharoahe Monch to leave his mark on hip-hop history.
By MATTHEW GASTEIER | July 17, 2007

Orchestral maneuvers

Paul Oakenfold and Hem with the Boston Pops
On stage, Paul had saluted scratching in early hip-hop culture by manipulating a 12-inch record briefly and then holding it up for the crowd to see.
By JIM SULLIVAN | June 29, 2007

Saying the unspeakable

Filmmaker calls out hip-hop’s latent misogyny and racism
Former quarterback turned activist Byron Hurt brings to light gender-stereotyping views in mainstream hip-hop culture and those perpetuating them, in hopes that light will prove cleansing.
By SONYA TOMLINSON | May 23, 2007

Kickin' It Old Skool

Revenge of the Nerds did it better
Eighties nostalgia and breakdancing get sent up in this feeble Jamie Kennedy comedy.
By TOM MEEK | May 02, 2007

The Constantines + Sontiago & Dilly Dilly + Kid Koala

Music Seen, at Hampton Beach Casino and SPACE Gallery, April 21, 2007
An interstate concert-going misadventure...
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | April 25, 2007

Boston music news: April 27, 2007

Notes on the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Haunt
For its 10th-anniversary finale, Boston Modern Orchestra Project is pulling out all the stops.
By JIM SULLIVAN | April 23, 2007

Kool Koala weekend

SPACE hosts the weird worlds of hip-hop
On Kid Koala’s new album we hear a sample of the Kid’s mom speaking to her favorite son.
By IAN PAIGE | April 18, 2007

Facing up

Letters to the Boston editor, March 9, 2007
“ Facing off over Facebook ” contained some very valuable information about university administrators’ increased role in monitoring students’ online activities.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | March 07, 2007

The IFC Soundtrack

Indie rock for indie movies
The bridge between independent film and indie rock has been getting easier and easier to cross with the rise of a new generation of directors weaned on music videos and the multimedia underground.
By MATT ASHARE | December 04, 2006