King Mez has avoided becoming a walking, rapping contradiction for so long now that he’s plateaued somewhere in the pre-boil plains, where he’s both grounded by chastity and tempted by upscale tastes. On “New Vinyl,” the DMV producer Oddisee outfits the Raleigh-raised MC with an elegant drum lounge—just a few BPMs and horn blares away […]
Eric Tullis
Bio: Eric Tullis lives in Chapel Hill, where he writes about music and basketball.Twitter: http://twitter.com/erictullis
Posted inMusic
Quings for a day: Germany MC Sookee and Durham’s Shirlette Ammons team up
Sookee & Shirlette Ammons with Hank and Cupcakes The Pinhook, Durham Thursday, Sept. 5, 9 p.m. $8 The kids are back in school, which means that every day, when school lets out, some of them head to the The ArtsCenter in Carrboro for the AfterSchool Arts Immersion program taught by Durham poet and musician Shirlette […]
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Pinhook dance party to benefit Senegal rapper
The logo for one of Durham’s most diverse dance parties is simple yet subversive: The word “illegal” in a white Courier New font on a black background, with a white censor bar through the word. Laura Friedrich, aka DJ Queen Plz, chose the name and image as a politically charged rebuttal to national and state […]
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Good vibrations
The story behind one of my most recent flubs in judgment, which led to me punching my right hand through the glass paneling of a door, isn’t quite as sexy as the story that came after said flub in judgment. Suffice it to say, I was left with two deep, blood-gushing lacerations, necessitating a visit […]
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On a lifetime spent with Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige Friday, June 7, 8 p.m. $45–$110 PNC Arena My mother and her brother, like me, moved around too much as children. The two grew up in the rough Germantown section of northwest Philadelphia, but after their mother died, they moved north to Irvington, N.J., where they went under the supervision of an […]
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LiLa’s IV
LiLa Cat’s Cradle Friday, April 26 $5-$7, 9:30 p.m. with I Was Totally Destroying It and Unifier One problem with being a band indigenous to a growing place like Durham is that, if your crusade doesn’t match the pace of the city’s progression, you run the risk of being buried in or blurred out by […]
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Neu Romance ends its 10-year run in Raleigh this weekend
Chico Scott doesn’t remember the exact date, but sometime back in the early ’90s, his then-girlfriend returned from an errand at a nearby Eckerd photo lab with some developed prints and a guy named Shaun. “I don’t know why,” says Scott of the invitation. “I guess to smoke some pot or something. He probably gave […]
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GQ’s Death Threats and Love Notes
The Big Aristotle wasn’t a Greek philosopher but instead a platinum-selling rapper whose real name was Shaquille O’Neal. But in the limited pantheon of the basketball player-turned-emcee, perhaps no one has been more full of philosophic platitudes than former University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill point guard Quentin Thomas, who raps under the alias GQ. Thomas […]
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Soul, jazz and R&B impresario Bilal makes his area debut
Bilal with Shirlette & the Dynamite Brothers Thursday, March 28 $20-$25, 9 p.m. Motorco Music Hall Bilal began his career backed by titans: On his 2001 debut, 1st Born Second, producers such as Dr. Dre and the late J. Dilla helped the Philadelphia singer catapult himself into the holy ranks of jazz and soul crossover […]
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After taking time away from hip-hop to raise his family, K-Hill returns for a fight
On a Thursday afternoon, North Carolina Central law professor Brenda Reddix-Smalls leads her class, Copyright Pro and Music Dev 8018, in a discussion about “derivative work independence.” Legalese aside, the term is a subject and obstacle germane for hip-hop artists new and classic, as they attempt to craft their work with as much artistic freedom […]