Kooley High emcee Rapsody and her Jamla Records crew have been working under the slippery credo “Culture Over Everything” of late. For her, this entails an affiliation with hip-hop totems like the Universal Zulu Nation, a sneaker obsession and a commitment to exalting and upholding the role of the female rapper. The struggle for Rapsody, […]
Eric Tullis
Bio: Eric Tullis lives in Chapel Hill, where he writes about music and basketball.Twitter: http://twitter.com/erictullis
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Rapper Big Pooh’s Dirty Pretty Things
Rapper Big Pooh begins Dirty Pretty Things, his first solo album in years, with the line, “The world is on my shoulder.” Here’s betting that on the other shoulder rests an Earth-sized chip that has plenty to do with the Pooh’s obvious estrangement from his former Little Brother mates Phonte and 9th Wonder, who’ve reconciled […]
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The Away Team’s Scars & Stripes
In the past, The Away Team’s legacy was always to be judged by Khrysis’ aptness as beatmaker. Lead emcee Sean Boog was only held accountable when Khrysis, the protégé of 9th Wonder, got boring. Through all the turmoil in North Carolina hip-hop in the last decade, the relationship between these two has persevered, a fact […]
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N.C. Hip-Hop Day sent mixed messages about the state of local rap
The decor inside of Raleigh’s Kings Barcade is an elaborate maze of psychedelic colors, surreal paintings, oddball portraits, Christmas lights, stuffed puppets and disco balls. Last Tuesday, that backdrop provided the perfect festive ambiance for what was officiallyif that’s your adverb of choice for tweets and blog posts from rappers and their boostersdeclared as “North […]
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Brooklyn MC Jean Grae gets ready to go “music heavy”
Jean Grae and Mr. Len perform Sunday, Sept. 11, at 9 p.m. with Rapsody, KAZE and DJ Castro at Southland Ballroom. Tickets are $15 in advance. As it stands, Brooklyn phenom-female MC Jean Grae may be one of hip-hop’s most interesting personalities as well as one of its most gifted rappers. After the recent release […]
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For his second LP, Median reunites two of local hip-hop’s key components
In the beginning stages of an undiscovered, underground hip-hop artist’s career, the term “hunger” is often used describe the quest for industry exposure and monetary gain. It’s mostly the equivalent of the “starving artist,” a phrase more likely to be found in more rock-centric circles. Both terms denote the same thing, but connote two totally […]
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The Foreign Exchange’s Dear Friends: An Evening with The Foreign Exchange
Phonte Coleman and Nicolay Rook began The Foreign Exchange, as the name suggests, as an international file swap, with the Carolina-raised Coleman and the Dutch Rook building suave soul music through the Internet. But in the last several years, Rook has moved to Wilmington, Coleman has left Little Brother and the pair has made The […]
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Actual Proof’s Still Hotter Than July
“Callin’ Me” is the second single from Still Hotter Than July, the latest project from North Carolina hip-hop duo Actual Proof. It not only features up-and-coming Austin crooner Bluu Suede and Durham rapper Median, but also what may be the most accessible rap possible from these emcees. Another one of Soul Council producer E.Jones’ bassed-out […]
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Jeff and King’s Durham integration mission
The fourth Prince Vs. Michael Jackson comes to Club 9 at 746 Ninth St. in Durham Friday, July 22, at 10:30 p.m. The party is free. Downtown Durham is gradually reinventing itself, from new restaurants and bars that serve specialty panini and dozens of different whiskeys to theaters that host living legends and tiny theatrical […]
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The Beast pays tribute to the late Guru’s fusion of jazz and hip-hop
Download Guru Legacy The Beast plays Casbah Thursday, July 14, at 8 p.m. LiLa, Aden, Carlitta Durand and Jocelyn Ellis open, and tickets are $7 in advance and $9 at the door. The Beast emcee Pierce Freelon remembers a conversation with jazz musician Branford Marsalis about the intersection of the distinctly American art forms of […]