PROFILE
25 minute read • Red Bull Music Academy
This might well be the best artist portrait we read this year. For RBMA, Torii MacAdams goes to South Memphis to meet with cult hero Tommy Wright III. What's most striking here is the distance between the rapper's Internet deification and his real-life struggle, captured by the author with great subtlety.
|
|
|
PROFILE
12 minute read • The New York Times
The New York Times' Joe Coscarelli continues his exploration of the Quality Control microuniverse. This time, he profiles Migos' Offset, miraculously alive after a gruesome car accident, determined as ever, and eager to reveal a more thoughtful side. We also get to meet again his billion dollar lawyer.
|
|
|
PRODUCTION
6 minute read • Rolling Stone
Another week, another story on a random rap sound effect reaching global ubiquity. This time, writer Elias Leight (a producer's best friend) goes back to Trillville's 2004 hit "Some Cut" to find the origin of an explicit sound that inspires both Latin Trap and Korean pop. Adam Levine definitely has a point.
|
|
|
REVIEW
5 minute read • Vulture
In a busy week, Vulture's Craig Jenkins profiled the Brockhampton conglomerate and interviewed Earl Sweatshirt. But it's his review of 6ix9ine's out-on-bail album that stopped us in our tracks. Don't miss the opening paragraph: this might be the most eloquent, clear-eyed statement on these four years of culture wars. A must read.
|
|
|
INFLUENCES
13 minute video • Noisey
"There's a multitude of musicians and craftspeople around the world that people just haven't paid attention to" says sample scholar Egon, as Madlib and him meet Ethiopian funk musician Ayaléw Mesfin. Watching them together is an inspiring moment, as their influences come full circle, from James Brown to Ethiopia, all the way back to Madlib's sampler.
|
|
|
THROWBACK
27 minute video • Complex (2016)
Tomorrow will mark the eleventh anniversary of Pimp C's passing. Two years ago, Complex and Mass Appeal had joined force for this tribute documentary. Friends, peers and relatives of the late rapper-producer discussed his life, influence, and his showstopping turn in Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'", which almost never happened.
|
|
|
|
In Vulture • Recommended by Christina Lee
"Meek Mill may have technically reentered society (there he is on Ellen, after he used to watch Ellen in jail!). But he is here to remind us: 'Meek is not free. He is walking on his tippy-toes.' Vulture associate editor Dee Lockett helps explain, as she breaks down his staggering probation terms in plain language, alongside the weight of his newfound responsibility as a justice reform activist. She captures the unease of his current limbo in greater detail than I've seen elsewhere."
+ Another story about how Meek Mill moves forward, by Marcus Moore for Entertainment Weekly
 Christina Lee is an award-winning music journalist who has been published in The Guardian, Rolling Stone and more.
|
|
|
|
|
