Even though Rap-A-Lot Records is closely associated with Houston’s 5th Ward, most of the groups on the early roster were originally from New Jersey or New York, which resulted in some interesting blends of styles. The Def IV’s Nice & Hard album is a perfect example, as it introduced an upbeat, sample-heavy sound that was…
Author: Robbie Ettelson
Hipster Rap Fans Catch Feelings
Looks like there are some hurt feelings out there. Some humorless prick over at The Chicago Reader attempted to lick some proverbial shots back at ya boy after I shat on his hometown heroes. “Don’t Hate Them Because They’re Hip” The hack that put this piece together makes several incorrect assumptions – primarily that I…
Rappers Can’t Blog
It’s fair to say that the internets have not been kind to rappers. While DJ’s and producers have been able to use the new avenues to their advantage, most MC’s just end-up playing themselves when they get online. It all started with message boards, where ‘underground’ rap dudes trying to kill time until Fat Beats…
The Search For The Biggest Douchebag In Hipster Rap
Who’s to blame for this unfortunate development? NERD made looking gay and yelling “ironic” lyrics hot for a minute, while Missy Elliott made shitty rapping over 808’s all the rage, before Kanye ‘Liberache’ West made fruity sunglasses blow-up…combine them together and you’ve got “Party Rocking”. Let’s take A-Trak‘s description of The Cool Kids when I…
Keith Shocklee – The Unkut Interview, Part 2
Continuing my conversation with The Bomb Squad‘s Keith Shocklee, we discuss the early days of Public Enemy, park jams and some of their outside projects. DJ Johnny Juice told me about how you guys made-up a bunch of group names and then filled the spots? Keith Shocklee: What we was doing was a low-scale Motown…
Keith Shocklee – The Unkut Interview, Part 1
Long Island was the proverbial underdog in the mid-80s. While The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens all wrestled for rap dominance, Strong Island residents would journey into the city to check out shows before returning home to deliver their own twist on what they’d witnessed. It turns out that, somewhat removed from whatever trends were dominating…
Cheech Wizard Short
This is better with the sound down… Vaugn Bode interview Part 1:
DJ Johnny Juice and Son of Bazerk – The Unkut Interview
The original Kings of Pressure Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad were ahead of their time in more ways than one. Beyond the sonic innovation and hardcore lyrical content, the crew also pioneered the kind of self-sufficient work-ethic and forward thinking that would later be repeated as part of the RZA‘s Wu-Tang master plan. The…
Pete Rock – The Unkut Interview
Here’s my interview with Pete from Hip-Hop Connection magazine for anybody who may have missed it. Even though he proved to be one of my more challenging interview subjects, I think you’ll enjoy this a little more than the million other Q&A’s he did to promote the NY’s Finest album. Robbie: You worked with Marley…
Nutrageous – Raw Nuts Review
Photo by Kristina Hill Flushing has already produced some outstanding rappers, and Nut-Rageous continues that tradition with this entertaining collection of some of his vinyl releases and some new tracks. A lot of his tracks remind me of dope mid-90s indy stuff, but not on some throwback tip. Nut adds his own twist to all…
Interview Mixed Grill [Termanology, Tame One, Lord Jamar, Esoteric, DJ Crucial and Wax Tailor]
Here’s a bunch of old interviews I did for print that I never got around to posting, mainly because they weren’t really in-depth. So instead of having to hear about what ever album these guys were promoting at the time, I’ve picked out the most interesting two or three quotes and thrown ’em all together….
Plug Tunin’
Internet soldiers: Your boy is back. That’s right, it’s YN. Text a friend to text a friend. And thanks to the homie Robbie Ettelson, we got a special thing goin’ on. It’s called Hard Body Female Spit Vol. 1 – aka 16 tracks of feminine fire that my Australian mate and I cooked up through…