Here’s a brand new Phillip “Half-A-Mill” Mlynar sure-shot: There was only one rap album that mattered in 2010 – and it wasn’t by anyone who felt the need to show their dark twisted appendage to the world. That project, Roc Marciano‘s Marcberg, was critically untouchable, the most unadulterated example of the potency of New York…
Category: Features
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Mario Rodriguez – The Unkut Interview, Part 2
The second half of my conversation with Mario, who speaks on some of the more technical aspects of engineering and mixing, as well as working on Ready To Die and winning a Latin Grammy. Robbie: How many songs that were left off Hell On Earth? Mario Rodriguez: There were a lot of song that weren’t…
Even Free Rap Shows Are A Rip-Off Now
So there was a free show the other night featuring Jean Grae and Pharoahe Monch, which isn’t really a big deal since I never really pay to get in anyways and I don’t really know a song that either of ’em have done for the last five years, but eff it. First thing I noticed…
Mario Rodriguez – The Unkut Interview, Part 1
With a career in the music industry spanning over 30 years, Mario ‘Not Rude’ Rodriguez has worked on a lot of records as an engineer and mixer. Amongst his hip-hop projects, he’s been involved with records from Mobb Deep, LL Cool J, Biggie Smalls and Public Enemy to name a few. For the first part…
Alexander Richter – The Unkut Interview
The best thing about getting an interview or feature published in print is having my words paired-up with original photography. Google image search is fine for your everyday blog post type of thing, but nothing beats having a crisp shot of the artist that nobody has. Enter Alexander Richter, who has provided shots for a…
Tragedy Khadafi – The Unkut Interview, Part 2
Continuing from Part 1, Trag discusses dealing with depression, mentoring MC’s and the origin of his military state of mind. Robbie: Can you tell me more about the fall-out from your second album? Tragedy Khadafi: I’ve been rhyming since I was nine and I started writing songs when I was eleven, so I’ve been rhyming…
How Eminem Won & Lost At The Same Time
Why do people who don’t even work in the music industry talk about album sales? It makes no sense whatsoever when you think about it, but since the young rap fans of today are often more concerned with what sort of jacket Kanye was wearing in his new video than what he says in his…
Tragedy Khadafi – The Unkut Interview, Part 1
Photo: ARMEN Tragedy Khadafi is considered to be the blueprint of the Queensbridge style of rhyming, which has become world-renowned thanks to artists like Nas, Mobb Deep and Cormega. Even though he never achieved the commercial acclaim of some of those who followed in his footsteps – due to a variety of personal and professional…
Internets Celebrities – Somebody Say Chea!
I’m not even going to attempt to explain who the Internets Celebrities are – that’s what the ‘About’ section of their site is for, dummies! Okay, since you’re clearly too lazy and/or hungover to crawl over to your laptop and wipe the Cheezel dust from your fingers, I’ll provide a Twitter-proof rundown in less than…
Is Marley Marl The Most Important Producer In The History Of Hip-Hop?
Once upon a time, around 1985 at Unique recording studio in New York city, Marley Marl accidentally sampled a snare drum. It was a mistake, initially, as he’d instructed the engineer to grab a vocal snippet for the Captain Rock song he was remixing at the time. When he played the sound on the keyboard…
Searching For The Perfect Remix: Marley Marl
Engineer All-Star Marley Marl came from the era when a remix often meant turning-up the drums, dropping out the main loop occasionally and adding a horn blast and some echo, but even when the additions were relatively minor, they proved to be incredibly effective. The remixed versions of ‘Vapors’ and ‘Shootin’ The Gift’ both maintain…
Did Russell Simmons Blackball Marley Marl?
Last week I received a book in the mail to review, called The BeatTips Manual, by Amir “Sa’id” Said. I haven’t finished it yet, since I’m also in the middle of reading How To Wreck A Nice Beach, but one of the first sections I checked-out were the interview transcriptions at the back. One in…