If you’ve ever had the misfortune of having to sit through Breakdance 2: Electric Boogaloo, Rappin’ or even Posse, then get ready for more cinematic horrors in the not-too-distant future. Yeah, you guessed it – they started shooting the effin’ Biggie Smalls movie. After holding a nation-wide audition for the lead, the producers (I’m assuming…
T La Rock Interview Pt. 2 – The Lost Tapes
Continuing my talk with “Super Rapper” T La Rock, we discuss the origins of his name, working with Mantronik, bootleggers and unreleased recordings. T is currently developing a biopic called ‘The T La Rock Story’ with “a very powerful producer from Hollywood” named Bonnie Timmerman (who was the Casting Director on Man On Fire, Carlito’s…
T La Rock Interview Pt. 1 – The Story of It’s Yours
T La Rock is so entrenched into the history of hip-hop that he actually attended Kool Herc‘s first parties. After nine years of deejaying, breaking and emceeing locally in The Bronx, as well as introducing his brother Special K of the Treacherous Three to rap, T finally decided to take the next step and begin…
Joe Fatal Sighting!
If you’re not checking The Meaning of Dope you’re missing out on the best source of original rap footage out there right now. This in particular caught my attention – vintage footage of the ever-elusive Joe Fatal, who also appeared in Main Source‘s “Just Hangin’ Out” and Kool G Rap‘s “Erase Racism” videos.
Video: Kidz In The Hall Respond To Unkut Dot Com Poll
So I get an email today from a guy from Underground Hip Hop dot com letting me know that the Kidz In The Hall gave Unkut a fair amount of airtime in this new video. Amusing to say the least. As I’d originally mentioned in the post, I only really included them to make up…
Ten Reasons Why H.N.I.C 2 Might Be The Album of The Year
No doubt you’ve been following Prodigy ‘s antics in recent times. In between his usual antics, “Field Marshal P” has gone and followed-up the surprisingly enjoyable Return Of The Mac with H.N.I.C. 2, which I assumed was gonna be a pile of steaming horse shit. Turns out it’s one of the most entertaining records I’ve…
DJ Vicious Lee (Def IV) – The Unkut Interview
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…
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…