Author: admin
When I lost my mother four years ago, I couldn't cry anymore. Before she passed away, she was bedridden for a year. She hoped it wouldn't happen, but she knew the end was near. During her time at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), she lost her speech and music was the only way we could connect. We had a routine. I stuck the pod in her ear, selected her song, and watched her try humming a familiar gospel melody or a trendy Afrobeat song. It was both beautiful and sad. She passed away a month after we started this routine…
I didn’t start listening to rap until I was in college. Like many strange black children who grew up in the closet, I longed to be myself, as protected by pure Christianity from the beauty of a diverse world. But the positive references I could pull on were in theatre and pop music, in moments of loneliness, separated from the anger and disdain of family and friends. My soundtrack to teens was an endless playlist of pop divas like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. I was also obsessed with the presence of powerful singer consumption such as Patty Label, Whitney Houston,…
A work of art made with drag. Photos of dozens of St. Louisans active in the hip-hop scene. Chance the Rapper hat.Hip hop has appeared in American popular culture in countless ways. A current exhibition at the St. Louis Art Museum uses visual art, video installations, high-fashion wearables, and custom soundtracks to capture a wide range of influences.”Culture: 21st century hip hop and contemporary art” is a collaboration with the Baltimore Museum of Art, which exhibited the show earlier this year. It will be on display at Art Hill until January 1st.Although about a third of the works on display…
Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on December 25, 2023. Click here for the audio.Over the years since hip-hop was born in New York, many other cities have accelerated hip-hop's global success. Memphis, Tennessee is one of them. The city is filled with talented musicians and storytellers who have innovated rap to reflect the city's history and culture.Regional dialects, terminology, and specific musical characteristics have always been central as the genre evolved. Zandria Felice Robinson knows that personally. She is a Memphis native, author, and associate professor at Georgetown University.“The history of a place shapes what we listen to, which…
It's been 50 years since a DJ named Kool Herc invented hip-hop at a Bronx house party. This anniversary was on August 11th and was commemorated by hip-hop fans all over the world. Last month's global celebration highlighted how hip-hop has been adopted and translated in many countries, including Germany. While Berlin is typically associated with the powerful sounds of techno, hip-hop is as richly embedded in the city's cultural past as it is in its vibrant musical present. “Berlin and hip-hop have a long history,” says Gizem Adiyaman, a Berlin-based DJ and political educator. He launched Hoe__mies, an inclusive…
As Rema continues to rise in popularity, he is doing the opposite of calming down.The 23-year-old Nigerian artiste won Best Afrobeat Song for his hit song “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards held on Tuesday.The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June and has remained at No. 1 on Billboard's U.S. Afrobeat Songs chart for over 50 weeks.Since releasing his “Calm Down” remix with Gomez in August 2022, Rema seemed to have shot to the top of US charts and awards shows overnight, but the singer and rapper has…
image image credits TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Contributor (Getty Images) Rema continues to break records. Last night (September 12), he became the first African artist to win the prestigious Best Afrobeats award introduced at this year's MTV VMAs. The Nigerian singer's hit single “Calm Down” feat. Selena Gomez was nominated in the same category along with Burna Boy's “It's Plenty” and Davido's “Unavailable.” “Rush” by Moosa Keys and Isla Star, “People” by Ribianka, “2 Sugar” by Wizkid feat. “Bandana” feat by Isla Star and Fireboy DML. Asake. “Calm Down” was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Collaboration.…
Afrobeats got its first kick, gleaning off other genres. Afrobeats — not to be confused with the Fela upstart, Afrobeat, — began as a potpourri of sounds, influenced by highlife, Afrobeat, pop, RnB, hip-hop, dancehall, and Fuji. After being largely overshadowed by hip-hop and regional highlife records in the late 1990s, Afrobeats started to pilfer its way into the local spotlight through youth and splendour. Shake Bodi with boy bands and hip-hop In the beginning Afrobeats was synonymous with the rise of boy-bands such as Trybesmen, The Remedies, and Plantashaun Boiz. With their 1998 hit single “Shake Bodi,” performed by the…
This Saturday, National Dance Day, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, returns at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Dancers breakdance at the Kennedy Center for National Dance Day. (Courtesy of Kennedy Center) WTOP's Jason Fraley previews National Day at the Kennedy Center (Part 1) Don't just stand there, take action at the Kennedy Center for National Dance Day. A free outdoor event will be held at REACH on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. “National Dance Day, now in its 14th year, was originally started on the West Coast by Nigel Lythgoe and his foundation, American Dance Movement, in…
Photo illustration: vulture Early hip-hop was experiential. Not just because rappers and their DJs hadn't yet garnered the backing of major labels, but because their work relied on the texture and context that only cramped nightclubs and sweaty function rooms could provide. . . Even as rap became a huge commercial force, it retained an eternal thrill. It's a virtuoso freestyle that ends up being undone, with samples chopped up and overturned on the spot, only to be invalidated by legal officials. Transience was the key. Taking a step back from the field and becoming tied to a specific static…