Hip Hop

Seedhe Maut: How Delhi’s hip-hop firepower duo have their finger on Gen-Z’s pulse

“Whatever we’ve read in our childhood, our books – storybooks, even our textbooks, literature in Hindi and English in school… it’s all about how much interest you have in studying, and those things registering themselves in your mind. All of that reflects in our art," says Encore, one half of Seedhe Maut.

In Eric Weisbard's Songbooks, a deep dive into American pop music by way of the writers, critics who have addressed it

Songbooks sounds straightforward. Weisbard has gone back and reread more than 150 volumes, classics and oddities of American music writing. In chronological order, he chews through biographies, memoirs, song collections and academic studies, from William Billings’ The New-England Psalm-Singer (1770) through Jay-Z’s memoir Decoded (2010).

In Mexico's Matamoros, migrants seek safe haven with Abraham Barberi, the 'hip-hop pastor'

The pastor was himself once an illegal migrant, involved in drug trafficking and crime, and had spent time in prison. Now, with his Bible study centre empty due to COVID-19, he found he could not say no.

Nas, LL Cool J attend ceremony to launch capital campaign for new Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx

The museum is part of a $349 million mixed-use project along the waterfront in the South Bronx.

DMX was a ruff rider from start to finish; the American rapper’s music endures for its aggression

The essence of DMX as a hip-hop artist emerges as one who could balance violent, toughened delivery with give-a-damn melodies worked in with his distinctly gravelly voice.

DMX death: Reactions pour in from hip hop artists Nas, Eve, Snoop Dogg, Chingy

It’s so sad to hear about the passing of DMX. He was a true legend to the hip-hop community. I was individually inspired by him from his unique style, said rapper Chingy in a statement.

Ava DuVernay fills an important formative gap in California’s hip-hop history through Netflix documentary This Is The Life

Ava DuVernay's This Is the Life is a refreshing portrait of a 1990s California hip-hop subculture that thrived separately from gangsta rap

DIVINE talks new album Punya Paap, creative drive: 'This is our chance, there cannot be any blocks'

Fully in the driver’s seat with Punya Paap, the rapper never thinks about creative blocks. “We came from a place and genre was never there,” DIVINE says. “It was do or die for us.”

No Khalistani hand in farmers protest; separatist movement presently undergoing existential crisis

There’s been no time in our recent history when it has been more important to have a genuine conversation on what went wrong in Punjab, and why — but that would take real courage, something which comes a lot less easily than outrage

Kanye West calls music industry 'modern-day slavery', tweets pages of his recording contracts

Kanye West shared a series of tweets to criticise Universal Records and Sony, demanding their overly complicated contracts be "simplified now"