In Depth by Adam Johns
DiS sat down with him (ermm, on the phone) to discuss the release of Raekwon's new album, Shaolin vs. Wu Tang and to determine how exactly he continues to bring it. Coming across like a gentleman and a true family man, and nowhere near the incarcerated scarface one would expect from his back catalogue, we discussed the state of hip hop today, the burden of living up to a classic, and realized that he may be a bit mixed up about Justin Bieber… »
Review
by Adam Johns
Overall, the effect is to make the listener uncomfortable, somewhat dejected, and begin to question the very underpinnings of their faith in the basic underpinnings of society. Which wouldn't have happened had one just listened to Youth Novels again.»
Review
by Adam Johns
This album may, against all odds, be the most successful fusion of dance music and rap in a decade.»
Review
by Adam Johns
When one wants to listen to something that sounds like old punk rock but isn’t actually old punk rock, one could do a lot worse than listen to these guys. »
Review
by Adam Johns
For rap fans it's both a testament to the versatility of the genre and Kanye's own brilliance that he can make something so refreshingly different which still fits comfortably in the rap canon.»
Review
by Adam Johns
Das Racist are simply a few guys approaching rap from an irreverent and fractured angle, unremittingly questioning its conventions while still managing to equal or eclipse its best moments. »
Review
by Adam Johns
While Abe Vigoda 2.0 are a group to be respected, I have a feeling, going forward, I’m going to spend a lot more time listening to Skeleton than I am to Crush.»
Review
by Adam Johns
The songs here are far better than they needed to be to get music this original noticed.»
In Depth by Adam Johns
So Beats week is over, next week we go back to our regularly scheduled program of writing about effete Brits and anonymous Swedish chillwave producers. It's been a wild ride; writing about Dipset, getting twitter-beefed (erm LA weekly, we're a website, not a blog, and we don't appreciate you miscategorizing our work like that).»
In Depth by Adam Johns
For anyone who thinks commerce diminishes music, I present a counter-argument: Crunk'n'b. Since the beginning of time, rap and Rn'B have been cross-pollinating in a for-the-most-part nakedly commercial arrangement: Rn'B singers get rappers to guest on their songs, increasing their potential sales base beyond the female/loverboy marketplace and toughening things up for "the streets" (i.e. the suburbs)....»
News
by Adam Johns
DiS contributor Adam Johns has compiled a special week dedicated to "Beats", we'll let him explain what it's all about...»
Review
by Adam Johns
The album is no Robyn and it doesn't quite match Body Talk (Part 1) in terms of the sheer number of highs.»
Review
by Adam Johns
While a lot of this sounds like the type of thing you may have heard before, it's so well done that complaining would be ungrateful. »
Review
by Adam Johns
Listen to this as an antidote to everything hesitant, tentative, and scared this summer and have shit tons of fun. »
Review
by Adam Johns
As a recovery it's a shaky first step, but it's progress nonetheless.»
Review
by Adam Johns
A lot of things are terrible, but this is just mediocre, and right now this feels like a small victory.»
Review
by Adam Johns
If anything this record demonstrates that, in this case anyway, the lone indie guy still hasn’t supplanted the pop music machine. The Lou Perlmans of the world can sleep soundly, at least for now.»
