Back in May when I wrote the first part to this I wouldn't have believed that I would be writing a second part several months later. Time is a weird thing, and amiss of any live music, festivals and any significant trips away, apart from visiting the Motherland for a few weeks, the months have... Continue Reading →
Origins of European Hip-Hop: Deutscher Hip-Hop
Next up in my series 'Origins of European Hip-Hop', I'll take a look at a fragmented and divided hip-hop scene in Germany. Whilst in both France and Italy artists had ideological differences, and both scenes had significant political impacts, no scene in Europe had the kind of political backdrop and contrast of musicians than that... Continue Reading →
Origins of European Hip-Hop: Rap Italiano
As I continue to take a look back at the dissertation I wrote a few years ago on the developement and impact of hip-hop in Europe, I now move onto my second country, Italy. In the last post I looked into Francophone Rap, a budding hip-hop scene in France, which produced artists such as MC... Continue Reading →
Origins of European Hip-Hop: Francophone Rap
After looking through some of my old work, I stumbled across the disseration that I wrote for my final project at university back in 2016, and decided to give it another read. Lockdown boredom may have reached new heights, and brought me to an educational read which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.... Continue Reading →
WATCH: FEVER 333 perform a live ‘LONG LIVE THE INNOCENT’ Demonstration
Last night, Fever 333 performed a live demonstration to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement, with all proceeds of the livestream going towards the Black Lives Matter and the Minnesota Freedom Fund. Further to the performance, the band shared the below message: “This is a concentrated effort to encourage people to go beyond awareness and take action,”... Continue Reading →
Feature: My Top 5 Musicians Speaking Out on Racism
Like many, I've been following the news of the shocking and appaling murder of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by police in Minneapolis, USA. The consequential outrage of his killing has not only sparked protests there, but spread to other cities in the United States too and across the world, with demostrations in Auckland,... Continue Reading →
Feature: Top 10 Music-Related Things to Watch During Lockdown
The current situation with COVID-19 has left the world in lockdown, with venues closed and tours cancelled or postponed, a lot of artists have been forced to find new and innovative ways to stay connected wth their fans, such as live streaming performances from their home, going back through the archives and releasing footage of... Continue Reading →
Throwback Series: Outkast, “The South Got Something to Say” – ATLiens, Aquemini and THAT 1995 Source Awards
It was August 3rd, 1995. The second annual Source Awards was taking place, at the Madison Square Garden’s Paramount Theater in New York. The events that night would change the course of hip-hop forever. At the time, Tupac had been shot and was sequestered in jail, with a bitter rivalry between the East Coast and... Continue Reading →
Brit Awards 2019: Round-Up, Highlights, Full List of Winners
It was a night of spectacular performances, shock appearances and plenty of important social/political comments, as the annual Brit Awards took place last night at London's O2 Arena. The 1975 came away as the big winners on the night, scooping the awards for 'British Group' and 'MasterCard British Album of the Year' - for the... Continue Reading →
Brit Awards 2019: Nominees, Who’s Performing, Ones to Watch
The annual Brit Awards takes over The O2, London next Wednesday 20th February, and here's my lowdown on who's been nominated and for what, who's due to be performing on the night, and a look into some of the artists to watch out for, with my pick for each award. Last year, saw Stormzy as... Continue Reading →