Hip hop Archives

Kanye West’s Jesus Is King Isn’t An Album, It’s A Life Event

There’s very little point in forming a real opinion on the songs in Jesus is King, for their purpose has gone beyond being just songs. Instead, these are roundabout ways for Kanye West to announce to the world who he is at this point in time.

Prthvir Solanki July 24, 2016

Pop Culture

Reconsidering Eminem in a Post-Me Too World

Eminem and controversy go together like McDonalds and indigestion – the latter inevitably follows the former. Today, it’s easy to look at his body of work and dismiss it as an offensive collection of regressive ideas. But, maybe, there is another way to look at the controversial rapper.

Dushyant Shekhawat July 1, 2016

POV

Did Kendrick Lamar Just Pimp the Pulitzer?

There was a time when mainstream rap involved guys named “Lil” talking about sex and drugs. Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer prize is an indicator that mainstream rap can be meaningful. It could one day be considered classical music.

#VALUE! June 2, 2016

Features

How Spitfire, a Young Gully Rapper Made His Mark On India With Gully Boy’s “Asli Hip Hop”

The “Asli Hip Hop” hook from the Gully Boy that you’ve been tapping your foot to? It was created by Nitin Mishra, aka Spitfire, whose signature verses have set the Ranveer Singh-starrer aflame. Exactly how did a young rapper from small-town Madhya Pradesh make his mark on Bollywood?

Kanika Katyal May 28, 2016

Pop Culture

Dear T-Pain, “Brown Twitter” Really? FYI, 500 Million Indians Use the Internet

T-Pain allegedly plagiarised Arijit Singh’s “Tum Hi Ho” and then lashed out at “brown Twitter” after the internet outrage. Only if the rapper knew that India has the second-largest internet population in the world. Mr T-Pain, you weren’t throwing shade at some geeks sitting on the sole computer in a hamlet.

Arré Bench May 5, 2016

Pop Culture

Lose Yourself to Badshah

So enraged was I at Badshah’s sacrilegious shade thrown at Eminem that I set out on a warpath against him. After the disdain, came a tinge of admiration.

Dushyant Shekhawat May 2, 2016

People

MC Tod Fod: Musician, Wordsmith and Eco warrior

Dharmesh Parmar was not just a singer, but also a philosopher, an environmentalist and the rarest of all, a principled artist.

Anurag Tagat April 23, 2016

Bollywood

Apna Time Aayega: What Privileged India Needs to Learn from Gully Boy’s Shabdon Ka Jwala

Gully Boy’s characters — not just Murad, but all the angry, hopeful, listless, fighting, restless people that crowd his world — refuse to be silenced or ignored. They don’t speak “our” language, but by God, they’ll have their say.

Sonali Kokra March 18, 2016

People

Sidhu Moose Wala’s Conflicting but Significant Musical Legacy

Moose Wala’s shocking death is probably the outcome of certain avoidable cultural tropes that have been allowed to simmer in Punjab but while the singer wasn’t always politically correct, his music travelled further than most.

Deepansh Duggal March 7, 2016