On a brisk Thursday night on Wilshire Boulevard, Petersen Automotive Museum’s uppermost floor became center stage as the outdoor, rooftop red carpet (green, in this case) unfolded beneath clear skies in anticipation of Hulu’s upcoming screenings of Drive with Swizz Beatz.
Continue reading “Music Mastermind Swizz Beatz Takes on Car Culture Across the Globe in Hulu’s ‘Drive’”
When you think of Jack Daniel’s whiskey… the first thing you don’t think about is hip hop. Yet, Brooklyn-based music group Phony Ppl and Jack Daniels want to change that perception by collaborating on an immersive virtual experience and concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop.
Continue reading “Jack Daniel’s Launches ‘Arts, Beats + Lyrics’ VR Experience Called ‘The Verse’”
Rapper and activist jason chu releases his new album We Were the Seeds this Friday, September 15 on all streaming services.
Continue reading “Rapper/Activist jason chu to Release New Album ‘We Were the Seeds’ This Week”
It was a pleasant surprise to see an email invite from Super Smack inviting me to the listening party for his next single. It had been a few weeks since I had last seen him but I heard his voice everywhere. “Cute!” and “Grind!” started to show up in rotation through my TikTok For You Page and several of my personal friends would remark hearing the songs in their feeds as well. It was no denying his songs were picking up traction, but what exactly was resonating with the listeners? I finally had the perfect opportunity to find out.
Continue reading “Super Smack is Shamelessly Asian American in “Orange Chicken!””
On this special episode of Hard NOC Life, Shawn Taylor returns to join Keith as they look back at the legacy of De La Soul, one month after the group’s entire catalog was finally released to streaming platforms and a new generation of hip-hop fans.
Aside from father and husband, there are few titles that mean more to me than, b-boy. Yes, I have just entered my 50s, but b-boy still resonates for me as an operational position. While I no longer believe hip hop can change the world — the culture did move some things around — I do believe that hip hop can change us, so we can better navigate the world.
Continue reading “De La Forever”
Written by Jamal Olori & Stephen Glover and directed by Calmatic, House Party tells the story of two freshly fired house cleaners — club promoting best friends, Damon and Kevin — as they decide to host the most exclusive party in California at LeBron James’ exclusive mansion, the site of their last cleaning job. While the film does deliver on its premise it isn’t until the later half that it comes into its own.
Continue reading “‘House Party’ 2023 Struggles to Keep the Party Going”
Ice-T portrays Sergeant Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. New episodes of season 24 air Thursday nights at 9 PM ET on NBC. It is the longest-running primetime live-action series of all time, and the legendary rapper recently became the longest-running male actor in television history for the role. While covering the Law & Order Season Premiere red carpet, we had a great discussion about his time on the show.
Continue reading “Ice-T on His Incredible ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ Journey”
When I got to Manhattan on Saturday, November 20, after a bumpy four-and-a-half hour bus ride, I didn’t know what to expect. Not only was it my first time in the city, I was there to attend HBO’s first “Scene in Black” event. The event, centered on the new DMX documentary, featured a premiere showing of the doc, a live conversation with director Chritopher Frierson and event host Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins, and a performance by Jadakiss.
Continue reading “HBO Celebrates ‘Scene In Black’ With Launch Party In New York”
Earl Simmons obtained critical success in the hip-hop world with his first major label single, “Get At Me Dog.” It was released and certified gold in February of 1998 — a month after this writer was born and, more importantly, three months before his debut album, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot released. By May of 1998, the world was officially in the hands of “DMX.”
Continue reading “‘Don’t Try To Understand’ Invites Fans on a Personal Journey Through the Life of DMX”
Success never comes easy and especially when the odds are stacked against you, but with an authentic voice it can shape a generation. Daniel Park knows this personally as he is most notably known for his work with Far East Movement and his production company Transparent Agency. Daniel Park has been pushing the boundary of Asian American media and music into the broader American culture for more than a decade. Now as we are starting to see more Asian and Asian American artists take center stage on the path he helped create, we got sit down and talk with him about his thoughts on representation, the music industry and producing the K-drama, IDOL: The COUP.
Continue reading “Daniel Park on Representation and Producing the K-drama, ‘IDOL: The COUP’”
The American Music Awards have announced their musical lineup for their star-studded award show, airing live at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 21st on ABC.
Continue reading “BTS, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny to Perform at the AMAs”
Because I cannot wait for Kate —
Apple kindly drops Dickinson Season 3 —
The final part of Emily Dickinson/Hailee Steinfeld’s quest for Self —
And Immortality.
It looks like Olivia Rodrigo is having a good year. Making her debut for the American Music Awards, Rodrigo received seven nominations, including Artist of the Year and New Artist of the Year.
Continue reading “2021 American Music Awards Nominees: Full List”
Super Smack is a Filipino American rapper that has been leveling up in the music game ever since his first ep, Neon Red, hit streaming services. With a unique blend of gaming culture, anime references, good vibes, and a message for change, Super Smack’s pens music that blend pop and rap in ways that make the nerd in any of us step on the dance floor.
Continue reading “Super Smack is Ready to Smash Stereotypes and the Industry with New EP”
As Bruce Lee might say, we must start with dispelling what is not useful and replace it with what is useful. I won’t rehash any arguments comparing Shang-Chi to Black Panther which are based in speculation, impulse-tweeted, or otherwise made in bad faith. The phrase “Asian American Black Panther” has been tossed around (including by me), in various contexts, since Black Panther came out in 2018.
Continue reading “‘Shang-Chi’ Is Not NOT Like ‘Black Panther’”
With the success of McDonald’s collaboration with Travis Scott and BTS, Saweetie is joining in on the fun with her own McDonald’s meal.
Starting August 9, everyone can order The Saweetie Meal, which features a Big Mac, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium World Famous Fries, a medium Sprite, Tangy BBQ Sauce and “Saweetie ‘N Sour” sauce — the same Sweet ‘N Sour sauce you know and love, re-named in honor of the new meal.
Continue reading “McDonald’s Collaborates with Saweetie to Create ‘The Saweetie Meal’”
Super nerd, Guinness World Record holder, and hip-hop extraordinaire Raheem “Mega Ran” Jarbo sat down with The Nerds of Color blog for another episode of Fightin’ Words and talked gaming, hip-hop, and adjusting to life during the pandemic. The former teacher turned elite nerdcore rapper has had his hands full, juggling live events, his Twitch channel, making music, and of course spending time with family.
Continue reading “‘Fightin’ Words’ Episode Two: Nerdcore Rapper Mega Ran”
I told myself I wouldn’t begin this news about the dope new docuseries coming to Peacock mentioning LeBron James and I’ve clearly already failed. While James’ absence from the USA Men’s National Basketball team isn’t new, the real highlights of the highs and lows of the Olympics have been shouldered by the NBA’s new elite squad, specifically younger players like Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, and Bam Adebayo.
Continue reading “Grammy Award-Winning Artist Common to Narrate USA Men’s Basketball Docuseries”
Cartoon Network Studios is teaming up with award-winning filmmaker Matthew Cherry (Hair Love) and award-winning director Chaz Bottoms (Dear John: Legendary Love Letters) to bring us a beautiful new animated series that celebrates the creative arts culture of Chicago, set to a sonic landscape inspired by hip-hop beats and classical broadway melodies.
Continue reading “Matthew A. Cherry and Chaz Bottoms Bring Us New Animated Series ‘Battu’”
According to Billboard, Run the Jewels rapper Killer Mike has been cast in a cameo role of the award-winning Netflix series Ozark. The fourth and final season will close out what has been an extraordinary run for the Byrdes, from dysfunctional suburbanites to underdog money-launderers we can’t help but root for. Details of his role, exclusive to Billboard, include that his character runs into Julia Garner’s iconic Ruth Langmore when she’s at the end of her rope.
Continue reading “Killer Mike Joins All-Star Cast of ‘Ozark’ for its Final Season”
When we all saw Tupac Shakur in Juice in the ‘90s, not only did we pray to never run into someone like Bishop in our own lives, but we learned the range Pac had outside of the studio. ‘90s and early 2000s Black cinema was marked by a particular era of gangster-laden, hip-hop fueled narratives that sometimes hit the mark, with films like Do the Right Thing, Boyz N the Hood, and New Jack City lending various insights into the cinematic representation of Black Consciousness as it was in the ‘90s and later.
Continue reading “Death Row Records Celebrates ‘Above the Rim’ Deluxe Soundtrack with Exclusive Merch”
On April 20, a crew of some of the most talented artists and creators came together to produce a free webcomic as a love letter to the late Daniel “MF DOOM” Dumile. The work was a collaboration between longtime artists Troy-Jeffrey Allen, Sean Anthony Mack (a.k.a. Smack!), senior editor and MECCAcon CEO Maia “Crown” Williams, and others. The webcomic is a six-page trek across the many influences Doom left behind and came after the news of his passing rocked the hip-hop community in December 2020.
Continue reading “A Conversation with the Creators of ‘ALL CAPS,’ a Webcomic Love Letter to the Late MF DOOM”