Originally recorded in 2004, Born Again was created by Danger Mouse and Jemini the Gifted One, following the release of Ghetto Pop Life, their 2003 studio collaboration. Ghetto Pop Life was a critical and fan hit. Danger Mouse and Jemini toured in support of the album and ultimately recorded the tracks now released as Born Again. Their momentum was squashed …
Noname’s ‘Sundial’ Pursues a Hip-Hop Revolution
Hip-hop has been effectively deradicalized by middle age, botched love and commercialism, to the extent that so-called “conscious rap” often sounds like a grift to feed a void in the market — the hungry ghost of authenticity. Plenty of the music is no longer a visceral and spirit-driven creative endeavor. It might be realer to just make indifferent music in …
D.C. Rapper Sa-Roc Commands Respect on “Talk To Me Nice”
Ahead of her fall Talk To Me Nice tour, D.C.-born emcee Sa-Roc has shared a new single and video of the same name, our first preview of the as-yet-untitled follow-up to her 2020 Rhymesayers Entertainment debut, The Sharecropper’s Daughter. Produced by resident Rhymesayers studio-wizard Sol Messiah, “Talk To Me Nice” uses both its lyrics and instrumental to send one unmistakable …
Jacksonville Hip-Hop Artist Aalana Stands Tall on New Track, “Beretta”
Duval emcee Aalana is back with a new single, “Beretta,” the uber-talented young rapper’s first release since 2022’s “Okay Cool.” There’s little debate as to whether Aalana possesses star power. And on “Beretta,” she flosses her position with hitting phrases, touching on the importance of friendship and connection, wavering on whether either has inherent value in navigating life’s highs – …
EASYin2D and Mecca thA Marvelous, Two Laidback Duval Emcees, Collab on the Ultra-Chill “Peaches”
Two ascendant Jacksonville-based hip-hop artists known individually for their chill deliveries, Mecca thA Marvelous and L.O.V.E. Culture’s EASYin2D, keep their Duval manners in order while speaking about their dealings with a “Georgia peach” on a new track. From a new, two-song collaborative release called JITS, the song “Peaches” is a mid-tempo head nod, likely to find acknowledgement from anyone who has …
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are Here to Blow Up your Function
On the rap internet, “scaring the hoes” has become code for a certain type of hip-hop: anything abrasive or weird or super-lyrical, designed for repeat close listening. More broadly, the phrase has evolved into a euphemism for any rap considered unfit for a party or similar social setting. To play Death Grips at the function is to scare the hoes. …
Shawny Binladen and the Rise of Sample Drill
After Pop Smoke’s tragic death in 2020, many wondered what would become of New York drill, and many naysayers claimed it died with him. Over the next year, several booming voices would knock at that door, but the man who broke it down was one who raps in whispers. 27-year-old Queens rapper Shawny Binladen’s reimagination of drill music opened up …
Jax Hip-Hop Group L.O.V.E. Culture Shares New Video, Provides Update on East Coast Tour
When it came time to curate our 2023 Jacksonville Artists to Watch list, we made a concerted effort to not repeat any artists from the previous year’s list. In the case of Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture, we made an exception. If they ever hit a ceiling at all after the release of their debut full-length, 1827 N Pearl, in …
Asamov, the Influential Jax Hip-Hop Group, Finally Gets its Due
Recent years have seen more mainstream attention being given to local rap artists than ever before. But the stars of today are newer, younger artists, most of whom have never known anything but the digital future we’re currently living in. There was, however, a whole generation of local legends who never got the hype they deserved. And Asamov sits atop …
JWJ Hip-Hop Festival to Honor Late Jax Rapper-Producer Paten Locke
The James Weldon Johnson Hip-Hop Festival will return to JWJ Park in Downtown Jacksonville for its second iteration in February. This year’s fest once again includes a lineup of emcees, lyricists, visual artists and DJs. The 2023 JWJ Hip-Hop Festival will also honor Paten Locke, highlighting the life and work of the late, and unimpeachably great, Jacksonville rapper and producer …
The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2022
A pall has been hanging over hip-hop this year: the ongoing criminalization of being a rapper looms large. The genre has faced over-policing and sensationalism before, dating back to the NYPD’s rap intelligence unit in 1999, but the scope of the crusade has expanded: lyrics continue to be treated like transcripts by the law, rappers are painted as crime lords …
Watch | Ebony Payne-English at Blue Jay Listening Room
Jax multi-disciplinary artist performs “Kuongoza”
I could think of no better venue to feature the music of Ebony Payne-English, than the intimate Blue Jay Listening Room. The depth of the Jax-based rapper-poet-author’s music, after all, requires intentional listening. Stream Ebony Payne-English’s music on your preferred platform Payne-English, fresh off the release of her 2021 full length, Kuongoza, and just months away from releasing another album, …
Go | Best Concerts in Jax this Week
'90s nostalgia, topnotch country, primo hip-hop and traditional bluegrass
Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Alt-Rock Incubus, Sublime with Rome – Tuesday, July 26 …
L.O.V.E. Culture | Live on the JME Soundstage
The popular Jacksonville group performs songs from their catalog of progressive hip-hop on the JME Soundstage
On the heels of a promotional campaign with big-time beverage brand Sprite, Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture released perhaps the most talked about local record of 2021: 1827 N Pearl. Featuring five artists, each with his or her own distinctive skill sets — Che Forreign, Rob Mari, Spiritxiii, Flash the Samurai and Easyin2d — the group finds strength in numbers, …
The Train to Fame Travels at 132 BPM
In the early '90s, a string of hits produced by Jacksonville artists carried Southern hip-hop to the masses
In observance of Black Music Appreciation Month, we’re celebrating the musical contributions of Black artists, including those from Jacksonville. This article was originally published in June of 2021. Boom. Bottom. Slump. Knock. Quake. Drop. All aliases for the mover and shaker: Bass. The syrupy low end of countless hip-hop albums serves as the sonic signature of an entire genre: Bass …
On ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future,’ Denzel Curry’s ambitions get the best of him
Let’s be honest about South Florida’s rap scene: The region is full of creative talent, most of it unheralded. The Haitian hairstyles, Trick Daddy’s dirty grimaces, Miami Hurricanes jackets and “The U” hand symbol that dominates Miami’s hot blocks are pillars of the South. And yet, the melodic stylings of Atlanta and Louisiana draw most of the region’s attention, even …
Tiny Desk Meets SXSW | Maxo Kream
Every year, NPR Music participates in the SXSW music festival, whether it’s curating a stage or simply attending hundreds of shows at the annual event in Austin, Texas. In 2020, the festival was canceled due to the pandemic, but it returned last March as an online festival. We programmed a virtual “stage” of Tiny Desk (home) concerts in 2021 in …
EARTHGANG’s ‘Ghetto Gods’ looks for divinity in Atlanta’s dichotomies
“Got a $20 bill? Get your hands up / You survived last year? Get your hands up.” This lyric, from EARTHGANG’s new sophomore album Ghetto Gods, is conceivably how the Atlanta hip-hop duo can hype up crowds on its upcoming tour. But it also highlights a central theme of the new record: how committed EARTHGANG is to representing and celebrating …
Go | ‘Hip Hop Nutcracker’ @ the Florida Theatre
Kurtis "The Breaks" Blow takes on Petipa, Ivanov and Tchaikovsky's ballet
Most of us have seen some version of The Nutcracker at least once. Heck, some of us (especially those of us who took dance lessons growing up), may have lost track of the number of times we’ve seen the classic two-act ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and scored by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But, if it’s just not the …
Local Spotlight | “Crying For Free” by Jahny Steel
A haunting and contemplative new tune from one of Duval’s most anomalous creatives
Since dropping his 14-song opus, Mister 9, Duval hip-hop artist Jahny Steel has done little to dispel the notion that he is one of the most prolific and anomalous creatives in the 904. That is to say: He’s been doing the most. Riding the buzz of Mister 9, Steel’s followed up a slew of new songs (“Plate,” “Ice,” “Tea”) and …
‘From Staircase to Stage’: Raekwon on growing up in N.Y. and the Wu-Tang Clan
To hear the broadcast version of this interview, use the audio player below. “Park Hill was a pretty nice environment — the buildings were very clean and they had doormen, intercoms in order to get in the building,” recalls Raekwon, the legendary rapper best known as a core member of the canonical Wu-Tang Clan, of some early memories. In a …
On ‘Weight of the World,’ Maxo Kream’s world expands amid personal tragedy
Against convention for new album releases, Houston rapper Maxo Kream released his third album on a Monday, due to the date’s personal significance. Weight of the World‘s Oct. 18 release coincides with his niece Jalae’s birthday, as well as the anniversary of his cousin Andrew’s death. Maxo even remembers Oct. 18 as the date that his younger brother — Jalae’s …
GO | Pitbull @ Daily’s Place Amphitheater
Mr. 305 to perform in the 904
Ok so technically, he’s now Mr. Worldwide. But once upon a time, he was simply Mr. 305. And before that, he was simply Pitbull. The Miami-born rapper and producer, who’s real name is Armando Christian Pérez, is bringing his “I Feel Good” tour to Daily’s Place Amphitheater on Tuesday, October 12, 2021. The tour is named after his latest single, …
Local Spotlight | ‘Blood On My Birkenstock’ is Freddy Bricks’ fourth album (this year)
Something clicked for Freddy Bricks in 2020. He’d had been floating around the Jacksonville music scene for more than a decade before releasing his first studio album The Man Who Remembered Too Much, which earned Bricks high marks that year from Duval County’s hip-hop community. Then the floodgates opened. That same year, he fed the scene, 11 Forks 1 Knife, …
Migos | Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. By the time Quavo hits the second half of his opening verse on “Avalanche,” all three members …