Joy and Tears: OutKast at Way Out West, Sweden
Miserable stories cleverly tucked away inside the group’s brightest pop crossovers ('Hey Ya' and 'Ms Jackson'), and that’s beautifully mirrored by this performance.»
Articles
Kyle_ has written the following articles:
Champion Sound: Top 10 Rap Albums of 2013 + 50 Song Playlist
As another year comes to a close, Champion Sound rounds up its favourite rap songs and records of 2013.»
Reading the interference: What we learned at Unsound Krakow
Interference was the chosen theme for this year’s Unsound festival, but it’s not until we’re seated on our budget flight back to London that we can really digest its significance.»
Champion Sound #15: Celebrating 15 years of Outkast's Aquemini
As OutKast’s Aquemini turns 15 this week, Champion Sound explores the legacy of the duo’s boundary-breaking rap classic.»
Champion Sound #14: Ka, Starlito, Billy Woods
Hello and welcome to a new edition of Champion Sound, a column that was mostly written before Kendrick decided to light a fire under the rap game and sit back to watch the sparks fly. »
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
The more you listen to Mike and El on record together, the more convincing their partnership seems. »
Champion Sound #13: Part 2 - Chicago
Kanye West is the biggest and most important rapper Chicago has ever produced, and yet the form which his regional lineage shows up in has shifted significantly over the years. Perhaps best known for his proud sampling of the city’s soul singing greats, his early records also offered very conscious leg-ups (no pun intended) for local peers like Common, Lupe Fiasco, Twista and GLC. Although his latest LP, Yeezus, often seems to be a million miles away from where he started, it’s arguably his most Chicago record to date; juddering around in the shell of acid house, industrial and drill rap. »
Kanye West - Yeezus
Ah, to be a fly on the studio wall during the making of Kanye West’s Yeezus. This is an album that is actively trying to sound imperfect, and yet the number of producers, engineers, songwriters and professional fluffers that went into manufacturing that aesthetic is astounding. »
Champion Sound #13: Part 1 – Ten Yeezus Pieces
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Kanye, swinging back and forth between the two more times than I care to remember. His talent as producer has never been in question, that much is inarguable, but despite having a lot to say he’s always been a clumsy rapper. For every moment of inspiration, there are usually two more clanging punchlines and ten rhymes mushed together like an imperfect puzzle.»
Champion Sound at the Movies: Snoop Lion's Reincarnated
“Fuck Snoop Dogg,” says Snoop Lion, as he describes his conversion to Rastafarianism in this new Vice-made documentary. Snoop is 41 years old and he is tired of making rap music, a genre in which he has long played a leading role. Why then, is Reincarnated such a non-event? »
Champion Sound #12: Feat. Southern Hospitality's First Quarter Future Jams mix
London has always had a place for rap music - it’s too great a city not to - but finding the right club is a little trickier.»
Champion Sound #11: Feat. Exclusive Friendzone mix
If you didn’t notice already, hip hop has gotten weird. The sound of rap in 2013 is no longer shaped by baggy-jeaned Dre and Premier worshippers mining their parents funk and soul records, but is being made by kids who grew up on the internet, bombarded by a broad spectrum of culture. That isn’t meant to in any way to discredit hip hop production of the past thirty years, only to acknowledge that it’s an exciting time to be a rap fan. At the moment it feels like anything is possible, as new sounds are created with increasing frequency and old styles are revived from new perspectives.»
A$AP Rocky - LongLiveA$AP
LongLiveA$AP is a hollow, characterless listen from a young artist who we still know next to nothing about.»
Champion Sound #10: feat. Rolling Hip Hop’s best of 2012
It's time again for us to look back over a year's worth of music - meaning, for me, it's time to think of some way to make sense of a year's worth of rap records. In some regards, trying to round up a year in hip hop is even harder than in other genres. The division between chart-friendly, club-ready singles and wordy, underground writtens can sometimes feel like you're dealing with different types of music entirely. How exactly should we compare the dense, poetic ramblings of say - Aesop Rock, with the synthetic energy of somebody like Future or Gunplay? Yet all these things have their place, and hip hop without one or the other would feel sorely lacking.»
Champion Sound #9
With this edition of Champion Sound we’ve mixed it up a little, taking a look at Ice T’s recently released hip hop doc The Art of Rap, while also rounding up some of our favourite videos of the past two months. »
Champion Sound #8: feat Aesop Rock
This edition of Champion Sound features Ian Bavitz, better known as Aesop Rock; an artist who has not only just released a rather brilliant new album, but also – in part – can be held responsible for this column’s existence. Having discovered hip hop through the back door, it’s difficult to overstate the influence that Aesop Rock records had on me in the early part of my hip hop education. »
Champion Sound #7
If this column had an official remit it would be to act as a filter, condensing the overwhelming world of hip hop mixtapes down into a useful bi-monthly guide. While there will seemingly never be a shortage of free rap music to talk about in this space, it sometimes feels like a shame not to cover the wealth of material being released by more traditional means. You remember, the kind of music exchanged for money? In shops? You’ll have to take my word for it.»
Nas - Life is Good
To pretend that Life is Good is flawless would be misleading, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable return to form. »
Hip hop vs hip hop: Why we must defend rap music from itself
‘Hip hop on trial’; this was the name given to a global debate that took place in London just two weeks ago, the third in a series of discussions hosted by Intelligence Squared in association with Google+. A panel of expert speakers were assembled at the Barbican Centre and around the world via video links, from Q-Tip and KRS-One to Benjamin Zephaniah and Jesse Jackson, with the intention of going back and forth over the motion “Hip Hop Doesn’t Enhance Society, It Degrades It”.»
DOOM, Madlib, Freddie Gibbs, J Rocc + more set for exclusive London show
DOOM, the artist formerly known as MF DOOM, is one of modern music’s great mysteries. According to one rumour emerging from a recent issue of Q Magazine (of all places), the masked emcee/producer has been living amongst us since 2010, relocating to South London where he’s been working on his forthcoming collaborative album with Jneiro Jarel. He’s also supposed to be, among other things, working alongside Madlib on a sequel to rap classic Madvillainy, as well as putting the finishing touches to other full length collaborations with Ghostface Killah and Masta Ace. »
Soundcloud and future thinking - DiS meets Forss
For all the endless discussion about the future of music in the digital age, we’ve so far seen very little in terms of innovation in musical form. Of course there’s no simple answer to that, but it’s surprising to me that more people haven’t deviated from standard release formats and challenged the way in which we engage with music. One person who shares this view is Eric Wahlforss, co-founder of Soundcloud and the man behind electronic music moniker Forss.»
Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
Whether or not Regina Spektor has her own masterpiece left in her it's hard to say, but it’s good to have her around.»
Champion Sound #6: feat Killer Mike
Like many others I’m sure, I first became aware of Killer Mike through OutKast’s 2001 single ‘The Whole World’. The song’s video was played a lot on music television that year, but that didn’t stop me coming home from school and flipping through channels until I found it. I had no idea who Killer Mike was back then, but just sharing the screen with OutKast made him a total hero in my thirteen year-old eyes and ears.»
Torus - Torus
It’s to hear a new artist not looking to stamp their mark on whatever minute variation of house or dubstep is in vogue, but forge their own path and produce something of its own.»
Champion Sound #5: feat. Big K.R.I.T.
The year’s first Champion Sound column picks up pretty much where it left off before Christmas, with Big K.R.I.T., whose ReturnOf4eva was my favorite rap release of 2011. K.R.I.T. was also featured in the first ever edition of this column last June, so it’s a pleasure to bring things full circle by catching up with the Mississippi rapper/producer about a busy year ahead. With the release of 4eva N A Day just weeks away, there’s another free project to look forward to very soon, followed by K.R.I.T.’s long-awaited major label debut on Def Jam this summer. »
Champion Sound #4: Artists Review 2011
I’m sure you’re all pretty sick of end-of-year lists by now, having been inundated with the things for the last month. I personally have a sort of love/hate relationship with 'list season', but in the spirit of things I thought I’d attempt to make sense of the year in hip hop. Rather than forcing only my own critical opinions down your throats, though, I’ve opened the column out to some of the artists that have made hip hop so exciting in 2011.»
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (Deluxe Edition)
It’s comforting to know that whatever The Smashing Pumpkins look and sound like in the present day, Gish will still exist as a time capsule remaining in pristine condition.»
Ghostface Killah, DOOM at Roundhouse, London, South East England, Sat 05 Nov
Untapped potential and wonky computer graphics from this heavyweight hip-hop doubleheader.»
Champion Sound #3: Feat. Paul White
Since the last Champion Sound there has been a lot of great mixtapes released, making the selection of what to include here all the more difficult. Not featured here are good to great tapes from the likes of Young L, Maffew Ragazino and Odd Future’s Domo Genesis, as well as one of the finest releases of the year in the form of Main Attrakionz’s 808s and Dark Grapes II. Such is the output of those guys that I’d probably be writing about them in every column if I didn’t purposely exclude them, but rest assured there’s some great stuff in their place.»
Emika - Emika
Emika’s successful merging of techno and dubstep can only be credited to her great understanding and enthusiasm for both.»