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BEN WESTHOFF

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No advil, no booze

Sampling the Frozen Food Section
...Musing on science fiction, existentialism, and stalker ex-husbands.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | February 05, 2008

Three 6 Mafia’s adventures in acting
Memphis rappers Three 6 Mafia were trailblazers in the genre of crunk, a species of hip-hop characterized by big and ugly club beats and chanted semi-sensical choruses.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | February 04, 2008

Chingy

Hate It or Love It | Disturbing tha Peace
Chingy is the second-most-famous rapper from St. Louis, but he lacks Nelly’s je ne sais quoi and has never been much of an MC.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | February 05, 2008

Hi-Fidel and DJ Crucial

In the Company of Wolves | F5
In the Company of Wolves is world-weary art rap of the best kind, urging that if we’re all going down, let’s at least go down swinging.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | January 22, 2008

Let Kravitz rule

Interview: A love-in with Lenny
International retro heartthrob Lenny Kravitz returns to the fold this year with a new album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution .

By: BEN WESTHOFF | January 22, 2008

Talking trash

The loopy world of Lupe Fiasco
For a smart guy, Lupe Fiasco has an unusual propensity for spewing verbal garbage.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | January 14, 2008

Dan Deacon and Jimmy Joe Roche: Ultimate Reality

Carpark
Kind of like one long Rorschach test, Ultimate Reality is a collaboration between experimental music producer Dan Deacon and visual artist Jimmy Joe Roche.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 31, 2007

Too legit to quit

Wu-Tang Clan and Ghostface Killah
The early word on Wu-Tang Clan’s new 8 Diagrams is that it will rip the group apart at the seams.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 31, 2007

Ky-Mani Marley

Radio | Vox/AAO
It’s a little jarring to hear him dropping f-bombs and rapping about packing heat all over his fourth album

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 26, 2007

N.W.A.

Straight Outta Compton, 20th Anniversary Edition | Ruthless/Priority
Twenty years later, Straight Outta Compton holds up better than most of the East Coast albums released around the same time.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 17, 2007

From ’Ye to mixtapes

Hip-hop: 2007 in review
To get the full taste of where hip-hop is at, you also have to seek out the unofficial releases, the mixtapes, which often have a bigger impact than the official albums.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 17, 2007

Future rap

Saul Williams teams up with Trent Reznor
“Sometimes I find it very hard to be me,” Saul Williams raps on The Rise and Inevitable Liberation of NiggyTardust! ’s first track, “Black History Month.”

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 10, 2007

Shaggy

Intoxication | Big Yard/VP
Even though he’s sold some 20 million albums, labels have kept Shaggy on a short leash over the years.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 10, 2007

Eminem

Live from New York City | Eagle Vision
There was a time, not so long ago, when rapping about raping your mother and strangling people with candy bars was au courant .

By: BEN WESTHOFF | December 03, 2007

Staying alive

Little Brother fight for independence
More than KRS-One, more than Jay-Z, and more than Talib Kweli, Little Brother have become the embodiment of everything hip-hop purists think the genre should be.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | November 27, 2007

Amy Winehouse

I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London | Republic
Let’s hope it wasn’t Amy Winehouse’s last great show.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | November 27, 2007

Selling points

Jay-Z ties his fortunes to American Gangster
Jay-Z’s new album shares its title with the new Ridley Scott film about Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | November 14, 2007

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