Mar 17th, 2010 · Tell Me More takes a look at the Irish-American hip-hop group House of Pain in commemoration of St. Patrick's Day. Lead man Everlast looks back at the enduring nature of their hit "Jump Around" and what it meant to break out as an Irish-American hip-hop group in the early 1990s.
Mar 11th, 2010 · A producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove helped set up a sting at a hip sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. The restaurant and the chef have been charged with serving illegal and endangered whale meat.
Mar 9th, 2010 · Her eyes half-closed, Minneapolis MC Dessa flowed through the rhymes from her new album, A Badly Broken Code, at KEXP. Her hands moved with the rhythm, and her voice was pitch-perfect.
Mar 8th, 2010 · Illmatic, Nas' 1994 paean to and from New York's Queensbridge projects, is considered by many to be the pinnacle of hip-hop. So it'd be an understatement to say that the Huntsville, Ala., duo G-Side was sticking its neck out when it decided to remake the emotional centerpiece of that album, "The World Is Yours."
Mar 1st, 2010 · The latest album by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and comic-book artist Jamie Hewlett is yet another well-crafted and dance-friendly set of songs. With a large cast of guest musicians, Albarn and Hewlett showcase a genre-bending mashup of glitchy club beats and hip-hop grooves. Hear Plastic Beach in its entirety a week before its release.
Feb 24th, 2010 · The fifth-grade MCs in 3 Titans aren't exactly baby Jay-Zs, as far as flow is concerned, but there's charming cleverness to their ode to the importance of higher education. You'd have to have a cold, cynical heart not to be at least slightly moved by Khalil Jackson, Jorden Plaines and Dallas Ifill's optimism.
Feb 18th, 2010 · An expert at blending musical genres, Citizen Cope (a.k.a. Clarence Greenwood) tells stories with music while incorporating hip-hop beats, quiet piano melodies, a hint of pop and more than a hint of blues. Hear Greenwood's brand of self-styled "urban poetry," live in concert from WXPN in Philadelphia.
Feb 12th, 2010 · Siegel, a singer, is one quarter of the jazz supergroup The Manhattan Transfer. Throughout the 30 years she's spent with that musical institution, she's also released her own recordings featuring hip, seductive arrangements of standards, as well as newer works. Here, she visits Piano Jazz along with pianist and accordion player Gil Goldstein.