Why do Boston hip-hop artists raise their pinky, ring, and middle fingers to make “three stripes” in photos?
SIX SHOT: ALL-STAR CREW WRITES NEW CHAPTER IN LONG HISTORY OF HEALING HUB THROUGH HIP-HOP
“Our movement is awareness. We’re talking for the people who you aren’t going to hear elsewhere.”
JEFF TALK: THE FABULIST MIRACLE OF REV. BROWN’S TED SERMON
Image via TED Talks Any preacher worth his salt can deliver a sermon that evokes a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s an old practice, the “preacher embellishment,” which is often achieved through anecdotal stories, with the preacher as the hero and central figure who overcomes obstacles. The moral: If you work as hard and pray […]
TWICE THOU THEN & NOW: THE BOSTON RAP ICON RETURNS YET AGAIN
While a lot of MCs from the ’90s and early 2000s try in vain to chase trends set by rappers half their age, Twice Thou avoids this pitfall. He’s mature, and instead reflects on hard lessons learned while sticking to the formula he’s had for two decades …
WHEN THE MOB RAN RAP MUSIC IN BOSTON: TDS MOB WAS THE HUB’S FIRST HUGE HIP-HOP HOPE …
I interviewed Kool Gee the day after he rocked Wally’s. At his request, we met at the place where the TDS Mob story begins—the stoop of the old Tower Records on the corner of Newbury Street and Mass Ave. From there, he took me back to 1989, when TDS ran the calendar with a year of rap perfection.
LAWTOWN’S FINEST: THE LYRICAL RISE AND TRAGIC DEATH OF MASS RAP LEGEND SCIENTIFIK
“He was gone before his time … People didn’t really get to experience his full potential like we did … He was right on the cusp of doing some even bigger stuff musically [that] could have been commercially successful.”
THE UNTOLD STORIES OF HUB HIP-HOP
Like so much history about communities of color, the narrative of Boston hip-hop has been largely buried, ignored, forgotten. Thankfully, there remain innumerable artists, writers, fans, and even academics who, in the storytelling tradition rap music is rooted in, have kept dope alive via marvelous multimedia tributes. This whole package is dedicated to them.
LAWTOWN’S FINEST: THE LYRICAL RISE AND TRAGIC DEATH OF MASS RAP LEGEND SCIENTIFIK
“He was gone before his time … People didn’t really get to experience his full potential like we did … He was right on the cusp of doing some even bigger stuff musically [that] could have been commercially successful.”
WHEN THE MOB RAN RAP MUSIC IN BOSTON: TDS MOB WAS THE HUB’S FIRST HUGE HIP-HOP HOPE …
I interviewed Kool Gee the day after he rocked Wally’s. At his request, we met at the place where the TDS Mob story begins—the stoop of the old Tower Records on the corner of Newbury Street and Mass Ave. From there, he took me back to 1989, when TDS ran the calendar with a year of rap perfection.
