“I didn’t cross over, I didn’t eat my integrity, but I didn’t get to put something out with just my name on it either.”
A MEAN TEAM: A SHORT HISTORY OF ‘THROWING THREES’
Why do Boston hip-hop artists raise their pinky, ring, and middle fingers to make “three stripes” in photos?
‘SHOW ‘EM WHATCHA GOT’ AT THE MASS HIP-HOP ROADSHOW
The scrapbook party rockers are asking heads in their network and whoever else is in possession of relevant goods to bring items to be digitally archived, so that all eras and elements of the culture can be represented and catalogued for future generations—for research purposes, sure, but primarily so that their contributions can be scanned in stone.
‘SEA OF GREEN’: THE MOVIE MASS RAP AND WEED FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, AND IN SOME CASES MAY ACTUALLY APPEAR IN
There are far too many cameos to mention, but hip-hop fans won’t be disappointed by the soundtrack or the Name Game you can play as subterranean legends surface in all scenes.
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.”
EXCLUSIVE BOSTON EXCERPT FROM BRIAN COLEMAN’S ‘CHECK THE TECHNIQUE 2’: ‘LIFE OF A KID IN THE GHETTO’ BY ED O.G
When I went about compiling my list of hopefuls for this next volume, Ed’s classic from 23 years ago was at the top of my list. And the more I analyzed it, as well as interviewed the people who helped make it happen, the more its classic status was confirmed to me.
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.
