Culture
The Whole City Was There: Three Nights of Jay-Z at Yankee Stadium
Reasonable Doubt turned 30. The Blueprint turned 25. Jay-Z played three nights in the Bronx and most of us watched from our phones. A dispatch from the outside, where the culture actually lives.
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Killing the Daisy: How De La Soul Refused to Be Anyone's Hippies
Three kids from Amityville got called hippies for an album that changed rap forever, killed the flower on purpose, and thirty-six years later are still doing it their way. The full De La Soul story.
From Shook Ones to Infinite: The Mobb Deep Story
Prodigy and Havoc made The Infamous in a Queensbridge bedroom, were dropped by two labels, signed to G-Unit, and outlasted every era they passed through.
Houston's Griot: How Scarface Made The Diary
In 1994, while New York owned the conversation, Scarface made the album that proved Southern rap could carry the full weight of human experience.
Paper Route: How Dolph Built His Own Empire
Young Dolph never left Memphis and never signed away his music. The story of Paper Route Empire and the independence that outlasted him.
Eli's Rotation
Every week, my 15-year-old son Eli picks the track that's got his generation talking. This is what's on repeat in the halls, the group chats, and the car rides home from school.
Pz'
Havana
Pz' floats. Havana, produced by rue.de.sevres, is all warm haze and low-slung drums, and Eli has not taken it out of rotation since it landed.
Last week: Joshua Raw - Blowing Steam
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Now in the Vault
Dillagence
Busta Rhymes
Mick Boogie handed Busta Rhymes a vault of unreleased J Dilla beats and got back the most important tribute the producer ever received. Rare, out of print, and streaming here. All 17 tracks in the archive.
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Rob Markman was in the building all three nights. His night one recap, the first of the series, is part of how those of us watching from outside pieced the weekend together.
Rob Markman — JAY-Z 30 Night One Recap