I’m happy that past Icons find reasons to forge ahead and make new music. I say this despite the last two Smashing Pumpkins albums being examples of a band past it’s expiration date, and a falsely emotional Van Jones interviewing the legend that is Busta Rhymes. Don’t get me wrong either, Busta is a n Icon of extravagant proportions and The Pumpkins are courageously experimental. These last two Smashing Pumpkins albums, I liked them, a lot; and Busta’s album is a masterpiece. The problem is relevance and talent aren’t always linked. Musical icons now have a brand where music is almost an after thought, while in the past your craft and unique style defined you first. It would seem that for most of the big artist now, the trick is to prove how little you care about your art. Or I’m just old and angry that the music I love is dying to make room for something new. Either way I’m excited about these albums I just downloaded.

It is only right that we reflect on one of the greatest hip hop beefs of all time. These icons have competing projects schedules for the same release date and while they have a positive relationship now, it’s hard to forget that early 2000’s the fans had drawn a line in the sand so to speak. If only the music scene was still this exciting today.

I know they say that kids these days don’t get it, but this songs says something entirely different. Perhaps we’re witnessing the birth of a future truth teller.

No matter what people say this guy’s brand dominates what ever industry it’s attached to. You gotta respect that at least.

Dave Chappelle’s 8:46 allowed the rest of the world to feel some of the weight of wearing black skin in America. I could get preachy and tell some heavy stories about my youth. I won’t. Instead I’ll give you a short playlist of songs that were in constant rotation during my early twenties. Every word resonated heavily with a perception of the world hued by mistrust and social anxiety. I wish I could tell kids that it gets better. Instead I’ll just say it got tolerable.

      Noname has already responded and the dust has settled. J Cole missed the point, and posted something that re-enforced a patriarchal system that silences women, specifically black women. Well, that was the perspective that was immediately applied as fact. I’m just not wholly convinced. Was this song tone deaf, and a bit trivial at this current point in time? Yes. Misogynistic and dismissive of a woman who has given her time and energy to support a righteous cause? No. His criticism wasn’t because she was stepping out of the preexisting gender roles of women, it was simply because it’s hard to receive new knowledge when you’re being called an idiot in the classroom. Then again, I’ve never had the ego to be swayed from the truth because of how it was conveyed. Whether you think he was right or wrong, her response in Song 33 brings the raw truth- there are too many other things to be focused on in the community than to a battle song. He could have done like others on our short list of conscious rappers. Crickets.

The year was 2004 and we were just falling into the depths of the emo sound that would engulf all the sub genres of rock and roll, and I ended up with a promotional version of their self titled album. While it wasn’t their first album, to me it is arguably one of the best examples of Indy as a genre. The sound of Indy is an amalgam of all the currents of sound, and their new album takes me back to when I was 18 and truly exploring music for the first time. So much nostalgia. Even if you’ve never heard them before, this may make you a fan.

True culture is always in a state of evolution.