Most Popular
-
The Talk of the Green Iguana
Will American voters elect the first gay vice president in November?
-
The She-Zebra
Will Erin Meehan be the first female ref in the NFL?
-
Are We There Yet?
Jeez, can we just embrace the electric car already?
-
Guitar Zero
Maybe the next generation won't even play instruments. Clapton and Hendrix? So passé.
-
Accidental Hit Man
Sure, Paul Brandreth talks like a wiseguy. But is he a cold-blooded killer?
-
Your Mom Thinks He’s Hot (6)
-
Man-Child in the Promised Land (5)
Pop star Sean Kingston hopes the party's just begun
-
The Talk of the Green Iguana (4)
Will American voters elect the first gay vice president in November?
-
Guitar Zero (2)
Maybe the next generation won't even play instruments. Clapton and Hendrix? So passé.
-
Shooting the Moon (2)
Aim high or aim low, you're bound to hit something, even if it's the sleep button
-
Cheat Sheet to Langerado
-
Licensed to Chill
How the Beasties went from hip-hop pranksters to musical renaissance men
-
Paul Potts
-
Not Your Father's N Word
Eight months after its "burial," the world's most dangerous epithet is more popular than ever in hip-hop
-
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
-
Check Out Black Journalists Association Workshop
02:25PM 03/11/08 -
Plantation Police: Slain Lawyer Wasn't Sexually Assaulted
09:27AM 03/11/08 -
Sun-Sentinel Monkey Business
05:32PM 03/10/08 -
Rick Ross "Speedin" With a New Album
02:39PM 03/11/08 -
Tuesday Morning Music Fix: Del the Funky Homosapien, Cajun Dance Party, Elbow and more
11:19AM 03/11/08 -
R.E.M. Disappoints at Langerado
07:33PM 03/10/08
What we are writing about
- Anoushka Shankar and...
- anything goes here
- B-Side Players
- BankAtlantic Center
- Black Guayaba
- Body/Antibody
- Cate Blanchett
- Deerfield Beach
- FLIFF
- Guillermo Trujillo:...
- his landscapes feel...
- Kid Rock
- Marcus Carl Franklin
- Maroon 5
- Natalie Cole
- National Collage Society
- No World for Tomorrow
- October 11 through...
- October 19 at the Rose...
- Q&A
- Rio de Janeiro
- Sharon Jones and the...
- The Afromotive
- The Cribs
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Top DVD picks
- Transformers
- Various artists
- will.i.am
- Written and directed...
Recent Articles By Andrew Marcus
-
The Thermals
The Body, the Blood, the Machine (Sub Pop)
-
New York Dolls
One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (Roadrunner)
-
Goo Goo Dolls
Let Love In (Warner Bros.)
-
Stephin Merritt
Showtunes (Nonesuch)
-
Belle & Sebastian
The Life Pursuit (Matador)
National Features
-
Houston Press
"It Was Like an Armageddon Movie"
For days after Hurricane Rita, a Texas prison was hell on earth.
By Chris Vogel -
SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
Soul Position
Things Go Better with RJ and AL (Rhymesayers)
By Andrew Marcus
Published: April 27, 2006
Subject(s): Soul Position
Here's an MC boast so frank, it's hilarious: "In this corner, the undisputed champs of hip-hop — RJD2 on the beats, Blueprint on the rhymes—versus everything that sucks about music in the opposite corner." But it's no joke: Soul Position's second LP is a stone classic. It's not just that Blueprint is so damned sharp, conversational, and in the pocket, though RJD2's honest funk confections could be trampled by a lesser MC. In Blueprint's hands, the brassy coke-spoon disco of "Priceless" makes an ironic backdrop for a message of lifestyle humility: "I got a '92 MPV, my radiator leaks, but at least it's mine," he raps. "You got a brand-new Range Rover, but it's rented, so you gotta have it back Monday morning at 9." With skeptical observations of human nature ("got some free love and ended up in the free clinic"), "I'm Free" is about 40 I.Q. points smarter than the two famous rock songs by the same name. By the time you get to the second-to-last track, "Drugs, Sex, Alcohol, Rock-n-roll," the album's cautionary tone does sound preachy. But if Things Go Better with RJ and AL isn't the hip-hop album of the year, it'll be one hell of a year.
