It’s been a while since I’ve posted on any current matters so I thought I’d put together a little roundup of recent published work. In December, I had the opportunity to interview Mariah Carey for Time Out New York’s “Hot Seat” section. Mariah is from around my way in L.I., and we really hit it off. Here’s the version of our interview that ran in the magazine. I’m thinking of posting the full text of our conversation, though, because it was so entertaining from beginning to end. That girl is funny. Let me know if you’d be interested in reading that.

TONY also recently asked me to put together a walking tour of the South Bronx for their current issue, which you can read here.

I’ve recently started contributing to the Washington Post (good looking out, Chris Richards). You can read the first two pieces I’ve done for them, reviews of the new Clipse and RJD2 albums, here and here. I’ve got some much bigger things in the works with them as well…

I’m now blogging about reggae and other Caribbean matters at Large Up, a new site my homey Dave a.k.a. DJ Gravy and Martei Korley have started in partnership with Okayplayer.. Here are a few recent posts.

Also: follow me on Twitter @JesseSerwer

While speaking to former Too Poetic DJ Freddie “Kaos” Cox recently, he let it slip that there was an unreleased album the group had submitted to Tommy Boy in 1989. Long story short, I’ve been sitting on the interview for the past month and a half waiting on the LP, called Droppin’ Signal, to reach my inbox. Here it is for the first time on the Internet or anywhere outside of Wyandanch and Tom Silverman’s file cabinet: stream all 14 tracks off the lost album, produced by Too Poetic and Nate Tinsley, below.

A word about Too Poetic: before founding the Gravediggaz with Prince Paul, Frukwan and Rza, rapper Anthony “Poetic” Berkeley, a.k.a. Grym Reaper, was a member of this Wyandanch trio, with dueling DJs Kaos and Woody Wood. The group’s lone release was the 1989 Tommy Boy single featuring the house-y “Poetical Terror” on the A-side, and the better known “God Makes Me Funky,” co-produced by the late Paul C., on the flip. In this interview, Fred/Kaos recalls the history of this short-lived but memorable group, and his late partner Poetic, who died of colon cancer in 2001. Read the rest of this entry »

Known for the 1990 Zakia Records fast-rap gem, “Massive Material/Run For Cover,” Bolaji Barber recently re-emerged with a new album project called The Vinyls on his own Hotstyle Music label. I recently caught up with the North Babylon native over the phone from his new hometown of Orlando and, it turns out, he never really left rap behind. Read the rest of this entry »

Only the first one gets a pic this time

DJ QUIK AND KURUPT—BlaQKout (Mad Science)
This was the year of the “temporary” rap duo, as declining record sales and other factors led everyone from EDO.G and Masta Ace to Buckshot and KRS-One to pool their resources into one-off collaborative albums. BlaQKout was easily the most revelatory of these releases, a decidedly un-gangsta, throw-everything-in-the-kitchen-sink type party album that works from start to finish. Kurupt sounded reinvigorated in his role as hype man and pinch hitter while Quik continued to quietly elevate his production and mic game, almost 20 years in. Read the rest of this entry »

I wasn’t planning on writing a “Best Of” list this year, seeing as no one asked me to (What’s up with that?) Fine, I’ve never been all that interested in these things anyway. But as I’ve read list after list these past few weeks, I noticed that few of the albums that impressed me this year were being acknowledged by other folks. Since I don’t get to write about other music styles as much as I get to write about rap, I thought I’d throw together a list of my favorite albums without any rapping on them. I’m not saying these are the best records of the year, in this order: they’re just the ones I listened to and enjoyed on a regular basis. I wouldn’t want to altogether leave hip-hop out of the discussion so I’ll be back with a shorter, all-rap list shortly. (Click on album titles to stream music)

HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE—S/T (Honest Jon’s)

Hypnotic, the world’s best post-hip-hop family brass band, has had a number of full-length, slim-case CDs for sale for years, but, until now, they’d never made a proper album. Recorded in several days for Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s label (Hypnotic are said to be featured musicians on Albarn’s next Gorillaz LP), this 11-song LP finally captures the majesty of their remarkable live performances on record. With the group having reportedly put their street performance career to bed, it’s a much-needed document. Read the rest of this entry »