Opinions flew after the First Annual American Beatbox Championships in early August. HeaveN was robbed of a second round. B.Flow repped hard for Haiti, but did his vibrato cost him? Maximillian was the most versatile with an innovative cellphone schtick. FriScO‘s Optimus Prime style was on point, but was it enough to secure the win? ...
Baloji, a self-identified “Afropean”, born in the Congo and raised in a working class family in Belgium, drops his sophmore album titled “Kinshasa Succursale.” His debonair aesthetic and unique tonality compliment the afro-soul and rap he churns out. This album practically transports listeners to a lively Kinshasa club, like the one depicted in the video ...
This is the fourth blog entry in ‘Til the White Day is Done, a project by author and activist JLove Calderon. JLove can be considered an authority on the presence of racism, white privilege and persistent white supremacy in our society, and we think sharing her expertise in this space will create a great dialogue ...
Today the mighty Embassy MVMT launched “Something to Believe” a short film/music video from World Up favorite Blitz the Ambassador. In true Blitz fashion, this piece leads each viewer to nod his head, as well as use it. Directed by Terence Nance, the film addresses the detachment we all battle, when faced with the the ...
We were pumped to see Alexander Ospovich’s article, “Russian Rap Inspires a Movement” in WSJ’s Life and Style Section on July 24th. Ospovich points to the role of Russian hip hop today as a means of underground protest in a country where the Beatles and homegrown “guitar-strumming bards like Vladimir Vysotsky” helped spur Glastnost in ...
Cultivating their talents in the mist of San Francisco Bay, BlackMahal brings together myriad cultural influences to produce a truly unique sound. With traditional Indian classics blended into funk beats, this group takes hip hop to a whole new level. Percussionist and vocalist Lal Singh Bhatti is known in his homeland as the “Godfather” of ...
French, English, Portuguese and Spanish might sound like course offerings in your college’s language department, but they’re also mother tongues you can hear in the new track “Caramba” by Lou Piensa, one part of Montreal’s supergroup Nomadic Massive. This World Up favorite continues repping cross-cultural exchange through his music, as a solo act and in ...
We’ve been watching BLU for a while but this is by far the most fantastical and lengthy piece of street art ever. Wonderful!
On Saturday, July 10th, Brooklyn Bodega presented the 6th annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival and history was made on the main stage. De La Soul headlined with the same exuberance they’ve been bringing since they first started MCing as teens. CL Smooth and Keith Murray performed together for the first time in years, and Money ...
Last summer we brought them into our classroom at the Refugee Summer Academy to work with our students and teach them the new dance the “Jacky Jacky”. Our students ended up taking the song and remixing the lyrics, adding their own rhymes, which became an exercise in cross-cultural exploration as they combined all of their ...
