Philadelphia musician Matt Pond sings about the topics sensitive souls usually write about in their poetry chapbooks: walking through forests and river streams, suffering through emotional talks, and straining for physical contact. This is a good thing, though, as he and his band, as evinced on the recently released Emblems,…

Every culture needs a mentor to thrive. For the much-maligned world of independent hip-hop, MF Doom is a beloved father figure, an eccentric who briefly thrived in the early Nineties rap world as a member of KMD, before the duo was banished for featuring a Sambo cartoon in a noose…

Russell Simmons and William “Upski” Wimsatt couldn’t be more different. As the cofounder and principal force behind Def Jam, one of the most recognizable brands in the music industry, the 45-year-old Simmons is part businessman, part celebrity; the Village Voice recently called him “president-for-life of hip-hop America.” The 31-year-old Wimsatt…

It seemed only yesterday that Friendster (www.friendster.com) was the destination for young, hip Americans to build their own personalized Websites and participate in a worldwide online network. But Friendster is so, like, two years ago. These days everyone is heading over to MySpace (www.myspace.com). Since the Los Angeles-based portal launched…

When Genius/GZA, Inspectah Deck, and Masta Killa pass the mike between them on “Silverback,” one of the best cuts on Masta Killa’s No Said Date, lyrically working themselves into a frenzy, it just sounds right. It makes you feel as if it’s 1995 all over again, back when Wu-Tang Clan…

Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets is an appropriate title for Trick Daddy’s sixth album; it’s not only a nod to the Miami thug’s recent marriage, but to the album’s focus on love and sex. On “4 Eva,” Trick pledges, “I have never been a man with manners/But I think…

There’s plenty of hip-hop in Miami; unfortunately, only the thugged-out big dogs get any shine. That leaves little room for thoughtful artists such as Seven Star, whose debut My Mother and Father Were Astronauts has gotten more attention among discerning listeners around the country than in his hometown. Well, rap…

Has anyone noticed that Space tends to book the same superstar DJs over and over again? To be honest, we’re getting sick of a few of them (Paul Van Dyk again?), but others are always welcome. Sander Kleinenberg, for his part, has one of the most beguiling styles of the…

Fridays, Amika and Privilege With so many hip-hop DJs angling for stardom in the ultracompetitive South Beach nightlife scene, you’ve got to be a hustler. L-Smooth knows how to keep it moving: He often appears on Mun2’s video program The Roof, helps Melissa Giles organize the Soulfrito Urban Latin Music…

Jacki-O’s debut album, Poe Little Rich Girl, is finally seeing release after her former label, Warner Bros., temporarily shelved it back in February. Now signed to TVT, Jacki-O and her Poe Boy production team have retooled the album, adding key collaborations with rap stars such as Ghostface Killah, and sharpening…

How’s this for a lineup: Easy Star All-Stars, progenitors of the infamous “Dub Side of the Moon” interpretation of Pink Floyd’s classic album; Bunny from rave stars Rabbit in the Moon; the bizarre cover band Mini Kiss; hard house veteran Junior Sanchez; one-time rapper Princess Superstar and Alexander Technique, the…

For the past year, resident DJs Danny Bled, Ben Matrix, Miss K, along with emcees Duchess, Nico, and Mad have brought national and regional spinners to Lounge 16, that much-underrated incubator of underground culture, for a weekly celebration of drum and bass called Infrastructure. If not for them, you would…

Much like Amp Fiddler’s Waltz of a Ghetto Fly, Plantlife’s The Return of Jack Splash is the amoeboid representation of modern funk: ritualistic and improvised. The Return of Jack Splash is a series of riffs cut into nineteen tracks, with the L.A. band’s lead singer Jack Splash and backup singers…

The warehouse belonging to Not Just Hype sits at the edge of Little Haiti on NE 59th Street. Leo Beletsky, who helped found the hip-hop political group, noted that they only procured the warehouse a few weeks ago, thanks to his own money and some key donations. Now, this modest…

Over the past two decades, David Byrne has delved into all styles of music, from the straightforward pop of Uh-Oh and the salsa of Rei Momo to the instrumental world beat of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and the stately Grown Backwards. But it is his work with…

Although the media tries to ignore it, hard rock (or emo, or rap metal, or whatever you want to call it) rules the heartland, selling out arenas while hip-hoppers struggle to fill seats with massive package tours. In South Florida, radio station 94.9 ZETA (WZTA-FM) is the rallying point for…

As a solo conceptualist who once led The Fugees, Jean has produced a fascinating catalog of recordings for a slowly decreasing audience more enchanted with crunk-and-thug bleats than smart pop/R&B. Released on his new imprint, Sak Pasé, Welcome to Haiti Creole 101 further displays Jean’s knack for drawing connections among…

As a soloist in a post-Anti-Pop Consortium career, Beans has attracted mixed reviews from listeners fearful of a lone, enigmatic artist voicing wily and esoteric raps with no one else to distort the static. A true auteur, Beans shuns forced collaborations, and he doesn’t seem to mind the hermetic claustrophobia…

TV on the Radio’s utter distinctiveness has driven critics to scrounge for adjectives and pronouns. The vocal harmonies of Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe have been compared to everything from the Beach Boys and Peter Gabriel to gospel music. But lead singer Adebimpe denies having any religious aspirations beyond “the…

There aren’t many golden age rap heroes left, but The Beastie Boys still command a high profile, thanks to a multimedia vision that both updates and outstrips their early incarnation as drunken suburbanites. So what if their new album, To The Five Boroughs, is a disappointing rehash of past glories?…

In contrast to the dark, murky, percussive house that dominates the Miami dance scene, Q-Burns Abstract Message, who splits his time between Orlando (where he runs Eighth Dimension Records) and San Francisco, makes soulfully sunny house beats that are perfect for an afternoon party. A new compilation of remixes, Future…

In keeping with her reputation as the queen of electro breaks, DJ Baby Anne’s Mixtress starts off noisily with Jimmy Rhodes’s “Go,” a cantankerous blend of feedback, whirling sirens, and a Chuck D. loop. For the first twenty minutes of her mix CD, Baby Anne continues to weave in and…