Unlike everyone’s favorite intergalactic MC, I am not bio-enhanced. And that means I must occasionally steal a day to focus on a single project, rather than multitasking as if I’d been blessed with multiple brains. Today is such a day, which means no meaningful Microkhaning ’til after the next sunrise. Apologies, and hope y’all understand. [...]
Entries Tagged as 'hip-hop'
The Way Back
August 16th, 2010 · No Comments
Back to world headquarters today, via the skies. Many thanks to the Grand Empress for the excellent packing job.
In Transit
August 10th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Nose and Grindstone
July 12th, 2010 · No Comments
As we pound away at day-job matters this afternoon, please take a moment to enjoy our favorite X-Clan track above. We’ve taken the liberty of fast-forwarding past the esoteric sermon that precedes the actual music. But if you’d like to learn more about the concept of, er, “white kryptonite,” by all means, please rewind.
The Sons of Gumby
May 25th, 2010 · No Comments
Our beloved WEFUNK just celebrated its 600th show in grand fashion, with sets dedicated to late ’60s soul, Clinton-era hip-hop, and the fine art of locking. Given the show’s Montreal base, they also couldn’t help but throw some north-of-the-border rap into the mix, including the gem above from DJ Format (whose British by birth) and [...]
Beyond Bulgarian Metal
May 19th, 2010 · 3 Comments
In discussing Bulgaria’s long and healthy tradition of heavy metal last week, we briefly lampooned the first act that popped up when we Googled “Bulgarian hip-hop”—a buffoonish rapper named Ustata. As fate would have it, a Bulgarian reader chimed in to gently upbraid us for highlighting her nation’s most embarrassingly awful MC: I’m amused that [...]
Angels With Dirty Faces
May 11th, 2010 · No Comments
We were gonna hit you with another Bulletproof Project entry this afternoon, but paying gigs and prior commitments have conspired against us. The next few hours are all about writing FOIA requests and researching an upcoming “Mr. Know-It-All” column for Wired, before we bolt downtown for an evening of industrial design, Pakistani food, and Cavs-Celtics. [...]
Representing the +95
May 5th, 2010 · No Comments
The sitter’s deathly ill and the Grand Empress is at JFK picking up a shipment of lacey undergarments (slightly NSFW), so Microkhan Jr. is our sole responsibility ’til his afternoon playdate. That means no time for words o’ wisdom this morning, an announcement we make with heavy hearts. Hope to get back to y’all once [...]
Once More Into the Maw
April 29th, 2010 · No Comments
Apologies, but gotta check out early today—we’re back on the WIRED beat, ironing out the kinks in our addiction yarn. Back in the a.m. with some more of the good stuff; in the meantime, hey, puppets and Madlib’s helium-throated alter ego.
Faking the Crates
April 27th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Hewing to that most time-honored of journalistic axioms—”Two equals trend”—we’d like to declare that we’re living in the era of the ersatz sample. Way back when, we were introduced to a whole host of R&B classics by reading the liner notes of various hip-hop albums. (We discussed, for example, how Dr. Dre led us into [...]
The Method of a Master (Cont’d)
April 14th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Something sorta major just came up, so we need to check out for the afternoon. Apologies, but fear not—we’ll be back strong tomorrow, bringing you nothing but the finest handpicked information. For now, though, please indulge our recent fascination with The RZA’s creative process by checking out this 1999 interview with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. As [...]
Tags:creativity·Ghost Dog·hip-hop·Jim Jarmusch·movies·music·RZA·Wu-Tang
The Method of a Master
April 14th, 2010 · 2 Comments
More downtown meetings this morning, so we’ll have to circle back to you in a few hours. In the meantime, please ponder some words of wisdom from one of Microkhan’s all-time favorite artists, The RZA. He shared the following insight with the great Stop Smiling back in 2006: RZA: I’m going to tell you a [...]
This Is How We Lost to the Robots
April 6th, 2010 · 4 Comments
The nexus between technology and music is obviously a topic of great interest ’round Microkhan headquarters, so we couldn’t have been any more delighted to receive a gratis copy of Dave Tompkins’ How to Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop a few weeks back. The book is everything a [...]
Tags:books·Dave Tompkins·hip-hop·How the Wreck a Nice Beach·Kraftwerk·music·technology·vocoder·World War II
“The Mortician Bangin’ Your Pistons…”
March 24th, 2010 · 5 Comments
Once again, thanks for your patience this week as we work through a host of deadlines. Makin’ good progress, so all should be clear starting Monday. This afternoon, though, as we grapple with a way of expressing our skepticism about fMRIs, please check out the ultra-rare Godfather Don cut above. The DJ Premier remix came [...]
As We Write
March 23rd, 2010 · 5 Comments
Once again, thanks for bearing with us this week, as we slog through three distinct deadlines that could well determine our clan’s ability to maintain its current existence. Promise this’ll all be behind us very soon, and we’ll celebrate by reviving our dormant First Contact series.
T Minus
March 8th, 2010 · No Comments
Mere hours to go ’til the Wired deadline, and we’re scrambling. Really scrambling. Haven’t cut it this close in ages, due to the sheer complexity of the material (which is heavy on neuroscience, psychology, and junkie horror stories). More Microkhan’ing as soon as we’re able; in the meantime, watch the above and keep the ailing [...]
Tags:Gang Starr·Guru·hip-hop·music·writing
Oh, My Aching Hands…
March 4th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Sad to report we’re struggling mightily with our current Wired opus. Can’t quite get the lede to sing, and we’re getting lost in the weeds on Section One—so much controversial history to pack into just a few hundred words. Plus we’ve got one last interview to nail down, without which this piece might never gel. [...]
Working the Lede
March 1st, 2010 · No Comments
By the time this post goes live, we’ll hopefully be halfway through the lede on our next Wired opus. Though given our lackluster writing speed these past few days, we’re starting to wonder if we’ll ever get through this beast. Seriously, few things are more discouraging than closing your laptop at day’s end and realizing [...]
Tags:hip-hop·housekeeping·MF Doom·music
The Hero of Tippecanoe
February 15th, 2010 · 4 Comments
On this President’s Day, we can think of no better way to celebrate our nation’s most exalted job than by recalling the wise, though incredibly logorrheic words of the starcrossed William Henry Harrison. As the American history nerds in the audience will recall, Harrison doomed himself to an early death by refusing to wear a [...]
Tags:Dan the Automator·Handsome Boy Modeling School·hip-hop·holidays·music·politics·President's Day·Prince Paul·William Henry Harrison
Rhymes for the Deluge
February 10th, 2010 · 1 Comment
A minor blizzard out here in Atlah today, and we’re using the weather as an excuse to steal some time for our Secret Major Project™. Back soon with all the information you know and love; in the meantime, please enjoy the decidedly NSFW cut above. Seriously, do not hit play if you’re in a Puritanical [...]
Tags:Atlah·hip-hop·Lord Finesse·music
A Third Trip Around the Sun Commences
February 8th, 2010 · No Comments
Today marks the second anniversary of Microkhan Jr.’s birth, an event that can only be appropriately honored with the De La Soul cut above. The kid sorta shares a name with the group’s DJ, plus we agree with the spoken sentiment at the song’s beginning—fatherhood makes up for a lot of day-to-day drudgery. Though, granted, [...]
Tags:De La Soul·hip-hop·music·parenting
Hand to the Throat
January 26th, 2010 · No Comments
Apologies, just a crazy day here in Atlah. Closing multiple stories and dealing with Microkhan Jr., all at once. May have to reach for a sip of hooch at lunch, just to keep the nerves on an even keel. Take the dreamy superstar collaboration above, and we’ll circle back to you either later today or [...]
“Superfly Snuka Jumping from the Turnbuckle”
January 19th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Looking to use some Amazon credit we scored over the holidays, we flirted with the idea of finally picking up an album that we’ve long coveted: Sean Price‘s ultra-rare Donkey Sean Jr. mixtape, which features the oft-remixed (and eternally amazing) “60 Bar Dash.” Lo and behold, however, we’re not the only folks with such ideas [...]
Tags:economics·hip-hop·music·Sean Price
Slow Daze
January 18th, 2010 · 8 Comments
Hopefully y’all are far away from the screen today, though we certainly know what it’s like to labor for a heartless boss who shrugs his shoulders at MLK Jr. Day. If you’re toiling for a paycheck today, please take a 2:42 respite to enjoy El Michaels Affair’s take on “C.R.E.A.M.” (above). Live version featuring Raekwon [...]
R.I.P. Teddy Bear
January 14th, 2010 · No Comments
This morning’s news that Teddy Pendergrass has passed on comes just months after we first started to discover his silky genius. For years, we considered Teddy Bear the epitome of old-person music, and rarely listened to the records of his that we’d somehow accumulated over the years. (When you’re a vinyl geek, you have a [...]
“You’re More False Than Dentures”
January 12th, 2010 · No Comments
We’re gonna use the khan’s prerogative to spend the rest of today on our ongoing Secret Major Project™. In our brief absence, please take a few seconds to check out Big Daddy Kane at his finest. While we may heartily disagree with his eschewment of escargot and the word “rendezvous,” we can scarcely deny that [...]
Tags:Big Daddy Kane·hip-hop·housekeeping·Michael Jackson·music
For the Grand Empress Who Has Everything
December 21st, 2009 · 3 Comments
Perhaps you think our khanic nature means that we’re firm believers in Tengriism, and thus won’t be sitting around the Christmas tree come Friday morning. But that’s not the case at all—while we do have a soft spot for Umay, we’re also big on the holiday spirit. Christmas will be roundly celebrated up here in [...]
Tags:Christmas·Genghis Khan·hip-hop·holidays·housekeeping·music·Y'all So Stupid
Thanks for Your Patience
December 17th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Our pressing Wired deadline hits in exactly four hours for now, so we’re scrambling. Thanks for putting up with our relative lack of thoughtlessness these past few days—we’ve had to dedicate the bulk of our mental bandwidth to Kenya-related matters, for the good of the whole Microkhan crew. As we lean for the finish-line tape, [...]
Swamped With Kenya
December 15th, 2009 · No Comments
Pressing Wired deadline, so we’re checking out for a spell. Enjoy the above in our absence; we’ll return as soon as we sort out these monster edits.
Tags:hip-hop·housekeeping·music
“Stimulate Your Brain Like a Game of Yahtzee”
December 3rd, 2009 · No Comments
We’re just absolute suckers for any song that shouts out both Paul Newman and Rick Cerone. A highly recommended gem from the same Diamond D album that gave us the classic “Sally Got a One-Track Mind”.
Tags:Diamond D·hip-hop·music·Rick Cerone
