March 9 is a day the hip hop world stops and remembers the life and legacy of Christopher Wallace, known to the world as The Notorious B.I.G. For years, Ernie Paniccioli helped document the growth of hip hop as it rose from a new genre in music, to the world’s biggest phenomenon. His photos through the years showcase legends such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy, DMX, Foxy Brown, Lil’ Kim, Nas, Jay-Z, 2Pac, and the list goes on.
The Mask of Doom
I first heard the rapper Daniel Dumile (pronounced doom-ee-lay) when I was fourteen and hip-hop was just beginning to bloom. The music was not so much “CNN for black people,” as Chuck D would later dub it, as a lingua franca. I came up awkward in West Baltimore—a tall black boy with no jumper, no gear, and no game. But my mastery of the arcane verses of X-Clan, my sense that the decoupling of EPMD was an irreparable tragedy, and my abiding hatred of Vanilla Ice ushered me into the scowling ranks of my generation.
Disco King Mario
By 1971, Disco King Mario was an eminent DJ in the Bronx.He was known for his superior sound system and his love for combining music and a good time. Mario came up during the era where you had to be tough enough to bring your equipment out, because of how prevalent gangs and violence were in the Bronx in the early 70s. But the Disco King was respected all over, from neighborhood mothers to the grimiest gangsters. He is a major part of the creation of Hip Hop.
From Basquiat to ‘Black Panther’
“Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation,” a brilliant exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, reveals the centrality of visual art to hip-hop’s thrilling beginnings. The show prompts fresh consideration of the origins of hip-hop and the “post-graffiti” movement, which saw the street artists who had transformed New York’s urban landscape adapt their work for display in high-end galleries, as well as in music videos and fashion.
Una rima contro il sistema
Prima di George Floyd c’erano Rayshard Brooks e Breonna Taylor, e poi Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, Freddie Grey, Tamir Rice, Mike Brown. Le pratiche violente…
Un corto animato su Rosa Parks
L’impegno di Rosa Parks nella lotta per i diritti civili degli afroamericani non si limitò allo storico gesto dell’autobus, quando la donna si rifiutò di…
How Nina Simone Became Hip Hop’s “Secret Weapon”
In 1996, the Fugees burst on the scene with “Ready or Not,” and most listeners were not ready: for the ominous, eclectic, Caribbean-inflected production, the…
From a Bronx Party to a Global Force
Many, many people with an internet connection, including yours truly, spent a fair amount of time on 11 August 2017 entranced by a Google Doodle.…
The story of the funky drummer:
“Give the drummer some”, said the voice of funk soul pioneer James Brown as it rang out above his band on the 1967 recording…
A History of American Protest Music
On June 12, 1963, in the early morning after president John F. Kennedy’s Civil Rights address, activist Medgar Evers was shot in the back as…