The new year is almost here, and with it comes a maelstrom of “End of the Year Lists.†Here on Ex-Spectator, I’ll be rolling out a few “End of the Yearâ€/â€End of the Decade†lists. Today’s list: The Best Albums of 2009. As I’ve mentioned previously, there are a lot of pitfalls for “best of†… [Read more…]
There’s something so familiar about Wale’s “TV in the Radio” that it didn’t strike me until just now, late in the evening when I should be fast asleep. Yes, the song is catchy as all else, but seems so grounded in a historical sense of hip-hop. Something fresh, yet something experienced. It hit me after … [Read more…]
I mentioned Wale as a saving grace in hip-hop when I critiqued the “death” of hip-hop. Well, tomorrow the D.C.-Metro area rapper will drop his official debut album, Attention Deficit. So, what’s the word on the album? The New York Times‘s Jon Pareles gave the album a pretty good once over, but closed out with … [Read more…]