Gregory Jerome is quick to clarify that he’s not a typical rapper — instead a positive, thought-provoking hip-hop artist. He also feels that may be why, since returning to Oklahoma City five years ago after a stint in Nashville, his music has been ignored by the mainstream. “It’s not trendy music,” Jerome said. “It’s just like […]
Hip Hop
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Taking the bus one stop too far
And especially when you’re rapper 2 Chainz, huddled on your post-concert bus with 10 others and possibly using narcotics after being pulled over by Oklahoma City police for a broken bus taillight. The rapper, real name Tauheed Epps, was arrested early morning Aug. 22 after an almost nine-hour standoff, multiple news sources reported. NewsOK reported […]
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Mack the strife
The latest manifestation of the Emerald City’s green-eyed monster came today courtesy hip-hopper and Seattle native Macklemore, aka Ben Haggerty. On Twitter, he expressed displeasure that his latest hit song with Ryan Lewis, “Can’t Hold Us,” has been used to energize Oklahoma City Thunder fans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. “OH HELL NO!” tweeted the […]
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Lil’ Wayne wants back in the ‘Peake
The oft-troubled rapper announced a slew of dates that includes an August 21 stint in Oklahoma City – a place in which he claimed he felt “unwelcome” and “unwanted.” In case you forgot, here’s a refresher: Wayne had requested courtside seats to an OKC Thunder-San Antonio Spurs playoff game last year but was denied entry […]
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ADD it up
ADDverse Effects, a new collective based out of Norman, offers something fresh to the growing hip-hop scene in Oklahoma. Drummer Boyd Littel came up with the idea after a last-second gig he played with vocalist Joshua “Fiji” Rehanek and a couple other musicians. With that show’s success, he recruited the current lineup, and the band […]
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Listen up
1. Parker Millsap and Michael RosePalisadeWhile it’s been another great year of quality Oklahoma releases, no one had quite the star-making performance that Millsap did with Palisade. The humble, 19-year-old Purcell native went from unknown to local favorite in less than half a year, thanks to his Tom Waits howl of a voice tearing through […]
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Lupe Fiasco — Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1
Despite the album’s title, Lupe’s new effort is far from patriotic. Throughout, he speaks critically of America and the country’s past and present actions, or lack of action. Problems he raps about include world hunger, violence, poverty, questionable military action, child molestation, racism and more. He criticizes politicians, religious officials and even other rappers. The […]
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G.O.O.D. Music — Cruel Summer
With outstanding talent like Kanye, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Common and Mos Def on the G.O.O.D. label, there’s no reason that Cruel Summer shouldn’t be near-perfect, but that is far from the case. Too much input from 2 Chainz and Big Sean — each of whom has his bright points, but often comes […]
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Privaledge — JoeWorld
Having listened to Priv’s first two projects, Itz a Privaledge and The Playbook, I could immediately tell from JoeWorld that he’s grown as an artist. He seems more mature and much more comfortable on each track. He is able to match his smooth, laid-back flow with each beat, regardless of the sound. His lyrical technique […]
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No joke
Rapping might have started off as a joke for Oklahoma City native Waylon Clark, who performs as Warrbuckss, but he’s gotten seriously good. “I started when I was young, just freestyling to make people laugh. I would DJ house parties and rap to instrumentals for fun,” Clark said. “About three years ago, I started taking […]