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Weekly updates


Queens, NYC native Homeboy Sandman released First of a Living Breed (his first full-length album) not long ago through Stones Throw. His intentions were stated all across the front cover, “Six rap songs dealing with content no one has ever rapped about before in the history of rap music. Unfortunately not a difficult thing to do.” Elaborating on this idea, Homeboy Sandman has released an excellent and thought-provoking article on the state of hip-hop for the Huffington Post. Here’s a taste of what he has to say:

“I love going into schools and talking with kids. Before making music I taught high school full time. Ironically, students pay infinitely more attention now that I’m a rapper. Class always begins the same way. “What is hip hop? When you think about hip hop, what comes to mind?” I’m good at asking in a tone that suggests I’m curious to hear what their answers are, but I could write them all up on the board without calling on a single student. “Money!” The class murmurs in agreement. “Cars. Clothes. Jewellery. Watches.” I suggest that that kind of falls under the money umbrella. They agree. “The streets.” I play dumb to flush this answer out. “What do you mean the streets? Do you mean like, concrete? Driving directions?” They laugh, then correct me. “No. Street stuff. Ghetto stuff. Drugs. Crime. Shooting people.”

He makes some fascinatingly valid points and the whole article makes for a great read. See the whole thing here.