A selection of pieces I’ve written for Mixcloud’s Campus — a hub for music creators from all walks of life. You’ll find resources, Mixcloud tutorials, case studies, and think-pieces on music-tech.
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Never Gonna Let You Go: Faith Evans Living in the Legacy of Her Marriage to Biggie /
Shaping Modern Reggeaton; Tainy is Inspiring the next generation of Creatives. /
Tainy is a creative in every sense of the word; a creative director and co-founder of his label NEON16, a Puerto Rican producer who's pioneered the sound of modern reggaeton, and a 29-year old artist working on his own album — a record that will be filled with sonic explorations from a man who's ceaselessly creating
Read MoreFluidity is Key for Lava La Rue. In their Life, As Well As In their Music. /
Lava La Rue is an anagram for her given-name Ava Laurel. Ava is a queer woman based in Ladbroke Grove, West London, who raps, sings, and creates music that's difficult to categorize. "In many ways, the whole purpose of my music is to defy the concept of a genre" asserts Lava. Still, she reluctantly acknowledges that some could describe her sound as psychedelic R&B. She's part of Nine8 Collective (the name is a play on the fact that they are nine people, born in 1998), members include rising start Biig Piig whom with Lava went to school.
Read MoreNathy Peluso Emanating Authenticity in her New Record Calambre /
There’s something about Nathy Peluso. The way she can lull you with her sophisticated melodies, ones like in Buenos Aires, but also scare you a little with her flow in hits like SANA SANA. Though Nathy’s sounds touch on r&b, hip hop, and Latin jazz—there’s no way to confine her.
Read MoreMariah The Scientist is All About Honesty /
Interviewed Mariah The Scientist for PREME Magazine, a monthly print magazine that shares exclusive interviews with artists and industry professionals
Read MoreFELUKAH: Cairo's female rapper inspiring a new wave of Egyptian women /
Originally published on Azeema Mag 01/28/20
For months, Egyptian hip-hop has been on the rise. Spotify’s new “Rap Egypt” playlist includes flourishing trap artists like Wegz and Marwan Pablo, but Felukah is the only woman in the rap-game and on the playlist.
Meet Asma Salem, the Muslim Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Fighter who wears a hijab. /
Salem began training in 2017 with the intention to compete and ultimately teach. Born in Egypt and raised in Kuwait, she moved to Brooklyn at the age of eight—the same age she chose to commit to her hijab. Today, the 24-year.old is a full-time medical student at New York Institute of Technology, College of Osteopathic Medicine on Long Island and a training fighter. She stands at 5 feet and 11 inches, weighs 180 pounds, making her one of the strongest fighters in Renzo’s new women’s class—and in the sport.
Read MoreHow Is Playlist Culture Affecting Our Listening Choices? A New York City Experiment /
Originally published in Flypaper 01/05/2019
I am a music blogger in New York City and I wanted to know whether my home crowd is likely to rely on my curatorial efforts to discover their next favorite artist or trusted sources beyond my control. So, I hung around Union Square for a day, and asked 25 people these three questions:
Read More6 Arabs who are quietly dominating the music industry /
Originally published on StepFeed 07/05/17
People are usually familiar with artists put to fame, however, only a few recognize the master-heads behind them. Drake, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, and more Hip Hop stars, had their careers launched by Arab producers who put their efforts and creativity into helping them become the international celebrities they are. Meet the behind-the-scene Arab producers and entrepreneurs who are giving you the mainstream music you love to dance to.
6 Genre-Bending Artists Fusing Jazz with Electronic Music /
Originally published on Flypaper Magazine 06/11/16
What is jazz to you? Is it the slightly irregular rhythms? The familiar sound of an upright bass? Or is it the freedom to interpret and improvise? Naturally, there is no single answer to this question. By its nature, jazz evades strict definition — especially when its influence is so enormous, and “what jazz was” has since transformed into hundreds of different styles and genres.
Read MoreBoerum Hill Residents Pushback Against an Incarceration Skyscraper /
Originally published in The Blueprint on Oct 17, 2019.
Talk of expanding The Brooklyn Detention Center (BDC) began around the same time that consensus was being reached about closing the Rikers jail-complex, Howard Kolins remembers.
At a city council subcommittee hearing last week, Kolins testified that doubling BDC’s size would be “a skyscraper to incarceration” — a monument to imprisonment that he called an insult to Brooklyn. Kolins, president of the Boerum Hill Association, had his reservations during Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to expand the jail and still does.
Read MoreMeet Lionmilk; Jazz Pianist, Producer & World-Builder /
Moki’s fourth album, Visions Of Paraíso drops today, on September 24th. Before this record, Moki was signed to Paxico Records but switched to Leaving Records after fellow beatmaker, Mndsgn, introduced him to Matthewdavid. The 18- track album will be the first of three upcoming collaborative albums between Lionmilk and Leaving Records. The lead singles have already dropped, listen to Arched Feet From Now On and Chuva de Verão here.
Read MoreAnderson .Paak & The Free Nationals @ MSG (05/31/19) /
This was my first show at Madison Square Garden; I tend to avoid such large venues but it was also Anderson .Paak’s first show at MSG and I simply HAD to witness it. Joining him on his ‘Best Teef in the Game’ tour was Earl Sweatshirt, who just released his third-studio album Some Rap Songs, and Thundercat.
Read MoreConcert Review: Kamaal Williams & Jitwam @ Le Poisson Rouge, nyc (03/09/17) /
Kamaal Wiliams’ (aka Henry Wu) reputation continues to be one of class, his show at Le Poisson Rouge on March 9th, 2019 strengthened that stature beyond doubt. After, releasing his album The Return and founding his own label Black Focus! (the same title as Yussef Kamaal’s famed debut album) Wu began embodying the continuation of Yussef Kamaal sound as a solo-artist. Knowing all this, I arrived at LPR beaming with excitement—I knew I was in for a treat.
Read MoreConcert Review: Kirk Knight at Rough Trade, Brooklyn. 02/01/2019 /
It was a strikingly cold January evening, and I had tickets to a show— reluctantly, still, I got ready to attend a Kirk Knight concert at Rough Trade in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. My resistance quickly faded as I stepped into a familiar venue where, of course, another Pro Era member Dessy Hinds was opening. A young Brooklyn rapper known for his hit Savior Dessy prepped the audience perfectly for the man I came to listen to, Kirk Knight.
Read MoreMeet Hasan Hujairi: An Experimental Arab Noise-Artist Navigating the World Through Sound /
Hujari is more than a musician—more than a researcher. To describe him with a single title would be small-minded and would fail to fully capture the true essence of who he is. Simply put, Hujairi is an experimental sound artist, oud player, write, and ethnomusicologist.
Ultraviolet, Kelly Moran: An Introduction & Album Review /
Ultraviolet follows her self-produced album Bloodroot, dropped in 2017, a record you’d expect from someone dubbed a ‘prepared-piano specialist’. While Bloodroot is intense and calculated, Ultraviolet is this free-flowing, emotive promenade through Kelly’s colorful mind.
Read MoreWhite Bronco: A Ranking of Songs from A Day-One Fan /
For those of you that have kept up with the blog, you know I’ve been anticipating White Bronco since Action Bronson announced its release date alongside the debut of its titular track. This is his first independent project since he left Atlantic Records, and I bet you he put a great deal of weight on this 26-minute project. He even designed the cover-art himself!
Read More6 Powerful Arab Hip-Hop Artists You Need to Hear /
Noor Kalouti— originally published on Flypaper 17/02/17
The Middle East is quite the hot topic of today’s dinner discussions regardless of whether they’re actually occurring at the dinner table, or on the news, in your Twitter feed, or being injected intravenously into your bloodstream. Everybody wants to share their opinion on the political situation halfway around the world. Rarely, if ever, do these conversations about the Middle East concern cultural subject matters like art and music. The citizens of this region are, like us, dealing with political catastrophes and devastating realities. And, like us, they really need art as an outlet to channel their frustrations.
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