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Ray Barretto’s ‘Acid’: 50 Years Later
Psychedelia ruled 1968. Groups like Cream, Jefferson Airplane, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience were forging ahead with a fresh sound both trippy and heavy, bringing a subculture’s worth of style and...
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Sweet Sensation: How Hip-Hop and Salsa Birthed One of Freestyle’s Finest
The Bronx gave birth to hip-hop, revisionist rap historians be damned. The infamous 1971 Hoe Avenue meeting that resulted in a momentous truce between the disparate rival gangs broke down the...
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Perreo Ahora: Rosa Pistola, Tomasa Del Real, and the Legacy of Ivy Queen
The walk down Dyckman Street was electric with the buzzing promise of activity, a Saturday evening scene that alludes to the spirit of Manhattan’s upper reaches. A few blocks east of the Hudson River,...
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How Kid606 Turned His Heavy Metal Youth Into An Electronic Music Revolution
Above photo by Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images A recent article in the New York Times revealed a secret hidden in plain sight in communities all across America. In covering the underground heavy metal clubs...
View ArticleFrom Noreaga To N.O.R.E.
A few decades removed from the intramural beef known as the Bridge Wars, Queens remains one of the most hallowed places in rap history. Hip-hop legends hail from here, with Run-DMC, 50 Cent, and Nicki...
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Santería and Circuitry: The Electro World of Alpha 606
Photo by Vanessa Castillo Music proved a staple of Armando Martinez’s upbringing down in South Florida. On his mother’s side, he benefited from her all-encompassing love of Latin music, from the Cuban...
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Cypress Hill’s ‘Black Sunday’ Was Way Ahead of Its Time
Photo by Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images Back in 1993, cannabis had a bad rap. While America was well past the propagandized absurdities of Reefer Madness, politically and institutionally...
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Music with Purpose: The Revolutionary Legacy of Zack De La Rocha
Above photo by Iris Schneider/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Open up Twitter on your phone right now and, within seconds, something political will hit your screen. Whether addressing border...
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Before Supernatural, There Was Santana’s Inner Secrets
Few artists ever have the sort of career arc that Carlos Santana has. Alongside Bob Dylan and Neil Young, the iconic guitarist has thrived as a recording artist in the 21st century, a rare feat as most...
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