JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates MC Lyte’s 55th birthday.
Tag: hip-hop
New Video: Danger Mouse and Black Thought Team Up with Rag’n’Bone Man on Cinematic and Soulful “Up”
Danger Mouse (born Brian Burton) is arguably one of the most versatile and prolific artists and producers in music right now: As an artist he has been one-half of Broken Bells and Grammy Award-winning Gnarls Barkley. As a producer, he has recorded collaborative albums with Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Karen O and the late, legendary MF DOOM. And he has worked with Adele, U2, The Black Keys, Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Kiwanuka, Parquet Courts and a lengthy list of others.
Black Thought (born Tariq Trotter) is a co-founder and frontman of Grammy Award winning, pioneering hip-hop act The Roots. Trotter is also an accomplished solo artist who has released a critically applauded album and two EPs: 2020’s Streams of Thought Vol. 3: Cane & Able and 2018’s Streams of Thought Vol. 1 EP and Streams of Thought Vol. 2 EP, which helped further his reputation among the cognoscenti — and real hip hop heads — as one of the dopest living emcees to ever spit bars. Adding to a lengthy list of accolades and accomplishments, Trotter has acted in film and theater, along with having writing and producer credits.
The duo’s acclaimed collaborative album, 2022’s Cheat Codes simultaneously marked Danger Mouse’s first hip-hop album since 2005’s DANGERDOOM with the legendary and beloved MF DOOM and the follow=up to Black Thought’s solo trilogy Streams of Thought. But their collaboration can actually be traced back almost 20 years earlier: Trotter and Burton first met back in 2005. They started working on material — but time went on, life happened, other projects and obligations came up.
Following 2004’s acclaimed The Grey Album, Burton became one of the most in-demand and prolific producers of the day, helming several commercially and critically successful projects, which led to a bevy of accolades and awards. He also developed collaborations with a unique and eclectic array of artists while expanding upon and honing his own musicianship, production and writing.
During that same period of time, The Roots released a batch of critically applauded albums and became the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon then The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Trotter released his aforementioned, critically applauded solo trilogy Streams of Thought. He collaborated with the likes of Eminem, John Legend, Pusha T., Griselda, and a list of others. He wrote, composed and starred in the widely-praised off-Broadway show Black No More. And adding to a lengthy list of accomplishments, he co-produced a TV series with his Roots bandmate Questlove.
Each mistakenly thought that the other had moved on and their collaboration just died, but as it turned out, neither one never stopped wanting to work together. Burton had long felt an instinctive need to return to his roots and make a timeless hip-hop album. He knew that Trotter was one of the few emcees truly capable of fulfilling that vision. Simultaneously, Trotter was seeking a space, where he could express himself musically and creatively beyond the confines and structures of his own band.
This time, Burton was a far more seasoned songwriter and producer, Trotter an even more extraordinary emcee. So, setting aside all distractions, Burton played Trotter some new music he had had. The ideas and words quickly flowed — and the experience was liberating.
Meticulously built over a period of several years, Cheat Codes found Burton pushing widescreen, soul-infused hip-hop soundscapes to new directions paired with Trotter’s commanding presence, incisive lyricism and dexterous wordplay. Unlike the typical producer-meets-rapper/side project, Cheat Codes is an effort between two like-minded collaborators, who raise each other’s games to new heights. The album also featured an equally acclaimed cast of guests including A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, MF DOOM, Michael Kiwanuka, Joey Bada$$, Russ, Raekwon, and Conway the Machine. Simply put, dope emcees plus dope producer equals legendary album.
Danger Mouse and Black Thought recently shared “Up (with Rag’n’Bone Man),” their first bit of new material together since Cheat Codes — and a preview of their forthcoming, highly-anticipated sophomore album together. Written and performed by Danger Mouse, Black Thought and British artist Rag’n’Bone Man (drums and vocals), whose song “Human” has amassed over 2 billion views on YouTube, “Up” features a broodingly cinematic production with clattering and percussive boom bap serving as a lush bed for Black Thought’s intense and fiery yet deeply introspective lyrics and the rising British artist’s mournful, gospel-meets-soul like hook.
Directed by Joshua Ellingson, the accompanying video for “Up” continues the Cheat Codes visual aesthetic: screens upon screens, stock footage that seemingly evokes the desperate urgency of our moment and the three collaborators.
Throwback: Happy 52nd Birthday, Black Thought!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The Roots frontman and co-founder Black Thought’s 52nd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 45th Birthday, T.I.!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates T.I.’s 45th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 57th Birthday, David Jolicouer, a.k.a. Dave, A.K.A. Trugoy the Dove, a.k.a. Plug Two
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 57th anniversary of the birth of De La Soul co-founder David Jolicoeur.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, GZA!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates GZA’s 59th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Nate Dogg!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 56th anniversary of the birth of Nate Dogg.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Kelvin Mercer, A.K.A. Posdnous, a.k.a. Plug One!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates De La Soul’s Kelvin Mercer’s 56th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 52nd Birthday, Hip-Hop!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 52nd anniversary of the creation of hip-hop.
Throwback: Happy Belated 66th Birthday, Kurtis Blow!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Kurtis Blow’s 66th birthday.
New Video: Sol ChYld Teams Up with Kaicrewsade on Soulful and Lived In “Travel Size”
Camden, NJ-based emcee Sol ChYld exploded into the national scene with 2023’s Something Came To Me, which featured the viral single “NBC.” Since then, the Camden-based artist has been busy: She toured with Erick the Architect, premiered a new song “PSA” in a n attention-grabbing COLORS Session and shared the “On the Radar,” freestyle, which helped bolster a growing profile.
Sol Child’s highly-anticipated third album REBIRTH. Theory is slated for a September 26, 2025 release through MNRK Music Group. The 10-track album reportedly sees the New Jersey-based artist at the peak of her powers as a lyricist and curator, collaborating with DRAM, Kaicrewsade, Kingsley Ibeneche and Eric Scott — all while eschewing the use of samples. The Dissect Podcast once compared to her to a young Kendrick Lamar, but REBIRTH. Theory sees her continuing in a more neo-soul leaning tradition of earnest, deeply felt lyricism and creativity of the likes of Eyrkah Badu, André 3000, Lauryn Hill and others.
REBIRTH. Theory‘s latest single “Travel Size,” features a vibey, neo-soul-tinged jazz groove-driven arrangement with skittering beats that serve as a lush and soulful bed for Sol ChYld and Chicago-based emceee and community organizer Kaicrewsade to spit the sort of conscious, deeply lived-in bars that would remind folks of Common, Black Thought, Mos Def and the like.
Directed by frequent collaborator Wayne Campbell, the accompanying video is a gorgeously shot and vivid visual shot in and around Camden and nearby Philadelphia.
New Video: Kassa Overall Shares a Coltrane-like Take on Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)”
Kassa Overall is an acclaimed Seattle-born and-based Grammy-nominated, Doris Duke Artist Award-winning, jazz drummer, emcee, vocalist and producer, who as a child drum prodigy taught himself to make beats on an MPC and ASR 10 he acquired at a Seattle Police Department auction. Over the course of his 20+ year career, Overall has firmly cemented a unique sound that sees him seamlessly blending jazz, hip-hop and avant-garde experimentation across six, critically applauded mixtapes and albums that actively pushed genre boundaries while being engaging and accessible.
His last effort, 2023’s ANIMALS explored the complexities of his identity as an artist and as a Black man in America, while featuring collaborations with an eclectic array of artists including Danny Brown, Lil B, Vijay Iyer and JOVM mainstay Nick Hakim.
Adding to a growing profile as a sought-after collaborator and one of contemporary jazz’s most exciting artists, Overall has toured and recorded with Geri Allen, Jon Batiste, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Terri Lynne Carrington and Gary Bartz. His production work can be heard on albums by the likes of Theo Croker, Arlo Lindsay and Danny Brown among others.
The acclaimed Seattle-born artist’s fourth album CREAM is slated for a September 12, 2025 release — both digitally and on vinyl — through Warp Records. The album reportedly sees Overall paying homage to the twin passions of his youth — hip-hop and jazz drums in the tradition of Elvin Jones. The eight-song album sees the acclaimed musician and producer transforming beloved, hip-hop classics by The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets and Juvenile into rhythmically adventurous, witty and sublime jazz-inspired standards.
“This album is almost a boomerang response to all my previous work. No edits, no overdubs no samples or drum machine,” Overall says. “Just a great group of musicians playing together. It just so happens that the compositional material we are drawing from is rap records I grew up on!”
Last month, I wrote about CREAM‘s first single, a breakneck 15/4 Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie-era bop-like arrangement of Digable Planets’ 1992 smash-hit “Rebirth of Slick,” that manages to pull out and restore the swing of the original sample, Art Blakey‘s “Stretching.”
CREAM‘s latest single “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” is a Giant Steps/Love Supreme-era Coltrane-like arrangement based on the classic, beloved 1993 Wu-Tang anthem that manages to dissolve the long-held boundary between spiritual jazz and golden age hip-hop. Remade in a minor blues in 3/4 time, Overall’s take on the song manages to pair spiritual jazz’s deep and thoughtful soulfulness and golden era hip-hop swagger in a way that’s hypnotic and remarkably cinematic.
“Their whole energy was an alternative to the get-the-money-shiny-suit mentality. For me, the original ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ was a commentary on ‘Get Money,’” Overall says of his love of Wu-Tang. “It was realism. It pointed out everyone’s scrambling and striving to get ahead, but it also nodded at something beyond that. You could transcend and even control the material world through a higher divine nature.”
Overall sees the transcendent message of Wu-Tang Clan, John Coltrane’s spiritual pursuit of music, and his own praxis as fundamentally connected. “I heard stories of ‘Trane’s band playing in clubs with eight people and they would be playing like their life depended on it, driven by the spirit and purpose of the music,” said the Seattle-based drummer. “People see us as entertainers, trying to be seen, trying to get money, but we are also trying to get to some deeper work.”
Overall just finished a run of the European festival circuit. He’ll be embarking on a lengthy Fall 2025 tour, playing clubs and festivals across North America, Japan and Europe. The tour includes a two-night stand at the Jazz Gallery. The full list of dates are below. Tickets and more can be found on his website, here.
Kassa Overall Live Dates
July 2025
11th – Siligo – Sardinia, IT
12th – Gaeta Jazz Festival – IT
13th – North Sea Jazz Festival – NL
17th – Gretchen – Berlin, DE
18th – Bari Jazz Festival – IT
19th – WROsound – Wroclaw, PL
September 2025
3rd – Solar Myth – Philadelphia, PA, USA
4th – Mannys – State College, PA, USA
5th – Otis Mountain Get Down – Elizabethtown, NY, USA
6th – De La Luz – Holyoke, MA, USA
8th – The Falcon – Marlboro, NY, USA
9th – Cafe 939 – Boston, MA, USA
10th – Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club – Portsmouth, NH, USA
12th – Jazz Gallery – New York, NY, USA
13th – Jazz Gallery – New York, NY, USA
14th – Keystone Korner – Baltimore, MD, USA
16th – Snug Harbor – Charlotte, NC, USA
17th – Missy Lane’s – Durham, NC, USA
18th – Missy Lane’s – Durham, NC, USA
October 2025
8th – Blue Note Tokyo – Tokyo, JP ***NEW***
9th – Blue Note Tokyo – Tokyo, JP ***NEW***
10th – Blue Note Tokyo – Tokyo, JP ***NEW***
23rd – Minaret – Los Angeles, CA, USA
25th – Earshot – Seattle, WA, USA
31st – JazzKlub – Frankfurt, DE
November 2025
3rd – Lower Third – London, UK ***NEW***
6th – Mladi Ladi Jazz – Prague, CZ
8th – Rockit – Groningen, NL
Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Adam Yauch!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 61st anniversary of the birth of Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch.
