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(04/07/05 4:00am)
Bump is the only eatery at which I have ever experienced a brunch with a bass line. This lounge and restaurant, which serves as Philly's best attempt to do Chelsea, or, heck, anything New York, is a see-and-be-seen hotspot on a prominent Gayborhood corner. Yet just like the remixed house music thumping from its speakers, or the pomade-chiseled hair of many of the patrons on any given day of the week, Bump's brunch is highly stylized, just with not enough substance to match.
(09/23/04 4:00am)
What does jazz really mean to people? For the average college student, jazz is the music we all know we should dig but can't quite get our heads around. In small doses, like trumpet strains in hip hop songs, jazz makes total sense; but when standing on its own, it becomes a different story.
(10/02/03 4:00am)
It's a little past 5 p.m., and Houston Market is starting to fill up with a dinner crowd. Chris, a Penn graduate student, is dressed in a button-down blue collared shirt, baggy jeans and a worn-in Adidas baseball cap. Behind this, though, he hides a part of himself -- Chris is biologically a woman. Regardless of what sex he was born as, being female has never been an option for the 26 year old. "For those kinds of people that I'm more intimate with, I'm just me. I'm Chris, I'm male, and that's it." And while those closest to him know his secret, he still thinks about being able to be more open. "I would be a lot more comfortable just living my life the way I want to live it and to not have all these questions around me... you can't keep switching back and fourth."
(05/29/03 4:00am)
Where the hell is my Fugees CD? Somehow, in the midst of the final exam frenzy, I seemed to have misplaced a musical masterpiece. The Score, the 1996 release from the East Coast trio consisting of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras, is not only one of the most acclaimed and high selling hip-hop discs of all time -- boasting sales of over 17 million copies worldwide-- but it also holds the worthy distinction of being the only CD I have ever dreamed about before buying. That's right, back in 7th grade I lost sleep over waiting to purchase the CD, and now I'm losing sleep trying to find it.
(01/31/03 5:00am)
In less than 12 hours, The Roots will release their newest CD, Phrenology, to retail stores -- and there is still much work to be done. An abundance of promotional gruntwork and media-blitzing wait ahead for the band and its label, MCA. But Brian Atkins sits comfortably in his Northern Liberties office, hesitant to reveal any personal apprehensions. "Everything is happening so quick you don't want to get caught up," says Atkins. "I don't want to lose focus."
As the Host of Okayplayer.com -- the official website of The Roots and several other Neo-Soul artists -- Atkins is readying himself for the release of Phrenology with quasi-composure. "The album has been done for a few months now, so we've been able to sit back and prepare for its launch. We're excited for them in the office but it's not up to us anymore."
Even though Okayplayer is a Roots subsidiary, at the moment the staff has more than Phrenology on their brains. Besides maintaining the official homepages for almost a dozen artists, including D'Angelo, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Jaguar Wright, their present docket includes promoting and designing new websites for Talib Kweli's Quality -- which dropped only a week before -- and Common's Electric Circus, which is due out a week later.
"Three things at one time?" gripes Atkins as he slouches in his seat. "We're kind of spreading ourselves thin. But at the same time we're excited 'cause the time has come for each of these artists, so we try to dedicate as much time, energy and care that we can into each of those projects that they deserve."
Additionally, Okayplayer has just relocated their offices to a bigger space across the hall. "Now we have windows," jokes Atkins, proud of their recent expansion. With the industrial aesthetic and freshly painted walls of their new offices, Okayplayer continues to lay the groundwork for hip hop culture on the internet.
In the late 1990's, live hip hop collective The Roots helped trademark the Philly Neo-Soul movement, a musical backlash against commercialized art. It infused soul music with the so-called 'conscious' spirit of the hip hop generation, while igniting the careers of artists like Jill Scott and Musiq. It also ironically helped the Roots garner their first radio-friendly track "You Got Me," which also won the 1999 Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Group or Duo.
At the same juncture, Okayplayer -- a versatile exclamation of Philly slang in of itself -- was spawned to give this musically conscious style an equally aware web destination for its followers. "Okayplayer didn't start as marketing tool, we started as a web community," says Atkins, a West Philadelphia native who came to Okayplayer shortly after the site went online in 1999. After graduating from Howard University with a degree in Film Production and a minor in Business, Atkins received a computer as a graduation gift, enabling him access to the internet.
"Online, I met the girl who was starting this thing called Okayplayer.com with 'the guy with the afro from the Roots,' " gesturing his hands matter of factly. The girl was Penn graduate Angela Nissel (SAS '98). The creator and first webmaster of the site, Nissel, is currently a writer for the NBC show Scrubs, and originally contracted Atkins for work on Okayplayer because she needed someone to help her upload video footage. "She had a performance of the Roots and I just had to stick in some titles. Three months later she was like, 'Do you want a job making money for what you always wanted to do? And working for the Roots?'" Atkins playfully recalls.
Working for the guy with the afro -- known regularly as Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, prominent drummer for the Roots -- meant helping to cultivate the official online sanctuary for Roots fans. But the mission soon changed, and the reach of the site expanded to cover other like-minded artists. As Thompson told the staff at TechTV's Audiofile last year, "The idea was to turn [Okayplayer] into more of an online hip-hop mall where other artists could buy stores."
This concept was welcomed by the staff and the performers alike -- and definitely by fans. Where most musician's sites are cold and detached, Okayplayer veers itself entirely from this convention. "Nobody has access to the artists like we do," Atkins acknowledges. Project Manager Dan Petruzzi adds, "Being around the Roots, we've learned exactly what the artists need to get out of their websites." With that level of contact, Okayplayer has become a highly intimate site amongst scores of anonymous cyberspace locales.
Perusers of the site can find the official homepages of the ten "Okayartists," as well as an ever changing line up of outside musical offerings in their "Featured Artist" and "Now Hear This!" sections. In the past, albums by spoken word poet Ursula Rucker and guitarist Cody Chesnutt have been introduced on the site. The artists are actively involved in the design of their homepages, which feature diaries or guestbooks to improve communicate with their fans.
Along with the artists' sites, there are chat rooms, bulletin boards, streaming audio and video offerings, daily news updates, and Aaron McGruder's comic The Boondocks. One of Okayplayer's strong suits also comes from their refusal to use pop up and banner ads. "There will be times when we steer Okayplayer to be the way we want," Atkins says. "But it won't be too far off the realm of hip hop and just having fun."
Unquestionably, the three-man staff -- consitisting of Atkins, Petruzzi and Head Designer Wreckk -- are indeed creators. While not as storied as the musicians whose sites they maintain, the trio are artists in of themselves, sculptors of one of the most unique entertainment websites on the internet. "We seem to have the formula," recognizes Atkins."We're cutting edge in that we are what's current and what's next." Petruzzi adds, "It takes dedication, 'cause this shit is hard."But for all of their toil, the music community is taking notice.
"In this era of Hip Hop where 'money, ho's, cars, and guns' dominate the media, Okayplayer is an electronic antidote," says James Peterson, current media coordinator for the Harvard Hip Hop Archive and doctoral candidate within Penn's English department. "If you consider some of the artists that Okayplayer chooses to promote then you will understand why it is Hip Hop Culture's saving grace."
The staff has also received accolades for their creativity, winning several local nods for their work. At the Online Hip Hop Awards, Okayplayer was honored for Best New Website in 2000 and for Best Overall Website in 2001. They also hosted a national Okayplayer tour in the fall of 1999 featuring the Roots, and plan to follow it up with a higher-profile sequel early this year. As Atkins glances at one of his Online Hip Hop Award trophies tucked away in his bookcase, he boasts, "We deserve a couple more."
(10/18/02 4:00am)
Underground hip-hop has left the building. The genre's two biggest independent labels, Def Jux and Rhymesayers, have both embarked on respective fall U.S. tours to promote their latest releases and newest artists. There is no doubt that mainstream hip-hop has continuously dominated the billboard charts and MTV's airwaves, but the underground movement maintains a steady following and many critically acclaimed acts to boot -- minus the major label support. While these independent labels allow artists an unusual amount of business and artistic control, running these labels successfully is never easy work.
(09/23/02 4:00am)
Mr. Lif is one of the most talented and outspoken MCs in hip-hop's underground. Known for his ridiculous rhymes and commanding stage presence, the Boston MC has just released his first solo LP, I Phantom, on Def Jux Records. He also put out his controversial 9/11 commentary "Home of the Brave" single last spring. Street caught up with Mr. Lif while on tour with DJ Shadow this summer.
(07/25/02 4:00am)
Finding the right time to say goodbye is a hard thing to do. Many hold onto what worked in the past for way too long, and end up making fools of themselves when it's all over. But try telling this to movie studios set on releasing utterly disappointing sequels. Second, third, and (gasp) fourth installments of a usually worthwhile original movie is enough to make any movie lover get upset. These unnecessary follow-ups drag viewers through recycled themes and regurgitated jokes, leaving much to be desired. But alas, escaping this black hole of poor cinema, is International Man of Mystery Austin Powers, who returns for a third go at crimefighting with Goldmember.
(07/18/02 4:00am)
Disc jockey
(06/27/02 4:00am)
Is it possible to be a major label artist and also stay true to the craft? Walking the slippery slopes of authenticity, musicians are often forced to make the choice between careers of anonymous artistic freedom or soul-less commercial success. But for West Coast underground hip hop starlets Blackalicious, the struggle to maintain true artistry while being signed to a major label (MCA) seems effortless. With their first attempt at the national market Blazing Arrow (sequel to their independent hit Nia) not only do they reach the surface of a countless sea of hip hop acts, but breathe fresh air into the artform as a whole.
(06/06/02 4:00am)
On the pages of a comic book or up on movie screens, superheroes live double lives. They possess talents and powers beyond normal human capabilities. Whether admired or despised, they have closely watched and highly scrutinized public personas. Yet, they also are shrouded in mystery, walking the fine line between anonymity and notoriety. They live behind a mask or cape, usually to hide their traumatic and conflicted pasts. But, as seen in the recent film hit Spiderman, being a superhero is paradoxically both a gift and a curse.