Decade’s Best Playlist: Francesco
Motive would like to introduce you to a series of “Decade’s best” playlists that our editors have carefully picked for you to enjoy. Ten tracks, one per year, to take you through the best of each year’s trends and sounds. Here is Francesco’s: I won’t lie it took me...
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Women in Hip-Hop: Past, Present and Future
Hip-Hop is mostly dominated by men if compared to other music genres. While women have gravitated more towards R&B, there are still some great A-Force MCs that have been overlooked. It was 1988 when MC Lyte released her album 'Lyte as a Rock', making her the first...
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The rise of Asian beatboxing
In this age of on-tap digital snares, hi-hats and practically any other instrument or sample you can think of, the same need to lay down a boxed beat that existed during hip-hop’s early years has been all but lost. But whilst generally being one of hip-hop’s most...
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10 of the most influential British rap artists
Hip-hop came across the pond to the UK in 1979 when The Sugarhill Gang went to number three with ‘Rappers Delight’. Hip-hop also seeped into the country through national and pirate radio stations as well as vinyl imports from independent record labels. Initially,...
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Asian music label 88rising is changing people’s perception of the Orient
Graphics: Harrison Renshaw From Hip-Hop to R’n’B, artists from all over Asia are proudly making music in their language and America is loving it It was 2016 when Sean Miyashiro, an Asian-American entrepreneur of Japanese-Korean descent, would drive to the top of a car...
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‘Fuck the Police’ – The Law v Hip-Hop
The culture of hip-hop came from the rubble of poverty and some perceived it as being that of gang culture. Conflict with the police was inevitable, but was it a result of the ‘violent’ nature of the lyrics or because of the controversial voice against existing...
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Rating Lils by their Lil-ness
Ever since Lil Wayne trailblazed the ‘Lil’ moniker during his noughties peak, rappers far and wide have descended from their SoundCloud pedestals to join the now unstoppably large ‘Lil’ franchise. For many, they think all you need is a name: grab a random noun with...
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Hungary for Hip Hop
One of our editors, Paul, travelled to Hungary for the love of Hip-Hop. Here's his recap. Budapest is the land of cheap beers and underground hip hop. With a Soproni in hand, I went to the party city to listen to the country's best freestylers, as well as Wu Tang’s...
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Lo-fi hip-hop is what might help you survive these wild times
If punk music made you believe in rejecting the system, lo-fi hip-hop helped you cope with it. Here’s what you need to know about the internet sub-genre that’s shaping the millennial generation. Unlike older generations who grew up and possibly settled down before...
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Denzel Curry announces new album “ZUU”
[Featured image: Julian Cousins] Florida rapper Denzel Curry has announced his new album ZUU will drop May 31st, less than a year after his triple act album project, Ta13oo. Although its release was hinted at the end of the video for his first single RICKY, which came...
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