Kris Ex
NPR Music contributor.
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Delivered over a Brazilian jazz-funk sample, the Ethiopian-American rapper's quizzical style is Native Tongues-meets-Dr. Seuss, esoteric yet accessible
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The soul singer's musical gift to the families of police violence is a healing Christmas Spirit. -
African-Irish rap trio comes with a timely mix of immigrant emotions from a first-person perspective that's as personal as it political. -
A young Los Angeles rapper joins the storied tradition of great end-of-the-week, just-got-paid songs, with a quaint, warm jam full of small victories. -
With the notion of authorship dispatched as silly and inconsequential, the way has been paved for even greater corporate influence over hip-hop.
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When even the biggest stars in the world are relying on extramusical gimmicks to hype new albums, what's an unknown rapper supposed to do to get noticed? Maybe fake a profile in the paper of record? -
It's almost as if, on The Marshall Mathers LP 2, he's trying everything to be accepted and unacceptable, all at once. Yet his ability to be lyrically captivating through it all is astounding.
