Jay-Z’s 1999 Album ‘Vol. 3’ Is His Most Aggressive
In Jay-Z’s Vol. 3… Life & Times of S. Carter, the ever-undeterred MC sounds anything but as he fulminates on one end and tightens his durag on the other.
Features
Features, interviews, and commentary about popular culture related topics, including music, film, TV, books, games, and more.
Gorillaz at 25 Are a Cultural Force for the Good
Assuming personal stability is necessary for collective betterment, it’s high time that Gorillaz share their newest, loving, bizarre journey with the rest of the world.
Alice Coltrane: Conjurer of the Majestic
Andy Beta’s Alice Coltrane biography, Cosmic Music, is an excellent work about this forward-thinking and often misunderstood musician.
Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart Is All Covered Up on New Record
Born from a cover-song subscription model, Xiu Xiu’s latest album unearths the raw humanity in pop confections. Jamie Stewart discusses this and more.
How ‘Aguirre’ and ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ Defy the Wrath of the Green Inferno
Herzog’s Aguirre and Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust present the Amazon as a space of destruction, survival, and moral reckoning. Both approaches raise ethical questions.
Teuvo Tulio’s Martyrs for Love and Cinema
Finnish director Teuvo Tulio’s films go so far over the top that sometimes you wouldn’t think the actors could breathe up there.
The Queer Comfort of Liminal Space
Recognizing ourselves within liminal spaces suggests that the self is liminal, fluid, and shifting; contradictory, and resistant to classification.
Mariachi El Bronx Suit Up Again After a Decade Away
While the idea of hard-core gringo rockers Mariachi El Bronx covering the hyper-emotional Mexican genre might seem like a goof, the musicians dove in and took it seriously.
Al Stewart’s “Time Passages” Completes His “Year of the Cat”
Folk-pop-rock singer Al Stewart scored a career-boosting hit with 1976’s “Year of the Cat” and continued the momentum with “Time Passages”.
Ichi the Killer’s Scar Couture
Ichi the Killer transcends gangster archetypes, becoming a model of how agony can be elevated to art and self-destruction a powerful form of self-expression.
10 Writers Remaking African Literature in 2026
The writers demanding our attention in 2026 interrogate power, dissect masculinity, and insist on joy in their works of satire, sorcery, and secrets from Africa and the Diaspora.
Massive Attack’s ‘Blue Lines’ Changed Everything
Massive Attack provided the first truly viable British response to the then-rising—and stubbornly indigenous—sensibilities of American hip-hop culture.