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On The Record

Jim Carroll

Music, Life and everything else

Hip-hop

Hats off to a second-hand single that’s far from shabby

Right now, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the brace of rappers from Seattle, are sitting pretty at the top of various charts worldwide with “Thrift Shop”. Thrift shop dudes Macklemore and Ryan Lewis We’ve heard plenty of hip-hop cuts with pop …

Lupe Fiasco vs Barack Obama

There are some interviews you don’t forget in a hurry and that was the case two years ago when I interviewed Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco. As the standfirst put it, he had a lot to say about his 360 deal, …

Kendrick Lamar, Dublin, January

This is going to make a lot of people very happy this morning: the awesome Kendrick Lamar, whose album “good kid, mAAd city” (five star review here) is one of the releases of 2012, plays Dublin’s Vicar Street on January …

Hip-hop culture’s changing of the guard

You’ll find my piece from today’s newspaper looking at hip-hop culture’s new voices, attitudes, narratives and musical style here. Includes big love for Frank Ocean, Angel Haze, Nicki Minaj, Le1f, Action Bronson and many more. The new guard: Frank Ocean …

Make A Move time in Limerick

Now this is what we call a festival. This weekend’s Make A Move festival of all things hip-hop kicks off tomorrow night in Limerick with a full schedule of live music, club nights, workshops, discussion panels, screenings and block parties …

The weird week of Tupac, Coachella and Pepper’s Ghost

Man of the week? That would Tupac Shakur – or rather, his 2D image. The highlight of last weekend’s Coachella festival in the Californian desert didn’t turn out to be Radiohead, David Guetta, Bon Iver or any of the other …

Irish TV’s take on homegrown hip-hop

To judge by the domestic TV schedules, Irish hip-hop is having a bit of a moment. A few weeks ago, the first edition of RTE’s new arts show The Works featured a short report on some of those involved in …

Dilla’s thrillas are his lasting legacy

It’s six years to the day that the producer born James Yancey and known to us as J Dilla died at the age of 32 from a rare blood disease. During his lifetime, he was one of the most prolific …