Oliver Wang
Oliver Wang is an culture writer, scholar, and DJ based in Los Angeles. He's the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area and a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach. He's the creator of the audioblog soul-sides.com and co-host of the album appreciation podcast, Heat Rocks.
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The iconic group's early music releasing online at last comes with a renewed interest in its career arc. Take a guided tour through one of the most distinguished runs in hip-hop history. -
Trugoy brought skill and care-free charisma to De La Soul's innovative music, which helped to usher in a new age of hip-hop. After years of legal disputes, that music will soon be available again. -
Raucous, outspoken and empowered, Davis, who died last week at 77, always knew what she wanted her music to be — raw — and she took control of her career in an era when few Black women could. -
Valerie June has just released a new LP called The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers. The album foregrounds her distinctive voice and mixes reassurance with a yearning for engagement.
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In 1968, the British singer flew to the U.S. after signing with Atlantic Records. Her acclaimed recordings from this period are collected in Dusty Springfield: The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971. -
These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back. -
Already a veteran by the time she was out of her teens, the early career of Betty Wright, who died Sunday, produced many R&B hits, including a pair of songs that would become career signatures. -
Rampart Records documented L.A.'s Eastside Sound during a fertile period of interracial collaboration from the 1960s through the early 1990s. Now, some of that music has been reissued.
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Hip hop duo Gang Starr broke up in the mid-2000s and in 2010, MC Guru died. So fans were surprised by the announcement of a new, posthumous album called One Of The Best Yet.
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There are moments of inspired magic on West's gospel-flavored ninth album, and moments that sound ill-considered and slapped together. Those extremes feel like the story of his recent career.
