Hip-Hop

Charlie Bertsch / 22 Dec 2021

Hip-Hop Spring

Jolfa, by Alexie Ivanovich

People often speak of a need to express themselves in music. But few in the West contend with the difficulties that face Iranian hip-hop artist Alexie Ivanovich.(...)

Culture

Charlie Bertsch / 05 May 2021

When the Tough Get Softer

Solo Tutto, by Massimo Pericolo

Unlike so many of the records that fall under the rubric of rap these days, Massimo Pericolo’s Solo Tutto remembers what the term originally meant.(...)

Culture

Charlie Bertsch / 19 Aug 2020

England From Below

East Man’s Prole Art Threat

Because of its collaborative nature and broad range, East Man’s fine new album Prole Art Threat has the feel of an anthology.(...)

Culture

Raz Mesinai / 14 Aug 2020

Sonic Politics

Sound is Power

Black Lives Matter is a human rights movement. It’s about the discrimination that people of colour experience today, in democracies that supposedly guarantee equal rights.(...)

Politics

Joel Schalit / 17 Jun 2020

George Floyd in Germany

The America Problem

All of the signs were in English. For most Berliners, the language is so common, they take it for granted. Especially for a city in which a quarter of the population is international.(...)

Culture

Charlie Bertsch / 12 Jun 2020

As I stared up at the mountains I love, glowing a beautiful and terrifying orange, trying to suppress a cough that just kept coming, listening to the new Sleaford Mods collection All That Glue was surreal. (...)

It's about being frozen. Suburban Paris, from the train.

Culture

Charlie Bertsch / 22 Jan 2020

Banlieue Noir

The Suburbs of TripleGo

How you respond to the work of Paris rap duo TripleGo may well depend on your knowledge of the context that produced them. If you know it well, you will likely understand why they have received so much praise for the subdued, yet propulsive tracks on their two 2019 albums, MACHAKIL and Yeux Rouge (...)