Latest news with #Rapper'sDelight
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why the Evergreen Sound of New York City Hip Hop Will Always Stay True
You simply can't get a party started today without a ready dose of New York hip-hop. The pithy candor of Ice Spice promises an intense, caption-rich anthem. Cash Cobain pushes boundaries with his progressive, nocturnal ballads, and Joey Bada$$ keeps a myriad of international die-hards rocking to his witticisms. Game, bravado, and lyricism get the woofers shaking in a New York minute. What's to thank for this forever bash? Imagine the coolest birthday party: a summer soiree that supplies a phenomenal gift. When the folks at 1520 Sedgewick Ave, in the Western stretches of the Bronx, spent their loose subway fare to party in the first-floor rec room, no one knew they'd kickstart a cultural makeover. Never-ending drum fills pounded from speakers as tall as Dr. J. while an afroed youngster (MC Coke La Rock) enchanted the room with a volley of sure-shot zingers. It's August 11, 1973, and DJ Kool Herc channels the city's nettled energy with a medley of sounds—funk, soul, and Latin bongos—doubled up for maximum groove via two turntables. It was a necessary assault on the senses birthed from dead-zoned blocks filled with disillusioned youth. The sound gave voice to that generation, which hustled from the bricks with a world-sopping hunger. More from Rolling Stone Just the Start: Alex Warren's Real Climb to Hitmaker Status David Shaw and Tarriona 'Tank' Ball Bring the Heat to New Orleans' Musicians on Musicians Event Making Music and Memories in Myrtle Beach Grandmaster Caz, lead MC of the mighty Cold Crush Brothers, lived within walking distance from Sedgewick and couldn't escape chatter about Herc's innovative party. He got a rise from hearing breathless tales about grungy drums pulled from old records dominating the mood and couldn't wait to add his agile lyrics and rhymes to the mix. From his black-and-white composition books to an unforgettable 'Rapper's Delight' verse, Caz brought timeless New York swagger to the forefront. The music met the wordsmith. One of New York hip-hop's famous features in the Eighties were the scathing cadence honed in neighborhood battles where the competition was severe. Plus, the constant boom-bap of blaring ghetto blasters kept the youth on edge. The sounds—banged on various lunchroom tables in New York City high schools—made MCs revel in the dissident joy of being tough, smart-mouthed, and wordy in a town made for larger-than-life slick talkers. Before his galactic debut, Big Daddy Kane mastered his craft in a high school cafeteria, later graced by luminaries like Busta Rhymes. And on Follow the Leader, his infallible sophomore LP, Rakim kept heads nodding and speakers blowing, proclaiming that 'competition is none.' In 1987, the famous battle between Bronx sovereign KRS-One and Queens scrapper MC Shan produced some of rap's most unforgettable disses, anticipating today's timeline-commanding beefs between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. New York not only proved that diss records can be straight-up bangers but also showed how cockiness and competitive drive can keep hip-hop both fun and reviving. That spirit hasn't always prevailed in the Rotten Apple—as the Nineties flourished, platinum singles seemed more beneficial than poignant verses, even as Biggie and Jay-Z became household names. Bad Boy Records pumped out hit after saccharine hit, making New York appear trite and overly materialistic. Still, classics by Gang Starr, Mobb Deep, and Wu kept soulful production and innovative lyrics at the forefront, restoring that vital, faithful appeal. The Diplomats revitalized New York in the early 2000s with emblematic mixtapes conveying their humorous Harlem quirks. And in the 2010s, A$AP Mob blessed the city with a burst of woozy geniality, showing that anyone could tap into their new Gotham mood. Recent Grammy recipients Rapsody and Doechii devoutly display their NY-influenced bona fides. Meanwhile, local icons Nas, Billy Woods, and Ghostface Killah continue dropping heat, securing the Big Apple as an undeniable hot spot. Approximately 50 years in, amidst the concrete slabs and tenements, it feels like only the sky's the limit. { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 1, }, pmcCnx: { singleAutoPlay: 'auto' } } }, playerId: "ac5f547a-22e1-4877-8050-448c6e0f365c", mediaId: "ba4b409b-b58f-46fb-9144-d65e44f77333", }).render("connatix_player_ba4b409b-b58f-46fb-9144-d65e44f77333_3"); }); Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Boston Globe
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Angie Stone, hip-hop pioneer-turned-neo-soul singer, dies at 63
A prolific songwriter with a sultry alto voice, Ms. Stone specialized in songs that combined laid-back tempos with layered instrumentation and vocals. Advertisement "Angie Stone will stand proud alongside Lauryn Hill as a songwriter, producer and singer with all the props in place to become a grande dame of the R&B world in the next decade," Billboard magazine wrote in 1999. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Ms. Stone (left), performing "America the Beautiful" with Alicia Keys during the NBA All-Star game in Philadelphia in 2002. DAN LOH/Associated Press By then, Ms. Stone was an industry veteran — not only as a singer, but as a songwriter for, and collaborator with, some of her era's biggest acts. She first emerged as a member of the Sequence, which she formed in 1978 with Cheryl Cook and Gwendolyn Chisolm. It was the first female group signed to Sugar Hill Records, the label that put rap on the map with the single "Rapper's Delight" (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang. The trio lasted only a few years, but in that time, it released several seminal rap singles, including 'Funk You Up' (1979) and 1981′s 'Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off),' which have been sampled by Ice Cube, En Vogue, Dr. Dre, and other artists. Ms. Stone then spent more than a decade as a songwriter, backup singer, and band member for prominent acts such as Mary J. Blige, Lenny Kravitz, and D'Angelo. She was busy, and successful, but she found the anonymity of working behind the scenes frustrating. "I knew it wasn't my talent, because everybody wanted a piece of me for something," she told the Los Angeles Times in 2000. "After a while, I started to feel used. I thought, 'If I'm good enough to help Mary, and to do this and that, what is the problem?'" Advertisement Part of the issue was timing. Ms. Stone had been a member of two R&B acts — Vertical Hold and Devox — in the early 1990s, but their sound was considered out of sync with the mainstream. It was only after breakout hits by the likes of Hill and Badu later in the decade that Ms. Stone received the attention she thought she deserved. 'I really think that I was ahead of my time,' she told the Associated Press in 1999. 'My music caught up to time, or time caught up to my music.' Angela Laverne Brown was born Dec. 18, 1961, in Columbia, S.C. She started singing at an early age at her church, where her father, Bobby Williams, a lawyer's assistant, was part of a gospel quartet. Her mother, Iona (Brown) Williams, was a hospital technician. In 1979, Ms. Stone, Cook, and Chisolm sneaked backstage at a concert in Columbia where Sylvia Robinson, a founder of Sugar Hill Records, was seated. They auditioned then and there, and Robinson, impressed, said she would sign them to her label. They moved to New York and began recording. Ms. Stone's marriage to Rodney Stone, who performed under the stage name Lil' Rodney C with the rap group Funky Four Plus One, ended in divorce. She leaves her daughter from that marriage, Diamond Stone; a son from her relationship with D'Angelo, Michael D'Angelo Archer II; and two grandchildren. Ms. Stone had Type 2 diabetes, and she spoke openly about her efforts to lose weight. In 2006, she appeared on the television show 'Celebrity Fit Club,' losing 18 pounds over the course of the season. Advertisement She branched out into acting in the 2000s, with roles in "The Hot Chick" (2002), with Rob Schneider; "The Fighting Temptations" (2003), with Cuba Gooding Jr.; and "Ride Along" (2014), with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Onstage, she appeared as the prison matron Mama Morton in the Broadway production of "Chicago" in 2003. She also had small roles in several TV series, including "Girlfriends," starring Tracee Ellis Ross, for which she sang the opening theme. Ms. Stone recorded 10 studio albums, most recently 'Love Language' (2023). Among the 11 tracks is 'Old Thang Back,' which features her son, who performs under the name Swayvo Twain. This article originally appeared in
New York Times
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Angie Stone, Hip-Hop Pioneer Turned Neo-Soul Singer, Dies at 63
Angie Stone, a hip-hop pioneer in the late 1970s with the Sequence, one of the first all-female rap groups, who later switched gears as a solo R&B star with hits like 'No More Rain (In This Cloud)' and 'Wish I Didn't Miss You,' died on Saturday in Montgomery, Ala. She was 63. Her agent, Deborah Champagne, said she died in a hospital after being involved in a car crash following a performance. Alongside musicians like Erykah Badu, Macy Gray and Lauryn Hill, Ms. Stone was part of the neo-soul movement of the late 1990s and 2000s, which blended traditional soul with contemporary R&B, pop and jazz fusion. Her first album, 'Black Diamond' (1999), was certified gold, as was her sophomore effort, 'Mahogany Soul' (2001). A prolific songwriter with a sultry alto voice, Ms. Stone specialized in songs that combined laid-back tempos with layered instrumentation and vocals. 'Angie Stone will stand proud alongside Lauryn Hill as a songwriter, producer and singer with all the props in place to become a grande dame of the R&B world in the next decade,' Billboard magazine wrote in 1999. By then, Ms. Stone was an industry veteran — not only as a singer, but also as a songwriter for, and collaborator with, some of her era's biggest acts. She first emerged as a member of the Sequence, which she formed in 1978 with Cheryl Cook and Gwendolyn Chisolm. It was the first female group signed to Sugar Hill Records, the label that put rap on the map with the single 'Rapper's Delight' (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang. The trio lasted only a few years, but in that time it released several seminal rap singles, including 'Funk You Up' (1979) and 'Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off)' (1981), which have been sampled by Ice Cube, En Vogue, Dr. Dre and other artists. Ms. Stone then spent more than a decade as a songwriter, backup singer and band member for prominent acts like Mary J. Blige, Lenny Kravitz and D'Angelo. She was busy, and successful, but she found the anonymity of working behind the scenes frustrating. 'I knew it wasn't my talent, because everybody wanted a piece of me for something,' she told The Los Angeles Times in 2000. 'After a while, I started to feel used. I thought, 'If I'm good enough to help Mary, and to do this and that, what is the problem?'' Part of the issue was timing. Ms. Stone had been a member of two R&B acts, Vertical Hold and Devox, in the early 1990s, but their sound was considered out of sync with the mainstream. It was only after breakout hits by the likes of Ms. Hill and Ms. Badu later that decade that Ms. Stone received the attention she thought she deserved. 'I really think that I was ahead of my time," she told The Associated Press in 1999. 'My music caught up to time, or time caught up to my music.' Angela Laverne Brown was born on Dec. 18, 1961, in Columbia, S.C. She started singing at an early age at her church, where her father, Bobby Williams, a lawyer's assistant, was part of a gospel quartet. Her mother, Iona (Brown) Williams, was a hospital technician. In 1979, Ms. Stone, Ms. Cook and Ms. Chisolm sneaked backstage at a concert in Columbia where Sylvia Robinson, a founder of Sugar Hill Records, was seated. They auditioned then and there, and Ms. Robinson, impressed, said she would sign them to her label. They moved to New York and began recording. Ms. Stone's marriage to Rodney Stone, who performed under the stage name Lil' Rodney C with the rap group Funky Four Plus One, ended in divorce. She is survived by her daughter from that marriage, Diamond Stone; a son from her relationship with D'Angelo, Michael D'Angelo Archer II; and two grandchildren. Ms. Stone had Type 2 diabetes, and she spoke openly about her efforts to lose weight. In 2006, she appeared on the television show 'Celebrity Fit Club,' losing 18 pounds over the course of the season. She branched out into acting in the 2000s, with roles in 'The Hot Chick' (2002), with Rob Schneider; 'The Fighting Temptations' (2003), with Cuba Gooding Jr.; and 'Ride Along' (2014), with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Onstage, she appeared as the prison matron Mama Morton in the Broadway production of 'Chicago' in 2003. She also had small roles in several TV series, including 'Girlfriends,' starring Tracee Ellis Ross, for which she sang the opening theme. Ms. Stone recorded 10 studio albums, most recently 'Love Language' (2023). Among the 11 tracks is 'Old Thang Back,' which features her son, who performs under the name Swayvo Twain.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Exomod's Hellcat Redeye Named Rapper's Delight Auctioning Online Now
Read the full story on Backfire News We've covered before Exomod's 2022 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye with tons of aesthetic and performance modifications, called Rapper's Delight. Build for the SEMA 2024 show, the one-of-a-kind Mopar muscle car is a dream machine for many. But you have the chance to own it, thanks to an online auction which ends on February 21. The Redeye has a full-carbon body, which we've seen plenty of times before, but there's an extra twist. It's the first we've seen with fully transparent carbon panels plus Kandy Apple Red tint to dazzle the eye. Exomod says it applied 17 coats to the body. Combined with Pagan Gold trim pieces and Brass Monkey wheels, plus some styling pieces that are callouts to classic Mopar design, this ride is a head-turner for sure. Proving it's made to be a show car, under the hood Exomod painted the supercharger Kandy Apple Red. There's also a transparent Pagan Gold Kandy Carbon cowl and a close-out panel, keeping everything looking clean and presentable. Hennessey Performance was involved in this build. Applying some go-fast parts and its proprietary tune, the Texas shop dialed up output to a peak 1,000-horsepower. Also in the mix is a custom 8HP90 8-speed TorqueFlite transmission and SRT Competition suspension. In other words, this ride should perform as good as it looks. Originally revealed during Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale auction in October, Rapper's Delight has created considerable buzz. Plenty of people would love to get their hands on the Dodge. As of the writing of this article, the top bid on Bring A Trailer sits at $265,000 with three days of bidding left. That leaves plenty of room for the price to climb considerably, which we fully expect it will. That alone will exclude a number of people who have fantasized about this Exomod build. When the dust settles, we expect the top bid to shock many. See Rapper's Delight's lot listing here. Images via Bring A Trailer
