MD Semel, Author at Backseat Mafia

Droppin’ Knowledge: For Niagara Falls Rapper Jamal Gasol, All The World Is Piff

It started like this… It was 2008, or 2009. The rap artist Jamal Gasol has a brother, and his brother had a ring tone. It wasn’t exactly a ring tone,…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: Jay Cinema & WilfMerson Know “What You Need Ain’t What You Want!” – Album Review & Interview

A trans-Atlantic collaboration between the Harlem-based rapper and London producer WilfMerson yields an album of depth and beauty. The Internet and the portability of sound files can open up the…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: Jiyu Purp Creates Spiritual, Life Affirming Hip Hop on His Album Earth is Ours – Interview & Review

Last month, Dallas, Texas based hip hop artist Jiyu Purp released his first long player, Earth is Ours, an album suffused with spirituality and positivity, but one that hits hard,…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: A 10 Song Hopeful Playlist For A Time That Strains Hope

If you’re feeling a deficit of hope lately, don’t fret. You are not alone, Hope is an intrinsic human attribute that allows us to appreciate the idea that it is…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Birmingham’s Grimy Sound Architect Hobgoblin

And we back… From the gritty depths of the UK’s second city, Birmingham, arose an anti-villain who plumbs the muck for hardscrabble sounds, many of which are now instantly recognizable…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: Listening To Music During a Pandemic – 10 Hip Hop Songs To Help You Carry On

By October, music had failed me. In the beginning of the pandemic, music from my youth carried me through the ups and downs of navigating life during a global health…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: London Born Rap Legend MF DOOM Dead at 49

MF DOOM, the London born rap artist who grew up in the United States, has died at 49. The musician’s wife, Jasmine Dumile, announced his death on Instagram, at the…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Willie Green

Paul “Willie Green” Womack is a producer, musician and sound engineer who has worked with a wide variety of artists, including Wiz Khalifa, The Roots, Open Mike Eagle, billy woods,…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: The Songs of New York City Beatmaker Radicule Are Undiscovered Gems Of Hip Hop

With music proliferating at an explosive rate, it’s often difficult to wade through the morass and discover new artists, or artists who have been toiling away at their craft for…

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Droppin’ Knowledge: 11 Questions For 11Roots About Life & Their Excellent Debut Album

Brooklyn rap duo 11Roots recently released their self-titled, debut album, and it’s a compact, spiritually-rooted record, with no wasted space. The songs are lyrically conscious and dense, and powerfully address…

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