Tag: genre

Why Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” is as Country as Country Gets

On By Chris RobinsonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As I write this Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" continues to sit atop the Billboard Hot 100. Its removal from the top of Billboard's country chart well over a month ago sparked a fierce debate about who has the power to define genre and, inevitably, how genre definitions are inextricably linked with race. The …

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Beyond Intersection: Thundercat’s Drunk

On By Chris RobinsonIn Recording ReviewLeave a comment

To continue the intersection of jazz and hip hop theme I wrote about in my last post, I thought I'd take on the music of Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, whose 2017 album Drunk demonstrates his genius ability to make music that is "beyond category"—or rather "beyond intersection." Thundercat, who spent nearly a decade playing bass in …

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