Tag Archives: brooklyn

I n late February, a group of budding radicals gathered in a bare-bones studio space in Brooklyn for a nervous first meeting. A far-right administration had taken power in Washington, D.C., just five weeks prior, immediately launching a nationwide assault on their community. Now, these 13 New Yorkers, default members …

Laila! has flourished more in the year leading up to her 19th birthday than some artists do in decades. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer first broke through on TikTok with spacey viral ditties “Like That” and “Not My Problem,” showing her intrinsic ear for R&B’s current wave and its off-center …

One afternoon, Shyniece Thomas, known professionally as the rapper Lola Brooke, was in her Brooklyn apartment contemplating the pitfalls of being a rapper. “Sometimes you don’t feel safe — in your own hometown — all because of your occupation,” she says. “I was just pouring my heart out about how …

Only one train goes to Canarsie. Private houses with driveways and backyards line most blocks in the remote Brooklyn neighborhood, nestled in the southeast corner of the borough, overlooking the waters of Jamaica Bay. Late 20th-century white flight turned this 19th-century suburban getaway into a predominantly West Indian lower-middle-class neighborhood. …

Preview The Brooklyn Public Library is honoring Jay-Z, one of New York rap’s greatest, with its “The Book of HOV” exhibit — and an important part of his history has just been added to the display. Starting Thursday, fans of the rap star will be able to view a new …

Jean Jimenez-Joseph was a talented drummer, carpenter, and one of the smartest men Proper frontman Erik Garlington ever met. Tragically, in May 2017, he became another victim of ICE’s dehumanizing war on undocumented people. Jimenez-Joseph died by suicide in Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center after repeatedly telling officials, and the Immigration …

On Oct. 8, 2022, veteran MC Roc Marciano was onstage in New York, playing to a capacity crowd. It was a typical rap show in the city: overwhelmingly male, leathers and skullys and Timbs despite the late-summer weather, air laced with newly decriminalized smoke. Roc was there to celebrate his …

The font size on many music festival lineups has been shrinking lately, as new events, jam-packed with megastars (who sometimes don’t even show up) have cropped up in the time since pandemic restrictions have eased around the world. For fans, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. Rappers starting their own festivals, …

The Brooklyn band Underground System makes exuberant dance music that blooms out into countless directions — a result, in part, of band members with different backgrounds and musical experiences. “It’s a true New York, eclectic vibe,” the band’s co-founder and singer Domenica Fossati says on a recent call with Rolling …

Jay-Z and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey are teaming up to launch a financial literacy program, titled The Bitcoin Academy, for residents of the Marcy Houses project in Brooklyn, New York, where the rapper grew up. The program, announced Thursday, will offer classes online and in-person to Marcy residents with …