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 …
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Six years ago, in the spring of 2018, Teezo Touchdown and some friends drove nearly 250 miles across Texas from their hometown, Beaumont, to the state capital of Austin. SXSW was in full swing, bringing thousands of people each day to the downtown thoroughfare of Sixth Street, where Teezo and …
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Hip-hop‘s blazing newcomer Lola Brooke is getting used to taking up space, living rent-free in people’s minds, and holding even more real estate on their playlists — and she wants everyone else to feel as powerful as she does. The rapper, who broke through last year in a major way …
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Last month, the organizers of the rap festival Rolling Loud announced that they wouldn’t be holding their annual event in New York this fall. “For the last few years, we’ve made some legendary moments happen in Queens,” a graphic posted to their official Twitter account says. “Sadly, due to logistical …
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The rap world is ever-changing, and 2022 showed us where we might be heading next. The year was full of solid releases from budding stars who set the stage for a lower-key sensibility within hip-hop. It was a year where fans turned away from the larger-than-life superstars towards more down-to-earth …
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