Oliver Wang
Oliver Wang is an culture writer, scholar, and DJ based in Los Angeles. He's the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area and a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach. He's the creator of the audioblog soul-sides.com and co-host of the album appreciation podcast, Heat Rocks.
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As leader of the 1990s hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip rose to fame on the strength of their jazz-influenced production and his smooth, unruffled rapping. After problems plagued his solo career, Q-Tip disappeared from the music scene. He has now resurfaced with an entirely new CD, The Renaissance.
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Inspired by The Jackson 5, the '70s and late '60s saw a panoply of very young R&B bands emerge across the country. Though many groups released but one single before fading into obscurity, a new compilation CD documents the best of "kiddie soul."
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Her creations invoke polyglot rhythms and revolutionary rhetoric from around the world. But singer, producer and rapper M.I.A. communicates them through agitated, propulsive dance music. Two years after her debut, her new album finds her more adventurous than ever.
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Nicole Willis is a retro soul singer from Brooklyn. Her really tight band, the Soul Investigators, is from Finland. The group sounds like it's from Memphis – and it's one of Oliver Wang's favorites of the year so far.
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Many critics are calling The Reminder by Feist, the new recording by the Canadian songwriter and singer, her best yet... and this may be her moment. She was the subject of an extensive New York Times profile. The record came out this week.
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Migrant workers came from around the world to build Panama's transportation systems. They brought, among other things, music with them. Dozens of bands that came to be known collectively as Combos Nacionales married musical styles as distinct and distant as New York boogaloo, Cuban descarga and Trinidadian Calypso. Panama: Latin, Calypso and Funk at the Isthmus charts this uniquely Panamanian hybrid.
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Motown's success has made its musical catalog one of the most recognizable in American history. Oliver Wang says it takes some guts to tackle these iconic tunes, but the producers have pulled it off.
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When Chicago's Kanye West released his debut, College Dropout, in 2004, many weren't sure if this hip-hop producer could also pick up the mic and make it as a rapper. Reviewer Oliver Wang says the music shines on West's new CD, Late Registration. -
In the world of English-language hip-hop, some rappers use nicknames. But one Los Angeles musician creates entire alter egos. Rapper and producer Otis Jackson, Jr., has recorded under the names Madlib, Malik Flavors, Quasimoto and his real name. -
The daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, Sri Lankan M.I.A. is now a rap sensation in England. The 28-year-old is known as much for her music as her life story. She combines the rhythms of global cultures with lyrics that some say incite revolution. Critic Oliver Wang reviews her CD Arular.
