Ten years after Bazooka Kid, one of the most singular New Zealand albums, Duncan Greive sits down with PNC to talk about its genesis, and why rappers still don’t get their due in this country. 2009 was a year of transition for hip hop. Lil Wayne was at his commercial peak, winning four Grammys; Kanye … Read more
Hussein Moses speaks to Majid Jordan, the Toronto duo making noise thanks to one hell of a co-sign from Drake. While Drake might be experiencing whiplash right now after getting owned in a rap beef he started then breaking records with his album Scorpion, the Canadian superstar has put together an impressive roster of artists … Read more
Reilly Hodson looks at the best music videos of the year so far and how they’re commenting on these messed up times. In a world where music consumption seems to occur mostly with headphones plugged into a phone in one’s pocket, it’s easy to overlook the art of the music video. What was once one … Read more
On Thursday night, a now iconic trio came together to play a video game and broadcast it to the world: Popular Twitch streamer Ninja, hip hop superstar Drake, and controversial New Zealand dance musician and political dilettante Kim Dotcom. Adam Goodall was watching. Wildly popular Twitch streamer Ninja and hip hop superstar Drake had been … Read more
This morning the Spotify-subscribing world woke up to Spotify’s annual ‘your year in review’ package, including a personalised top 100 played songs of the year. Here are music editor Henry Oliver’s top 10 (plus a few more). 1. Aldous Harding – ‘Horizon’ No surprise here. This song cuts deep. For reasons I won’t go into … Read more
Henry Oliver reviews Drake’s show at Spark Arena on Friday 3 November 2017. Drake and I have always had an ambivalent (one-way) relationship. When he appeared, seemingly out of nowhere but actually with a few years worth of unremarkable mixtapes, the Canadian actor-turned-rapper was part of a wave of post-808s and Heartbreak rappers making sing-songy, … Read more
Drake’s chart-dominating, streaming record-breaking ‘playlist’ More Life is a grab-bag of global influences. To celebrate Drake’s forthcoming Auckland shows (and a limited offer of $59.90 tickets – see details below), here’s David Bell to guide you through it all. This article was first published in March 2017. I’ve always found Drake to be a kind … Read more
Drake’s chart-dominating, streaming record-breaking ‘playlist’ More Life is a grab-bag of global influences. But if you don’t know your Moodymann from you ‘wasteman’, never fear – David Bell is here to guide you through it. I’ve always found Drake to be a kind of harmless doongie who can rap OK but write an amazing pop hook. … Read more
The Spinoff Music team review albums from Drake, Laura Marling, Spiral Stairs and James Blunt. ALBUM OF THE WEEK Drake – More Life What you’ll be dancing to this weekend A few years ago, as the recording industry was drowning in free mp3s, I told a friend who works at one of the Big Three record labels … Read more
Futurehive member Miriama Aoake guides you through the world of prolific rapper and chart history-maker Future. Nearly eight months has passed since Future’s last release, Project ET: Esco Terrestrial, a project alongside longtime producer, collaborator, and fellow ATLien, DJ Esco. The post-Ciara era of 2014-2016 saw Future at his most prolific and hungry: Monster, Beast … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. BEST SONG EVER FOR THIS WEEK: Austra – ‘Utopia’ Sometimes it feels like the loneliest place in music is the hinterland between chart aspirant pop and austere electronic music. Those who who exist in that space lack for all kinds of … Read more
The latest episode of our bi-weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they discuss Alessia Cara, DJ Snake, Rihanna, … Read more
The eighth episode of our weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they are joined on the couch … Read more
Tonight Drake plays Vector Arena in Auckland. Half his life ago he played Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Duncan Greive watched his first appearance on the show to see where it all began. // Imagine if Frankie Adams quit Shortland Street and became Lorde. That’s basically what happened for Canada when Aubrey Graham left the Degrassi universe after … Read more