Timmhotep Aku

Timmhotep Aku appears in the following:

As De La Soul’s music finally makes it to streaming, artists reflect on the group’s influence and mourn Trugoy the Dove

Thursday, March 02, 2023

Brooklyn music writer and editor Timmhotep Aku reflects on the influence De La Soul had on other artists, and how he views their legacy.

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All Songs +1: A Conversation With Matt Martians And Syd Of The Internet

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

By Timmhotep Aku

Guest host Timmhotep Aku talks with Syd and Matt Martians of The Internet about their new solo projects.

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All Songs +1: Comedian Neal Brennan Of 'Chappelle's Show' And '3 Mics'

Thursday, March 30, 2017

By Timmhotep Aku

Comedy and hip-hop have a lot in common: Both hold up a mirror to society's excesses, absurdities and injustices. These two worlds come together in the work of writer and comedian Neal Brennan.

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First Listen: Quelle Chris, 'Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often'

Thursday, February 02, 2017

By Timmhotep Aku

The rapper and producer's new album is a humorous and heartfelt emotional journey to self-acceptance.

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First Watch: Eric Biddines, 'Peeuurrnn'

Monday, January 23, 2017

By Timmhotep Aku

The bouncy, Upgrayde-produced song takes its onomatopoeic title from the sound of a speeding bullet.

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All Songs +1: A Conversation With Comedian Hannibal Buress

Thursday, January 05, 2017

By Timmhotep Aku

Hannibal Buress is a stand-up comedian and actor loved for his brand of irreverent comedy and his gift for finding absurdity in the seemingly mundane. He's also a hip-hop head with eclectic tastes.

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All Songs +1: A Conversation With Anderson .Paak And Knxwledge

Thursday, October 27, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

On this week's +1 podcast, NPR Music contributor Timmhotep Aku talks with singer and rapper Anderson .Paak and producer Knxwledge about their new collaboration under the name NxWorries.

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First Listen: Swet Shop Boys, 'Cashmere'

Thursday, October 06, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

Rappers Heems and Riz MC (the latter an actor known for his starring role in HBO's The Night Of) address South Asian identity with insight, poignancy and infectious humor.

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Songs We Love: Jamie Lidell, 'Walk Right Back'

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

The English soul singer invokes the purity of parent-child love in his new video, a surreal interpretation of what the world might look like to a baby seeing it for the first time.

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All Songs +1: Danny Brown Shares New Song, Talks Nas And New Album

Thursday, September 15, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

On this week's +1 podcast, Timmhotep Aku premieres "Rolling Stone," a new song from Danny Brown, and talks with the Detroit rapper about his upcoming album, Atrocity Exhibition.

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Songs We Love: The Higher Up, 'Cigarettes (Feat. Jannel McLean)'

Monday, August 08, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

MC Mark Scott uses his nicotine addiction as a springboard to talk about anxiety, depression and an intensifying existential crisis.

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Songs We Love: Clams Casino, 'A Breath Away (Feat. Kelela)'

Thursday, June 30, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

The bedroom producer is now a professional musician, with his first proper album on the way. Kelela uses his murky backdrop to sing a beautiful pop song about a romance on the rocks.

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Songs We Love: Gensu Dean & Denmark Vessey, 'Black Love'

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

Love is complicated, but love songs these days tend not to be. Still, rapper Denmark Vessey and producer Gensu Dean have stormy weather in mind on their bluesy love song.

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Songs We Love: Chimurenga Renaissance, 'Girlz With Gunz'

Friday, March 11, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

Pan-global hip-hop by Tendai Maraire (of Shabazz Palaces) and guitarist Hussein Kalonji, dedicated to "revolutionary African women."

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First Listen: BJ The Chicago Kid, 'In My Mind'

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

Throughout his career, Bryan J. Sledge has kept good company. Over the last decade and a half, under his stage name BJ The Chicago Kid, the R&B singer-songwriter has amassed an impressive discography, lending his vocal and writing talents to a who's-who of hip-hop, R&B and gospel ...

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Songs We Love: HXLT (feat. Kathleen Hanna), 'Together'

Monday, February 08, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

Who you are and who people think you should be are often two very different things. Nigel Holt, the singer-songwriter/producer who performs under the moniker HXLT, knows this all too well. In the Aughts, during the heyday of MySpace and music discovery, Holt made a name for himself ...

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First Listen: Saul Williams, 'MartyrLoserKing'

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

By Timmhotep Aku

If there is one phrase that captures the overall mood and attitude of Saul Williams' latest album, MartyrLoserKing, it's "F*** you. Understand me." The refrain, from the song entitled "All Coltrane Solos At Once," is both a defiant middle finger raised to humanity's oppressors and an empathetic hand extended ...

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Songs We Love: OutKast, 'Player's Ball (Christmas Version)'

Thursday, December 24, 2015

By Timmhotep Aku

Rap and Christmas have always been strange bedfellows. Whereas genres like pop, country and R&B lend themselves to the saccharine sentiment of holiday cheer, hip-hop prides itself on being rooted in bittersweet reality — especially that of America's black underclass. So the all-good/Jesus'-birthday pretensions of holiday spirit feel somewhat disingenuous ...

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Songs We Love: Wiki feat. Nasty Nigel, 'Living With Moms'

Monday, November 30, 2015

By Timmhotep Aku

Of the myriad topics that rap songs cover, few are as emotionally charged as the subject of the relationship between rapper and mother. In the past we've gotten appreciative, heartfelt tributes to "Ma Dukes" from the likes of Kanye, Tupac and Ghostface; the caustic emotional purging of ...

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Songs We Love: J-Live, 'Ya Momma So Black'

Monday, November 16, 2015

By Timmhotep Aku

"Ya momma so..." If you're African-American — or grew up in or near an African-American community — that phrase is probably familiar to you. It's part of playing "the dozens" or "snapping," a black tradition of trading insults with someone where anything goes. Seemingly off-limits topics like poverty, family members, ...

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