Silver Liner Notes: Outkast and Jay-Z, 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding' on Broadway, The Best Fries in NYC According to Pete Wells
Outkast released their third album, Aquemini, on September 29, 1998. The album made it to number 2 on the Billboard 200 and helped bring legitimacy to Southern hip hop, becoming the first of that regional genre to receive a prestigious five-mic rating from The Source. For our series Silver Liner Notes, we celebrate the Aquemini's 25th anniversary with Rodney Carmichael, NPR Music's Atlanta-bred hip-hop staff writer and author of an oral history on the album. We also take your calls.
Jay-Z released his third album Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life on September 29, 1998. His first number one album, it spent five weeks at the top spot on the Billboard 200, more than any of his LPs since. Two decades later, the same magazine described the record as the moment "he transformed from respected New York MC to axis of American pop." For another installment of Silver Liner Notes, our 25th-anniversary series, we discuss the album's legacy with Andrea Duncan-Mao, All Of It's own senior producer and former MTV producer who covered Jay-Z's early career. And we take your calls.
"Jaja's African Hair Braiding" is a new Broadway play currently in previews written by playwright Jocelyn Bioh. The play tells the story of Jaja and her hair braiding shop in Harlem, featuring a cast of West African immigrant braiders, where on one hot summer day everything comes to blows. Bioh joins us in studio to discuss the production alongside director Whitney White and actor Zenzi Williams (Bea). "Jaja's African Hair Braiding" opens at Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on October 3.
New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells returns to discuss his recent newsletter entry rounding up his list of the best places to get French fries in our area. Plus, we take listener calls for their favorite fries.
