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Oliver Wang Oliver Wang is a music writer, scholar, and DJ based in California. Since 1994, he's written on popular music, culture, race, and America for outlets such as National Public Radio, Vibe, Wax Poetics, Scratch, and The Village Voice.
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Oliver Wang
Jay-Z Stays Fresh On 'The Blueprint 3'
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Jay-Z Stays Fresh On 'The Blueprint 3'

The Blueprint 3 is the latest release by rapper Jay-Z; it's the second sequel to one of his best-known releases, 2001's The Blueprint. It's also Jay-Z's 11th solo album in 13 years, making him one of hip-hop's most prolific artists. Reviewer Oliver Wang suggests that, even this far into his career, the rapper is still finding ways to stay on top.

Jay-Z Stays Fresh On 'The Blueprint 3'

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Summer Can't Last Forever: Songs For Farewell
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It's Time To Party: Summer Songs

Summer Can't Last Forever: Songs For Farewell

Summer is, unfortunately, more about what we want it to be than what it actually is. Idealism may make a potent brew, but we know the season inevitably ends. That's why some of the best summer songs are tinged with fragility and marked by melancholy. This is music that admits the painful truth about summer: that even the best times won't last, as long days fade with autumn's encroaching dusk.

Review

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Lee Fields: Older And Closer To Perfection

In a curious case of musical evolution, the older Lee Fields becomes, the closer he gets to perfecting the sound of soul that he grew up with. His latest release, My World, finds an ideal middle ground between the slow grind of Southern blues and the faster, funkier stylings of retro-soul.

Lee Fields: Older And Closer To Perfection

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Review

Music Articles

Theron And Darrell: Wichita Linemen

Listening to Theron Gafford and Darrell Buckner push their falsettos on the sweet soul ballad "I Was Made To Love Her," it feels almost too forced, too shrill. But that's the magic of the falsetto: The way it takes the human voice to unnatural limits is also what imbues it with its power.

I Was Made to Love Her

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'Downriver Revival': Documenting The Double U

In the mid-1960s, an electrician converted his basement into a jerry-built, custom studio he dubbed Double U Sound. Between 1967 and 1981, Felton Williams recorded more than 300 reels of tape. Downriver Revival is the first in a series of compilations focusing on the recordings of these local studios.

'Downriver Revival': Documenting The Double U

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Mayer Hawthorne: Working Out A Break-Up

Once the young soul singer drizzles on his honeyed falsetto, "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" slides back to yesteryear with a cozy charm that's as warm as the song's electric piano. In a smart touch, he uses studio magic to create his own multi-harmony accompaniment, in essence serving as his own back-up singers.

Just Ain't Gonna Work Out

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Kanye's Latest A Deeply Personal Departure

The Chicago rapper's new album, 808s and Heartbreak features him singing instead of rapping, but he's filtered his vocals through the voice processing system known as Auto-Tune, an increasingly popular trend among pop artists. The result is a melancholy, intimate and decidedly quirky effort.

Kanye's Latest A Deeply Personal Departure

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Q-Tip's 'Renaissance' Worth The Wait

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.

Q-Tip's 'Renaissance' Worth The Wait

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