Member of music group OLD MONEY twitter.com/oldmoneymassive ahmadjulian.tumblr.com

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Ra’s al Ghul – a supervillain from the Batman franchise – possesses a name so auralgenic (I think I just coined that word, btw), it’s a wonder why more emcees haven’t seized the opportunity to use it in verse. If this is indeed a first, we have Dada Powell to thank for finally bringing it to our ears in rhyme form:

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img/Taea Thale (W Magazine)

I swear, this isn’t completely a humblebrag (not completely), but to have watched Mapei go from blog fave in the late aughts to hearing her new music blaring out of speakers from big electronic retailers and dollar van systems alike, is amazing. This wave of new interest – recently capped with a stop at Hot 97 – is much deserved, as the Liberian/Swedish artist has been releasing amazing music for a minute. (more…)

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I was recently a guest on Impose Mag’s Audio Imposition show, where the host Eric Phipps and I talked a bit about what’s next with Old Money, Shamans in Peru, and more. I got pretty hype in particular when the question of early influences came up, because it made me think back to old Kayslay CDs with freestyles by an up and coming rapper named Grafh – a cat who reminded you at every turn that it’s spelled with an “f” and not a “p” – perhaps correctly anticipating the importance of a Googleable name.

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To twitter search Michael Vick’s name on Saturday, March 22, 2014 after it was announced he would be the Jets’ new quarterback was to get a view of (white) America’s underbelly. This is same America that has made George Zimmerman into a celebrity, and can barely muster sadness, let alone perpetual outrage when you’re talking about non-white non-male human bodies being brutalized. I knew what I was getting into before searching, but curiosity got the best of me. Here’s a small sample of what I saw: (more…)

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The first cleanse I did was The Master Cleanse a couple of summers ago after I volunteered for a New York Cares community event in Bed-Stuy. That day, I randomly ran into one fly shorty I knew from high school (she was actually the New York Cares event team leader!), then ran into a different young lady (let’s call her Suzie) that knew another young lady that I crushed on in high school. Then I met Suzie’s friend who is like some ill black kung fu master – and he told me I should do that shit. I don’t meet many black (or any) kung fu masters on the reg, and I had already heard about the cleanse from a couple of people earlier in the summer, so I was like word, I should do that shit. Life changing b!
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