Music
I miss mixtapes. They gave us a completely different perspective on our favorite artists.

I never need to be the guy who says, “hip-hop was better back in the day.” When I turned 30, I promised myself I would never be that. But music culture is made for the young, and the music culture of your youth will all the time be closest to your heart. The older you get, the more effort it takes to welcome recent developments in music culture into your heart. You must be conscious and diligent to not say, “back in my day, it was better.” But you possibly can say, back in my day, it was different. And you possibly can say I miss among the things that were common years ago.
A number of years ago, within the 90s and 00s, there was a strong mixtape culture. I really miss mixtapes. I know that word gets thrown around here and there, but I’m telling you, mixtapes was a thing.And a whole book about mixtapes was released last 12 months titled “Do Remember!: The Golden Era of New York Hip-Hop Mixtapes.”
You needed to know where to go to search out them—there was normally a vendor on Flatbush Avenue or one hundred and twenty fifth Street or wherever; you could not normally get them in stores. And they were fleeting. You had to purchase recent ones quickly, or they might be gone endlessly.
Mixtapes featured a big selection of artists—some well-known, some underground. Sometimes a star would rhyme in another way than usual or say crazy things they wouldn’t say of their mainstream work. Sometimes someone out of nowhere would outdo established professionals and make a name for themselves.
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Mixtape culture was underground. These were songs made specifically for die-hard fans. Artists knew that only die-hard fans would put in the hassle to exit and find these unadvertised mixtapes, so the rhymes they spat out and the styles they tried were intended for music snobs.
Mixtapes flourished within the pre-internet era because that was when you possibly can have a true underground scene. A giant star like Nas or Raekwon could jump on a mixtape and know that his rhymes weren’t going to succeed in everyone’s ears. They were appealing to their most hardcore fans, so that they could push themselves further than they were willing to go on their albums. Today, you possibly can’t have a truly underground scene—one where stars mix with hopefuls—since the whole point of the underground is that artists are free to explore the more radical areas of the genre. On today’s web, anything a star says that’s truly radical or avant-garde would quickly turn into web fodder, and also you’d be judged by the masses, for higher or worse. With the stakes so high, it’s too dangerous for a star to play with an underground instrument just like the mixtape.
Also, back then, before the web, it was hard for smaller artists to get the eye of the culture, so smaller artists used mixtapes as a approach to get the eye of essentially the most serious hip-hop fans. But to do this, that they had to be cool, or they would not get noticed. 50 Cent made a big splash by releasing a few albums of fabric as free mixtapes before his debut. Mainstream hip-hop fans discovered who he was when he dropped “In Da Club,” however the more dedicated fans—the mixtape fans—already knew all about him. It was a really clever approach to introduce yourself to the culture.
Speaking of which, I miss the sketches. I loved a good sketch. It was one other way for rappers to speak who they were and what the vibe of the album was. Snoop’s sketches on “The Chronic,” De La Soul’s sketches on “De La Soul Is Dead,” and Wu-Tang’s sketches on a lot of their albums were essential to understanding who they were. It was one other way for them to be creative and make their albums greater than just music. Good sketches by some means made it feel like a cultural experience.
I’m not likely a “things were better back in my day” type of person, I love a lot of recent hip-hop and revel in the culture’s continued progression, but I’d wish to see a few of the most effective parts of the past come back.
Music
Albums from Miles Davis, Mary J. Blige, Elton John and “Minecraft” Enter the National Recording Register

Albums Elton John, Miles Davis, Tracy Chapman, Mary J. Blige and solid “Hamilton” enter America Canon Audio, along with the single Helen Redda and Celine Dion and Music “Minecraft”.
New introductions to National Recording Registry in the Congress Library They bear in mind the groundbreaking combination of Jazz and Bitches Brew “by Davis from 1970, loaded” Goodbye Yellow Brick Road “, from 1973, from 1973, the CHAPMAN album from 1988, which included” Fast Car “, deeply intratsy Blige from 1994” My life “, and the original album from Broadway on Broadway on Broadway 2015 Broadway
They were amongst the 25 recordings introducing the archive at school 2025, the librarian of Congress Carl Hayden announced on Wednesday. The recordings were chosen due to their “cultural, historical or aesthetic significance in the recorded heritage of the nation’s sound”
“These are the sounds of America-Nasz, extensive history and culture,” said Hayden in a press release. “Our evolving list of playback is the national register.”
Helen Reddy from 1972 “I Am Woman, Heard Me Roar” and Celine Dion from 1997 “My Heart Will Go on” from the movie “Titanic” belong to singles entering the archive.
Among the more odd switches are original video music (and now a movie about monsters) “Minecraft” from the German manufacturer Daniel Rosenfeld, as gathered on the album from 2011, “Minecraft: Volume Alpha” and Reboot sound for the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system, created by the music and producer Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Brian En.
Radio Spiker Chuck Thompson from the World Series from 1960 between New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates – contained in the Bill Mazeroski register of Pirates.
The oldest recording at school 2025 is “Aloha ‘OE” from 1913 by Hawaian Quintete. The latest is the album “Hamilton” from 2015 with the music of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Other albums that won the inclusion were “Hello Manek” from 1968 with Obelg, Don Rickles, “Chicago Transit Authority” from 1969 from the Chicago band, “I Mu Music in Me” from 1975 and “Back To Black” from Amyhouse from Me “Thelma Houston & Press Coker.
Singles defining their careers from other canonical artists join Redda and Dion singles, including “Happy Trails” from 1952 from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Freddy Fender from 1975 “Before the next tears” and “Kiss Angel Good Mornin ‘from 1952.

(Tagstotransate) Entertainment
Music
Crime Mob allegedly broke off due to a joke with the participation of guests of Michael Jackson in “Knuck, if you are Buck”

Is it possible that the end of the group that made us each Knuck and Buck, and perhaps even ready to fight, ended because of Michael Jackson? According to the princess, one of the two female rappers in the former group, that is what happened.
Crime Mob, Eastsside of Atlanta Group with the participation of Princess, Diamond, Lil ‘Jay, Cyco Black, MIG and Earlier Kill C, gained in the importance of their hood and club banger, “Knuck If You Buck” from 2004 from the strength of 2000.
During an interview at “Legendary Jerry’s Podcast” The princess was asked what she probably did flawed to separate the group, and I feel it could possibly be safely said that not a single living soul could guess her answer.
“Me and my brother went to six flags, we returned home. We called Diamond and told her that we saw Michael Jackson on the Six flag. And that Michael Jackson wants to get to” Knuck, if you zloty. That he just left our house. And he must come to listen to his verse. ”
Let’s just stop at the matter here. The very thought that Michael Jackson wants to abandon the poem “Knucka If You Buck” is a kind of sliding moment when I feel that everybody who has ever loved music would love to experience culture. Where would he fight in any respect? I’m sure that AI and the Internet come to life, but wow, what a chance.
The princess remembered Diamond’s response to the joke: “She ran from home to our house and believed us. And it hurt her.”
While some people might imagine that the concept of Michael Jackson, who jumps on this album, makes no sense and that Diamond mustn’t consider it, I would love to indicate that that is the same Michael Jackson, who was famous for her lap, loved James Brown and had records with the notorious great Michael Jackson, who also got here to the side I’m from 2001, so it isn’t as if it was disconnected from the street. In addition, “Knuck If You Buck”, which according to Billboard reached the summit only on the Hot Rap Songs list, felt like song No. 1 in the hood and in every club and continues to be beloved by the black community in 2025. Regardless of whether Diamond didn’t confirm this story, we could know if their story really believed, but from the point of view 2003, not less than it was not good.
“And the monkey made a few ads,” said Monkey Princess of Jackson, Bubbles.
This part will be a bridge too far.
Either way, according to the princess, it’s a moment that ended the crime crime and ruined the relationship of her and the princess for nearly 20 years.
“Brittney Nicole” Diamond “Carpentero, I’m so sorry that I told you that Michael Joseph Jackson and Bubbles came to our house in Ellenwood, just around the corner, to get to” Knuck, if you zloty. ” If I knew 20 years and you would have beef with me, I’m so sorry, “Princess said.
Although we are able to get a response from Diamond, regardless of whether Michael Jackson – who died in 2009 – would join in “Hood Classic is a real secret that we want to solve.

(Tagstransate) hip hop
Music
Why the developing Clary Lionel Rihanna Foundation is perceived as a model of celebrity philanthropy

Rihanna She is used to opposing the convention.
The nine -time Grammy winner modified her extensive hits, including “umbrella” and “work” in a business empire value roughly $ 1.4 billion, placing its highest level to Forbes lists last yr forbes The richest “self -sufficient” American women. The largest entertainment scene in Barbados, with a pregnancy revealing during it Solo 2023 super bowl break show. And she A successful brand of cosmetics Fenty Beauty Cosmetics He revolutionized the makeup industry because of the shades that features.
But this is not a rotated megastar Long -awaited statement to the album “Anti” from 2016, which has waves this yr. It’s her philanthropy.
Named in honor of Rihanna’s grandparents and partially financed by her brands, the Clara Lionel Foundation comes out of “Refreshment”, which is able to direct more funds to climate solutions and girls’s entrepreneurship in the underestimated regions of East Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. After 13 years of relative anonymity, non -profit is ready for greater visibility.
“Our founder is a woman from a small nation on an island who has a global reach. She is an entrepreneur. She is a mother. She is creative,” said executive director Jessie Schutt-Aine. “So we want an organization that reflects this spirit and this energy. She is brave and ambitious. She is innovative. She always does things differently. She changes into the game.”
Experts say that it is rare that amongst known philanthropists is so purposefulness. The Clara Lionel Foundation has also been praised for accepting “trust -based” giving, which enables unlimited financing to recipients.
The founder of NDN Collective, Nick Tilsen, said that CLF allows their native Non-Profit organization “they work on our conditions”-and that other founders should take notes.
“They are also not the foundation that is also in your company,” said Tilsen. “They support. They see a job. They let us do what we have to do.”
Personal roots of the Clara Lionel Foundation
Rihanna began the foundation with an contribution of USD 516,000 after her grandmother died of cancer complications in 2012. This yr, the musician founded the Oncology Center in the foremost Barbados hospital to expand screening and cancer treatment. And Young Foundation has focused on healthcare and Barbados for many of the last decade.
However, by 2019, CLF began to find out the priorities of readiness in the event of a failure. Grantmaking jumped to over $ 33 million in 2020, because the non-profit organization provided a very essential pandemic relief and supported efforts for racial justice. According to tax reports, the slowdown in postpandemic expenses coincided with its inner transition.
The renovated team and complicated priorities now match their wider ambitions. The latest director of women’s entrepreneurship based in southern Carolina will construct programs of this pillar. Amina Doherty, co -founder of Black Feminist Fund, is now supervising programs and influence. Five latest pillars are complemented by climate solutions, art and culture, health access and equality, as well as future generations.
The concentration of young people was praised by Ashley Lashley, a 25-year-old whose foundation cooperated with CLF as a way to solve environmental challenges on her native Barbados. He often hears how leaders say that “youth is the future,” she said, but these statements rarely translate into actual support.
“The Rihanna Foundation is a great example of how women in power can help contribute to work performed at the community level,” said Lashley.
Rihanna told The Associated Press that she hopes that CLF would still be the force of “global inclusion in philanthropy.”
She wondered at the 13-year transformation of the foundation in a statement: “Today we have a global range, but this concept of love for the community and our roots runs deeply into the DNA of the foundation.”
Finding partners – big and small
The latest example of this evolution is the partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Barbados’s “invaluable history” as “an indispensable chapter in the wider history of the African diaspora” is threatened with climate change, in accordance with the press message of Mellon.
Together, as they announced two foundations, they are going to finance “initiatives led by artists” to guard this culture “at the same time inspiring new narratives and possibilities in the international arena.”
Schutt-Aine perceives a partnership with Mellon-the largest philanthropic supporter of art in the USA-as a milestone for CLF. Justin Garrett Moore, director of the Mellon humanities program, said that the name of the NON -Profit organization was created when his team asked contacts to recommend partners.
“We think there is an amazing platform that the Clara Lionel Foundation and the founder will introduce this kind of work in readability and visibility to organizations that will be supported,” said Moore. “In addition, generally in society to help strengthen the strength of art.”
Among these scholarship holders is the performance art development program, which also provides free social services for college kids in the capital of the nation in Bridgetown. The founder of Triple Ground operations, Janelle Headley, said that the Clara Lionel Foundation helped -Pro -Profit could afford a warehouse equipped with acoustic panels, sound equipment and parquet.
The relationship began with a microgranture for scholarships. Triple Ground operation now receives general operational support – a “revolutionary” investment, said Headley, because donations for charity are frequently intended for specific causes. This flexibility turned out to be particularly helpful during the pandemic, when the rapidly changing circumstances created latest needs, such as iPads for distant learning.
“To be honest, it is rare that someone will give a considerable donation unlimited and said:” We trust you, your vision, “said Headley. “It’s very future -like.”

A novel model of celebrity philanthropy
This approach is unique, in keeping with Mary Beth Collins, executive director of the Center for Social Studies and non-profit at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He discovers that celebrities often become involved in philanthropy provided that essential.
But Collins said that CLF seems to take into consideration its partners for a very long time and intentionally in grassroots financing. Strategies are in step with her own recommendations regarding the engaging of experts coping with the original causes, selecting concentration areas essential for the founders and raising the leaders conducting these problems.
“We want to see funds and resources from more endowed people in the world who go to leaders in the field who really know this place, experience and problems,” said Collins.
CLF used this model at the end of last yr, when it provided additional financing to the non -Pure Energy Party partner Hurricane Helene. Melanie Allen, co -director Hive Fund for Climate and Gender, said that she suddenly received about USD 60,000 for fast distribution between proven partners in devastated communities.
The contribution occurred amongst an increasingly hostile environment for non -profit organization, such as its color, which prompted some philanthropists to scale back giving. Allen said that she was enthusiastic about “deep CLF involvement to the south.”
When others reduce resources, CLF desires to introduce more philanthropic partners to the table. They are planning a summer convening for scholarship holders to expand the network. Message, CLF, said Doherty Clf, says: “We will stick to you.”
“Some people can say that times look gloomy,” said Doherty. “But that’s a moment of possibilities.”
The importance of remaining on the communities you serve is a Schutt-Iine lesson, which he learned during a 25-year-old global health profession.
Recently, the head of the diversity of equality, sex and culture at the Pan American Health Organization, Schutt-Aine treated the most dangerous infections of tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS.
“If you are going to work on malaria,” she said, “You have to live with mosquitoes.”
(Tagstranslate) rihanna
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