influence

DJ Timbuck2 dies at 34

Chicago’s music scene has been in mourning for the past few days. Tim “Dj Timbuck2” Jones, 34, died recently due to complications from cancer. DJ Timbuck2 has

‘3 Feet High & Rising’; how De La Soul forever changed hip-hop

One of the most original and innovative debut albums in hip-hop history, the masterpiece from the Long Island, NY-based trio of De La Soul was a world-changing album that offered proof that hip-hop was not just machismo and aggression. At a time when hip-hop’s more “gangsta” and “political” strains were at the height of visibility, these three oddballs from the suburbs fired a shot for hip-hop nerds everywhere.

Adrian Marcel on Ginuwine, the Bay and learning from Raphael Saadiq

Adrian Marcel remembers exactly what album and what artist inspired him to become a singer. The R&B star from East Oakland knew that he was destined to be a performer after he heard Ginuwine’s 1998 album 100% Ginuwine. “That’s when I knew for sure that [music] was where I wanted to go,” he recalls. “I was always into music but that was around the age when you start liking girls, and I realized you get girls from singing. [laughs]”