rap-genius

“CUSH is for the kids!” chanted Columbia University Society of Hip-Hop cypher host Payton Johnson, CC ’21, as he led participants in a freestyle rap game. Passing the mic around the room, participants were encouraged to ad-lib any sound, word, or phrase on the beat.

From stress relief to aiding with memory loss linked to Alzheimer’s and dementia, the therapeutic benefits of music play a vital role in personal health. However, the intersection of indigenous traditions and hip-hop shows that music can also heal cultural wounds.

Kellie Jones, an associate professor in the department of art history and archaeology and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, was awarded the prestigious MacArthur "genius" grant this week in recognition of her curation and scholarship on African-American artists.

Rashard Bradshaw, better known by his stage name Cakes Da Killa, is a newcomer to the rap and R&B scene, but he's already making big waves.

It's quite the inconvenient truth that today we can easily shove a rap song, an album, or even an artist under the exclusive umbrella of radio hip-hop. And what's even more unfortunate is that the radio hip-hop umbrella contains very few works of notable value.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama (CC '83) debuted his new one-hour stand-up special, and it was a HIT. The set had good riffs, including the now famous line "I know, cause I won both of 'em," which you'll soon see printed on bumper stickers, T-shirts, and hats. He repeated some old material, pleased his fan base, and had a really smooth delivery. Often it is hard to catch all the references and subtleties, so in the spirit of Rap Genius (now Genius.com), I've broken down some of the highlights from the State of the Union (transcript via the fans at NPR).

If the filmmakers behind the new film "Nas: Time is Illmatic" were compiling a list of seminal American works, the Nasir "Nas" Jones' 1994 album "Illmatic" would be on it.

It's late. You're up. Everyone's up—it's the night before the first final. Don't be the last one up, because there's nothing worse than refreshing Facebook at 4 a.m. only to find your news feed hasn't been updated in an hour. (Instead, you can procrastinate by reading our Orgo Night liveblog.)more Start the betting pools: Golden Globe nominations came out today. The French silent film "The Artist" leads the pack with six nominations. I'm rooting for Meryl in "The Iron Lady," because, come on, who doesn't love her acceptance speeches? [HFPA] Eye candy: By far the coolest photo uploaded to Flickr in the last 24 hours. It's a shot of a place called Airey's Inlet, in Victoria, Australia. [Flickr, Hakka69] Other Ivies exist: Talk about swipe access issues. A 27-year-old Harvard Extension School student has been couch-surfing in a first-year Harvard dormitory for two months. [The Crimson] Other Ivies exist, part 2: And they also admit students early. While Columbia and some other Ivies still haven't released early admissions statistics, Harvard accepted 18 percent of its early pool, Brown accepted 19 percent, and Dartmouth accepted 26 percent. [The Crimson, The Brown Daily Herald, The Dartmouth] The End: In the final stretch of your term paper? Some J-School students can give you some style pointers. What I want to know is, how can I get on the roof of Low?