Many things is on my mind/words in the way… S. Stewart Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is a new autobiography chronicling the ascension, descent, and reascension of one of the music world’s most misunderstood personalities. It’s a tale of a boy utilizing his unique gifts to become a star. In record time, we...
Author: Khalil Willliams (Khalil Willliams)
The Genius of Paul Reubens: Making the World Happy, One Smile at a Time
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” Danny Kaye Paul Reubens, better known to millions as the affable, quirky Pee-wee Herman, passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA this past Sunday at the age of 70. Contrary to his boisterous and live-out-loud Pee-wee persona,...
the future is now: the fight to legitimize ai vocals in urban music
As Marvin and Tammi once crooned many moons ago, ain’t nothin’ like the real thing baby. Well, now in 2023, it’s sometimes hard to ascertain what’s real. Seemingly every week, a new AI (artificial intelligence) generated song is making the rounds on social media. Every Tom, Dick and Timbaland (more on that later) with access...
Aural Deepfakes: Artificial Intelligence and Its Implications for the Music Industry
Recently, audio engineer Young Guru went viral for voicing his concerns with artificial intelligence voice filters. He was reacting to a specific social media video of a man using a Kendrick Lamar AI voice filter. The software, Tacotron 2, allowed the man to do a spot-on replication of Kendrick’s voice. Pretty neat, huh? Not according...
Plug Tunin’: A Requiem for Dave
Since the February 12th passing of David Jolicoeur (aka Trugoy the Dove) of seminal hip hop group De La Soul, I’ve been mulling over his contributions to the culture. I couldn’t rush to eulogize him just yet, as I had to re-immerse myself in the rich musical legacy he left behind, along with his brothers-in-rhyme...
Hot Wax: the Rise, Fall, & Rise of Vinyl
How’s the old saying go: Everything eventually comes full circle? Well, while I’m not sure about everything, I do know that statement can be applied to the resurgence in popularity of vinyl records aka LP’s aka da’ wax! Depending on your age, vinyl was either the primary medium for recorded sound when you started purchasing...