Jake Ayres

Latest stories

• Hip-hop’s answer to Guitar Hero shows potential

  June 3, 2009 at midnight

  The inevitable is upon us.

• For a catchy song, a good beat beats all

  May 26, 2009 at midnight

  If you’ve read more than one installment of my Jackson Pollock-ian word vomit that I like to call a “column,” one thing should be abundantly clear: Hip-hop music is one of my many obsessions.

• ‘Coke rap’ fandom based more on class than race

  May 19, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

  To add to an already very long list, one of the many commercial rap albums I am eagerly anticipating is the Clipse’s “Till the Casket Drops.”

• Music industry is drunk on brand names

  May 12, 2009 at 1:19 a.m.

  If you ever want to be outraged, listen to the radio.

• Movie quotes add to rap album’s grit

  May 5, 2009 at 12:44 a.m.

  As I’ve hopefully made abundantly clear throughout my tenure as a music columnist, I am a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan.

• Losing mind and meaning

  April 28, 2009 at 12:11 a.m.

  Three things I know of usually start with good intentions: holidays, religion and music.

• Lil’ Wayne’s ‘A Milli’ takes hip-hop back to the bass

  April 21, 2009 at 12:14 a.m.

  I felt the rumblings of a new direction for hip-hop production when I almost blew out my ’99 Grand Am’s speakers last summer. The incident came at the hand of none other than Lil’ Wayne and, in particular, his song “A Milli.”

• Give dance music producers a chance

  April 14, 2009 at 12:41 a.m.

  As usual for anything non-rap-related, I’m at least six months behind (in this case, close to a year). I just caught wind of a young Australian musician called Sam Sparro, whose album came out last April.

• MC may have merit, but his party anthem doesn’t

  April 7, 2009 at midnight

  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the new great white hope: Asher Roth.Or perhaps more accurately, the great white hype.By now, I’m sure most of the college population has heard Roth’s ...

• Thinking-man’s metal band shares value in genre

  March 31, 2009 at 1:16 a.m.

  In the age of rampant album leaks, there’s almost no reason to anticipate release dates anymore, much to the chagrin of artists worldwide. However, for certain releases, I, and I’m sure many other music fans, do make exceptions.