In 2020, I had the honor of editing the Music Edition of Palestine In America magazine. The cover story I wrote on Geeby Dajani, a then-unsung hero of early 80s hardcore punk and eventually early […]
Category: Work
25 Years of the Beastie Boys ‘Ill Communication’
Q-Tip, Money Mark, and producer Mario Caldato Jr. reflect on the making of the Beastie Boys’ classic album Ill Communication. The process of making the Beastie Boys fourth album, Ill Communication, began on the tour for […]
Texas Monthly: 20 Essential Texas Rap Tracks
I contributed three entries for Texas Monthly’s 20 Essential Texas Rap Tracks feature, writing about UGK’s “Touched,” Lil’ O’s “Can’t Stop” featuring Destiny’s Child, and “Still Tippin’” by Mike Jones featuring Slim Thug and Paul Wall. […]
“Baby Please Don’t Go” by Azraq, Kam Franklin & Kareem Samara
This one is exciting, my first full production: a cover of the classic Lightnin’ Hopkins tune “Baby Please Don’t Go” by Kam Franklin and Kareem Samara. You may know Kam from being the lead singer […]
Sama’an’s Frank Ocean of Funk “DHL” Mix
Frank Ocean just released a new song, “DHL,” and I couldn’t help but think it sounded a lot like a cut off an old DJ Screw tape, so I had to make my own (Frank) […]
Leon Bridges and Bun B Perform UGK Classic “One Day”
The story of how Leon Bridges and Bun B linked up to perform the UGK classic “One Day” at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is one I’ll probably have to save for the memoir, […]
Beto Keeps It Trill with Bun B
Beto O’Rourke, U.S. Senate Candidate from El Paso, Texas, threw a voter registration rally in Houston with Bun B and told his constituents to “keep it trill” in an interview with Sama’an Ashrawi of SMNTCS. […]
Bun B – Return of the Trill
The King of the Trill, Bun B, has released the tracklist for his upcoming album Return of the Trill, due out August 31st. This will be his fifth solo album; in 2010, his album Trill O.G., received […]
Kamasi Washington – When I Create Interview
Kamasi Washington sat down with SMNTCS to tape his episode of ‘When I Create’ which turned out to be an introspective and revelatory journey. Kamasi opened up about what he feels when he’s on stage, when […]
Two Records with Kamasi Washington
When SMNTCS sat down with Kamasi Washington, we picked out two records we thought he might be into, and asked him to get existential in talking about them. For this installment, we picked Sun Ra’s Space […]