March | 2014 | Bonus Cut

If you’re at all familiar with Michigan hip-hop and Michigan music in general, then the name James Gardin (fka P.H.I.L.T.H.Y.) is commonplace. As one of Lansing’s premier music icons for the last decade, James has shown how to get down, how to dance, how to properly enjoy a live show, how to fight for a cause and how to live in general. More than that though, James has fueled the hip-hop community beneficially in other ways. Working with Michigan State’s MRULE and various other youth programs to donate art workshops, not to mention spending time in South Africa teaching kids with HIV/AIDS music and uniting them through it, James has never stopped being an influential and important figure in his community.

Musically, James has opened for the likes of Talib Kweli, The Cool Kids, Grieves and The Pack. He was also recently named one of Rapzilla’s Freshman of 2014.

Today we’re excited to unveil part two of our interview with the man himself! Check out the video below, and don’t forget to check out James’ pages and music!

Listen to James’ latest single “Selah” here

For more on James Gardin:
James Gardin on Soundcloud
James Gardin on BandCamp
@JamesGardin on Twitter

Tagged BLAT! Pack, collaboration, culture, film, Hip hop, interview, james gardin, lansing, macs bar, michigan, Music, rap, unity

Mar 26 2014

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Features

Mixing Hip-Hop Tunes With Basketball: Bonus Cut’s Sweet Sixteen Celebration

By: Daniel Hodgman

In this installment I will quickly go over some interesting storylines that have happened thus far in the tournament. I will also assign more hip-hop cuts to teams in the Sweet Sixteen and re-predict the Elite Eight and Final Four given what I’ve seen so far.

Ah, what a first weekend it was. There was a load of barnburners (SF Austin and VCU, Kentucky and Wichita St.), the pleasantly shocking upsets (Dayton, Mercer, Stanford) and the merciless dominance of some heavy-hitters (Arizona, Baylor, Michigan). This goes without saying that, just like any other year, this year’s parity played itself out like a finely tuned fiddle. Who would have predicted a Dayton vs. Stanford Sweet Sixteen game in Memphis? Who had Tennessee playing Michigan in Indy? Would you have guessed Baylor had the power to hold Doug McDermott, one of the greatest offensive players in the history of college basketball, to just 15 points in a 30 point thrashing of McDermott’s Creighton Blue Jays? Smell that? Mmmm madness.

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Tagged Arizona, AZ, basketball, culture, Dayton, eminem, geto boys, Hip hop, Kentucky, March Madness, Michigan State, Music, NCAA tournament, Stanford, tennessee, the left, UCONN, Virginia, wu-tang clan

Mar 26 2014

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Bonus Cut Poetry, Features

Bonus Cut Poetry: “The Duality of Things” By Nick Eaton

Photo by: jakobhansson

This is Bonus Cut Poetry, a series that features original poems by Bonus Cut staff, artists and YOU! In this series, our mission is to bring people together in poetry, share stories and display wonderful artistic pieces. If you would like to have your poems in the next Bonus Cut Poetry installment, just email us at bonuscut@gmail.com

This installment features guest-writer Nick Eaton.

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Tagged Art, artistic expression, culture, Hip hop, poem, poet, poetry

Mar 26 2014

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Album of the Week

Album of the Week: “Madvillainy” by Madvillain

Madvillain
Madvillainy
Stones Throw, 2004

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Tagged 2004, culture, Hip hop, madlib, madvillain, Madvillainy, mf doom, Music, production, rap, Stones Throw

Mar 19 2014

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Features, Interviews

A Bonus Cut Feature: An Interview With Nique Love Rhodes

By: Gus Navarro

About three weeks ago, Dan and I attended the ULITT hip-hop conference at Michigan State University. In its third year, the ULITT conference presents a unique opportunity to learn, collaborate and network with artists, educators and community activists that incorporate hip-hop in their work. We met Nique Love Rhodes after a session hosted by Sacramento Knoxx. She came right up to us, introduced herself and handed us each CD’s of Against All Odds, her album from 2012.

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Tagged 5E, Against All Odds, Art, culture, cypher, Detroit, Hip hop, justice, michigan, Music, Nique Love Rhodes, rap, social change, Spring Arbor University, The Beehive, The Foundation

Mar 19 2014

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Features

Mixing Hip-Hop Tunes With Basketball: Bonus Cut’s March Madness Outlook

By: Daniel Hodgman

In this installment I will try to predict some March Madness outcomes, while at the time assigning certain teams a song that best fits their season and chances of taking home the hardware. Warning: you might not want to follow any advice I give, because I’m pretty sure the last couple of years I’ve ended up around the 60th percentile. But hey, in 2005 I won my father’s office pool!

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