Joe Levy

I went to place and looked at books. Was a little surprised to be face to face with a world so alive, but also not so alive at all. Then I wrote a thing. substack.sashafrerejones.com/p/at-the-tom-v…

I just dropped an epic essay about the rise of Rakim and why he is the father of all modern elite MCs and how he developed into the God MC and how John Coltrane and his family helped him become your favorite MC's favorite MC. Read it free: toure.substack.com

@TJNawrocki Might have imagined it. Empire state of mind and all that.

@RealJoeLevy I like everything about this except the Yankees cap.

Hey! How's it going? It's been a minute, and let's assume that things are going both well and apoplectically, because as Frank O'Hara once wrote "in a sense we're all winning/we're alive," and also we're all not winning, because . . . well, you know . . .

@dodaistewart Haunted by the ghosts of the Pelham One Two Three. And others.

@RealJoeLevy astor place subway station with the bricked up door to clinton hall also extremely haunted

It all kept going-grinding-being. Until it stopped. Anyway, there's a thunderstorm now. So I'm gonna listen to that for a while. Should be about the same. Have a good Friday night!

For real, I was in awe. Some things made sense (if that's the right word). I could see/feel one of the bassists doubling his time. But lots was mysterious. Solos (if that's the right word) rose out of the bardo and disappeared into the steady-state throb, never to be heard again.

Today marks the launch of "Four Strings and the Truth: The Bassists Who Changed Music." For this first season we're focusing on the post-punk/new wave/proto-hardcore era. Have a listen here: pod.link/1733284004 Grateful to @RealJoeLevy for the show's name.

@davidmyaffe @SPBPHD He and Robert Farris Thompson were pretty much the only reason I stayed long enough to graduate.

@RealJoeLevy @SPBPHD John Szwed was the one who told me!

I love this. I been a huge Jodie Foster fan since I saw her in Freaky Friday and Candleshoe…I even considered going to Yale bc of her 🤭

@SPBPHD @davidmyaffe F'me, I didn't even know that frosh squat was called Bingham Hall. [It was kinda a squat compared to Welch Hall, which had been renovated sometime...in history.] FTR I was also known to our mutual friend for having a decent selection of hip-hop singles. youtube.com/watch?v=e-0tok…

@RealJoeLevy @davidmyaffe Joe, I can totally imagine you in, idk Bingham Hall, taking really good notes 😉✊🏾

@davidmyaffe @SPBPHD She borrowed my notes once. We had a mutual friend who told her I took good notes.

@SPBPHD She and @RealJoeLevy were in John Szwed’s class.

A little later than I would have preferred, 84 albums it would be all too retro for me to call records constitute a 2023 Dean's List topped by a 20-year-old albeit chocked as well with veterans if only occasionally literal graybeards. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/deans-list-2…

@ahampp @gwenstefani @WalkofFameStar @Variety If that was the first, it was already overdue.

Great Q&A w/ @gwenstefani to commemorate her @WalkofFameStar in this week's @Variety 🌟🌟, penned by the legendary @RealJoeLevy -- who, fun fact, assigned me my first Billboard artist cover story on No Doubt 11 years ago variety.com/2023/music/new…