There are many paths that lead one to emigrate and there are many roads to becoming a musician. When you combine the two, you often find a unique beast that exists in between dimensions. The legendary Balkan band Kultur Shock is such a beast. Sometimes a musician or band creates a persona to sell t…
For this installment of Immigrant Songs, I was blessed to have Los Angeles group Chicano Batman live in the KEXP studios. They’ve been getting a lot of attention around the country lately, both by doing some killer opening slots during tours with Jack White and Alabama Shakes and by being on the bi…
On this installment of Immigrant Songs, I had the great pleasure of interviewing the Ghanaian-American Hip Hop artist Blitz the Ambassador. Blitz (a.k.a. Samuel Bazawule) represents a modern perspective on the immigrant experience: deeply colored by the internet and mobile technology, and a with a …
Named after one of the most feared diseases that travelers to the Far East can contract, Dengue Fever is responsible for rekindling interest in a music that was nearly obliterated by one of most maniacal regimes of the 20th century. Based in the vibrant Los Angeles music scene, touring worldwide, a…
Seattle duo Chimurenga Renaissance is generating heat in both International Music and Hip-Hop. They are musical royalty and prodigal sons who have managed to cross-pollinate the traditional and the modern, bridging two continents, two cultures, two generations and two genres.
Immigrants move to a new country for a guarantee: That life can be better in ways that were impossible in the home country. This is certainly true for Meklit Hadero, an Ethiopian-born woman who, through her immigrant experience as well as her talent, became an intriguing artist in the US.
I'm very excited to announce the launch of Immigrant Songs, a cool new series that highlights foreign-born musicians and their music along with unique stories of the immigrant experience. I'll be curating the series alongside Wo' Pop host Darek Mazzone. While Derek and I have always championed a wi…
In 2018, KEXP celebrated the 30th anniversary of local record label Sub Pop with a four-month retrospective, "counting up" every catalog number in their vast discography of over 1,200 releases. Dig into the archives of our catalog coverage, featuring in-depth coverage on the history of their releases.
