Amy Linden

Beastie Boys, The: The Beastie Boys

Interview by Amy Linden, Complex, 2004

IT'S A RAINY MARCH morning in NYC; the Beastie Boys are in the hiz-ouse or rather the photo studio and the topic on the table ...

Eric Benet: Reluctant Love Man: Eric Benet

Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, 1999

RUNDOWN AND slightly seamy, Venice Beach is teeming with rastas, hippies ,and muscle men pumping up at a beachfront gym. ...

Beyoncé: Pop the Question, Jigga – Miss Fat Booty Gets Some, Gives Some Up Without Shame

Comment by Amy Linden, Village Voice, August 2003

UNLIKE THE B.Lo affair (so ubiquitous it practically has its own action figures), whatever is going on between Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z is under the ...

T-Bone Burnett

Interview by Amy Linden, Creem, October 1992

ALTHOUGH THE understated and pointedly emotional The Criminal Under My Hat (Columbia) is Texas-raised/L.A.-based producer/musician T-Bone Burnett's first release since 1988, he ain't exactly in ...

Busta Rhymes: Woo Busta!! Professor Rhymes holds forth

Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, Source, The, 1998

"BEHOLD. BEHOLD. BEHOLD." Busta Rhymes is quietly repeating the word under his breath He’s in LA, in the thick of sessions for his third solo ...

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Gangsters: Snoop Dogg and Michael Imperioli

Report and Interview by Amy Linden, Complex, 2004

"What is it about the gangster mythology...that grabs those of us, especially men outside 'the life'? What is about guys like (the late) John Gotti, ...

Dr. Dre: Dr Dre: 2001 (Interscope/Aftermath)

Review by Amy Linden, People, Fall 1999

DR DRE’S THE CHRONIC (1992) not only put West Coast rap firmly on the map, the album became one of the biggest-selling hip hop records ...

Dru Hill: Enter The Dru

Review by Amy Linden, Vibe, December 1998

THERE ARE TWO WAYS to consider Dru Hill. One is that the Baltimore quartet is methadone for those experiencing a serious Jodeci jones. Not the ...

Missy Elliott: Rhymes & Misdemeanours: Missy Elliott Gets Her Freak On

Interview by Amy Linden, Rock's Backpages, April 2001

THE EXPRESSION "It takes a village to raise a child" has quickly morphed from sage African proverb to the "Have A Nice Day" of social ...

Eve: Meeting Eve

Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, February 2001

IT’S A DREARY late fall day in New York and Eve is having a fashion emergency. The first lady of Ruff Ryders is back from ...

Aretha Franklin

Essay by Amy Linden, Source, The, 1998

THE SUBJECT is female singers, and we’re gonna make it easy on ya. ...

Nelly Furtado: Folklore (DreamWorks)

Review by Amy Linden, Village Voice, December 2003

SOME CRITIC I was reading recently (Jayson Blair alert: The following is not this writer's original thought!) observed that the fiddle had emerged as the ...

Gang Starr: The Greatness of Gang Starr

Report and Interview by Amy Linden, unpublished, 1998

IN 1997 EMI Records was in the process of folding, and among the groups who were up for grabs was Gang Starr, a veteran NYC ...

CeeLo Green: The Fearless CeeLo Green

Interview by Amy Linden, Village Voice, November 2010

Will The Lady Killer and 'Fuck You' finally turn him into a solo superstar? ...

Jay-Z: Vol.2…Hard Knock Life (Roc- A-Fella/Def Jam)

Review by Amy Linden, Vibe, 1998

ALTHOUGH RAPPER Jay-Z may be new to mainstream America, he has been a rising star in the hip hop community for years. ...

Jay-Z: The Jay-Z Interview

Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, 2003

NOTE: The Black Album was not only Jay-Z's eighth studio album, reportedly it was also meant to be his swansong: a collection of jams meant ...

Grace Jones: Private Life - The Compass Point Sessions (Island)

Review by Amy Linden, Fi, 1998

OF ALL THE words that are over and misused, diva is surely at the top of the heap. Once an adjective related to describing the ...

Lil' Kim: Big Verdict: Lil' Kim Is Seriously Fucked

Comment by Amy Linden, Village Voice, March 2005

ON MARCH 3, in the midst of her highly publicized trial in Manhattan Federal court, a clearly beleaguered Lil' Kim issued a statement through the ...

LL Cool J: The LL Cool J Interview

Interview by Amy Linden, sonicnet.com, Summer 2000

You were the guy who coined the phrase, "Don't call it a comeback." But it seems that every record has the air of a ...

Monie Love: The Nice Ness

Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, Creem, April 1993

BEFORE SHE had even secured a record deal, Simone Johnson, aka Monie Love, was already one of the most in-demand rappers on the burgeoning Afrocentric ...

Baaba Maal: Dropping in on Baaba Mal

Interview by Amy Linden, Code, 2000

FOR YEARS THE music press has insisted that African pop is poised to become the next big thing. That American audiences will embrace the various ...

Outkast: OutKast: Stankonia (Arista)

Review by Amy Linden, XXL, 2000

ECLECTICISM IS NOT usually associated with hip hop. Most artists, especially those who sell, want to maintain their base, yet in an effort to keep ...

Roots, The: Forward To The Roots

Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, 2002

FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS the city of Philadelphia has sponsored the Philadelphia College Festival. Held directly across the steps of the Art Museum (home ...

Snow

Interview by Amy Linden, Creem, April 1993

SNOW, HIS mixer Prince, their manager, their publicist, and myself are seated around a table trying to figure out what it is we have ordered ...

Gwen Stefani: Love.Angel.Music.Baby (Interscope)

Review by Amy Linden, Village Voice, December 2004

LIKE THAT OF her spiritual mommies Madonna and Debbie Harry, Gwen Stefani's appeal knows few boundaries. ...

Stereo MCs

Report and Interview by Amy Linden, Creem, March 1993

THE STEREO MC's are all settled into their surprisingly comfy touring vehicle, headed up the highways (or whatever the British term is). On the road ...

Teena Marie

Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, August 2006

THERE'S NEVER been a funkier white girl than Teena Marie. With hits like 'Lovergirl', 'Square Biz' and 'Fire and Desire' – a duet with former ...

Kanye West

Interview by Amy Linden, Complex, Summer 2004

WHEN KANYE WEST'S much anticipated debut The College Dropout hit stores in early February, its blend of inventive production – via a by-now trademark predilection ...

Amy Winehouse

Interview by Amy Linden, XXL Hip Hop Soul, June 2007

UNDER LOS ANGELES' sparkly surface there lies a noir beauty, and nowhere is that gritty glamour more present than at the legendary Chateau Marmont. Nestled ...

Amy Winehouse: Joe's Pub, NYC

Live Review by Amy Linden, Village Voice, January 2007

WITH HYPE justified by her soon come (and already #1 in the UK) sophomore CD Back To Black), and a Ghostface remix of the slurred, ...

Amy Winehouse: Hip-Hop Junkies: Amy Winehouse

Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, June 2007

23-YEAR-OLD UK soul/jazz chanteuse Amy Winehouse has taken music by storm with her American debut Back To Black. Already huge overseas, Amy first got US ...

Young Disciples: Road to Freedom (Mercury)

Review by Amy Linden, Creem, March 1993

GET MORE than three Brits together in the same club and the next thing you know you've got yourself a whole goddamn movement, with accompanying ...

Def Jam at 25: The Yankees of Hip-Hop Labels, Reconsidered

Comment by Amy Linden, Village Voice, October 2009

WHAT IS IT about hip-hop that, inevitably, almost any conversation revolves around dates – around how far back in the day you can claim to ...