Jimmy Ness wants a PS4 for Arbor Day. This mix defines my winter tastes pretty well – grumpy old and new raps combined with soul and funk. While I’ve been listening to beats and rhymes since before the Willennium, booty-shaking riffs and smooth grooves are something I’ve only properly investigated in the past few years. […]

Unlike the Cult of The Lizard King, we at Passionweiss aren’t always of one unified mind. Behind the scenes we often debate serious subjects like Jay-Z’s favourite yoga positions and if Young Thug should get a third lip piercing. Luckily one thing we can agree on is that most of our picks for 2014 will […]

DJ Paul and Three 6 Mafia’s influence on modern rap music is more prominent than ever. From “Street Goth” being the latest fashion trend to rappers liberally borrowing the Mafia’s iconic rapid-fire flows, screwed vocals and purple drank obsession. Of course the Memphis legends weren’t the only ones to drink cough syrup and rhyme over […]

If you live on this side of the world, the sun has vanished and you’re now undergoing seasonal depression. There’s no children running under fire hydrants or bikini-clad bodies to be seen and when it rains you watch re-runs instead of venturing to the bar. But it’s not all bad. Some of the best music […]

Jimmy Ness was the inspiration for Beldar. Devin The Dude is the kind of rapper you want to hang out with. He’s chilled out and usually rhymes about what he loves most: beautiful girls and the finest kush. The Dude never reached the same mainstream status as other O.G rappers during his 20+ year career, […]

Since graduating from Philadelphia’s Temple University in 2006, Noah Goldstein has engineered, mixed and occasionally produced for Nas, Jay-Z, 2 Chainz, Snoop Dogg, Patti Smith, The Mars Volta and Ryan Adams. But his most interesting client might be Kanye West, who he has worked closely with since 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He was […]

No matter how much of a music nerd you are, there are albums that you’ve inadvertently skipped. Whether it’s due to age, oversight, or just plain ignorance, even classics sometimes slip through the cracks. “The Corrections” is a recurring feature intended to remedy this oversight. The idea is simple: the Passion of the Weiss staff […]

Lamont Jody Hawkins is better known by his rap alias U-God, but it’s the “Four Bar Killer” nickname that has defined his career. Wu Tang’s mastermind RZA treated each member of the iconic group like a chess piece and used their individual strengths in a specific way while recording their early work. Unfortunately for U-God, this […]

Jimmy Ness can tell you some stuff about Phuket. DJ Khaled should worry about new ideas, instead of new friends. He needs a crew that brings creative criticism to the studio rather than codeine. The “DJ” has used the same technique to make music for seven records- cram a bunch of relevant artists on a […]

Jimmy Ness is shouting Free Boosie. It’s cool to be weird in 2013. Danny Brown is Yakuza dope boy chic, Future’s an astronaut, Lil Wayne wears leopard print jeggings and Lil B’s cat has recorded more songs than you. Nostalgic fans see the ‘90s as the zenith of rap and I’m not inclined to argue, […]