Jay Smooth
I'm a longtime Hip-Hop DJ/commentator and founder of NY's longest-running hip-hop radio show back in 1991, WBAI's Underground Railroad. Through the Railroad I was blessed to witness tons of history firsthand, and play a role helping to build NY's underground scene in the 90s, including introducing the world to the legendary Natural Elements crew (RIP KA).
Later I helped pioneer the Hip-Hop blog scene at hiphopmusic dot com (you can hear a bit about this in The Blog Era podcast), and became probably THE first hip-hop youtuber starting in 2007. This led to joining the original roster of XXL mag's blog squad, and helped evolve my work into speaking more often on politics and social issues along with the music.
Around 2015 I mostly stepped away from the Youtube scene, until last year when some convos w/ the gawd FDSignifier helped inspire me to see how it would feel stepping back in the arena. If you enjoy what you've seen I hope you'll stay a while, as we see what we can build!
Jay Smooth
Watching *that type* of hip-hop consumer (I'm not even gonna say "fan") try to come for Rob Markman on Drake's behalf says so much about where we're at nowadays with this whole space tbh. Salute to Rob for always representing with clarity and integrity, and showing how those traits are like kryptonite for some of y'all.
1 month ago | [YT] | 5
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Jay Smooth
"Today I only ate rice, and, you know, rice and a salad today. And that's a luxury. That's like eating from Salt Bae."
2 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Jay Smooth
So life has been lifing over here (as it has everywhere, I suppose!) but I'm hoping to be back with more videos soon..and in the meantime I love seeing my old favorite Open Mike Eagle chopping it up with a newer favorite Professor Skye. And OME's new album is amazing btw
2 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Jay Smooth
Really enjoyed watching Mero taking Hasan Piker around the Bronx, and showing why the BX is the realest and most New York part of New York, by far!
Just watching how young heads in the Bronx react to them walking by, mostly with no idea who Hasan is, is hella entertaining.
2 months ago | [YT] | 4
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Jay Smooth
This was a fun crossover! And some good discussion of Zohran Mamdani's big win here in NY and what the Dems should learn from it.
2 months ago | [YT] | 3
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Jay Smooth
The girls are fighting! (c) Azealia
Or go with the "LET THEM FIGHT" meme if you prefer. But either way, the only surprise here is that it took this long. What do we think though, does Trump and Elon's mutual manbaby crashout do any lasting damage to either of them?
3 months ago | [YT] | 4
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Jay Smooth
Ka. 1972-2024.
Some of you will know that back in the 90s, before all this internet stuff, I hosted New York's longest-running hip-hop radio show, WBAI's Underground Railroad. Back then we had an intern named Agu aka Mister Voodoo, who rapped in a crew named Natural Elements with two other great MCs named L-Swift and Ka, who all became our extended fam. It was exactly 30 years ago now I had the honor of introducing them to the world, and it remains one of my proudest memories.
Some of you may also recognize that last name, Ka, and know the incredible second life he came back to build in the last 10+ years. The model he became of what hip-hop can be, of the path a truly independent artist can carve out for themselves. For us.
My old friend Ka passed away this weekend. If you have never heard his music I hope you will take the time to seek it out. You will be nourished. He was the best of us.
11 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 37
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Jay Smooth
Hey y'all, should have a new video coming this week! And in the meantime, as we watch certain people trying to build a right-wing media career off saying the N-word, it's probably time to bring this old one back. Don't get played!
1 year ago | [YT] | 45
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