Bo Kennedy – WRVU Nashville

20 Minutes with DIAL UP

March 28, 2018 Bo Kennedy

DIAL UP is a Chicago creative collective that’s carving out their own musical niche, with a healthy injection of multimedia prowess. In their short careers, all 11 members (Dave Prime, Magic Williams, Link Wolfe, Bria, Jack Crackstone, JEFF, Harsimus, Slim, Archie Blocka, Lazy Anwar, and Teah) have displayed boundless potential and versatility.

The DIAL UP podcast, The Lazy Anwar Show, and a slew of singles have led up to the release of their debut project “DIAL UP CD: (Side A)” on March 26th.

I had the opportunity to speak with members Jack Crackstone, Dave Prime, Archie Blocka, Bria, and Link Wolfe.

BUKU Music + Art Project: Top 5 Anticipated Acts

February 19, 2018 Bo Kennedy

With BUKU fast approaching, we at WRVU would like to highlight some of our favorite acts performing in New Orleans.

The lineup this year is as strong as it is diverse. It’s a deep lineup, but the headliners are no scrubs.

Okeechobee 2016

April 3, 2016 Bo Kennedy

By Sammy Spencer and Bo Kennedy

This year’s Okeechobee Music Festival, held on Lake Okeechobee in Southern Florida, exceeded all of my expectations for a first year music festival. I arrived late on Friday night due to exams, and set up camp that night already feeling a strong positive energy throughout the site. The next day was a whirlwind of amazing experiences, enhanced by the unbelievable art and music that Okeechobee had to offer.

Lady Lamb’s Honest Musings Make a Strong Impression on her Carefully Crafted “After”

April 20, 2015 Bo Kennedy

Lady Lamb, also known by the name Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, is a singer-songwriter from Maine who has been hard at work for several years as an independent artist. Her first record on major label Mom + Pop Music is a testament to her genuine songwriting talent. Mom + Pop, the label that backs acts such as Wavves, Sleigh Bells, and Fidlar, is no stranger to scuzzy, fuzz-pedal-driven punk rock. This production trademark rings through much of the music, but the production brilliantly focuses on the warm, pure voice of Lady Lamb.

6 Artists Poised to Take the Bonnaroo Crown in 2015

April 6, 2015 Bo Kennedy

Every year, tens of thousands of music fanatics the world over gather on “the farm” in Manchester, Tennessee for Bonnaroo. Also, it has become tradition to see which sets have left the greatest mark on the festival-goers. Showmanship, the timing of the show, and the size of the artist’s existing fanbase serve as key factors in determining which artists leave Tennessee with the most positive response. In 2014, most of the news and opinions arose from Elton John’s closing set, Kanye’s polarizing rants, and Ukranian group DakhaBrakha’s outlandish stylings. Let’s take a look at which artists are poised to leave their mark on this year’s fest.

Kendrick Lamar's third album, 'To Pimp a Butterfly', is monumental

March 22, 2015 Bo Kennedy

Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly is a confrontational affair, and the initial response from the general public reflected that. As one of the most commercially successful and critically lauded rappers of the 21st century, looking to follow up 2012’s classic-in-its-own-right Good Kid M.A.A.D City, Kendrick Lamar bravely ensured that To Pimp a Butterfly was too dense to take in with just a listen or two. Infinite tweets, reviews, and “thinkpieces” have attempted to pick this piece of art to the bone, but not a single one will do this labyrinth of cultural and personal meditation justice.

Kendrick Lamar's third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, is monumental — Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ had a surprise early release last week

(Biased and Preemptive) Top 10 Rap Albums of 2015

February 28, 2015 Bo Kennedy

We live in a world where Riff Raff can make this claim. Does it matter whether he follows through on his Panther Album Series? I personally would download any Riff Raff album or mixtape immediately post-drop, regardless of panther-color and regardless of when it happens. This is what truly matters in hip-hop nowadays: Internet buzz.

The Hype, The Chance, The Rapper

February 16, 2015 Bo Kennedy

“What did you think of the Rites lineup?”

This question has reverberated around Vanderbilt’s campus since February 11, 2015. Rock purists celebrated the appearance of Young, the Giant at the top of the bill. Fans of psychedelia and indie rock were surely excited to see Portugal. The Man make the trip. Music fans of every walk of life are singing the praises of T-Pain’s inclusion.

However, the first name on the bill has generated the most buzz. Chancelor Bennett, known to the world as Chance the Rapper, whose profession, as it turns out, is in fact rapping, has taken the hip-hop community by storm over the past two years. His rise to fame has been exponential, and his headlining position at Rites should not come as a surprise.

Joey Bada$$- “B4.DA.$$”

January 30, 2015 Bo Kennedy

B4.DA.$$ is a record made for rap purists, which is a welcome change of pace in the era of personalities and quotability (see Shmurda, Bobby) taking the genre’s center stage. However, as a result, the record can get uncomfortable when it leaves Joey’s comfort zone of self-exploration and braggadocious wordplay over boom-bap beats. Joey’s natural flow and mastery of the craft of hip-hop over meticulously-crafted laid-back beats makes for an album with a definite confidence and direction, even if the 90’s rap sound feels disingenuous at times.

I first discovered Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ with “95 Til Infinity” off of his 2012 mixtape “Summer Knights.” The most jarring aspect of the song was the reference to his birth year, 1995: the same year I was born.

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