RIP JArch + Pro Era's Junior B, Questlove is wrong, Event Previews & your calls

Tough week for local hip hop collectives. J Arch, affiliated with several movements including End of the Weak and Team HOMI, lost his life while Brooklyn's Pro Era-based crew suffered another untimely death, as Joey Badass cousin and tour manager Junior B died in an accident. 

Several members of J Arch's crew were in attendance and performing at the album release event for Hasan Salaam's "Live in Black and White" at Webster Hall. The combination album release, concert event, toy and coat drive was punctuated by recent events surrounding the non-aquittal for New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Much of Salaam's material, and those of others on the bill, circulate around social injustice issues, and it was a powerful event in that regard, one that included support by and for organizations such as the Center for Domestic Violence, CopWatch and others.

This particular event points out a problem with some of those who criticize hip hop for not being vocal enough in response to social issues, recently expounded on by Questlove. While Questlove was calling out bigger stars, the problem is that such criticism fails to take into account those who ARE doing great work in the field.

We'll talk about all these things tonight, as well as preview some upcoming events, and as always, take your calls.

Tonight's episode of The NY Hip Hop Report is brought to you by SuperFly: My Untold Story of Hip-Hop, Gloria Goldwater's fascinating look back at the history of her SuperFly magazine, which documented the early explosion of hip hop music. The book is available now!