Dean Van Nguyen

1 week ago | lithub.com | Dean Van Nguyen

Lincoln Hospital, Mott Haven, the Bronx. Like many medical centers that serve America’s sprawling metropolises, this striking redbrick building is a sad temple in hip-hop history. On August 27, 1987, DJ Scott La Rock, producer and co-founder of Boogie Down Productions, died on an operating table after being shot while riding in a Jeep through the Highbridge Gardens project. The loss of La Rock has been called hip-hop’s first tragedy.

1 week ago | dublininquirer.com | Dean Van Nguyen

Meljoann has dined in Prince’s inner sanctum. She has drank from the teacup of Lady Gaga, and worn Rick James’s lightning-bolt suits. I’m sure these things are true. How else do you explain her ability to produce such bold, confident pop music? The maverick multi-instrumentalist abandoned Dublin in 2012 after the double blow of losing her job and home. She may or may not still be living in Brighton – recent details of her movements are scant, and her online presence is severely limited.

2 weeks ago | uproxx.com | Dean Van Nguyen

Reinvention is often considered the lubricant of genius. David Bowie, Prince, Madonna, Miles Davis – these are all icons whose longevity is partially attributed to an ability to pull a daring stylistic switcheroo on their audience. But that doesn’t mean we can’t show an appreciation for the art of consistency, and the stars who retain relevance across eras while maintaining a steadfast dedication to certain core tenets of their sound.

1 month ago | dublininquirer.com | Dean Van Nguyen

It was somewhere between Ely Place and El Dorado that I became convinced by the argument that rap music is at its nadir. For sure, the genre is in as sunken a state as I’ve known since the low of the early 2000s – when Nas himself declared hip-hop to be deceased. I recognise that I turn 40 years old this year and, thus, am right on time to believe that pop culture just ain’t what it used to be. But I can’t help it – that rap is in a condition of depression is a thing I believe.

1 month ago | crackmagazine.net | Dean Van Nguyen

01.04.25 Words by: Dean Van Nguyen Photography: Louis O’Sullivan Makeup: Maggie O’Shea Photography Assistant: Cameron Crossen Inspired by her return to Connemara, a region rich in Irish history and myth, Maria Somerville’s second album is shaped its spirit, spacious landscape and seasonal pace. The weather in Dublin this late January is mild, nothing like the images of Storm Éowyn being beamed from the rest of Ireland.