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2 months ago | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
Soulful stories, jazzy chords, and incomparable harmonies were the core of the band Heatwave. A group of worldly influences marbleized within Ohio funk, this septet thrilled audiences on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1970’s. With the release of their 1976 debut Too Hot to Handle, songs like “Boogie Nights,” “Ain’t No Half Steppin'” and “Always and Forever” put Heatwave on the map.
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Jan 22, 2025 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
One of the best parts about being a music journalist is getting a chance to talk to your heroes. One of the worst parts about being a music journalist is when your work disappears from the internet. In 2018, I got to interview one of the most important figures in Hip-Hop history, DJ Jazzy Jeff.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
At 2:00 AM on Bridle Path on May 7, 2024, a man was shot. The victim was a security guard at rap superstar Drake’s Toronto mansion. The shooting took place in the immediate aftermath of arguably hip-hop’s biggest rap feud ever: Kendrick Lamar versus Drake. For weeks, Fans reveled in the spectacle as the planet’s two most popular rappers traded bars that crossed personal lines scarcely seen before (Drake called Kendrick a wife-beater, while Kendrick called Drake a child predator).
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
It’s 2006. I’d been living in Brooklyn for over a year, and working as a customer service rep CitiStorage, a box storage and courier company. One day my fellow customer service buddy, Damien Weber, told me about a website where you could look up random videos called YouTube. I couldn’t believe it was true. I went home to my one bedroom apartment on Nostrand Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Bed-Stuy that I was sharing with my girlfriend.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
It’s 2006. I’d been living in Brooklyn for over a year, and working as a customer service rep CitiStorage, a box storage and courier company. One day my fellow customer service buddy, Damien Weber, told me about a website where you could look up random videos called YouTube. I couldn’t believe it was true. I went home to my one bedroom apartment on Nostrand Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Bed-Stuy that I was sharing with my girlfriend.
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Oct 16, 2024 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
(DEF|Y|NE Media founder Matthew Allen and his copy of Marvin Gaye’s Live at the London Palladium during a Liner Notes music club session at Legacy Record Shop in DUMBO, Brooklyn)Good morn’ or evening, friends. DEF|Y|NE Media has begun a new production: Get Physical. Matthew Allen, DEF|Y|NE Media founder and award-winning music journalist produces and hosts the short-form video series that takes viewers through his ever-growing music collection. DEF|Y|NE Media is a reader-supported publication.
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Jul 31, 2024 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
I was bummed that I was going to miss the 2024 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention and Career Fair. After hearing the news that former President Donald Trump is attending, I feel like I dodged a bullet (pun very much intended). Late Monday, July 29, just days before the first day of the NABJ conference in Chicago, the organization announced via Twitter that Trump would be appearing on a panel along with three Black female panelists on July 31 at noon CT.
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Jul 29, 2024 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
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Jul 27, 2024 | 
headphoneaddict.substack.com | Matthew Allen
“I’m one away from Michael, Nigga, beat it, nigga, beat it,” - “First Person Shooter”“I’m really like that,Your best work is a light pack,Nigga, Prince outlived Mike Jack” - “Like That”DEF|Y|NE Media is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
