Big Atomic explodes with social unrest in funky ‘Body Politic’ EP

Big Atomic is on the side of the people. This funky five-piece from Louisville, Kentucky does not idly stand by while injustice reigns supreme. We might be enjoying the start of summer in a brand new post-COVID era, taking vacations and attending concerts without a care in the world. But, remember last summer? Remember the […]

Cydeways releases political “We Won’t Run” single, feat. Pepper

“Time catches up with kingdoms and crushes them, gets its teeth into doctrines and rends them; time reveals the foundations on which any kingdom rests and eats at those foundations, and it destroys doctrines by proving them to be untrue.” I kept thinking back to that quote by James Baldwin a lot over the course […]

Bonafide ‘s “Start and Stop” video begs world for peace

Jamaican born and Vegas-based reggae band Bonafide brings to the forefront the ongoing evils of police brutality towards people of color in America in their new “Start And Stop” music video. Not only that, but they do so alongside son of one of the biggest freedom fighters ever lived, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. The video […]

RastaBwoyKell brings forth religious fervor in ‘Revelations 19’ EP

Rap-reggae producer and artist RastaBwoyKell might have been born and raised out of southside Chicago, yet his roots grow strong in Rastafarianism. Bringing the biblical verse Revelations 19 to life in his latest EP, the religious and political activist poses several Truths in the face of widespread misinformation and oppression — we simply don’t know […]

Top Shelf Music News: Episode 6

Top Shelf Music News is back on the virtual airwaves, standing as the first post-quarantine episode with both hosts Matt Cook & Kristy Rose filming inside the newsroom! After taking June off to observe a month of silence in the support of Black Lives Matter, Top Shelf Music feels the world — and the music […]

TSM Artist #HotList: July 12th, 2020

Filmed in June and premiering today, Alexia Johnson brings you another #TSMArtistHotList. This week features Reed Dollaz (Philadelphia), FillmoeTrev (San Francisco) and Krooked Treez (Los Angeles) pairing with Sen Dog (of Cypress Hill), Karim Israel (of Arise Roots) and Sid Wilson (of Slipknot) This episode includes strong Artists of Color, making waves within the music […]

Attending the One Love Peace Protest in Long Beach

COVID-19 has changed live music forever, it seems. With more bands announcing postponed or canceled shows around the country, protest concerts are filling the void and bringing live music back to the masses. June 27th, 2020 was a day of peaceful protest in Long Beach in the form of the One Love Peace Protest, a […]

Ramz celebrates black women in “Underneath” music video

UK hip hop artist Ramz follows up his “Belong To The Streets” and “Brixton to Oxford Circus” freestyle releases with an official ‘black is beautiful’ statement in his latest single “Underneath”. As nations around the world continue to demand justice for black citizens, particularly in America, it’s uplifting to hear artists standing firm in the […]

Natural High x Wayne Marshall x Kabaka Pyramid x Jesse Royal in “Cane Fields” video

Powerful testaments across the globe have surfaced as the Black Lives Matter movement grows, yet none so powerful as this new music video featuring the combined talents of Natural High, Wayne Marshall, Kabaka Pyramid and Jesse Royal! This Jamaican reggae revival super team, under the independent Delicious Vinyl Island label, has produced a single so […]

Run The Jewels answers BLM call in ‘RTJ4’

What to say about Run The Jewels… what to say about vigilante justice? For that is exactly what rappers El-P and Killer Mike are — lyrical vigilantes. Exposing the world for what it is one track at a time, this renegade hip hop duo bluntly states what’s been on everyone’s mind this past year and […]

LA’s upcoming One Love Peace Protest combines Reggae & BLM

Reggae, especially American reggae, is under fire right now. These artists are the ones that have been preaching peace, love and unity for black citizens since the inception of its genre. Now that Black Lives Matter and the fight for equality has hit a critical high in this country (and around the world), believers in […]

Pastor Ayu pledges 365 original songs in 365 days

Washington D.C. has been thrust full-throttle into the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the nation and rightly so, considering that is where country leaders reside! This fight is long overdue to be resolved and fed up citizens are taking to the streets to voice their anguish for the atrocious death of […]

Iya Terra stands with Black Lives Matter in “Streets Run Red” single

A country on the verge of civil war is nothing compared to the insurmountable injustice that has paved the way here. America, through systemic racism imposed by the government and social encouragement in the home, has always been divided, despite the strides in the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter movements. For every time a […]

#BlackLivesMatter playlist on Top Shelf Spotify

Contentious clashes between police and protestors have intensified over the past weekend, as people of all colors and creeds speak out on the inhumane and incorrigible death of George Floyd. Following Floyd’s death, there has been a litany of marches around the United States — all justified, most ending in violence. Some police officers join […]