Oliver Wang

Oliver Wang is a music writer, scholar, and DJ based in California. Since 1994, he's written on popular music, culture, race, and America for outlets such as NPR, Vibe, Wax Poetics, Scratch, The Village Voice, SF Bay Guardian, and LA Weekly.

Wang begins work as an assistant professor in sociology at Long Beach State this fall; He also hosts the renowned audioblog soul-sides.com. For more information, visit o-dub.com.

Music Interviews
3:41 pm
Wed May 15, 2013

Laura Mvula's Velvet 'Moon' Is A Revelation

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Laura Mvula's debut is ambitiously confident, as if she and her band had perfected their sound years ago.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 9:33 am

Music Reviews
3:57 pm
Wed May 8, 2013

On Two New R&B Albums, An Old Soul Sound That Glows

Credit Darren Bastecky / Courtesy of the artist
Charles Bradley was signed by Daptone Records partly because of a James Brown act he used to perform. His new album is Victim of Love.

Originally published on Wed May 8, 2013 5:55 pm

It's tempting to describe the voices of Charles Bradley and

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The Record
12:59 pm
Mon May 6, 2013

20 Years Ago Biz Markie Got The Last Laugh

Music Reviews
6:00 pm
Thu March 14, 2013

Lady: Two Soul Stalwarts Find A New Groove Together

Credit Courtesy of the artist
R&B singers Nicole Wray and Terri Walker have teamed up as the duo Lady.

Originally published on Fri March 15, 2013 8:59 am

R&B singers Nicole Wray and Terri Walker both had promising starts to their careers more than ten years ago. Wray came up on the Virginia coast under the wing of mentor Missy Elliott. Walker, a Londoner, was classically trained yet released her debut on a Def Jam subsidiary. Both enjoyed early critical success but by decade's end struggled to find a wide audience. Instead, they found each other.

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The Record
11:00 am
Thu September 20, 2012

The Purple Tape: Only Built 4 Collectors

Originally published on Thu September 20, 2012 5:09 pm

The Beatles had "The White Album." Prince's long-time work-in-progress became dubbed "The Black Album." Rapper Raekwon had "The Purple Tape," one the most storied cassettes in hip-hop history.

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Music Reviews
2:58 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Two Attempts To Turn Summer Platinum Into Fall Gold

Credit Vanessa Heins / Courtesy of Universal Music Group
Carly Rae Jepsen and the cover of Kanye West's latest album, Cruel Summer.

Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 9:47 am