michael - ProfilesArchive

About Me

A cultural writer since the late '80s, I've interviewed everybody from MC Hammer and Gangstarr to Toni Braxton and Tricky to Frank Miller and Walter Mosley, I also co-wrote the groundbreaking hip-hop book Bring the Noise: A Guide: A Guide to Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture (Crown, 1991). I've written stories and reviews for Spin, High Times, Ebony, Mode, XXL, The Village Voice and Entertainment Weekly. My essay on black call girls appeared in Best Sex Writing 2005 edited by Violet Blue (Cleis Press) and a composition on pimp culture entitled â€œCashmere Thoughtsâ€ will be included in the forthcoming collection Verbal Intercourse: Critical Writings on Hip Hop Culture edited by Kenji Jasper (Harlem Moon/Random House). The former â€œBlack Metropolisâ€ columnist for New York Press and writer-at-large for Vibe magazine, I've written countless cover stories for The Source (back when it was good) that included Jay-Z, Nas, Trick Daddy, Lauryn Hill, Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill and L.L. Cool J. In addition, I've penned cover stories on Prince (Code), Toni Braxton (Vibe, Eve (Suede), Erykah Badu (Essence) and Jennifer Lopez (Latina). Other essays have appeared in Rock and Roll is Here to Stay edited by William McKeen (W.W. Norton), The Vibe History of Hip-Hop edited by Alan Light (Random House), Men of Color: Fashion, History, Fundamentals edited by Lloyd Boston, Soul (Black Power, Politics and Pleasure) edited by Monique Guillory and Richard C. Green (NYU Press) and Vibe's Hip-Hop Divas edited by Rob Kenner. Gonzales has published short fiction in Bronx Biannual literary journal (edited by Miles Marshall Lewis/Akashic Books), Proverbs for the People (edited by Tracy Price-Thompson/Dafina Books) Uptown magazine, Untold UK, Ego Trip, Russell Simmons' OneWorld, Trace and the first three volumes of the Brown Sugar erotica series edited by Carol Taylor (Simon & Shuster). Currently writes a column called "On the Corner" (http://www.popmatters.com/music/columns/gonzales/051222.sht ml) for PopMatters.com.
Watching the Detectives: The Influence of Malvin Wald :: Sto

http://www.stopsmilingonline.com/story_detail.php?id=1011

An essay the explores in influence of Malvin Wald, screenwriter of the 1948 crime classic The Naked City.

My Interests

Reading, writing, comic books (Paul Pope Rules!), television (24, The Shield, The Wire), roaming the streets of New York City and Baltimore, used bookstores, strong coffee and brunching with friends.

I'd like to meet:

David Bowie, Bobby Womack, Chris Blackwell, Andy Warhol, Betty Davis (http://popmatters.com/music/columns/gonzales/050615.shtml) and Ralph Bakshi

Music:

Prince, Sly Stone, Radiohead, Tricky, Rza, Burt Bacharach, Rakim, Marvin Gaye, Tom Waits, The Notorious B.I.G., David Bowie, Bobby Womack, The Roots, Jill Scott, Massive Attack, Prefab Sprout, The Clipse, The Style Council, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, Soul II Soul, Nelle Hooper, Malcolm McLaren, Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield and countless others...

Movies:

Annie Hall, The Anderson Tapes, The Mack, Manhattan, Sparkle, Dog Day Afternoon, The Goodbye Girl, The Sweet Smell of Success, Super Fly, 2046, Oldboy, Sliding Doors, Willie Dynamite, Godfather 1 and 2, Rumblefish, The Outsiders, Boyz in the Hood, Dead Presidents, Shoot the Piano Player, some Godard and most Fellini.

Television:

24, The Shield, The Gilmore Girls, The Simpsons, PBS, Homicide, Cheers, Leave It to Beaver, The Waltons and others

Books:

too many to mention but please read everything by Chester Himes, Samuel R. Delany, Haruki Murakami, Edward P. Jones, Jason Starr, Greg Tate Harlan Ellison, Frank Owen, Ken Bruen and David Goodis.

Heroes:

Batman, Kafka and Chester Himes

My Blog

Bombing Babylon (graffiti fiction)

Bombing Babylon Oct 31, 2008 Edit | Author: Admin | Filed under: Uncategorized This is a little Halloween treat for all you boys and ghouls. Be safe, see you next month.http://blogs.uptow...
Posted by michael on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:49:00 PST

The Chitlin Circuit

EAT: Filth from the Swine by Michael A. Gonzales photo credit Jared Swafford/FlickrPerhaps if I had known exactly what chitlins were (or chitterlings, as some people spell it) when I was a boy, I ...
Posted by michael on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:00:00 PST

Grandmas Grits...

Thursday, October 23, 2008 EAT: GRANDMA'S GRITS by Michael A. Gonzales Being raised by both my mother and grandmother had its advantages. Thinking back to life uptown during my 1970s wonder year...
Posted by michael on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:24:00 PST

Riffing on Rudy Ray Moore

Dolemite Done Died Years before my Aunt Ricky became a minister, she had a collection of "party records" she played in the basement when her friends came over. Back in those days, party record...
Posted by michael on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:09:00 PST

Doze Green Is a Mean Machine

This past Saturday night I was invited to New York's wonderful Jonathan Levine Gallery to see Doze's latest paintings. To check out my review, go to: http://blogs.uptownlife.net/michaelagonzalesDetail...
Posted by michael on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:35:00 PST

Mercedes Ladies

Mercedes Ladies Novelist and former rapper Sherri Sher knows how to tell a good story. "I've been keeping a diary since I was a teenager and I've always had stories in my head," Sherri says. As...
Posted by michael on Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:36:00 PST

Solange Review...Uptown Magazine

Though some of my best friends are publicists, I have a problem believing them when they are pitching their artists. One must realize that publicists are paid to make us (both writers and the public)...
Posted by michael on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:53:00 PST

Outstanding: The Gap Band Story

Baltimore, 1981: Clad in a goofy white tuxedo and matching patent leather shoes, I was just another high-school nerd chilling in the corner at the senior prom. Stood-up by a pretty girl whose name no...
Posted by michael on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:59:00 PST

Joe Thomas, Grown Man Soul

The fall of 2008 will be known as the season maturity came back to soul music. Nothing against the kidz (I see you Chris Brown), but it's refreshing to have a few brothers over thirty singing about "l...
Posted by michael on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:13:00 PST

Coke & Voodoo

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Coke La Rock (dude with the glasses standing next to D-Nice), the main man who is cited as being the first hip-hop MC. "I just met Red Alert for the first...
Posted by michael on Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:12:00 PST