We are pleased to announce that Soren Baker will judge talent will judge talent at the LAMN Jam Urban Music Contest Finale on June 14, 2011 to take place at the 1616 Club in Los Angeles.
Soren Baker is the premier journalist and cultural commentator on rap music. He has had more than 2,200 articles published in such outlets as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. His debut book is in its second printing. He has interviewed Eminem, Jay-Z, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, T.I., Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, OutKast and Kanye West, among many others. Soren has written and produced for VH1 and has been featured on camera on VH1, ESPN, E! Entertainment and Fuse TV.
Soren has also been a fixture on radio programs, appearing as a regular cast member on FoxxHole Radio’s The Sheryl Underwood Show from late 2008 through early 2010. He has appeared multiple times on Big Boy’s Neighborhood on Power 106 in Los Angeles, as well as NPR, including the Day To Day and News and Notes programs. Other radio show appearances include Westside Radio, The Wake Up Show and Big Tigger’s evening show.
Raised in Gambrills, Maryland, Soren graduated in 1997 from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. While writing for the student newspaper at Xavier, he started writing for a host of local and national publications, including the Cincinnati Post and The Source, covering hip-hop culture, sports and business. A few months after graduating from college, Soren began writing for The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Vibe. Rap Pages magazine hired him to be its features editor in March 1998. In May 1998, Soren started writing for the Los Angeles Times, where he wrote the paper’s Hip-Hop Report column as well as artist profiles and album and concert reviews. He also wrote about films for the paper, interviewing Oliver Stone, Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx, F. Gary Gray, Jet Li and Bernie Mac, among others.
VH1 hired Soren in 2002 to write and produce its Ultimate Albums episode on Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP. Soren interviewed Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and others for the show, which still airs on the network. In April 2006, Soren’s first book was published. The History of Rap and Hip-Hop is an overview of the evolution of hip-hop culture and rap music. Published by Thomson Gale, the book’s target audience is middle school and high school students. Soren has also written, produced and directed DVDs, including Tech N9ne’s The Psychumentary, which was released in April 2008 and has sold more than 13,500 copies. His other DVD work as a writer and producer includes Chingy’s Powerballin’ DVD and Tech N9ne’s The Tech N9ne Experience DVD, both of which were released in 2004.
Soren appears on the ESPN 30 For 30 Straight Outta LA episode, which discusses the impact of the Los Angeles Raiders on Los Angeles’ gangster rap movement and was directed by Ice Cube. In July 2010, Soren started serving as Creative Consultant for Fuse Network’s Lay It Down with Cee Lo Green television program.
Whether writing, editing, conducting interviews, appearing on the radio, producing or providing expert analysis, Soren has established himself as the go-to source for editorial excellence regarding rap music regardless of medium.
Submit here now and compete for your spot in the LAMN Jam Urban Finale!
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