There are few, if any, record labels that have a more storied tradition than Def Jam Recordings. The company started by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons would be the musical home of countless Hip-Hop legends over time, including LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Redman, Method Man, Jay Z,... Read more

Few Hip-Hop groups have experienced the setbacks of Slum Village. Two founding members, J Dilla and Baatin, died from health complications in the 2000s. Elzhi left the group, with reports of a less than amicable split between himself and anchor T3. Dilla's brother Illa J also had a stint in... Read more

9th Wonder is having an incredible year. The veteran producer already has had an incredible career, working with the likes of Jay Z, Beyonce, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Murs, De La Soul, Raekwon, KRS-One, Anderson .Paak, and countless others, not to mention his own beloved group, Little Brother. In 2017,... Read more

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So...let us fight through it for you and only supply you with that great stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it's ever been. Not only are we able to go back... Read more

Over the last several years, Harvard University has established itself as one of the leading institutions of higher learning to embrace Hip-Hop and its role in academia. In 2012, producer 9th Wonder (Little Brother, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar) was named a Harvard Fellow, and taught a course titled The Standards... Read more

UPDATE: Nia Raquelle, who created the petition, has taken it down. She has issued the following statement: "At the request of Spread Art NYC, the community organization that owns the rights to the mural, I am taking this petition down. The organization has stated they are working on a solution... Read more

Over the last several weeks, there have been a number of freestyles using Future's ubiquitous "Mask Off," but none quite like this. Mysonne, the one-time Def Jam artist whose promising career was derailed by a 7-year prison stint for armed robbery, has taken Future's song and used his own words to... Read more

At the height of his popularity in the early 90s, MC Hammer was one of the most polarizing figures in Hip-Hop. His immense success was both the source of ridicule and respect. His third album, 1990's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, spent an astounding 21 weeks at the top of... Read more

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So...let us fight through it for you and only supply you with that great stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it's ever been. Not only are we able to go back... Read more

Over the last couple of years, Nick Grant has established himself as one of Hip-Hop's most most promising new voices. In 2016, the South Carolina-born MC released his mixtape 88, which, as its title suggests, was a throwback to the era that played host to names like Rakim, Big Daddy... Read more

With their debut album, Legal Drug Money, The Lost Boyz were one of the most exciting groups in Hip-Hop, in the mid-90s. Songs like "Renee", "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz" and "Lifestyles of the Rich & Shameless" had clubs, radios and car stereos on lock in 1996. Their run... Read more

It's been a beleaguered couple of years for KRS-One. In 2015, in the heat of a battle with a fan, the veteran MC said some words that were taken as a diss of LL Cool J. Weeks later, the MC born Kris Parker, made a formal apology to the Queens... Read more

While Kendrick Lamar has dominated the Hip-Hop discourse for the last four weeks, there has been some amazing Hip-Hop to drop before, during and after that time. Joey Bada$$, Talib Kweli & Styles P, Brother Ali, Big Sean and Oddisee all have released stellar projects in 2017, just to name... Read more

While it might seem like ages ago, it has only been 3 months since Big Sean released his excellent album, I Decided. As the title implies, the album is about the effects decisions can have on one's life, and nowhere is that more evident than on his song, "The Light,"... Read more

Since releasing his song "The Heart, Pt. 4" on March 23, Kendrick Lamar has been on an absolute tear. He achieved his first ever solo #1 single, with the release of "HUMBLE." He also secured his third consecutive #1 debut with his album DAMN. What's more, with an opening tally of... Read more

In 2013, Nas achieved yet another one of Hip-Hop's proudest accomplishments, when it was announced that Harvard University was establishing the Nasir Jones Fellowship in his honor. The mission of the fellowship was “to seek projects from scholars and artists that build on the rich and complex Hip-Hop tradition.” Over... Read more

Battles between generations in Hip-Hop have existed nearly since the inception of the culture. Grandmaster Melle Mel had issues with KRS-One, challenging him to a battle at KRS' own Boogie Down Productions show. Kool Moe Dee beefed with LL Cool J, who he saw as unjustifiably arrogant. Ice-T took on... Read more

Merely hours after Kendrick Lamar released his masterful new album, DAMN., a rumor surfaced that set the internet ablaze. It is unclear who the original author was, but the theory was Kendrick actually had plans to release 2 albums that weekend. The details were wildly creative yet also stunningly detailed…all... Read more

ケンドリック・ラマーが極めて巧みな新アルバム「DAMN.」をリリースしたそのほんの数時間後、ネットではある噂が大炎上した。誰が言い出したかは不明だが、一説にはケンドリックは実は同週末にアルバムを二枚リリースする予定だった、というのだ。詳しい内容・根拠はワイルドに想像力に富んだものである一方、中には驚く程細かい描写もあった。普通だったら「こりゃガセネタだろう」と流したくなるような要素の勢揃い。 その主な要素とは次のとおり。「DAMN.」は聖金曜日 [Good Friday: 復活祭の前の金曜日。キリストの命日] にリリースされたもので、ケンドリックの死を象徴している。（ネット上の）空論家たちは、ケンドリックが次に「NATION.」というタイトルで「自分の復活」と意味で二枚目のアルバムを復活祭にリリースするのではないかと暗示し出した。タイトルを合わせると「DAMNATION」[天罰] となる。ケンドリックの音楽にはスピリチュアルな要素も含まれており、早くも「Section.80」というアルバムの時点ですでに「Kush & Corinthians」[クッシュとコリント人]のような曲があり、ジャケットには聖書が写っている。また、アルバムのリリースに向けて The New York Times とのインタビューの中でケンドリックはこう語る。 「俺たちは人生と呼ばれるあらゆるものごとから、ある一つの大きな要素を排除しがちな、そんな時代にいるんだ。つまり神だよ。今、世界で起きていることとの間に軋轢を生んでしまうから誰も言わないけど。政治や政府、体制について語ろうとするとさ」。 噂を裏付ける詳細も豊富だ。「DAMN.」のジャケット裏は、全曲が最後まで大文字で書かれ、それを強調するかのように「.」で終わり、白い背景へと溢れるようなレイアウトになっている。噂によるとこれらは一つのアナグラム（つづり換え遊び）のつもりである。つづり換えると「Earth led 2 Death [地球は死を招いた]」や「Death 2 the leader [リーダーに死を]」などと、噂のコンセプトを強化するようなフレーズがいくつか成り立つとみられる。更にいうと、「DAMN.」のM字がちょうど悪魔の角とも捉えてもいいようにケンドリックの頭の上に位置しており、今度「NATION.」ではO字を天使の輪に見立てるのではないかという説だった。また「DAMN.」のカバーは赤だから、「NATION.」は青になるだろうと。そしてケンドリック本人も火に油を注ぐように「DAMN.」のリリース直後に、Spotifyのプロフィール写真を変え、赤だった背景が青になっていた。その後、「NATION.」の偽アートワークが出回り始めた。 二日間、世の中は息をひそめて「NATION.」のリリースを待った。期待が外れたと気付くと、噂の火が弱まりかけたが、数日後にアルバムのサイン会でケンドリックが口にしてしまった一言でまたすぐ様に大炎上した。 「俺の音楽、まだあるよ」 この言葉が大騒ぎを起こし、それを正すべくケンドリックは公式声明を発表せざるを得なくなった。「 KenFolk [ケンドリックファンの皆] へ。皆から、自分の音楽への、止まない期待と欲望に、感謝。しかしリリースはないよ。自分の活動は今後の俺たち TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment) の日程発表でわかるよ、でも」 KenFolk. ThankU 4 the desire of always anticipating new music of my own. None is... Read more

Since the days of Slick Rick, Hip-Hop has had a curious relationship with children's stories. Recently, Los Angeles' Power 106 decided to take that connection and run with it. Over the last few months, the radio station has had several rappers put their stamp on spirited readings of the 2005... Read more

On May 19, Faith Evans will release her new album, The King & I. Featuring a number of rare vocals from The Notorious B.I.G., the project is fashioned as a duets album between Faith and her late husband. After prior singles featuring Jadakiss and Snoop Dogg, Faith has released the... Read more

A year ago today, the world was rocked by the sudden and unexpected death of Prince Rogers Nelson. It set off an outpouring of love, grief and tributes that continue to this day. At no time in his career was Prince's name more ubiquitous. In fact, he has been the... Read more

There are few storylines, whether fact or fiction, filled with more drama, violence, or ups and downs than the tale of Death Row Records. Founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, with help from SOLAR Records' Dick Griffey, The D.O.C. and incarcerated silent partner Michael "Harry O" Harris,... Read more

It's been nearly 9 months since Nas teased us with 3 potent words: "Nas Album Done." The internet was set aflame, when he uttered that phrase on DJ Khaled's song of the same title. Since then, the album has yet to arrive, but Nas' activity has certainly picked up. He... Read more

While Big Boi has stayed more active in music than his OutKast partner Andre 3000 since they split, it's been 5 years since Daddy Fat Sacks released a solo album. In 2015, he teamed with Phantogram for their joint LP, Big Grams, but that was very much a collaborative project in... Read more

The release of Kendrick Lamar's latest album has triggered discussion of where he stands in the Hip-Hop pantheon of MCs. Many consider him to be 4 for 4, in terms of outstanding LPs, including Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, To Pimp A Butterfly and, now, DAMN. As untitled.unmastered. was simply... Read more

The Roots have not released an album since 2014. During that time, however, Black Thought has stayed hard at work. He and his longtime musical partner, Questlove, were deeply involved in the Broadway sensation, Hamilton, curating mixtapes, cyphers and more for the musical. Thought has continued working with DJ J.... Read more

Yesterday, Kendrick Lamar continued the momentum he's built over the last few weeks, with the release of a new video for his song "DNA." Since mid-March, Lamar has had the Hip-Hop world on lock, with an onslaught of new songs, the release of his album DAMN., a headlining performance at... Read more

Hip-Hop music has been one of movements. In its earliest days, Hip-Hop was a fusion of sounds as disparate as Salsa and Punk, Dance Music and Funk. DJs like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa used records from all genres, in order to concoct the sonic gumbo that launched... Read more

Over the last 3 weeks, Kendrick Lamar has dominated Rap discourse, but since the release of his latest album on Friday, the conversation has reached a fever pitch. Over the weekend, there was intense speculation that Kendrick would drop yet another album on Easter Sunday and, his headlining performance at... Read more

After nearly 48 hours since Kendrick Lamar released his latest album, DAMN., the Hip-Hop world is still unpacking the dense LP. Like most Kendrick Lamar albums, the project is multi-layered and deeply complex. On its face, DAMN. is arguably Kendrick's most straight-forward work, sonically. It has 3 club-ready beats from... Read more

Just three weeks ago, Kendrick Lamar turned the Hip-Hop world upside down, with a single post to his Instagram account. Prior to the now ubiquitously discussed picture of the Roman numeral IV that Kendrick shared, his account had been wiped clean, to signal that this was not just a run-of-the-mill... Read more

After a very quiet 2016, Logic has started 2017 off with a bang. The Maryland MC, known as Young Sinatra, for his resemblance of a youthful Frankie, has announced he is releasing his third studio album, Everybody, on May 5th. The album will feature guest appearances from Killer Mike and... Read more

From Just Ice to The Pharcyde, N.W.A. to Ahmad, many artists have been inspired over the years by trips down memory lane. TLC is the latest to catch the nostalgia bug, and they use it to fuel "Way Back," a new single from their long-awaited crowd funded album. Last year,... Read more

Kxng Crooked is a monster. There's no other way to say it. For more than 20 years, the MC formerly known as Crooked I has done things that are absolutely grisly to microphones. Whether as a Death Row records artist who never had the opportunity to release a project or... Read more

On Saturday night (April 8), 50 Cent joined The LOX onstage as a surprise guest during their stop at Baltimore Soundstage, for their Filthy America tour. 50 appears to be in good spirits, as he walks the stage, however, as he reaches down to extend his hand to a fan,... Read more

On April 7, 1987, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince released their debut album, Rock The House. While certain elements of the album had been showcased by other artists in the past--storytelling (Run-D.M.C., Whodini), humor (Beastie Boys), beatboxing (The Fat Boys) and more--Jeff and his partner Will Smith were... Read more

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So...let us fight through it for you and only supply you with the good stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it's ever been before. Not only are we able to go... Read more

Over the years, Gorillaz, the virtual band created by the UK’s Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, have pushed the boundaries of creativity. Conceptually and visually, the group is comprised of four members, who exist solely in animated form-- 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs--and belong to an entirely fictional... Read more

Thirty years ago this week, Prince released Sign 'O' The Times, one of his most ambitious and acclaimed works in a catalog that is unrivaled. The double album was years in the making, having evolved from various other unreleased projects, such as Dream Factory and Crystal Ball. The double album... Read more

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So...let us fight through it for you and only supply you with the good stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it's ever been before. Not only are we able to go... Read more

Last week, Kendrick Lamar set the digital world on fire when he deleted all of the photos on his Instagram account and replaced them with an image simply bearing the Roman numeral IV. The picture created wide-spread speculation that it was in reference to the imminent of arrival of his... Read more

When A Tribe Called Quest released their final album, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service, in November, one of the standout songs was "Dis Generation." The record featured the kind of crate-digging samples and kinetic back and forth interplay between Q-Tip and Phife that had powered... Read more

On Monday (March 27), Alfonso Ribeiro, former star of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, posted a photo to his Instagram that took on a life of its own. The portrait pictured him along with several other members of the cast, in what went viral as a 20-year reunion photo, given... Read more

Today (March 25) marks the 20th anniversary of the release of The Notorious B.I.G.'s album, Life After Death. Released just two weeks after he was killed in Los Angeles, the album served as a bittersweet tribute to the MC the world had just lost. For inhabitants of NYC, and likely... Read more

It's been 8 years since AZ released an album, and in that time, his output has been extremely scarce. In fact, over the last couple of years, the Brooklyn MC has only released a handful of songs, and they typically are care of DJs who coax him into blessing their... Read more

While CyHi The Prynce may not be a household name (yet), those who know of his work recognize that he has one of the strongest pen games in Hip-Hop. Even those who may be unfamiliar have heard his stellar lyricism on songs like Kanye West's "So Appalled," from My Beautiful... Read more

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So...let us fight through it for you and only supply you with the good stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it's ever been before. Not only are we able to go... Read more

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So...let us fight through it for you and only supply you with the good stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it's ever been before. Not only are we able to go... Read more

Over the last several years, Killer Mike has very definitively established himself as one of Hip-Hop's greatest activists. Mike's civic-mindedness could be heard extensively in his music, particularly on album's like R.A.P. Music and his Run The Jewels collaborations with El-P. However, in the wake of tragedies like the killing... Read more