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Evidence’s New Video Is An Introspective Look Into One Of The Year’s Best Albums

Evidence's Weather Or Not was an early standout album this year, and it set a great standard. The Rhymesayers Entertainment release, Ev's third solo affair, made Ambrosia For Heads' "Best 15 Albums Of 2018." Nearly a year old, the Dilated Peoples and Stepbrothers co-founder continues to deliver visuals to his... Read more

Ghostface Killah & CZARFACE Are Making An Album Together. Hear The 1st Single

At the top of the decade, Wu-Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck made some of the most remarkable material of his career after he formed a group with Underground Hip-Hop stalwarts 7L & Esoteric. CZARFACE became more than just a super-group of the "Speaking Real Words" collaborators from way back. Modeled after... Read more

Black Thought Says He Is The Hip-Hop People’s Champ In A League Of His Own

One week ago, Black Thought released the second installment of his Streams Of Thought album series. Salaam Remi, the Queens, New Yorker recognized for his extensive work with Amy Winehouse and Nas, produces this new project. Ahead of the release, Tariq Trotter released the visual to "Conception," featuring his singing... Read more

Hear The Original Version Of California Love & It’s Nuthin’ But A Dre Thang

UPDATE: The same version through an alternate upload has been added. ORIGINAL STORY: When Tupac Shakur got out of prison in late 1995, he boarded a private jet and went straight to Death Row Records' Can-Am Studios in Tarzana, California. After pausing for dinner at Monty's Steakhouse with his new... Read more

This 2003 Conversation With MF DOOM Is The Interview Of His Career

In addition to phenomenal lyricism and one-of-a-kind production, one of DOOM's charms is his mystery. Perhaps as an extension of the metal-faced mask that he has worn for nearly 20 years, the man born Daniel Dumile rarely grants interviews. While verified accounts may exist, DOOM's one great artist of the... Read more

Joell Ortiz Examines How Growing Up Fast Shaped Him Over A Lush Apollo Brown Beat

Last month, Joell Ortiz and Apollo Brown partnered to release the Mona Lisa album. The Mello Music Group LP is a platform for Joell to look back at his upbringing, react to the dissolving of Slaughterhouse, and call for more MCs with heart, all while celebrating the beauty in the... Read more

Black Thought & Salaam Remi Explain Why Thought’s New Album Sounds Different

This morning (November 26), Black Thought released his second album of 2018. That project, Streams Of Thought, Vol. 2: Traxploitation, is entirely produced by Salaam Remi. The Queens, New Yorker and past "Producer Of The Year" Grammy nominee is known for his acclaimed work with Amy Winehouse, Nas, The Fugees,... Read more

Black Thought Wastes No Time Releasing His Second Solo Album Of 2018

At the top of June, Black Thought released his first ever solo project. Streams Of Thought, Vol. 1 was years in the making for The Roots' Grammy Award-winning MC. More than two years after Tariq Trotter dropped the 9th Wonder-producer "Making A Murderer" with Styles P, he offered up that... Read more

Black Thought Is A Top Notch MC. His New Song Shows He’s A Great Singer Too (Audio)

UPDATE: The YouTube version of Black Thought's "Conception" video: ORIGINAL NOVEMBER 19 STORY: In eight days, Black Thought is releasing his second project of 2018. November 26's Streams Of Thought, Vol. 2: Traxploitation will be produced by Salaam Remi (Nas, The Fugees, Amy Winehouse, etc.) as Thought confirmed in the... Read more

In 1988, A Dozen Songs By Top Shelf MCs Went Missing. They’ve Been Found (Audio)

Back in 1988, there was a small studio and gathering place in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Top Shelf Studios was reportedly different than the usual places where Rap records were made. At a time when the culture was blossoming, MCs from across New York City liked the energy of the... Read more

Black Thought & 9th Wonder Join Forces On Another Lethal Collaboration (Audio)

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So…let AFH 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

Bobby Brown Reveals The Real Reason Mike Tyson Lost To Buster Douglas

On February 11, 1990 Mike Tyson fought Buster Douglas at The Tokyo Dome. In 10 rounds, the fight would go down in history as one of boxing's biggest upsets. The undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion lost to Douglas, an underdog with four losses and a draw to his name at the... Read more

Erykah Badu Dedicates A Mix To Roy Hargrove & Shares A New Song That’s Money (Audio)

In the last week, a principal musician within the Soulquarians family passed away at 49 years old. Trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Jr. played on Common’s Like Water For Chocolate, D’Angelo’s Voodoo, and Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun. On the last of the three, the Waco, Texas native played on "Green Eyes" as... Read more

Fat Beats Is Back In Business. The Record Store Re-Opens In Los Angeles

In the midst of 2010, famed record store Fat Beats closed its New York City and Los Angeles, California locations. The vinyl, CD, tape, and Hip-Hop merchandise destination had become an international mainstay in the cultural landscape. Eminem, JAY-Z, Kanye West, Common, and countless others performed there. Members of Non-Phixion,... Read more

Slick Rick Shares A 30-Year-Old Song That Missed His Great Adventure (Audio)

This week, Slick Rick is celebrating the 30th-anniversary of his landmark debut album, The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick. On Def Jam/Columbia Records, the nimble storyteller offered a collection of shorts about crime, sex, stick-ups, and messages to the youth. The moment was pivotal for Hip-Hop as Rick enhanced Rap... Read more

Rapper Big Pooh Has A New Album Coming. Here’s The 1st Song (Audio)

Last month, all three members of Little Brother reunited in Durham, North Carolina. Few could have anticipated that Phonte, 9th Wonder, and Rapper Big Pooh coming together under the moniker that birthed their three respective careers more than 15 years ago. It was a key moment for a group that's... Read more

Arrested Development Member Baba Oje Has Passed Away

For the last 30 years, Arrested Development defied the conventions of what a Hip-Hop group could look and sound like. The group was formed by MC/singer Speech and DJ Headliner in Atlanta, Georgia. However, by the collective's success in the early 1990s, it grew to include a band of sometimes... Read more

Brother Ali Uses Some Baduizm To Show Just How Serious He Is About His Art (Video)

In 2017, Brother Ali gave fans one of the year's most illuminating albums in All The Beauty In This Whole Life. The Rhymesayers Entertainment release was named one of Ambrosia For Heads' best of the year and showed Ali at a new place with his outlook, his family, and his... Read more

Spice 1 Reveals He Was Considered For The Role Of O-Dog In “Menace II Society” (Video)

Spice 1 was a driving force in 1993's Menace II Society soundtrack. Released on Jive Records, the platinum-certified compilation opens with Spice's "Trigga Gots No Heart." The E-A-Ski and CMT-produced song became a single from the audio companion to Allen and Albert Hughes' film. Spice's longtime collaborator MC Eiht followed... Read more

The Beastie Boys Explain Why They Were Nearly Done After Licensed To Ill

The Beastie Boys are a Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inducted group recognized for fusing Hip-Hop, Punk Rock, and Electronic music. Between the early 1980s and the early 2010s, the trio of Adam "MCA" Yauch, Michael "Mike D" Diamond, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz released eight studio albums. Exactly half... Read more

Method Man, Raekwon & Ghostface Show Love With Verses On Teyana Taylor’s Remix (Audio)

Wu-Tang Clan is as busy as they've ever been. Even without a 2018 album, the collective is celebrating 25 years since Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in prolific style. Fresh off of a group-wide appearance on Logic's aptly-titled "Wu Tang Forever," Method Man, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah come together in... Read more

Do Remember When The Internet Figured Out The Exact Date Ice Cube Had A Good Day

Twenty-five years ago, Ice Cube released the highest-charting solo song of his three-plus-decade Rap career. Although "It Was A Good Day" made its debut in late 1992 on Cube's third LP, The Predator, the single took flight after the album's second single, "Wicked." The formula for "It Was A Good... Read more

Kool G Rap Was Wrongfully Accused Of Shoplifting. Now He’s Getting Gangster.

For the last 30 years, Kool G Rap's music has featured narratives about being on the run, wanted by the law, and serving time in places like New York City's Rikers Island. One of Gangsta Rap's pioneers is part of headlines this week, for a crime he says he did... Read more

J-Live Is Making Hip-Hop Great Again With A Song About Hate (Lyric Video)

The triple threat MC/DJ/producer J-Live has demonstrated that he loves concept. The Atlanta, Georgia-based New Yorker's last album, 2015's How Much Water used H20 as a theme throughout, complemented by liquid lyricism and pitter-pattering beats. Justice Allah's biggest single of 2018, "Hating," is both conceptual and topical. In the lyric... Read more

Torae Freestyles His Responses In His Sway Interview. THIS Is A True MC (Video)

This morning (October 11), Brooklyn, New York MC Torae released his latest project, All Praises Due. Dropping on his Internal Affairs Ent., the rapper, radio host, podcaster, and actor teams with producer Praise for an eight-track effort that offers a pure Hip-Hop display. This week, the Barrel Brothers co-founder stopped... Read more

Sir Jinx Reveals That His & Ice Cube’s First Song Plays In Michael Jackson’s “Bad” Video

N.W.A. was not Ice Cube's first Rap group. Years before O'Shea Jackson helped lead an independent Gangsta Rap charge in music, he and longtime producer/DJ Sir Jinx were already major label acts. Although Cube, Jinx, and K-Dee had C.I.A. (Criminals In Action) during the mid-1980s (a trio that worked with... Read more

RZA Explains How His Attempted Murder Case Transformed Him

Last night (October 5), RZA was interviewed before a live audience during Atlanta, Georgia's A3C Festival. Wu-Tang Clan's Abbott spoke about his career, personal transformation, and the earliest days of his group to National Public Radio's Rodney Carmichael. Ambrosia For Heads was in attendance for the revealing conversation featuring one... Read more

Masta Ace, Marco Polo & Smif-n-Wessun Team Up To Salute Bucktown (Video)

Twenty-eight years ago, Masta Ace released his debut album, Take A Look Around. From that title onward, the gifted MC has always made Brooklyn, New York an essential muse in his art. The neighborhoods, people, and landmarks have been more than just a backdrop too. Ace was in the founding... Read more

Evidence Directs Atmosphere’s Latest Video. It’s A Different Kind Of House Party

During the last decade, Slug, Ant, and the Rhymesayers family welcomed Evidence, Dilated Peoples, and Stepbrothers to the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based label. In those two groups and alone, Ev has fit in lovely. The MC/producer from Venice, California has made some of the best music of his career ever since. That... Read more

Take A 25-Year Ego-Trip Back To One Of De La Soul’s Best Videos

De La Soul's third album celebrates 25 years of being on planet earth today (September 21). Of all the LPs from the Plugs, it can sometimes seem easy to lose Buhloone Mindstate in the lights of a discography as consistent and far-reaching as any in the Rap genre. Many Heads... Read more

Pharoahe Monch Details His Upcoming Album. He Vows It’s His Hardest To Date (Audio)

Pharoahe Monch has not released an album in almost five years. The Queens, New York MC/producer boasts a consistent catalog, whether solo or his three albums with Prince Po in Organized Konfusion. 2014's P.T.S.D. was a critically celebrated release that examined the stresses (and stressors) of the world and in... Read more

Eminem Admits He’s Made Mistakes With Albums & They’ve Made Him Better (Video)

Eminem appeared in a multi-part interview with Sway Calloway. Tonight (September 11), that conversation's first part released to the public. It marks the first time that the Rap superstar has spoken about his Kamikaze album, which recently debuted at #1 on the charts. After handing his interviewer an early Sway... Read more

Bun B & Run The Jewels Get Really Personal With Some Help From Big K.R.I.T. (Audio)

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So…let AFH 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

Reason Uses His TDE Shine To Spotlight The Mixtape That Got Him Signed (Video)

This month, Top Dawg Entertainment revealed that they had a new MC in the roster. From the same city of Carson, California as Ab-Soul, Reason followed his exceptional 2016 Free Album mixtape (embedded below) with a video single, "The Soul." The a la carte look followed an appearance on The... Read more

The D.O.C. Sings Beautifully In A Video That Shows Anything Is Possible.

For decades, Hip-Hop Heads have known that The D.O.C. has a golden pen. The Dallas, Texas native MC is credited with writing songs and lyrics for Dr. Dre and other artists on Death Row and Ruthless Records. However, in the 1980s, the artist born Tracy Curry was a rapper with... Read more

Bun B Has A Very Trill Conversation About Quitting Unhealthy & Deadly Habits (Video)

This Friday (August 31), Bun B is releasing Return Of The Trill. Originally titled "Bernard," the album marks a personal transformation for the UGK co-founder as it pertains to his music. In the last decade, Bun B has expanded his resumé to include teaching at Houston's Rice University, co-authoring a children's... Read more

Erick Sermon Previews His Next Album With A Verse That’s As Hard As His Beats (Video)

In addition to new EPMD sneakers, Erick Sermon has been busy promoting his eighth solo album. Now titled Vernia (after being previously called Go), the fan-funded LP promises involvement from AZ, Big K.R.I.T., Xzibit, Too Short, Styles P, and others. At the top of the year, the Long Island legend... Read more

Rakim, Black Thought & Pharoahe Monch Will Record A Live Mixtape Onstage

Three of the most respected veteran MCs are coming together to make some history. Throughout the 2010s, DJ J. Period has assembled live mixtapes. He's orchestrated these incredible performances on revered stages, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. These guest-driven affairs have become fixtures at events like The Roots... Read more

J. Cole & Bas Are From A Hip-Hop Tribe Where Being Able To RAP Still Matters (Video)

For Hip-Hop Heads, especially Dreamville fans, Friday (August 24) is an exciting day. Longtime label artist Bas will release his third album, Milky Way. The Queens representative who appeared on J. Cole's "New York Times" alongside 50 Cent more than five years ago has steadily built a following of his... Read more

Mickey Factz Serves Up A Next Level Freestyle Over 1 Of DJ Premier’s Best Beats (Video)

Mickey Factz is renowned for his freestyle skills. The Bronx, New Yorker seems to just get better with these kind of bars with age—in addition to releasing some quality projects that show a different gift from the veteran MC. He battles beats like so many opponents left duffed out in... Read more

Eric B. & Rakim Name Their 5 Most Important Hip-Hop Songs Of All-Time (Video)

Eric B. & Rakim were on-hand for a celebration at Mikey Likes It Ice Cream shop in New York City's Lower East Side last week. Currently celebrating 30 years since Follow The Leader, the Queens DJ/producer and the Long Island MC/producer collaborated in listing five of the most important Rap... Read more

Queens, NY Has Named August 19 “Ralph McDaniels Day” (Videos)

Today (August 19) will forever be Ralph McDaniels Day in the borough of Queens, New York. The confirmation was made this evening, during Uncle Ralph's second 35th-anniversary celebration for Video Music Box. A free event took place at Jamaica, Queens' Roy Wilkins Park, and Ambrosia For Heads was on hand... Read more

KRS-One Is Working On New Music & He’s In The Studio With Dr. Dre

Last year, KRS-One self-released an exceptional album. Thirty years after Boogie Down Productions' Criminal Minded, Tha Teacha' dropped The World Is MIND, a 15-track LP on his R.A.M.P. Entertainment. In recent years the Bronx, New York representative worked with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis on the DJ-Premier-produced "Buckshot," and reunited with... Read more

The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin Has Passed Away At The Age Of 76

The Queen Of Soul has died this morning (August 16) at her Detroit, Michigan home. Aretha Franklin's powerful voice, timeless songwriting, and ability to carry Rhythm & Blues music from its sound in the 1960s into the decades that followed made her a legend. The 76-year-old had been battling undisclosed... Read more

Pete Rock Says Biggie Wanted The Main Ingredient Interlude Beats For His Album (Audio)

UPDATE: Pete Rock clarified today's earlier report regarding his Touré Show interview. The legendary producer, MC, and DJ points out that it is 1994's Main Ingredient, and not Mecca & Soul Brother, whose interlude beats Biggie Smalls wanted: it was main ingredient not mecca ????????‍♂️ — PETEROCK.COM (@PeteRock) August 9,... Read more

Black Thought Explains Why Kool G Rap’s “Road To The Riches” Is His Favorite Verse (Video)

In 2004, The Roots released their sixth album, The Tipping Point. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania group's final album for Geffen Records contained an Easter egg of sorts for Hip-Hop Heads. The Dice Raw-assisted "Boom!" featured band front-man Black Thought paying homage to two of his MC inspirations: Big Daddy Kane and... Read more

Taylor Bennett Speaks Candidly About Coming Out & Creating His Own Lane (Video)

In the last month, Taylor Bennett released a six-song project called BE YOURSELF. The DIY project is the latest from the Chicago, Illinois MC. For many Hip-Hop Heads, two things come to mind surrounding the 22-year-old. He is the younger brother of Grammy Award-winning Rap star Chance The Rapper. Additionally,... Read more

Cypress Hill Are Releasing Their 1st Album In 8 Years. The 1st Video Is A Trip.

It has been eight years since Cypress Hill's last album, Rise Up. That 2010 effort marked a transitional period for B-Real, Sen Dog, DJ Muggs, and percussionist Eric Bobo. While Muggs co-produced two songs on the Priority Records LP, the Hill welcomed in outside sound providers ranging from Pete Rock... Read more

One Of The Most Sampled Songs In Hip-Hop Now Has A Sequel (Audio)

Since the early 1970s, pioneering Hip-Hop DJs played records with specific instrumental breakdown sections that could make B-boys and B-girls dance. As the culture grew, one of the artists who created breaks that DJs—and later, producers, gravitated towards was Bob James. The keyboardist, arranger, and record producer has since become... Read more

J. Prince Reveals The Original Plan For Scarface & Tupac’s “Smile” (Video)

J. Prince has shunned the spotlight for much of Rap-A-Lot Records' 32 years of business. The label's founder, the man born James Smith, has gone public in a very big way this year. The Houston, Texas native published his memoir The Art And Science Of Respect. Right as the text... Read more