Audio Archives

The CunninLynguists’ New Album Is Topical Southern Soul That Delights (Audio)

For more than 15 years, the CunninLynguists paved the road for a "Southern Underground." Kno and Deacon The Villain symbolically formed the group in the early 2000s after meeting at a Morehouse open mic event. 2001's Will Rap For Food followed, launching a string of soulful releases that embraced concepts, brooding... Read more

October 8, 2017 Audio

Blu & Exile’s “Below The Heavens” Outtakes Are Better Than Many MCs’ Rap Caviar (Audio)

Ten years ago, Blu & Exile released their expansive slice of California dreaming, Below the Heavens. Now, in a kind of Hip-Hop Star Wars move, the Los Angeles duo is offering up a prequel to the 2007 classic album, called In the Beginning: Before the Heavens. Blu & Exile Share... Read more

October 4, 2017 Audio

Actor & Ex-Player Terry Crews Details The Abusive Relationship The NFL Has With Its Players (Video)

The NFL and player protests have become more synonymous since Colin Kaepernick spearheaded the trend of kneeling throughout the National Anthem during the 2016 season. Many NFL owners and disgruntled fans have misconstrued player protests to be anti-patriotic as opposed to them making a statement against racial injustice in America.... Read more

October 3, 2017 Audio, Lifestyle, News

Prince Paul Reminds That 3 Is The Magic Number, With DOOM, Chubb Rock & Wordsworth (Audio)

There were no new DOOM tracks this week, despite a promising "Missing Notebook Rhymes" series roll-out. Based on what's been reported, that series may have halted. In any case, the masked villain more than sprinkled fans with the full-length Westside Gunn collaboration, "Gorilla Monsoon." Beyond that, Prince Paul remixed an... Read more

September 29, 2017 Audio

Bun B Kicks True Reality Rap In A Sea Of Fakers & It Sounds Incredible (Audio)

Production duo Beatnick & K-Salaam is gearing up to release The Bluest Flame album (October 13). The Canadian pair works with Talib Kweli, Blu, Tech N9ne, and others on the upcoming self-released project. Following the "Fight Night (Remix)" with Kweli and Blu, they drop "Keep It 100" with Bun B... Read more

September 29, 2017 Audio

Saukrates & Kardinal Offishall Share Their Views On Being The Original 6 Gods (Audio)

Veteran MC/producer, Saukrates was born in Ottawa, but since 1986, he's claimed Toronto as his home. Saukrates has run alongside some of Hip-Hop’s best-known figures from the U.S since the 1990s. He produced for Nas on God’s Son, has guested on countless Redman records, and was also signed to Def... Read more

September 29, 2017 Audio, Exclusive

Big K.R.I.T. Has A New Album Coming And His First Single Is Worth Celebrating (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

September 29, 2017 Audio

Talib Kweli Releases A Song To Inspire Those With Their Heads Up & Eyes Open (Audio)

The Harvard Business Review has released an article about loneliness, and describes it in dire terms. "There is good reason to be concerned about social connection in our current world. Loneliness is a growing health epidemic. We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet... Read more

September 28, 2017 Audio, Lifestyle

Elzhi & Blu Show Other Rappers They Are No Ordinary MCs (Audio)

With his third studio album, The Ordinary Man due out in a matter of weeks, L'Orange is offering a sneak peak of the project courtesy of the Blu and Elzhi-assisted, "The Difference." Talib Kweli & Blu Gang Up On A Beat. It’s Fight Night For 2 Great MCs (Audio) "The... Read more

September 28, 2017 Audio

Sean Price & Masta Killa Are Rap Royalty On A 9th Wonder Production (Audio)

Sean Price and Wu-Tang Clan were frequent collaborators throughout the legendary Boot Camp Clik MC's career. "Donkey Sean" has shared verses with prominent and affiliate members of Wu on a total of 12 released tracks since 1998. On Masta Killa's "Down For Me," the latest single for the Wu member's... Read more

September 27, 2017 Audio

DOOM & Westside Gunn Are The Bad Guys Who Win On A Gritty New Collabo (Audio)

Few would expect that DOOM would be taking on the straight role as he does in this vaudevillian Rap High-Art wonder, “Gorilla Monsoon,” produced by Daringer and more than ably set up by the unhinged prevarications of Westside Gunn. “Ayo/Ayo” Westside Gunn repeats in his squeakiest voice ever, alluding to... Read more

September 27, 2017 Audio

Nas Lends His Words To A Remix For A$AP Rocky Affiliate Joe Fox (Audio)

Nas has dropped guest verses for folks he believes in, across genre. British singer Joe Fox was a powerful force on A$AP Rocky's At.Long.Last.A$AP album in 2015. He appeared on five songs, several of which were video singles. The singer's delivery sounds like something out of the late '60s, coming... Read more

September 26, 2017 Audio

Rah Digga’s Lost Album Featuring J Dilla & No ID Production Has Been Released (Audio)

There were 10 long years between Rah Digga's celebrated 2000 debut Dirty Harriet and her follow-up collaboration with producer Nottz, Classic. In that time, Digga left her post as "the First Lady of Flipmode Squad" alongside Busta Rhymes and went fully independent, where she remains today. Rah Digga Rates Nicki... Read more

September 26, 2017 Audio, Throwback

O.C. & Apathy’s New Concept Album Boasts Cold Rhymes & Rugged Beats (Audio)

From Russia with love...of beats and rhymes. Two-and-a-half years after the collaborative album was announced O.C. (D.I.T.C.) and Apathy (Army Of The Pharaohs/Demigodz) release Perestroika. Evident from the first single, which premiered at Ambrosia For Heads, the Brooklyn-to-Connecticut LP plays around with the Soviet/Evil Empire theme. Titles on the record include... Read more

September 25, 2017 Audio

Those Sleeping On Sha Stimuli Get An Abrupt Wake Up Call (Audio)

Brooklyn, New York native Sha Stimuli has been an independent force to be reckoned with for more than 15 years. He was a presence around the Roc-A-Fella Records movement, before signing as an artist to Virgin Records (under Jermaine Dupri). When that deal stalled, Stimuli released a major label quality... Read more

September 25, 2017 Audio

Alchemist Dug Samples In Paris Record Stores Then Made An EP With Local MCs (Audio)

Lush, abundant, playful; these three words perfectly describe Paris L.A. Bruxelles the recent project by acclaimed producer (and MC) Alchemist. This project sees him team up with a crew of French-language rappers. DOOM & Alchemist Together Is Two Thumbs Up For Hip-Hop (Audio) Released via Red Bull Music Academy/Konbini Radio, the project... Read more

September 23, 2017 Audio

Wu-Tang Release Their Album Tracklist And A Song Featuring Redman & Inspectah Deck (Audio)

It is less than one month away from Wu-Tang Clan's The Saga Continues project. With Redman-assisted "People Say" marking the first look of the next Clan project (and new RZA-run label home, 36 Chambers ALC), a full glimpse of the October 13 LP has been made available, as well as... Read more

September 22, 2017 Audio, Fresh

Rapsody, Black Thought & Anderson .Paak Make A Collabo That Nobody Can Touch (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

September 22, 2017 Audio, Playlists

Rapsody’s New Song With Kendrick Lamar Shows Hip-Hop’s Power Remains With Real MCs (Audio)

Tomorrow (September 22), Rapsody will release her long-awaited Laila's Wisdom album. Already promising to be the biggest release in the North Carolina MC's decorated career, the LP marks the first with backing from JAY-Z's Roc Nation, along with that of her mentor, 9th Wonder, and Jamla Records. Rapsody Is Releasing... Read more

September 21, 2017 Audio

Rockness Monsta & M.O.P. Send A Fax To All The Shook Ones (Audio)

How about some hardcore from three of Brooklyn's most raucous Rap bullies? Rockness Monsta and his Brownsville neighbors M.O.P. connect for the latest collaboration of their mutual catalog titled "Fax Machine." The Heltah Skeltah veteran sticks to his guns (literally) spitting flames with his signature syncopated flow to the downbeat... Read more

September 18, 2017 Audio, Exclusive

Lecrae’s Next Album Single Breaks Down How Being Broke Made Him Rich (Audio)

Next week, Lecrae will release All Things Work Together. After grabbing his first #1 with 2014's Anomaly, the Reach Records star hopes to do it again. While he's definitively at the top, the veteran MC says he would not be if he did not struggle first. Why MCs Avoid The... Read more

September 15, 2017 Audio

From Gold Diggers To Deadbeats, Rapsody Says Ante Up. Enough Is Enough (Audio)

One week from today, Rapsody will release Laila's Wisdom. This will be the first full-length album from the Jamla flagship artist, since joining the Roc Nation family. A proven master at rhyme concepts and storytelling, "Pay Up" shows more of the polish that this next LP will contain. Rapsody’s Laila's... Read more

September 15, 2017 Audio

The Game Drops His Best Verse In Years & Lil Dicky Is At Least As Good (Audio)

Two years ago, Lil Dicky released one of the most creative records in some time with his song "Pillow Talking." Housed on his album, Professional Rapper, the song was a whopping 10 minutes and, not only featured Dicky rapping a conversation between himself and a date, but also sported an... Read more

September 14, 2017 Audio

21 Years After Tupac’s Death, The Game Questions How He’d Fit In Today (Audio)

Twenty-one years ago today, the physical world said goodbye to Tupac Shakur. Even with a week spent fighting for his life in a Las Vegas hospital, the 1996 news was sudden and scary, surrounding a Rap star that seemed, at times, immortal—and other times, doomed. Kanye West Killed 50 Cent... Read more

September 13, 2017 Audio

Oddisee Is In Amazing Stride. He Pops His Collar On A New Single (Audio)

Oddisee has been mostly self-contained in 2017. He produces, he raps, and he does not do a ton of guest vocal features in modern times. Rather, attention is deserved on the Diamond District member's albums, most recently The Iceberg. Oddisee Is Having The Best Year Of His Career & The... Read more

September 13, 2017 Audio

Viktor Vaughn’s Return Spells DOOM For Low Budget MCs (Audio)

It's Tuesday, meaning that for the foreseeable future, DOOM is going to be dropping villainous verses. Today, he laces "Notebook #5" with the return of Viktor Vaughn. Heads may recall that this was one of many MF DOOM personas during one of Hip-Hop's greatest comeback strides, in the early 2000s.... Read more

September 12, 2017 Audio

Nipsey Hussle Has Been On The Grind Relentlessly & It’s Paying Off (Audio)

Artists like Chance The Rapper and Kanye West have challenged the old music industry model through making award-winning, critically-acclaimed albums without seeking a sales transaction. In his own lane, Nipsey Hussle has done something similar. The L.A. rapper has stayed relevant without ever dropping an official LP. He made paying... Read more

September 12, 2017 Audio

Talib Kweli & Blu Gang Up On A Beat. It’s Fight Night For 2 Great MCs (Audio)

In 2007, the same summer Blu & Exile released Below The Heavens, Talib Kweli dropped Eardrum. One MC made an indelible underground debut, while the other, from a similar trajectory, released a #2 overall LP on the charts, marking a new plateau. Ten years later, these two artists from opposing... Read more

September 11, 2017 Audio

Rock Apologizes To Sean Price In A Compelling Autobiographical Song (Audio)

After Black Moon and Smif n' Wessun, Heltah Skeltah was a critical expansion within the Boot Camp Clik and Duck Down Records family. Brooklyn's Rock (aka Rockness Monsta) and Ruck (aka Sean Price) combined clever writing with distinct deliveries over hardcore Hip-Hop production. Two albums debuted in Top 40, without... Read more

September 10, 2017 Audio

Lloyd Banks Assists As Conway Campaigns To Prove That He’s The Grimiest, Ever (Audio)

That highly distinctive deep-atmosphere, kept so twitchy and tense, that defines the Griselda Records sound is on full display in “Bullet Club” – the first single taken from Conway The Machine’s upcoming G.O.A.T. The track sees him paired up with G-Unit MC Lloyd Banks and fellow Griselda affiliate Benny. DOOM &... Read more

September 9, 2017 Audio

The LOX Make Some Of That Beautiful Hip-Hop From Back In The Day (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

September 8, 2017 Audio, Playlists

Z-Ro, Trae Tha Truth & Killa Kyleon Discuss Houston’s State Of Crisis After Harvey (Audio)

With mandatory evacuations in Florida, Georgia and possibly more on the way as Hurricane Irma barrels towards the United States (after decimating islands in the Caribbean), the country continues to reel from the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Houston and some coastal parts of Texas were ravaged by the storm, which... Read more

September 7, 2017 Audio, Lifestyle

DOOM & Westside Gunn Are Releasing An Album. Here’s A Taste (Audio)

In the midst of DOOM's weekly music series, it appears there is going to be even more product from the masked villain. While the veteran MC has his Missing Notebook roll-out underway, his latest collaboration project has been announced: with Griselda/Shady Records rapper Westside Gunn and producers Alchemist and Daringer.... Read more

September 7, 2017 Audio, News

The Game, Busta Rhymes & Tech N9ne Have Bars That Jealous Ones Envy (Audio)

Last month, DJ Kay Slay orchestrated quite the collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, and Kevin Gates for "Cold Summer." The Drama King is not backing down as he reloads with "Jealousy." This collabo links up The Game, Busta Rhymes, and Tech N9ne for an attack on people that hate... Read more

September 7, 2017 Audio

Run The Jewels Discuss Homophobia In Hip-Hop With Stretch & Bobbito (Audio)

During Hip-Hop's formative years through the 1990s, homosexuality was a taboo topic that held little to no real estate in the culture. For years, highly regarded MCs used facets of gay lifestyle as emasculating punchlines. But, during the past two decades, popular artists like Kanye West, Murs, Macklemore and Lil... Read more

September 6, 2017 Audio, Lifestyle

Large Professor & Craig G Put Hip-Hop On A Pedestal & Celebrate H.E.R. (Audio)

Belgian DJ and producer Koss has been linking with some of the most defiant MCs in the game for many years now. With inspiration from Soul, Funk, Jazz, and Psychedelic Rock from the 1960s and the '70s, he intertwines these musical genres with the infectious boom bap of Hip-Hop from... Read more

September 6, 2017 Audio

Oddisee Is Having The Best Year Of His Career & The Great Music Keeps Coming (Audio)

In February, Oddisee's The Iceberg (below) helped forecast a great year for Hip-Hop. One of Mello Music Group's flagship artists followed up the stellar 2015 effort The Good Fight with another conversation piece about self-care, race relations, and the modern American immigrant family experience. The 15-plus-year veteran multi-threat shows that... Read more

September 6, 2017 Audio

Redman Wants Another Def Squad Album & He Explains The Muddy Waters 2 Delay (Audio)

2018 marks 20 years since Def Squad released its one and only album. El Niño debuted at #2 on the Top 200 and marked a long time coming for Erick Sermon and his star pupils, Redman and Keith Murray. A strong branch from the EPMD family tree, that LP featured... Read more

September 5, 2017 Audio, News

DOOM & Kool Keith Are Otherworldly MCs. Their Latest Collab Is On The Moon (Audio)

DOOM reconnects with the MC once known as "Dr. Dooom." Metal Face and Kool Keith make a fitting pair. These are two rhyme revolutionaries of New York City Hip-Hop. For Keith, that's true of more than 30 years. DOOM is not far behind him, with critical work dating back 25... Read more

September 5, 2017 Audio

Bobby Brown Claims He Taught Michael Jackson How To Moonwalk (Audio)

The moonwalk has become one of the most renowned dance moves of all-time. Its origins are debated by historians, with some tracing it back to Cab Calloway and the 1930s. However, on March 25, 1983, Michael Jackson skyrocketed the maneuver into pop culture consciousness with his televised Motown 25 performance... Read more

September 2, 2017 Audio

Madlib Releases A New Instrumental. Which MC Would Rock It Best? Hmm…(Audio)

It's been a quiet few years for Madlib. Since his 2014 joint album with Freddie Gibbs and his solo LP, Rock Konducta Part 1 & Part 2, the enigmatic producer/MC has been almost completely absent from the scene, save for a couple of records here and there. When he has... Read more

September 1, 2017 Audio

Rapsody Is Releasing A New Album. Her Single With Busta Rhymes Is Downright Scary (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

September 1, 2017 Audio

Royce 5’9’s Verbal Calisthenics Show That Wrecking MCs Is A Light Workout (Audio)

Over the last few years, Royce 5'9" has enjoyed an epic resurgence. Since gaining his sobriety in 2013, Royce has formed PRhyme, his potent duo with DJ Premier, released one of last year's most well-received albums, in Layers, and delivered punishing line after punishing line on this year's Bar Exam... Read more

August 31, 2017 Audio

Bun B Secures A Boat To Rescue Pimp C’s Son From Harvey In Houston (Audio)

For the last several days, the catastrophic effects of Tropical Storm Harvey on Texas and Louisiana have become increasingly dire. Although the rains, which have dumped as much as 50 inches of precipitation on cities like Houston, have subsided the flooding and destruction continues as dams in the area have... Read more

August 31, 2017 Audio

Torae & Nick Grant Take The Torch From Big Daddy Kane And Hold It High (Audio)

“Someone tell Praise to bring the bass and the treble in…” From the opening declaration, “Okay, let’s get the figures and facts” made in his typical take-no-prisoners style, Brooklyn, New York MC, Torae makes connections with the past, present, and future on “YGB.” Want That Raw Rap? Torae Delivers The... Read more

August 31, 2017 Audio, The Bridge

Stevie Wonder Drops Keys To Songs & Life In A Chat With Stretch & Bobbito (Audio)

Starting with the extra-melodic strains of “Golden Lady” taken from his 1973 masterpiece, Innervisions; a drum-roll and then lots and lots of laughter; these sounds set the interview with Stevie Wonder, broadcast on the Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito's What's Good show on NPR today (August 30). Stretch & Bobbito, the legendary... Read more

August 30, 2017 Audio

DOOM Drops Rhymes Like Old Shoes On His Latest Notebook Release (Audio)

DOOM's The Missing Notebook Rhymes series pushes onward. The fourth installment in the Adult Swim weekly campaign is just that: "Notebook 3." The Supervillain cracks his composition book and pulls out some verses that appear to be in that trademark stream of consciousness. DOOM Revives KMD With A Jay Electronica... Read more

August 29, 2017 Audio

Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller & Kevin Gates Re-Heat The Summer With A Cold Collabo (Audio)

In three different pockets of Rap music, Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, and Kevin Gates are three stars of the 2010s. Critically and commercially, these three artists are leaders within their classes, not in the same ways, and certainly not with the same styles. Kendrick and Mac have decorated collaborative history,... Read more

August 29, 2017 Audio

Action Bronson Samples Food AND Music & He’s Not Stopping (Audio)

Just days ago (August 25), Action Bronson released Blue Chips 7000. The third and now-confirmed final installment of the mixtape series closes out an important chapter in the Queens, New Yorker MC's career. In 2012, when his first Party Supplies-produced tape launched, Action was an emerging Hip-Hop voice. In mid-'17,... Read more

August 28, 2017 Audio, Fresh

Teen Bresha Meadows Stood Up To Her Abusive Father. Talib Kweli Tells Her Story (Audio)

In July of 2016, Warren, Ohio teenager Bresha Meadows fatally shot her father, reportedly as he slept. The 14-year-old killed Jonathan Meadows after years of physical abuse, which also included her brothers and mother, according to relatives. Despite the evidence of abuse, Meadows was charged with aggravated murder. Bresha and... Read more

August 28, 2017 Audio, Lifestyle