STS – Great Mood ft A$AP Ferg (Video)
STS and A$AP Ferg trade verses on Great Mood. Check out the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V-rYFCpunw&feature=player_embedded... Read more
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El Da Sensei – Everyday in the Street ft Tame One & DJ Kaos (Artifacts) (Video)
Here's a new video from El Da Sensei featuring Tame One and DJ Kaos (aka Artifacts). Check out Everyday in the Street. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R19wE2INz2I&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Rest in Peace, Love and Soul to Don Cornelius. Though he was the creator of Soul Train, his impact went FAR beyond Soul music. He was one of the biggest influencers of pop culture in the last 40 years.
Peep this interview he did of Run-D.M.C. to witness just a taste of his impact on hip-hop. Also, click here for a heartfelt tribute to Don Cornelius written by ?uestlove. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay9n68HBKM4... Read more
Fokis – Salute (King Tee) (Video)
Fokis pays homage to the great King Tee on Salute (King Tee). Check out the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke4JESFo8yQ&feature=player_embedded Here's King Tee's At Your Own Risk (the beat Fokis used), as well as Just Flauntin', one of my favorite King Tee joints. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pZKdIYr-UA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-idMUSekU... Read more
Big Boi Tours Europe (Video)
Here's an up close and personal behind the scenes look at Big Boi during his tour of Europe. It gives you a good sense of the man behind the music. He hits Glastonbury, Norway and and a couple of other spots. This is another installment in a series sponsored by... Read more
Erick Sermon Performs What Happened (Video)
Salute to the Green Eyed Bandit, Erick Sermon. He seems to be well down the road to recovery after suffering a heart attack a few months ago. In fact, he recently made his first public performance. Click below to see him rip his song What Happened, in the studio with... Read more
The first month of 2012 is almost in the books. Here’s a playlist of some of the better music to drop in January 2012. You’ll hear music from Schoolboy Q, Rapper Big Pooh, Curren$y, Jay-Z (and Blue Ivy Carter), Common & Drake, Scolla, Logic, Rick Ross, Stalley, Saigon and more. You can listen below.
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Schoolboy Q – Nightmare on Figg St. (Video)
Schoolboy Q's Habits & Consequences album gets better with every listen. Here's the latest video from the project. Check out Nightmare on Figg St. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LGRHKwFHvNM... Read more
Murs is cerebral and complex. The term “real” gets thrown around a lot but Murs is as real as it gets. We sat down with him and he talked about what shaped him in becoming an MC. He covers everything from the impact of Eazy-E and LL Cool J to growing up in a Crip neighborhood to Oreo cookies. He even shares that he was laughed at the first time he wrote a rhyme. This is the story of Where It All Began in hip-hop for Murs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWz_NcYGSS4 Click here for more videos of Where It All Began for Kendrick Lamar, DJ Jazzy Jeff, 9th Wonder, XV, Big Daddy Kane, Freddie Gibbs, Stic Man and many more.... Read more
Saigon – Hungry (Video)
Hungry is the latest video of Saigon's Warning Shots 3: One Foot in the Grave mixtape (click here to download). Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDUV9hiqVAk&feature=player_embedded... Read more
D’Angelo Performs Chicken Grease in Stockholm to Commemorate the 12th Anniverary of Voodoo (Video)
Aww sh*t!! Here's something special for those D'Angelo fans out there. He's baaaccckkkk (and looking like he's ready for battle). Here's an 8-minute version of Chicken Grease that he performed in Stockholm just a few hours ago. Today is the 12th anniversary of the day Voodoo dropped. From the looks... Read more
Tito Lopez in the studio with Dr. Dre (Video)
Tito Lopez set the web on fire last summer when he spit some verses for Dr. Dre in Dre's kitchen and earned Dre's co-sign. That on the spot rhyme session led to studio time with the good doctor. Here's some video footage of Tito laying down a track with Dre.... Read more
Black Hippy (Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul) in Texas (Video)
Here's some footage of Black Hippy (Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul) performing in Texas, set to a medley of their hits from the past year (and damn there are plenty). Props to Top Dawg Entertainment for killing the game in 2011. Click here to check out our... Read more
Joe Cool – Ghetto Bass (Video)
Here's yet another strong song from Joe Cool. Check out the video for Ghetto Bass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAH3NxeV8Lw&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Skewby – Ups & Downs (Video)
Here's the latest video from Skewby. Check out Ups & Downs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cFHnHoub4Q&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Q-Tip Gets DNA Tested And Discovers His African Roots (Video)
Know your roots? Q-Tip does. He recently did a DNA swab to learn about his ancestry. Here's a video chronicling what he discovered about his family tree. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df9x2OUl6X4&feature=player_embedded Also, we had a big Run-D.M.C. weekend with the anniversary of Jam Master Jay's birth on Saturday. Here's D.M.C.'s... Read more
Evidence – Falling (Video)
Here's a new video from Evidence's Cats & Dogs album. That album made our best of 2011 list and this new video is also dope. Check out Falling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58b37wo_nJg&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Sadat X – Remember That (Video) + Fokis – Just Sayin’ ft Sadat X
Here's a double play of new music from Sadat X. Check out the video for Sadat's Remember That and Just Sayin' by Fokis featuring Sadat X. http://vimeo.com/35510763 Fokis - Just Sayin' ft Sadat X... Read more
Schoolboy Q – Hands on the Wheel ft A$AP Rocky
Schoolboy Q's album Habits & Consequences dropped last Friday. It's a solid album, if you haven't checked it out yet. Here's his new video for Hands on the Wheel featuring A$AP Rocky. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGd9DTTrX4U&feature=player_embedded Also, click here for our interview of Kendrick Lamar.... Read more
DJ Jazzy Jeff is a hip-hop icon. You know the stats: one of the illest DJs EVER, winner of the first ever rap Grammy, superstar producer and one half of the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. But, do you know the path that led him to become one of hip-hop’s pioneers? Here’s an interview where he breaks down his journey to hip-hop through music. This is Where It All Began for DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Click here for Where It All Began: Kendrick Lamar.... Read more
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa – Smokin’ On ft Juicy J (Video)
Here's a new video from Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. Check out Smokin' On featuring Juicy J.... Read more
Ski Beatz – Fly By ft Curren$y (Video)
Ski Beatz produced most of Curren$y's Pilot Talk and Pilot Talk 2. Here's another hot collabo between the two. Check out the video for Fly By, off Ski Beatz's upcoming 24 Hour Karate School Presents Twilight album. Also, click here to check out our playlist of music produced by Ski... Read more
Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Terrace Martin Speak on the next generation of West Coast Rap (Video)
Here's an interview of Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Terrace Martin from This Is 50. Check it out. Also, click here if you missed our playlist on the evolution of the West Coast sound from Dr. Dre to the future of the West featured in this interview. Props to This... Read more
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Thuggin’ (Video)
Here's the new video for Freddie Gibbs' and Madlib's collabo, Thuggin'. Check it out.... Read more
Kanye West Performing in 1996 (Video)
Here's some ill footage of Kanye West performing in 1996...8 years before College Dropout was released. You can see the same energy he displays now. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auCaRs_pSlM&feature=socblog_th... Read more
KRS-ONE Speaks on the evolution of his career, The Return of the Boom Bap and the death of conscious rap (Video)
Wow. Here's an unbelievable interview of KRS-One from DJ Premier's blog. He identifies the moment conscious rap died...Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erwJzZxaWXs&feature=player_embedded... Read more
We had the good fortune to sit down with Kendrick Lamar and he gave us an in-depth interview about the music that shaped him and led him to hip-hop. He discusses everything from the earliest influences on his musical tastes to the deep connection between him, DMX and Tupac. He is candid, introspective and insightful. Witness the story of Where It All Began in hip-hop for Kendrick Lamar.
You may have seen bits of the interview in our sneak peeks (posted below) but they were just a taste of the knowledge he dropped in the full conversation. If you missed them, check out more Where It All Began sneak peeks below.... Read more
MED – War & Love ft Oh No (Video)
Alchemist MURDERED this track for MED and MED & Oh No matched it with ill verses. Check out the video for MED's War & Love featuring Oh No. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6idlGXj7BD4... Read more
Murs speaks on the power of independent hip-hop (Video)
Here's a really dope interview from Murs speaking about the current state of the industry for independent artists and talking about the new generation of West Coast MCs. Get this knowledge. Also, click here to hear Murs (and many others) talk about his first favorite rapper. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZOw5GQlaSg&feature=player_embedded Props to LA... Read more
Nipsey Hu$$le – A Million (Video)
Here's a new video from Nipsey Hu$$le for his song, A Million, which flips the hook from Jay-Z's classic A Million and One Questions. Check it out. Also, if you missed it, you can listen to and download Nipsey's mixtape, The Marathon Continues, here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4kqJI_ACTw&feature=player_embedded Here's the original Jay-Z joint:... Read more
Joe Cool’s I Wanna Sell Drugs is actually NOT about selling drugs…It’s about his daily struggle to materialize his dreams and his resistance to the fleeting temptation to sell drugs. The song is incredible and the video takes the concept to a different level. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dbFEz1p47Y&feature=player_embedded... Read more
STS – Cut Me Off (Video)
STS's Cut Me Off is a comedic take on a story about a relationship that was doomed from the start. The acoustic guitar track with no drum track is a different sound for him. Check out the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VPwHRNWJVvk... Read more
Terrace Martin – Thoughts From Detention ft Yung Shep (Video)
Terrace Martin drops some more of that new West Coast heat on Thoughts from Detention featuring Yung Shep. Check out the video. You can also check out our playlist of the evolution of the West Coast sound from Ice-T to Kendrick Lamar here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l735zqqB9s&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Kanye West plays Big Brother for Jay-Z for the first time (Video)
Here's some pretty dope footage of the studio session where Kanye West played Big Brother (the original version) for Jay-Z the first time. It kicks in at around the 1 minute mark. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-ZpPdqhTs3U... Read more
Stalley – The Night ft Rashad (Video)
Here's a hot new video from Stalley. It's another gem from his Lincoln Way Nights project, which made our best of 2011 list. Check out The Night featuring Rashad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT6ZHe_D5GM&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Ski Beatz & Freddie Gibbs – Illegal (Video)
Ski Beatz dropped his song Illegal featuring Freddie Gibbs a few weeks ago. Here's the video. Also, check out what Freddie Gibbs had to say about his first favorite rapper and what Ski Beatz had to say about who introduced him to hip-hop. Here's what Gangsta Gibbs had to say... Read more
Talib Kweli presents Black Star Live Part 2 (Video)
Here's a cool clip featuring some new music from Black Star, as well as some behind the scenes footage of their tour and Talib Kweli talking about what's in store for the Black Star family in 2012. Check out the video. Click here for more new music from Black Star.... Read more
Rick Ross – Stay Schemin’ ft Drake and French Montana (Video)
Fresh off the release of his mixtape Rich Forever (click here to listen and download it), Rick Ross drops a video for Stay Schemin' featuring Drake and French Montana. Check it out.... Read more
Common – Raw (How You Like It) (Video)
Here's the latest video from Common. Check out Raw (How You Like It). Also, click here to read why Common's The Dreamer, The Believer album made our list of the best albums/mixtapes of 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CVcH10EpyM&feature=player_embedded... Read more
When did you first experience hip-hop in person? Check out what Big Daddy Kane, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Skillz, XV, Stic Man, Rapsody, The Kid Daytona, Murs and Statik Selektah had to say about the first time they experienced hip-hop live and direct.
Click here to see Kendrick Lamar, Big Daddy Kane, Murs, XV, Skillz, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Statik Selektah and more talk about their first favorite rappers.... Read more
Decoded: Big K.R.I.T. — Time Machine (Video)
Here's a really dope interview of Big K.R.I.T. where he breaks down the lyrics to Time Machine. It really showcases the depth of his music. K.R.I.T., along with others like Kendrick Lamar and Stalley, is part of the new crop of MCs with a message to their music. It's part... Read more
The Kid Daytona – New Yorker’s Ambition ft Aloe Blacc (Video)
The Kid Daytona jumps on DJ Grand Wizard Theodore's Subway Theme from the movie Wild Style (aka the instrumental Nas used for the intro to Illmatic). Check out Daytona's video for New Yorker's Ambition featuring Aloe Blacc. Also, if you missed them, here are our interviews of The Kid Daytona... Read more
Phonte – Dance in the Reign (Video)
New Tigallo, new Tigallo, new Tigallo. Phonte is one of the dopest and most underrated MCs EVER. Here's a new video from his Charity Starts at Home album. Check out Dance in the Reign. If you missed it, check out our mix of the most underrated MCs here. Also, click... Read more
Masspike Miles – Infatuated (Video)
Masspike Miles is not hip-hop but he did sing the hook on one of my favorite joints by Statik Selektah and Termanology (1982) a little over a year ago. Masspike is about to drop an album, Say Hello to Forever. Here's the video for Infatuated, off that project. The song... Read more
Black Star – Little Brother + You Already Knew Performances (Video)
Here are a couple of very dope performances of new music by Black Star with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out their songs Little Brother and You Already Knew. Little Brother You Already Knew... Read more
Action Bronson – Beautiful Music (Unofficial Video)
Here's a hilarious claymation unofficial video for Action Bronson's Beautiful Music, one of his dopest songs to date. Check it out below. Props to Dallas Penn for directing this. http://vimeo.com/34420116 And, if you need some more claymation in your life, check out the clay OG, Gumby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWYYkF6DOnk... Read more
J Dilla Rebirth of Detroit Chuck Inglish x Boldy James Studio Session (Video)
Rebirth of Detroit an album featuring previously unreleased music from the late great J Dilla will be dropping later this year. Here's a behind the scenes video of The Cool Kids' Chuck Inglish in the studio laying down some verses on one of the tracks and spending some time with... Read more
Check out our 175+ song playlist of the best hip-hop 2011 had to offer (in chronological order). You’ll hear music from Kendrick Lamar, DJ Quik, Pete Rock and Smiff N Wessun, XV, Action Bronson, Common, Curren$y, The Roots, Saigon, Bumpy Knuckles, Big K.R.I.T., Bun B, Asher Roth, Phonte, Reks, Raekwon, Stalley, Pusha T, Wale, Zion I, Smoke DZA, Busta Rhymes, J. Cole, Jean Grae, Statik Selektah, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Yelawolf, Pharoahe Monch and far too many other great artists to name.
The music speaks for itself. Press play and let it ride or click here to see the playlist and pick your own order. Either way, enjoy the good notes of 2011.... Read more
Making The Beat – A Conversation between The 45 King and DJ Premier (Video)
Here's a pretty dope conversation between 2 legendary hip-hop producers. DJ Premier and DJ Mark The 45 King sit down and chop it up about all sorts of topics, ranging from the late great Heavy D to how they treat demos they receive (Primo actually drops his email address) to... Read more
50 Cent – Nah Nah Nah ft Tony Yayo (Video)
Here's a dark video from 50 Cent for his song Nah Nah Nah featuring Tony Yayo. The song is from 50's The Big 10 mixtape commemorating the 10th anniversary of 50 Cent is the Future. You can listen to and download The Big 10 below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VVp0eo0vN8U Download Mixtape... Read more