Audio Archives

Lloyd Banks Releases A Hot New Mixtape ft Joe Budden, Prodigy & More (Audio Stream)

Last week, Lloyd Banks released "Reap What You Sow," the lead single from his latest project and one of the strongest lyrical barrages of his career. Prior to the song's release, the Queens, New York MC tweeted of the new EP arriving today (September 26), "time to show these fools... Read more

September 26, 2016 Audio

Da Brat Claims She & JD Are The 2016 EPMD. So Wat ‘Cha Sayin’? (Audio)

Da Brat and her mentor Jermaine Dupri are hard at work on the first collaborative mixtape of their career. The two So So Def Records MCs who have worked together for more than 22 years will title the work Business As Usual. Referencing EPMD in that act alone is not... Read more

September 25, 2016 Audio

Tupac Approved The Artwork For Makaveli’s Don Killuminati A Day Before He Was Shot (Audio)

Twenty years ago this month, Tupac Shakur was confirmed dead seven days after a Las Vegas, Nevada drive-by shooting. At the time, Shakur had released one of the biggest albums of 1996 care of double LP All Eyez On Me. However, the Death Row Records artist had recently completed an... Read more

September 24, 2016 Audio

DJ Quik Speaks Up For The Black Community In Troubled Times (Audio)

DJ Quik and Problem excited Rap fans earlier this year with April's generation-bridging Rosecrans EP. A Compton, California affair to the fullest, Quik's production and rhyming called back to some of his 1990s brilliance. In his career, Quik often upholds the convention of releasing music through albums, not just a... Read more

September 24, 2016 Audio

Token Looks To Leave A Permanent Mark On The Rap Pages With His Eraser Shavings (Audio)

For more than half of his life, Token has been building his skills as an MC. The Massachusetts product crosses a critical benchmark in his career with the release of Eraser Shavings. Token's first full-length project of his career boasts 17 tracks, including production by veterans including Nottz, Clinton Sparks,... Read more

September 23, 2016 Audio

T.I.’s New EP Is His Most Political Work Yet. It’s Us Or Else (Audio)

With the release of "Warzone," T.I. shared with the world his most powerful video to date. By visualizing an America in which innocent victims of police shootings are White and the officers Black, the multi-platinum rapper made the boldest political statement of his career and added his voice to the... Read more

September 23, 2016 Audio

The LOX Blaze A Path For D-Block’s Snyp Life With Pete Rock & Beatnuts Jams (Audio)

Throughout their careers, The LOX—collectively and individually—have had an ear for great beats. Songs like Jadakiss' Alchemist-produced "We Gonna Make It," Styles P's Ayatollah-laced "The Life," and the trio's DJ Premier-conducted "Recognize" have defined their aesthetic. Sheek Louch, Jada', and Holiday Styles have never lost sight of that purest Hip-Hop... Read more

September 22, 2016 Audio

Diamond D Puts His Rap Skills Back In Front Alongside D.I.T.C. Brother A.G. (Audio)

Diamond D once proclaimed he was "the best producer on the mic." Even in his own D.I.T.C. crew, the Bronx, New York native is brothers with producing/rapping double-threats like Lord Finesse and Showbiz. While Show ceased rapping on Showbiz & A.G.'s Runaway Slave album, Finesse has also scaled back his rhyming to... Read more

September 21, 2016 Audio

Apollo Brown & Skyzoo Paint a Vivid Picture With Help From Westside Gunn & Conway (Audio)

Ten days from now, Apollo Brown and Skyzoo will bestow upon Heads a collaborative album, The Easy Truth. The two are arguably some of the best artists in their crafts, each capable of bringing vivid elements to their music through production and MCing, respectively. Arriving courtesy of Mello Music Group,... Read more

September 20, 2016 Audio

The Game Blasts Meek Mill, Beanie Sigel & Sean Kingston On The Hardest Diss Record In Years (Audio)

On Sunday night (September 18), Meek Mill responded to The Game. Completing the first round of disses, Meek's "Ooouuu" featured Dream Chasers protege Omelly, as well as a symbolic appearance from another former Game collaborator, Beanie Sigel. Game wastes no time bringing out a new attack, and "Pest Control" is... Read more

September 20, 2016 Audio

Lloyd Banks Is Releasing A New Mixtape This Week. Here’s The 1st Single (Audio)

Lloyd Banks hasn't released a studio album since 2010's H.F.M. 2 (The Hunger for More 2), but the Queens, New York MC has been far from quiet. In addition to a handful of mixtapes he's dropped in the last six years, he spent much of 2015 delivering a series of... Read more

September 20, 2016 Audio

Token May Be A Student But He’s Schooling MCs With His Skills (Audio)

In less than one year, Token has transformed from an emerging freestyle performance sensation to a fully decorated MC on a mission. Transitioning from viral videos to recorded music based around his life and times, the Massachusetts microphone mercenary gears up for Eraser Shavings. Today, it was revealed that Token's... Read more

September 19, 2016 Audio

Lupe Fiasco Serves Up an Oral History of “Food & Liquor” 10 Years Later (Audio)

For Lupe Fiasco fans, September 19, 2006 marked the arrival of one of the best debut albums from an MC in the 21st century. With Food & Liquor, the Chicago, Illinois storyteller was extending a discography he'd launched a year prior with his Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is... Read more

September 19, 2016 Audio

AZ Vows “Doe Or Die 2” Will Be His Final Album & It’s Coming This Year (Audio)

It has been more than seven years since Brooklyn, New York MC AZ has released an official album. In 2010, the co-founder of The Firm dropped a special 15th anniversary homage to his debut Doe Or Die. In that time, the Quiet Money lyricist has vowed that like peers Nas,... Read more

September 19, 2016 Audio, News

Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt & Danny Brown Get Real On A Black Milk Beat (Audio)

More than three years ago, A$AP Rocky called the "1Train" to the platform. The moment unified many of the most exciting new artists of the 2010s, on one track, out to do lyrical damage. Taking some of that same crop of talent, Danny Brown—who appeared on the cut, does it... Read more

September 19, 2016 Audio

Meek Mill Replies To The Game’s Diss & He Has Beanie Sigel Riding With Him (Audio)

Last week (September 16), The Game declared beef with former collaborator Meek Mill. The Compton, California veteran rapper made his position clear on "92 Bars," a controversial inclusion on upcoming album 1992. In the same song, Game name-checked a number of Hip-Hop artists, including Beanie Sigel, while vowing plans to... Read more

September 19, 2016 Audio, News

Rapper Big Pooh Is Still Putting Nottz Beats On Smash (Audio)

Last year, Rapper Big Pooh released Home Sweet Home with fellow Virginia native Nottz. Pooh and Nottz go back, a decade back, in the form of Little Brother's "Life Of The Party." The two have made plenty more music since. Together, Pooh and Nottz Raw pave a way for Jamaica... Read more

September 17, 2016 Audio

The Game’s Meek Mill Diss Is Not Playin’. He Warns Kendrick & Drake Are Next (Audio)

Throughout The Game's career, the Compton, California MC has thrived on conflict. He's beefed on wax with former mentor 50 Cent for years, until recently making amends. Game has thrown shots at Jay Z for much of his tenure too, never eliciting a true reply by name. Further, the rapper... Read more

September 16, 2016 Audio, News

Joe Budden’s New Single Reminds He’s A Real Spitter By Law (Audio)

In just over one month (October 21), Joe Budden will vent like never before in the form of Rage & The Machine. Produced entirely by AraabMuzik, Joe's fourth official solo album sounds like what he recently described as “a chiseled, aged, wise veteran just barring [listeners] to death.” With rhymes... Read more

September 15, 2016 Audio

Big K.R.I.T. Raps Like He Never Has Before In a Chilling Cry For Justice (Audio)

2016 has been a watershed year for protest records in Hip-Hop, from Mistah F.A.B.'s "6 Shots" to T.I.'s "Warzone" and countless powerful anthems in between. Police brutality and the broader system of injustice in this country continues to inspire songs that are both triumphant but also forlorn and tinged with... Read more

September 15, 2016 Audio

KRS-One & R.A. The Rugged Man Trade Verses On A Beat That’s Ready For Primetime. (Audio)

UPDATE (12/21): Predator Prime has released the music video to "Primetime," posted below: Hip-Hop can often be a family business. Dr. Dre and Warren G are half-brothers. ONYX's Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr are cousins. Peter Gunz and Cory Gunz are father and son. Across the landscape of the Rap... Read more

September 15, 2016 Audio

Jermaine Dupri Asserts He Put Funk In Hip-Hop Before Dr. Dre’s Chronic (Audio)

The relationship between Jermaine Dupri and West Coast Hip-Hop, especially Dr. Dre is an interesting one. The So So Def Records founder gained strong notoriety in early 1992 when he produced quadruple platinum album Totally Krossed Out for new Atlanta, Georgia Rap duo Kris Kross. That LP, released through RuffHouse/Columbia... Read more

September 13, 2016 Audio

Members Of Das EFX & Organized Konfusion Led A Sick Cypher. This Is The Remix (Audio)

Two of the most heralded New York City Hip-Hop acts introduced at the top of the 1990s were Das EFX and Organized Konfusion. Das, a duo of Skoob and Dray, made platinum noise when they launched with 1992's Dead Serious. Produced by EPMD, and fixtures of the Hit Squad, these... Read more

September 12, 2016 Audio

Da Brat & Jermaine Dupri Reignite Their Chemistry On A Def Timbaland Beat (Audio)

Not too many early 1990s producer/MC batteries have stayed as devoted as Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat. It has been more than 13 years since the platinum Chicago, Illinois native rapper made an album. But never in that time was her relationship with JD in question. As the So So... Read more

September 11, 2016 Audio

Hip-Hop Took The Gold In August. Hear The Best Of The Month (Audio)

August was filled with the Olympics and some of the worst heat of the year, but it also brought some great Hip-Hop. De La Soul released their first album in 12 years, and it debuted at #1 on the Rap chart. Andre 3000 had some choice words for ghostwriters. Nas... Read more

September 10, 2016 Audio

A DOOM Remix By Radiohead’s Thom Yorke Has A Newly-Released Alternate Version (Audio)

The evasive villain DOOM (a/k/a MF DOOM) has lots of industry friends. He pops up with Ghostface Killah, Jay Electronica, Atmosphere, and De La Soul. However, folks beyond the confines of Hip-Hop are also fans of the MC. One prominent supporter and peer is Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Back on 2009's... Read more

September 10, 2016 Audio

Tech N9ne Puts Himself In The Shoes Of Those Victimized By Law Enforcement (Audio)

When speaking with Ambrosia For Heads last year, Kansas City, Missouri MC Tech N0ne alluded to his upcoming album, The Storm. This is what he said last November: "My next LP [is] called The Storm. I’m gonna show [folks] that I ain’t even slowin’ down. I’m gonna show [them]—and everybody... Read more

September 9, 2016 Audio

REKS Mourns The Good Things Gone On A Standout Large Professor Beat (Audio)

Double albums are never out of style. Today (September 9), REKS releases his tenth LP, The Greatest X. The New England MC is a 15-year veteran, who enjoyed a strong surge in his career eight summers ago with Grey Hairs. On that album, the Statik Selektah/ShowOff affiliate got critical cosigns... Read more

September 9, 2016 Audio

Cyhi The Prynce & Matt Citron Show Lyricism Is Far From Trapped, In Atlanta (Audio)

Covering Atlanta, Georgia and many of its suburbs, the area code 404 has lent itself to the title of the latest single from Matt Citron, a local MC whose bold take on Jay Electronica's “Exhibit C” caught the attention of Heads earlier this year. At the time, he told Ambrosia... Read more

September 9, 2016 Audio

Common Releases Another All-Star Love Song (Audio)

Back in May, Common made an appearance on Sway In The Morning, where he announced a new album was on the way and previewed two powerful verses from the forthcoming LP. While those bars were politically-charged and addressed race relations in America, his latest release taps into another area in... Read more

September 8, 2016 Audio

Zack De La Rocha Is Back & Still Raging On An El-P Produced Outcry (Audio)

More than 18 years ago, the first Lyricists Lounge compilation released. Featuring De La Soul, Common, Mos Def (n/k/a Yasiin Bey), and Q-Tip, the Rawkus Records double album delivered the Underground Hip-Hop community to the mainstream (reaching the Top 200), with a plethora of important independent voices, and more than... Read more

September 8, 2016 Audio

Camp Lo & A 10-Piece Horn Section Sound Rich Like Luchini (Audio)

After more than 20 years of making music, Camp Lo is nothing if not experimental. The team of Sonny Cheeba and Geechie Suede are gifted in their ability blend retro style (and slang) with futuristic thinking. Even after two handfuls of albums and several side projects, the Uptown Saturday Night... Read more

September 8, 2016 Audio

M.O.P.’s Billy Danze Ups The Ante In A New Politically-Charged Song (Audio)

Several years ago, M.O.P.'s Lil Fame made a side project with Termanology. Billy Danze, the other half of Mash Out Posse, has never stepped out of First Family. With a long anticipated solo album on the way, "Berkowit," as the Brooklyn, New Yorker also goes by shows his unique sound.... Read more

September 6, 2016 Audio

Nicki Minaj Shows She’s Still A Monster With A Rugged New Freestyle (Audio)

Nearly six years ago, Nicki Minaj showed the world that she was a microphone "Monster" by stepping into the big leagues, surrounded by all-stars (Jay Z, Kanye West, Rick Ross). Many listeners thought Nick' bested her big brothers in that platinum moment. In the time since, the YMCMB superstar has... Read more

September 4, 2016 Audio

Fat Joe, O.C., & A.G. Go Diggin’ With Substance On A Showbiz Beat (Audio)

Earlier this year, the Diggin' In The Crates collective released a compilation album surrounding their new Bronx, New York recording studio. With all living members involved more (17 years after the death of Big L), the LP also showcased some new producers down with D.I.T.C. On "It's Cold Outside (Remix),"... Read more

September 4, 2016 Audio

Cormega Enrolls Sizzla For a Dose of Street Knowledge (Audio)

Queensbridge icon Cormega is celebrating the 15th anniversary of his debut solo album, The Realness this year, giving his fans an opportunity to reflect on its importance in the cultivation of his prowess as an MC. 2014's Mega Philosophy, a collaborative LP with fellow QB representative Large Professor, was touted... Read more

September 2, 2016 Audio

Action Bronson & Alchemist Show They Are Descendants From The Stars (Audio)

Over the years, Action Bronson and Alchemist have shown themselves to be a potent combination. With his gritty and soulful style, the veteran producer is the perfect fit for Bronson's who has regularly excelled when provided with such a sonic tapestry. The two have worked together on a number of... Read more

September 1, 2016 Audio

Kendrick Lamar’s Verse on Isaiah Rashad’s Latest Shows Wat’s Wrong With Other MCs (Audio)

In Isaiah Rashad's latest single, singer and MC Zacari laments the feeling of running in circles when getting ahead of ourselves. "Wat's Wrong" is both a query and its response, with Kendrick Lamar and his T.D.E. cohort reflecting on everything from taxes to self-preservation, with the former attacking his verse... Read more

September 1, 2016 Audio

This Ghostface, Cappadonna & Jeru Freestyle From 1996 Still Does Damage (Audio)

In the mid-90s, there were few more dominant crews in Hip-Hop than Wu-Tang Clan and Gang Starr Foundation. Unlike today, however, where it's more common than not to have guest artists on tracks, in that era crews stayed more self-contained and collaborations outside of the collectives were more rare. As... Read more

September 1, 2016 Audio, Throwback, Throwback

AZ & Alchemist Give A$AP Twelvyy Motivation To Always Strive & Prosper (Audio)

A$AP Twelvyy is one of the Mob members who has not yet released an album. However, the New York City MC stays ready. "Motivation" is the latest burden of proof that the MC heard on Rocky's Live. Love. ASAP and Statik Selektah's Lucky 7 deserves his own platform. Moreover, this... Read more

August 31, 2016 Audio

Apollo Brown, Skyzoo & Joell Ortiz Spare More Than a Couple Dollars’ Worth of Inspiration (Audio)

On September 30, Skyzoo and Apollo Brown will be releasing a collaborative album, The Easy Truth. The Brooklyn, New York MC and Detroit, Michigan-based producer dropped its debut single earlier this month in the form of "One In the Same," which features Patty Crash, whose name will be familiar to... Read more

August 30, 2016 Audio

Black Thought & Rahzel Made Us Want More With This 1994 Freestyle (Audio)

It was 1994, and The Roots had delivered their first offering via the previous year's Organix. Released independently, it was stripped-down yet fully developed, and helped land the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania crew a place alongside artists like G. Love & Special Sauce in providing the City of Brotherly Love with a... Read more

August 29, 2016 Audio

Celebrate the Beats, Rhymes, and Life of A Tribe Called Quest With This Mix (Audio)

Last month, A Tribe Called Quest's Beats, Rhymes, Life celebrated its 20th anniversary. The group's platinum-selling fourth LP was released July 30, 1996, and it signaled a sonic departure from its predecessor, Midnight Marauders. Featuring production from the Ummah (Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jay Dee), it served as many... Read more

August 26, 2016 Audio

De La Soul Release Their New Album & A Documentary About Its Making For Full Stream

The power of FREEDOM. For the first time in their nearly 30-year careers, De La Soul have complete control over their art, and they've chosen to share their entire new album, and the Anonymous Nobody, along with a film about its making, with the fans. The story of how the... Read more

August 26, 2016 Audio, Video

Prophets Of Rage’s “The Party’s Over” Gets The Fight For Our Rights Started (Audio)

After a Summer of touring and protests, Prophets Of Rage, the supergroup consisting of Public Enemy's Chuck D, Cypress Hill's B-Real and all of Rage Against The Machine, minus Zack De La Rocha, is far from done. They've recently begun releasing new music, starting with "No Sleep Till Cleveland," a... Read more

August 25, 2016 Audio

Frank Ocean’s Blond(e) Gets Bleached To Its Roots By !llmind (Audio)

It's safe to say that with the release of Blond(e), Frank Ocean has delivered one of the year's most sought-after musical content of 2016. His inclusion of Andre 3000 only added to the fervor, with music fans justifiably clamoring over any new material from the Outkast MC who has never... Read more

August 24, 2016 Audio

Styles P, Freeway & Torae Get Down On A Pete Rock-Produced Single (Audio)

Back in January, Torae released his Entitled album. One of the focal points to that self-released LP was "Get Down." First unveiled almost a year ago, the song is the latest run-in the Brooklyn, New York MC had with producer Pete Rock. A lot was at play in the beat,... Read more

August 22, 2016 Audio

Andre 3000 Calls Out MCs Who Use Ghostwriters On A New Verse (Audio)

Perhaps more than any MC in Hip-Hop history, Outkast's André 3000 knows how to make his feature guest verses count. Whether alongside UGK, T.I., DJ Drama, Goodie Mob, or DJ Unk, 3 Stacks has used just 16 or so bars to satisfy fans who have waited a decade-plus for anything... Read more

August 22, 2016 Audio, Fresh

There’s Nothing Nice About How These MCs Wreck Mics (Audio)

Brooklyn, New York based MC JSWISS has been been both consistent and active. Fresh off of releasing his No Music EP in June, he teams with North Carolina artist Topiq (who also produced the track) for "Nice Guys." Sticking up for themselves, these two rappers refuse to believe that kindness,... Read more

August 21, 2016 Audio

Latino Rap Pioneer Kid Frost Details His Courageous Fight Against Cancer (Audio)

Kid Frost (a/k/a Frost) is renowned as one of the pioneering Mexican-American MCs. His 1990 hit "La Raza" would become a staple in the West Coast Hip-Hop boom, representing the Latino community. Five of Frost's album releases appeared on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. Around the time of Eazy-E's... Read more

August 21, 2016 Audio, News