AFH Ambrosia for Heads

Food for Thought

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #3 the girls are back in town…well, at least 1, but Nicki Minaj has opened the door for the next wave of great female MCs.

The role of women in hip-hop should not be overlooked but it often has been.  For more than a decade (including the 90's which many consider to be the Golden Age of hip-hop) women were a staple in rap music.  In fact, they were so much a part of the... Read more

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #4 Whut? Thee album???…there have been a lot of great songs in hip-hop over the years but not a lot of great ALBUMS. In 2010, there were at least 10…

When's the last time you went back and listened to some of your favorite hip-hop albums from back in the day? I'm guessing if you randomly picked 10 of your favorites and listened to them from front to back, you would want to skip at least 5 tracks on each... Read more

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #5 Big pimpin’…there’s a lot of big money talk in hip-hop but in 2010 the money did the talking.

Why is it not a surprise that Jay-Z is all over this one?  Jay-Z has been talking about Dead Presidents ever since Reasonable Doubt in 1996 and his relentless pursuit of C.R.E.A.M. has been documented thoroughly on every album.  In 2010, he was associated with some major firsts for hip-hop... Read more

Ever debated what was the best year in hip-hop? Here’s a little something from The Rub to make the conversation a LOT more interesting. Check out these mixes of the best songs in hip-hop from 1979-2009, year by year….30 years of hip-hop. It gets no better.

These are courtesy of The Rub, one of the dopest DJ collectives around.  For 1979-1980, click here.  For 1981-1990, click here.  For 1991-2000, click here.  For 2001-2009, click here.... Read more

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #6 Roll the dice…this was a year of taking BIG chances and they paid off.

EVERYBODY knows the music business as it has existed for the last few decades--where sales of recorded albums are the primary financial-driver of the business--is in trouble.  The record industry, like other entertainment businesses, tends to be a bell curve: During the vast majority of times, the music tends to... Read more

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #7 Rappin’ all over the world…you know that’s right when the hottest rapper of the year was from Canada.

Everyone knows New York City was the birthplace of hip-hop.  For years, the dominant s0und in the genre was from the city that never sleeps.  In the late 80's the West Coast, particularly LA, began to take over and it had a several year reign that corresponded with the fall... Read more

It's a great day for underground rap…which is a nice segue into the #8 reason why 2010 is the best year ever in hip-hop: The Return of the Underground.

This one is a bit of a contradiction.  The incredible underground releases this year certainly contributed to the musical strength of the year overall, but underground rap is consistently pretty strong.  It's the hits that are more unpredictable.  That's confirmed just by looking at Soundscan sales info.  This year will... Read more

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #9 Change the game…several artists expanded the boundaries of hip-hop in 2010.

1. B.o.B. - Bobby Ray dropped several crunk-filled mixtapes before releasing his first official album.  When the album dropped, however, it was filled with lots of pop, rock and just a little bit of crunk...and it was dope.  In addition to garnering 5 Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year,... Read more

10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #10 Don't call it a comeback…but this was the year for some of the best ever.

Now that the year is winding down and new music is slowing to a trickle, it's the perfect opportunity to take a look back at 2010 and what made it such a phenomenal year for hip-hop.  Stay tuned for 9 more reasons until the end of the year.  First up... Read more

Has the color barrier been broken yet in hip-hop?

It's not a secret that hip-hop was born from black culture and, to date, has been comprised primarily of black performers.  As a result, there have been few rappers of other colors who have gained mainstream acceptance, and they generally have come one at a time (The Beastie Boys, 3rd... Read more

What if Reasonable Doubt had been a mixtape? Would Jay-Z still be 11 albums deep and considered the greatest of all time if In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 had been his first official "album?"

Certainly, his potential and talent still would have been present, but there's a big question mark as to whether the public would have given him a second chance or whether the good fellas at Roc-A-Fella would have invested the money to make another "album."  Reasonable Doubt the "mixtape" would have... Read more

Everyday I'm (digital) hustlin'. Check out Forbes Magazine's breakdown of the most tech-savvy hip-hop artists.

Uncle Snoop Dogg could be clocking more than $5,000 per Tweet from Toyota. "They used to think I was a nerd," says hip hop artist Chamillionaire, "when we used to do live shows on my website, back in the day." The time Chamillionaire, aka Hakeem Seriki, refers to is around... Read more

The (Internet) revolution will be televised. Google TV has finally launched and the union between Internet and TV is nearly complete.

People have talked about the "information superhighway," "WebTV," "iTV," "IPTV" and "convergence" for decades but these predictions of when the Internet and TV would merge have typically been wildly optimistic.  With the second version of Apple TV being released a few weeks ago and Google TV being released imminently, it... Read more

It's hard to believe but Nicki Minaj actually made a POP album…and it's really good.

I resisted the Nicki Minaj bandwagon for a really, really long time.  At first, I thought she was a Young Money puppet-- a female extension of Lil Wayne.  Her clothes and image seemed overly sexual and I thought they were designed to be a distraction from a lack of true... Read more

More Kanye…it's just too damn G.O.O.D. Here's an article from Complex magazine that gives intimate details on the making of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in Hawaii with the likes of Pete Rock, KiD CuDi, The RZA, Pusha T, Nicki Minaj and many, many others.

Here's how the story begins: "Did you look at my eyes?" asked Kanye West over the phone. He was calling from Milan. It was the middle of October 2009. It had been over a year since the completion of his last LP, 808s & Heartbreak, but this conversation was my... Read more

Jay-Z has been on a massive promo tour for the launch of Decoded. If you've seen one interview you've seen them all. This Bloomberg piece is a little different. It's a look at Jay through the eyes of some of his most powerful friends and influences. Check it out.

The video is the latest episode of Bloomberg's Game Changers series which has featured people like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the founders of Google) and Steve Jobs.  It tells the story of Jay-Z's rise from the corner to the corner office.  Click here to see the video.... Read more

Kanye's album leaked today and I don't know how I feel about that…

On the one hand, part of me thinks "It's a reality of the biz.  It happens to everyone."  The other part of me thinks "This dude has given out free music--including many tracks on his album--for the last 9 weeks.  Is it too much to ask that he be able... Read more

Does Swizz Beatz get his props as being one of the best rap producers of all time? Check out his new song Bang Bang ft Pharrell and Pusha T.

You hear a lot about Dre, Kanye, Timbaland and Pharrell, but Swizzy seems to hang below the radar when it comes to recognition as one of the all-time great producers.  He's been killing tracks since the late 90's and continues today, more than a decade later.  When you check the... Read more

Jay-Z is the best rapper and the best business man in hip-hop. He NEVER does the ordinary. The release of his book Decoded is no different. Hov is about to launch an interactive marketing campaign the likes of which have never been seen before. Check out what he has in store.

Pound for pound I'm the best to ever come around here Excluding nobody Look what i embody The soul of a hustler I really ran the street A CEO's mind That marketing plan was me --Jay-Z - What More Can I Say JAY-Z AND BING CHANGE THE GAME WITH DECODED... Read more

You will never have time to listen to this entire interview. But, if you do, you will learn a TON about hip-hop history and journalism. Two of hip-hop's finest minds, Combat Jack (aka former pioneering entertainment attorney Reggie Osse) and Elliott Wilson (the mind behind Rap Radar) chop it up for more than 2 hours.

In the interview, Combat Jack takes Elliott on a 20-year "this is your life" journey through a career that touched The Source, XXL, Ego Trip, xxlmag.com, Vh1, Jay-Z, Eminem and finally Rap Radar.  Those are some pretty significant arbiters of hip-hop culture.  Take a listen to hear Elliott's role in... Read more

The game is to be told and sold. Check out the Top 8 Reasons Why Rappers Make Better Business Men.

From Digital Music News: Think hip-hop's dead?  Think again: it's the 3rd largest genre - ahead of pop, and behind rock and country.  And, it accounts for more than 1 out of every 10 dollars spent on recorded music, according to the latest S&P Media and Entertainment report (double that... Read more

There was not a lot cracking in hip-hop today so here’s a little insight into the music that has been influencing the biggest star in hip-hop–Jay-Z. It’s not what you would expect.

Ambrosia for heads has been keeping tabs on the recent musical influences of hip-hop's biggest stars.  Over the next few weeks, we will showcase what is moving those driving hip-hop music.  As with many cultural movements, those driving the culture often look to outside influences for their inspiration.  Hip-hop is... Read more

DJ Premier is one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time. Ambrosia for Heads contributor Omar Akil is a Primo scholar and fan. Check out the first installment in his weekly column dedicated to Premier.

PREEM-EAR A DJ Premier track = Rare chopped up sample + ill drum loop + vocal sample as hook (manipulated by turntables). While Preem has never deviated from this formula (in almost 22 years as a producer), his tracks always, always, always sound different and familiar at the same time. ... Read more

Will Jay-Z be hip-hop’s first billionaire? Check out his one-on-one with billionaire Warren Buffet in Forbes.

Here's the full interview between hip-hop's richest entertainer and Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest people in the world. Click here to read the article.... Read more

Kanye West has the best digital game on the planet! Between what he said on twitter today and Devil in a New Dress nobody is touching him.

If you didn't see what Kanye West wrote on Twitter today, click here.  It's incredible.  It shows the intelligence, maturity and evolution of one of the greatest artists of the last decade.  Given all the celebrity gaffes on Twitter, he is showing its Power, as well.  That's not where it... Read more

Will iTunes' Ping become the Facebook or Twitter for the purchase of music, TV and movies?

Here's an interesting article from Om Malik that makes a compelling argument that Ping, the new social networking feature just added to the latest version of iTunes, will change the face of digital commerce.  What do you think?  Click here for the article.... Read more

Speaking of Kanye, check out the (entire) dope interview he did on the Angie Martinez Show today.

Kanye speaks on: The new album The power of Twitter (ambrosia4heads...) Drops the new single, See Me Now (click here to download) Says Nicki Minaj has the potential to be the 2nd biggest MC ever (to EMINEM) The Power remix with Jay-Z The album (potentially) dropping on 11/16 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqSjgPFyyu4... Read more

Google is the gatekeeper of virtually all information on the web. Here's what they're CEO had to say about the future of information.

Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, recently spoke extensively on the future of  the gathering, indexing and dissemination of information at the Techonomy conference, a gathering of people from around the globe seeking to use technology to solve the world's big problems.  Click here to read some of the thoughts he shared. ... Read more

Kanye West did not start by going to the press or TV to promote his new album. He went straight to Facebook. Here’s what he had to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQYi6RybLSI&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exNOyZ220jg&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Umjy314sQQ&feature=player_embedded... Read more

The truth about Inception (serious spoiler alert)

Much has been written and discussed about the movie Inception (a must see if you haven't already--but go ready to focus intensely for a 2.5 hour period). Many people have different theories about the "meaning" of the movie. In "reality," we may never know what was fully in director Christopher... Read more

In Rick Ross' Free Mason, Jay-Z opens his verse by saying "they put the Devil on me." Here's what he meant.

The collaboration between Rick Ross and Jay-Z titled Free Mason has set the hip-hop world on fire over the last couple of weeks.  This has primarily been because the song is straight heat, but obviously their tackling of the Freemason subject matter has also provoked interest due to allegations of... Read more

The evolution of Kanyeezy: Here's a timeline showing how Kanye West is quietly becoming the best MC in the game.

The first time I saw Kanye West perform in person was when Talib Kweli brought him onstage in 2003.  Kanye did not have an album yet but was making a name for himself as a producer.  He wanted to be an MC but the gents at Roc-A-Fella thought he was... Read more

"The Decision" by LeBron James generated $2.9 million for charity. Are you still mad? Here's the story.

Click here to check out the full story of how the real Ari and David Geffen helped orchestrate the biggest non-criminal, sports news story in a decade.... Read more

Power is Kanye's return from a self-imposed hiatus and a big departure from 808 & Heartbreak, but is he still in the same dark place?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Yo3FJDrbc Check out the above video (21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson) on which part of the hook to Power is based.  Pretty dark, right?  Also, why does Kanye shift gears at the end of Power to start saying "It will be a beautiful death" and "jumping out the... Read more

Get your Terminator on. Advancements in artificial intelligence are rapidly progressing.

Movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator, and The Matrix have been depicting a world in which computers have overtaken humans in intelligence for decades, and the result has always been ominous.  There have also been some scholars who have made very specific predictions about when this will happen in... Read more

This is what D'Angelo is listening to these days. Can you dig it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDQ4pILHh9s The Urban Daily was fortunate enough to get the first interview with D'Angelo in 9 years.  He primarily discussed where his head is musically these days (check the video above) and avoided the personal drama, but obviously that is more than anyone has heard from him in quite a... Read more

Can you truly connect with someone on Facebook? Do you really want to?

How did you become friends with your best friend?  Why did you fall in love with your loved one?  The author of this article argues that human connections are formed primarily by 3 factors--1. Proximity, 2. Vulnerability, and 3. Defined Community--and that Facebook allows for none of these things.  So... Read more

If hip-hop was dead it lives again with Drake and The Roots

With yesterday being Tupac's birthday, it seems fitting to take a few ticks to reflect on the current state of hip-hop.  It's been a bleak couple of years (with some notable exceptions from Jay, Weezy and a few other's) but Drake's Thank Me Later is a solid piece of work front to back... Read more

Pharrell discusses the importance of education and his responsibility as an artist to promote that. Could he be more dope? (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geTNnB93zPc Pharrell continues to demonstrate why he is a cut above the rest with his new initiative to promote kids staying in school.  If you haven't seen it yet, also check out his site Kidult.  It's like a cool cnn.com for kids that informs them without underestimating them.... Read more

What is Google TV and Why Should You Care?

Do you ever use your computer or laptop while watching TV?  Soon there will be no need because you can do everything you want to do on your TV screen.  There’s been a lot of hype over the years, starting with Web TV in the ’90s and continuing with Windows... Read more

What About the Numbers? – De-Coding the Mysterious Numbers on LOST

The mystery of the LOST numbers illuminated by Kunal M: So, while Lost ended last night with a very emotional episode that I actually thought was pretty good, the mystery of the numbers was never discussed. After the jump, here’s the mystery behind those 6 digits that have driven us... Read more

What Do Dreams Mean?

Ever wondered what your dreams mean or why you keep having the same one over and over again?  Ever “wake up” and realize you’re still asleep?  Ever wonder if you’re still dreaming?…Recent breakthroughs give more insights into the meaning of our dreams.  Click here for the full story.... Read more

Sound Control – The Slow Death of High Fidelity

  The sound quality of music has been going down for years while the volume has been going up.  Is it still music to your ears?  Click here for the story.... Read more

Email Rage?

Studies now show that people are more prone to snap than before—especially when using computers.  Click here to read the full story.... Read more

Is Facebook the New Internet

Is Facebook integrating itself into all things on the web and potentially mobile?  Click here to read Mark Cuban’s take.... Read more

What is the Future of Media?

This comprehensive study of the media consumption habits of 8-18 year olds offers a preview of how media primarily will be used in the future.  Click here for the article.... Read more

Are Tweets the New Tattoos?

The Library of Congress will be archiving all public tweets for posterity. Do you want your words kept forever?  Click here for the story.... Read more

The Tower of Babel

Do we all have the capacity to speak every language buried within?  Click here to read about a Croatian girl who was in a coma woke up only being able to speak flawless German—a language she had only studied for a short time.  How did this happen?... Read more

Musings on Foursquare and (at least) 2 More Cents

FourSquare, the social network that allows you to check in at restaurants and stores and tell friends about the things you’re doing and buying there, is getting a lot of press as off late.  Some are projecting it to be THE next big thing (think Twitter and Facebook).  Not everyone... Read more

Net Neutrality – Do You Want Internet Service Providers Controlling What You Can Access Over the Web?

Court’s decision may have a fundamental access on what content you can access via the web, at what speed you can access that content and which companies control those things.  Is the Internet the new cable?... Read more