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Busta Rhymes Explains Why He Titled Most Of His Albums About World-Changing Events

Busta Rhymes has a discography that stretches 26 years, nine solo albums, and countless hit singles. Out of the nine, one argues to be his most important of his illustrious career. This past weekend, Bussa Buss celebrated the 20th anniversary of his sophomore solo album When Disaster Strikes. Released on... Read more

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

Donald Glover Becomes The First Black Director To Win An Emmy For Directing Comedy Series (Video)

At last night's Emmy Awards, Donald Glover made history and made a point. Known to the musical world as Childish Gambino, the actor, writer, director, and comedian won two trophies for his show Atlanta. Glover won for his directing in a comedy series (the first Black director to do so),... Read more

Wyclef Jean Explains Why Country Music Is The Original Gangsta Rap (Video)

Last week, Wyclef Jean released Carnival III: The Rise and Fall of a Fugee. The orator uses a storyteller's title on his eighth album. There have been ups and downs to the man who represents Haiti, Brooklyn, and north New Jersey. However, things are great for him right now. In addition... Read more

Too Short vs. MC Hammer: 2 Of Oakland’s Finest Were Beefing Subliminally

In the year between September of 1990 and 1991, three Oakland, California Hip-Hop acts would have albums receive platinum certification. Digital Underground would be first, with Sex Packets. In January of the new year, Too Short secured a plaque with Short Dog's In The House. M.C. Hammer would follow two... Read more

The NFL Players Association Gives This Week’s Community MVP Award To Colin Kaepernick

Although he is still not signed to a team, the specter of quarterback Colin Kaepernick looms large over the NFL. Kaepernick became one of the most polarizing figures in the country last year when he began kneeling during the national anthem before games, in protest of the multiple police killings... Read more

Kid From Kid ‘N Play Apologizes For Mocking Colin Kaepernick In Costume

Earlier this month, MC and actor Christopher "Kid" Reid of veteran duo Kid 'N Play was featured on sports-talk show Speak For Yourself. However, many viewers did not realize it was the House Party co-star. Instead, appearing in an afro wig, a #7 San Francisco 49ers jersey, and a raised... Read more

A Video Traces The “Migos’ Flow” Back To Public Enemy, Bone Thugs & Biggie

Back in 2014, Snoop Dogg criticized what he said was the conformity of rappers in the contemporary scene. “Everybody’s trying to rap the same style, I don’t know who created it—if it was Future or Migos, but they all sound the same,” he said. Snoop then mocked the broken-up patter... Read more

The NFL Boycott Is Working & Masta Ace Says It’s Bigger Than Colin Kaepernick (Video)

A week ago, the NFL began its first week of the 2017 regular season. Ratings show a serious decline in viewership, year over year. From week 1 kickoff on Thursday Night Football (a 14% decline) to Sunday numbers on FOX and CBS, many less people are watching. Meanwhile, big media seems... Read more

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

Mark Cuban Tells Snoop Dogg How He Went From Sleeping On Floors To Owning Teams (Video)

People know Mark Cuban as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and one of the apex investors on Shark Tank. However, not many realize how a working-class Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native was able to purchase an NBA franchise at the age of 40. Floyd Mayweather Has A Humble Conversation With Snoop... Read more

Chris Rivers Wants To Bring Hip-Hop Back To The Days Of Nas, Pac & Biggie (Video)

When Chris Rivers named his latest project Delorean, he had time traveling on his mind. New video single "Old Thing Back" is an extension of that idea. The Bronx, New Yorker spits about bringing back a brand of Hip-Hop as he remembers it from his love affair. He pays homage... Read more

Redman Explains Why He Would Rather Endure Gruesome Pain Than Suffer Disloyalty (Video)

Later this month, Masta Killa will release Loyalty Is Royalty (September 29). Three of that album's guests include Redman, Method Man, and Inspectah Deck. In line with the title of the Wu-Tang Clan member's fourth album, those three affiliates spoke about what loyalty means to them. Masta Killa’s New Album... Read more

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

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

AZ, Papoose & Mysonne Are Grown Men Who Are Unafraid To Rap Like It (Video)

Rap music about street exploits is a lot of what is made every single day. AZ, Papoose, and Mysonne have all done this, quite effectively, at various points in their respective careers. However, these three New York City MCs also know when it's time to spit about the exit strategy—not... Read more

TiRon & Ayomari Get The Money, The Life & Girl Of Their Dreams In “It’s A Trip” (Video)

Since 2009, Los Angeles MCs TiRon & Ayomari have built a cult following after releasing several critically acclaimed albums as a duo and solo artists. This includes A Sucker For Pumps in 2011, and their independent label Cafeteria Line's 2012 compilation HNGRY. The latter deserves credit for bringing City of Angels-based artists Breezy... Read more

Masta Killa’s New Album Will Be A Wu-Tang, Prodigy & Redman Affair

Later this month, Wu-Tang Clan member Masta Killa will release his fourth album, Loyalty Is Royalty. The Brooklyn, New York veteran remains a Nature Sounds artist, the label with whom he released his acclaimed solo debut, 2004's No Said Date. The 1st Rhyme Masta Killa Ever Wrote Was For Wu-Tang... Read more

Jay Lonzo Shows JAY-Z Is Not The Only Brooklyn MC Dropping Jewels (Video)

Proving that often the best Hip-Hop is grounded in the local, albeit with international notes, “Last Drop” the most recent single from Crown Heights, Brooklyn MC Jay Lonzo, only further consolidates his status as one to watch. Jay Lonzo Spits More Knowledge at 17 Years Old Than Many Do In... Read more

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

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

Scarface Rides Hard With The Outlawz In Search Of True Justice (Video)

Scarface and Tupac Shakur were close friends. The "Smile" collaborators are incredible artists, who climbed up the charts but took the ghetto with them. After Pac's 1996 death, 'Face showed tremendous loyalty to his people, including Death Row artists, Thug Life, The Outlawz Immortalz, and others. That is true through... Read more

Spike Lee & Jordan Peele’s New Movie Tells The True Story Of A Black Man Who Joined The KKK

When it comes to films about modern race relations in America, there may be no greater filmmakers than Spike Lee and Jordan Peele. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lee and Peele are teaming up to create a joint film project titled Black Klansman. The film will be directed by Lee... Read more

NFL Ratings Are Down & Big Media’s Too Scared To Cite The Boycott

With season-opening kickoff and Monday Night Football behind us, what promises to be one of the most politically tinged seasons in the NFL is underway. Still mired in controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick, the league is also defending itself against those who believe the organization is too lenient with players who've committed... Read more

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

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

Don Flamingo’s Vibrant Depiction Of New Orleans Gives Hope For Cities Devastated By Hurricanes (Video)

The legacy of New Orleans' Bounce movement during the late '90s through mid-2000s still heavily overshadows several of the city's imitable rappers' individual contributions to Hip-Hop lyricism (i.e. Lil Wayne, Curren$y, Jay Electronica, among others). Having vital co-signs from NYC legends The Lox and JAY-Z, Don Flamingo is coming up... Read more

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

Black Thought Performs A New Verse With Statik Selektah & Melts The Mic (Video)

Black Thought is one of Hip-Hop's consummate showmen. Flip on the TV five nights a week, attend a Roots Picnic, or search the web, and it's well documented. As if Tariq Trotter does not already work hard enough, the Philadelphia MC swung through Statik Selektah's Blue Note show in New... Read more

Common Becomes The First Rapper Ever To Win An Oscar, An Emmy & A Grammy

JAY-Z famously rapped on "Moment Of Clarity": "Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense / But I did 5 mill' – I ain't been rhyming like Common since." That was 2003. In the nearly 15 years following those bars, Comm' has scored a #1 LP (Finding Forever), and filled his... Read more

A Tribe Called Quest Have Performed Their Last Show Ever (Video)

In a career that lasted more than 29 years, A Tribe Called Quest have completed their final concert. Over the weekend, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White played Bestival in East Lulworth, United Kingdom before hanging up their mics and turntables as a collective. The 90-minute-show followed an international run... Read more

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

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

Kanye West Killed 50 Cent AND Gangsta Rap 10 Years Ago (Video)

Ten years ago this week, Hip-Hop experienced a real watershed moment. On September 11, 2007, 50 Cent and Kanye West squared off. It was not physical. It did not even include diss tracks or beef of any kind. Instead, Graduation faced off against Curtis. Two of Hip-Hop's biggest stars of... Read more

Sean Price’s Wife Bernadette Discusses Her Husband & Completing His Last Album

Sean Price stated on Heltah Skeltah’s debut about his longtime rhyme partner Rockness Monsta, “behind every great Ruck there’s a Rock.” But throughout the late great Price’s career stood a great woman named Bernadette Price. She has become one of Rap’s most famous widows who paralleled "Edith Bunker" to Sean’s "Archie... Read more

2017’s Hip Hop Honors Will Salute Martin Lawrence

For more than a decade, VH1's Hip Hop Honors has been a stage that honors key contributors to the music and culture. Launched in 2004, honorees include founder DJ Kool Herc, Big Daddy Kane, Beastie Boys, Salt N Pepa, Wu-Tang Clan, Slick Rick, and A Tribe Called Quest, among many... Read more

Mr. Lif & Akrobatik Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em With Heavy Rhymes & Hard Drums (Video)

In late July, Boston MCs Mr. Lif and Akrobatik revived The Perceptionists. The former Def Jux group (which then featured DJ Fakts One) made a strong return on Resolution (which premiered at Ambrosia For Heads), releasing through the Mello Music Group—a label that may be reminiscent of El-P's 2000s imprint.... Read more

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

A-F-R-O, R.A. The Rugged Man & Gift Of Gab Put On 1 Of The Year’s Best Lyrical Displays (Video)

Three MCs, united by a spitfire, rapid delivery, as if sped-up on steroids, make this release from Bay Area’s Gift of Gab (one-half of Blackalicious) a masterclass in the art of rhyming. “Freedom Form Flowing.” Blackalicious’ Gift Of Gab Tackles Gentrification With Artisanal Rhymes (Video) The mellow beat produced by... Read more

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

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

Kid From Kid N Play Impersonates Colin Kaepernick For Jason Whitlock (Video)

Fox Sports 1 host and sports commentator Jason Whitlock is known for his polarizing takes about the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing discourse regarding the embattled NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. On Tuesday (September 5) during the network's show Speak For Yourself, Whitlock discussed the still-unsigned QB. During this,... Read more

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

JAY-Z Reveals He And Prodigy Made Peace Before His Death (Video)

While the JAY-Z vs. Nas battle of the early 2000s may be the one that gets the most ink in the history books, Hov's beef with late Mobb Deep MC Prodigy is one of legend too. From Summer Jam photo reveals to disses on both sides, these two artists had... Read more

Strong Arm Steady’s Krondon Moves To Acting For DC Comics’ “Black Lightning” Role

A decade ago, Krondon and his group Strong Arm Steady were signed to Talib Kweli's Blacksmith imprint at Warner Bros. In the 10 years since, the Los Angeles, California veteran and S.A.S. teamed with Madlib for In Search Of Stoney Jackson, and has followed with projects with Statik Selektah and... Read more

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

Nas Details What Made Biggie One Of The Greatest To Ever Touch The Mic (Video)

Nas and The Notorious B.I.G. were both friends and rivals. With a complicated history—one of legend, the two artists tragically never were able to share a song—despite plans for a "Gimme The Loot (Remix)" in 1994-1995. Looking at the life and work of his man, Nas gives it up for... Read more

Busta Rhymes Says Rapsody’s New Album Is The Best Hip-Hop LP He’s Heard In 10 Years

Rapsody continues to raise her stock as one of Rap's most lyrically gifted MCs. The North Carolina native has a new album titled Laila's Wisdom (September 22), which features a Barry White-inspired verse from Busta Rhymes on "You Should Know." Bussa Buss even took to his socials this week to... Read more

Vic Mensa’s Explosive Freestyle May Be Banned From TV Like Kaepernick (Video)

Vic Mensa is a gifted rarity. The Save Money star makes compelling, highly personal albums. That's evident in July's The Autobiography, Mensa's Roc Nation full-length debut. However, so many MCs who are conceptual and vulnerable on wax can be a bit restrained in the freestyle. That's never been the case... Read more

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