Video Archives

Joe Budden Says Kendrick Lamar & Royce 5’9 Are The 2 Best MCs In The World (Video)

The release of Kendrick Lamar's latest album has triggered discussion of where he stands in the Hip-Hop pantheon of MCs. Many consider him to be 4 for 4, in terms of outstanding LPs, including Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, To Pimp A Butterfly and, now, DAMN. As untitled.unmastered. was simply... Read more

April 20, 2017 Video

Nicki Minaj Re-Asserts Her Claim As The Queen Of Rap In Her New Video

Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma's beef quieted down in the last five weeks. The two New York MCs went from throwing apparent subliminal jabs to throwing heavy verbal artillery this year. After Rem' appeared to throw some televised shade Nick's way this month on Hip Hop Squares, Barbie brings her... Read more

April 19, 2017 Video

Robert Glasper Shows How J. Dilla Created 2 Of His Most Magnificent Samples (Video)

Hip-Hop music has been one of movements. In its earliest days, Hip-Hop was a fusion of sounds as disparate as Salsa and Punk, Dance Music and Funk. DJs like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa used records from all genres, in order to concoct the sonic gumbo that launched... Read more

April 19, 2017 Video

Stretch & Bobbito Are Returning To Make Hip-Hop Radio Great Again (Video)

Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito The Barber are two juggernauts of Hip-Hop radio. As the 2015 Radio That Changed Lives documentary showed, these two New Yorkers played critical roles in the careers and subsequent success of Nas, Jay Z, Biggie, Eminem, Big L, Wu-Tang Clan, Pharoahe Monch, MF DOOM, Company Flow,... Read more

April 18, 2017 Video

Kendrick Lamar Has A Battle Of Wills & Raps With Don Cheadle For His DNA (Video)

Over the last 3 weeks, Kendrick Lamar has dominated Rap discourse, but since the release of his latest album on Friday, the conversation has reached a fever pitch. Over the weekend, there was intense speculation that Kendrick would drop yet another album on Easter Sunday and, his headlining performance at... Read more

April 18, 2017 Video

A New Documentary Shows Why The LA Riots Still Matter, 25 Years Later (Video)

In the context of America's grapple with police brutality in 2017, 1992 may seem like a distant era. Before cell-phone cameras were ubiquitous, video footage of violent encounters between police and citizens was mostly relegated to dashboard footage from a police car or a passerby armed with professional recording equipment.... Read more

April 18, 2017 Video

Murs Freestyles About America’s 1st Illegal Immigrants & They Weren’t Mexican (Video)

Los Angeles, California's Murs is one of the most respected voices in Hip-Hop, partly because of his penchant for truthseeking and social commentary. In March, he released his tenth solo LP, Captain California, which addresses topics like mental health in the Black community (on "God Bless Kanye West") and gentrification... Read more

April 18, 2017 Video

J. Cole Keeps It 100% Real. He Shares Footage Of S.W.A.T. Raiding His Home (Video)

Last week, Kendrick Lamar released the song "DUCKWORTH." The 9th Wonder-produced DAMN. track recounts a story of K-Dot's musical mentor, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith plotting to rob his own father many years ago at a fast food restaurant in Los Angeles. In a twist of fate, Lamar's father was spared... Read more

April 17, 2017 Video

Homeboy Sandman Doesn’t Need Slang To Sling Great Raps In This Video

On March 31, Homeboy Sandman released Veins. That LP boasts beats by 88-Keys, Kev Brown, Audible Doctor, and others. Now a mainstay at Stones Throw Records, the Queens, New York MC dropped the visual to album highlight "Bamboo." The RTNC-laced track (De La Soul, Yasiin Bey, Action Bronson) lends itself... Read more

April 15, 2017 Video

Logic Uses His Superhuman Flow To Make Us All Feel Like Heroes (Video)

After a very quiet 2016, Logic has started 2017 off with a bang. The Maryland MC, known as Young Sinatra, for his resemblance of a youthful Frankie, has announced he is releasing his third studio album, Everybody, on May 5th. The album will feature guest appearances from Killer Mike and... Read more

April 13, 2017 Video

LeBron James Loves Kendrick Lamar’s New Album. He Shares Snippets (Audio)

With just a few hours until Kendrick Lamar is scheduled to release his fourth LP, DAMN., there don't appear to be any leaks of the much-anticipated content. He threw most for a loop when rapping in "The Heart Part 4" that "you have until April 7 to get your s**t... Read more

April 13, 2017 Video

Devin The Dude Recites The First Rhyme He Ever Wrote. He Hasn’t Changed A Bit (Video)

Last month, Devin The Dude and his Coughee Brothaz clique self-released Acoustic Levitation. The Texas-based MC/producer is up to his famous three W's: wine, weed, and women on an independent release that involves some lush harmonies from the MC who is a highly capable singer. Devin The Dude's career spans... Read more

April 13, 2017 Video

Termanology & Saigon Use Q-Tip Production For A Sobering Look At What’s Wrong (Video)

One of the most poignant tracks in Termanology's expansive catalog is "We're Both Wrong." The track pairs the 1982 MC with production from A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip. For a song about the ills of society, especially law enforcement profiling and brutalizing people of color, Saigon's slang editorial is a... Read more

April 12, 2017 Video

Lil Dicky Has Released 1 Of The Greatest Music Videos Ever. It’s Insane In The Brain.

Professional Rapper Lil Dicky continues to serve up content from the 2015 debut album that introduced him as one of the most humorous minds in Rap music. With "$ave Dat Money," the rapper born David Burd created one of the most memorable videos in recent years, managing to produce an ostentatious... Read more

April 12, 2017 Video

Lil Wayne Joins Roc Nation. The “Best Rapper Alive” May Soon Get His Cash Money.

Lil Wayne has been symbolically estranged from Cash Money Records for more than two years. While Weezy F. Baby has since been photographed with onetime adoptive guardian Birdman (the label's co-founder) during his $51 million lawsuit, the New Orleans, Louisiana MC has been unable to release projects, namely the long-awaited... Read more

April 12, 2017 News, Video

Kxng Crooked Freestyles On Jeru The Damaja’s “Come Clean” And Does It Dirty (Video)

Kxng Crooked is a monster. There's no other way to say it. For more than 20 years, the MC formerly known as Crooked I has done things that are absolutely grisly to microphones. Whether as a Death Row records artist who never had the opportunity to release a project or... Read more

April 11, 2017 Video

Anderson .Paak’s Throwback Video Teaches That Scared Money Never Gets Paid In Full

In 2016, Anderson .Paak started the year in truly incredible form thanks to Malibu. However, the Southern California MC/singer/drummer/producer was far from done. Amidst an Aftermath Entertainment signing and a clamor of strong features alongside everybody from Mac Miller to ScHoolboy Q, A Tribe Called Quest to Rapsody, .Paak and... Read more

April 11, 2017 Video

Footage Appears To Show 50 Cent Punching An Overzealous Female Fan At A Show (Video)

On Saturday night (April 8), 50 Cent joined The LOX onstage as a surprise guest during their stop at Baltimore Soundstage, for their Filthy America tour. 50 appears to be in good spirits, as he walks the stage, however, as he reaches down to extend his hand to a fan,... Read more

April 10, 2017 Video

Lupe Fiasco Is Sick Of Hearing Wack Rappers Over Trap Beats. He Shows Them How To Do It (Video)

In February, Lupe Fiasco released DROGAS Light, his first album since 2015's Tetsuo & Youth. Despite talk of his retiring from Rap (including statements he made himself), it appears the Chicago, Illinois rapper has no such plans, at least in the immediate future. Shortly after the LP's release, Lupe performed the single... Read more

April 10, 2017 Video

Ludacris Is Independent Now But He Still Knows How To Make A Def Jam (Video)

Going into 2017, Ludacris appeared to be the most tenured act on Def Jam Records. Signed to Def Jam South back in 2000 when Scarface ran the short-lived label offshoot, Luda' since released eight albums and two compilations with the label, dating back to Y2K's Back For The First Time.... Read more

April 10, 2017 Video

A Breakdown Of What Makes Big Daddy Kane A Superior MC (Video)

Big Daddy Kane has not released a solo album in nearly 20 years. However, when Antonio Hardy said "Nobody's Equal" in spelling out the acronym of K.A.N.E., the statement was (and remains) irrefutable to many. Big Daddy Kane is one of the greatest MCs to ever touch the microphone, and... Read more

April 9, 2017 Video

30 Years Ago, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince Rocked The House Like No One Else (Video)

On April 7, 1987, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince released their debut album, Rock The House. While certain elements of the album had been showcased by other artists in the past--storytelling (Run-D.M.C., Whodini), humor (Beastie Boys), beatboxing (The Fat Boys) and more--Jeff and his partner Will Smith were... Read more

April 8, 2017 Video

Treach, Snoop & T.I. Bring Tupac Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame In Style (Video)

Friday night (April 7) at Brooklyn, New York's Barclays Center, Tupac Shakur was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. More than 20 years after the legendary rapper, actor, and revolutionary was killed in Las Vegas, Nevada, his name and music will live on forever, positioned alongside The... Read more

April 8, 2017 Video

Artifacts Stay On The Wrong Side Of Da Tracks, But They’re Back With The Right Video

Twenty years ago this month (April 15, 1997), The Artifacts released their sophomore album, That's Them. El Da Sensei and Tame One (as well as DJ Kaos) followed the success of "Wrong Side Of da Tracks" and Between A Rock And A Hard Place with an album that paved the... Read more

April 7, 2017 Video

Teasers For The Tupac Movie Have Been Really Good. The Official Trailer Is GREAT (Video)

Tupac Shakur's life story is coming to theaters in less than 10 weeks. The film, All Eyez On Me will chronicle the rise and fall of one of Hip-Hop's immortal voices. The movie traces a timeline from 'Pac's impressionable childhood to his sudden, tragic death. Following several teasers, the June... Read more

April 6, 2017 TV/Film, Video

Troy Ave Defends His Attacks On Capital STEEZ & Details His Shooting (Video)

Troy Ave's career has massively changed since his 2015 album, Major Without A Deal. The Brooklyn, New York MC independently rose through the ranks to reach the Top 200 charts, with an LP that included appearances by 50 Cent, Puff Daddy, Cam'ron, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Ma$e, and Fabolous. At least... Read more

April 5, 2017 Video

Page Kennedy’s Latest Freestyle Leaves Weak Rappers In The Weeds (Video)

Page Kennedy is promoting his recently-released Torn Pages album the best way that he possibly can. The veteran actor from Blue Mountain State ("Radon Randell") and Weeds ("U-Turn") isn't using his Hollywood resumé to pump the LP, he's relying on his exceptional freestyles. It is hard to find a more... Read more

April 5, 2017 Video

Evidence Returns With One Of His Best Songs In Years. He Reigns On An Alchemist Beat.

It has been nearly six years since Evidence released a solo album. For many fans, 2011's Cats & Dogs reached a new zenith for the Dilated Peoples and Stepbrothers veteran. Still running with Rhymesayers, the 20-year veteran is in even stronger form on new video single, "Throw It All Away."... Read more

April 5, 2017 Video

Respect The DJ: Ice Cube Refuses To Replace The Late DJ Crazy Toones On Stage (Video)

The January loss of Crazy Toones, remembered most for his work as a member of WC and The Maad Circle, left a gaping hole in the hearts of many. Celebrated as a producer and DJ, the man born Lamar Dupré Calhoun was the biological brother of rapper WC and appeared... Read more

April 5, 2017 Video

Talib Kweli Drops a 64-Bar Video With The Kind Of Wordplay That Made Him A Star.

Talib Kweli is fast at work on his collaborative album with The LOX's Styles P. However, in the meantime, Kweli offers up a fresh batch of 64 bars built around everything that's made this Brooklyn, New Yorker so great for 20 years and counting. Just as Talib did on his... Read more

April 4, 2017 Video

Joey Bada$$’ Performance Is A Powerful Reminder That This Is OUR America (Video)

On Friday (April 7), Joey Bada$$ will release what is shaping up to be his most brazen work to date: All Amerikkkan Bada$$. The Brooklyn, New York MC has always had a political bent to his work, but it seems in recent months he has taken advantage of every opportunity to... Read more

April 4, 2017 Video

Killer Mike Casts A Different Perspective On Kanye’s Meeting With Trump (Video)

Killer Mike and Kanye West are two early 2000s Hip-Hop contemporaries. While Mike came up under Outkast and the famed Dungeon Family in Atlanta, 'Ye was attached to Jay Z and the Roc-A-Fella Records boom. Both artists were introduced as different kinds of Rap stars as they transitioned from memorable... Read more

April 3, 2017 Lifestyle, Video

Why LL Cool J Is The Original GOAT (Video)

Like Will Smith, Ice-T, and Queen Latifah, it may be easier to name an LL Cool J role in the last decade, than a song. However, James Todd Smith continues to make time for Hip-Hop (right now, with Dr. Dre), and when he's right, he's really sharp. Aside from that,... Read more

April 1, 2017 TV/Film, Video

Mary J. Blige Is As Real As She’s Ever Been In Discussing Her Divorce (Video)

Celebrated world over for her deeply personal approach to music, Mary J. Blige has never held back from admitting her weaknesses and pain. In fact, she has time and time again channeled it all into her work, which continues to resonate with her fans 25 years after she made her... Read more

March 31, 2017 Video

Dave East & Beanie Sigel Say They Stand For Real Raps In An Era Of Fakery (Video)

Dave East's Kairi Chanel album features a number of veteran supporters. Cam'ron, Fabolous, and 2 Chainz all believe in the East Harlem MC, and want to make music with him. Another artist is Beanie Sigel. Heard on "The Real Is Back," Beans cosigns Dave. Like Sigel during his late '90s,... Read more

March 31, 2017 Video

Rah Digga Uses Fiery Rhymes To Blaze A Trail For JR & PH7 and St. Joe Louis (Video)

Leading up to her beloved Dirty Harriet LP in 2000, Rah Digga had made a host of powerful feature performances. The fiery MC was heard on Fugees' multi-platinum The Score, DJ Clue's The Professional, and the famed Lyricist Lounge double album. More than 20 years after she made her first... Read more

March 31, 2017 Exclusive, Video

Geechi Suede Climbs Fishnet Skyscrapers To Reach Love’s Top Floor (Video)

On "7 Digit Dolls," Camp Lo's Geechi Suede celebrates the romantic interests in his world, adding some romantic flavor to his recently launched solo catalog. It's the first taste from his forthcoming mixtape, Fishnet Skyscrapers, which officially drops on April 4. Just a few months removed from the release of his... Read more

March 31, 2017 Exclusive, Video

Logic’s Next Album Is Coming & The 1st Single Reminds Everybody He’s An Elite MC (Video)

In the last year two and a half years, Logic has released two gold-certified, Top 5 albums on the charts. The Gaithersburg, Maryland MC is now ready to follow 2014's Under Pressure and 2015's The Incredible Story with his third album. Today (March 29), Visionary Music Group and Def Jam... Read more

March 31, 2017 News, Video

Mary J. Blige & Kanye West’s Collabo Is a True Labor of (Self) Love (Video)

Mary J. Blige has always kept it real in her music, pouring her heart(break) and soul into songs about love. Since her triple-platinum 1992 solo debut What's the 411?, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul has blazed a trail for women in music, providing anthem after anthem for anyone who has... Read more

March 30, 2017 Video

Kendrick Lamar Shows Other Rappers Just Aren’t Cutting The Mustard, In His New Video

Last week, Kendrick Lamar set the digital world on fire when he deleted all of the photos on his Instagram account and replaced them with an image simply bearing the Roman numeral IV. The picture created wide-spread speculation that it was in reference to the imminent of arrival of his... Read more

March 30, 2017 Video

Brother Ali’s New Song Tackles Prejudice At Home & Abroad As An American Muslim (Video)

Brother Ali, the Minneapolis MC revered for his truth-telling and lifelong pursuit of knowledge, today (March 30) debuted a timely and powerful new single at Sway in the Morning. As a practitioner of Islam since his teenage years, Ali has always placed his faith front-and-center in his music, and he... Read more

March 30, 2017 Video

A Tribe Called Quest Premiere The Video For “Dis Generation” With An Assist From Busta Rhymes

When A Tribe Called Quest released their final album, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service, in November, one of the standout songs was "Dis Generation." The record featured the kind of crate-digging samples and kinetic back and forth interplay between Q-Tip and Phife that had powered... Read more

March 30, 2017 Video

Ice-T Provides Some Rare Facts About The Song That Nearly Killed His Rap Career (Video)

This week, Ice-T's Heavy Metal band Body Count will release their sixth album, Bloodlust. In doing so, the 35-year Rap pioneer is releasing his first full-length project in nearly three years. Just as Tracy Morrow does on TV, in film, and has always done in music, he strikes with a... Read more

March 29, 2017 Throwback, Video

Maseo’s New MC Makes 5 Fingers A Hard Fist To The Face Of Hip-Hop In A New Freestyle (Video)

Born and raised in Harlem, rapper Bill Ray is signed to Maseo (of De La Soul)'s indie label, Bear Mountain. Formerly a member of group Triple Beam, he's been pursuing a solo career for over a decade, earning thousands of fans by touring with De La Soul and performing his... Read more

March 29, 2017 Video

Wood Harris Argues Why New Edition’s Story Is The Ultimate Musical Biopic (Video)

In 2017, actor Wood Harris is quite busy. Approaching 25 years since he starred alongside Tupac Shakur in Above The Rim, the highly accomplished actor is staying busy through The New Edition Story and The Breaks. Both films are music-based. In the first, Harris portrayed Brooke Payne, New Edition's longtime... Read more

March 29, 2017 TV/Film, Video

The Cast Of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Reunites 20 Years Later

It's been over 20 years since the final episode of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, but the show's impact continues to this day. Each and every day, the show plays on channels across the country, and it has left an indelible mark in both Hip-Hop and sit-com history. Yesterday (March... Read more

March 28, 2017 Fresh, TV, TV/Film

DJ Premier Recalls The First Show Gang Starr Ever Did (Video)

Nearly 30 years into his recording career, DJ Premier actively tours across the globe. The iconic Gang Starr producer performs regular DJ sets, shows with PRhyme, jams with his band, and playing with other artists. Currently overseas with his artist Torii Wolf, Premier recalled the first time he took the... Read more

March 28, 2017 Video

REKS & Apollo Brown Celebrate Hip-Hop’s Infinite Powers (Video)

With ten LPs already under his belt, Lawrence, Massachusetts' REKS may very well be the perfect embodiment of an underground MC. Since his 2001 debut, Along Came The Chosen, he has worked with the likes of DJ Premier, Styles P, Pete Rock, Skyzoo, Alchemist, Freeway, Hi-Tek, and more. In September... Read more

March 28, 2017 Video

Just Blaze Makes Classic Breakbeats Sound Brand New In A Jamming Mini-Mix (Video)

Just Blaze is a producer's producer. The New Jersey native DJ-turned-beat creator has made hit records for Jay Z, Ghostface Killah, Fat Joe, and others using some of the same break-beats and samples that helped get Hip-Hop music started. Moreover, through work for Fabolous, Freeway, and Saigon, Just has brought... Read more

March 28, 2017 Mixes, Video

Nas Still Carries Rhymes In His Pockets. Greatness Is Never Done (Video)

In 2002, Nas released the Alchemist-produced song "Book Of Rhymes." Within, the Queens, New York MC rapped bits and pieces from stored composition books of verses. Whether or not that moment was staged or real, it appears that Nasir Jones still literally carries his rhymes with him. More than 25... Read more

March 27, 2017 Video