Video Archives

“Empire” Star Jussie Smollett Takes The Media To Task For Its Coverage Of Donald Trump (Video)

Last night, Comedy Central was once again the sight of an engrossing, multi-dynamic look at American racial politics, thanks to the perspectives shared on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. With many of today's top news stories approached from perspectives of people of color, the show often delves into the... Read more

March 16, 2016 TV/Film

Talib Kweli, 9th Wonder & Nottz Enlist MK Asante & Uzi for a Banger with a Message (Video)

Bars with depth, a video with a concept, and a beat that knocks. The remix to Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder's Indie 500 cut "Bangers" has all of that in the chamber, and then some. On the album version, the Nottz-produced track features MK Asante and Halo and is a... Read more

March 15, 2016 Video

Q-Tip Explains Why the World NEEDS Hip-Hop Now More Than Ever (Video)

On March 8, it was announced that Q-Tip was appointed the first Artistic Director of Hip-Hop Culture at the Kennedy Center in New York City, possibly the world's most famous center for arts. A massively huge step towards Hip-Hop culture earning the much-deserved recognition of being a serious cultural art... Read more

March 15, 2016 Video

The Star Of Hamilton Freestyles For President Obama At The White House (Video)

From day 1, it has been clear that Barack Obama was the nation's first Hip-Hop President. That status had nothing to do with his biracial ancestry. Instead, it was the product of his coming of age at the same time that the most influential cultural force of the last 40... Read more

March 15, 2016 Video

Watch “The Most Significant Day Of Royce 5’9″‘s Life” In His “Tabernacle” Video

Earlier this month, Royce 5'9" released "Tabernacle," the lead single from his forthcoming solo album Layers (April 15), and arguably the most powerful song of his career. "Tabernacle" holds incredible importance in Royce's life, on many levels. It was the first song that Royce wrote when he became sober, after... Read more

March 15, 2016 Video

Joell Ortiz Wrecks A DJ Premier Beat Like A Supa Star (Video)

Joell Ortiz's new collaboration album with producer Domingo will be released tomorrow (March 15). The project, titled That's Hip-Hop, is an ode to music that puts a premium on top-notch lyricism, and Ortiz is happy to oblige. The Slaughterhouse spitter also invited several other respected wordsmiths to join him in... Read more

March 14, 2016 Video

LL Cool J Proves He’s The Original GOAT On A Blistering Freestyle Over A Dre Beat (Video)

LL Cool and Dr. Dre go back. The pair are in a select class of MCs who had professional musical careers in 1985 and in 2016, having only risen. James Todd Smith has gone from Def Jam Records breakthrough artist to a network actor star and host of the Grammy's.... Read more

March 12, 2016 Video

AZ Tells The Origin Of His Show-Stealing Verse On Illmatic (Video)

Most AZ fans know that "Tha Visualiza" hails from Brooklyn, New York. However, unlike so many illustrious MCs, AZ's sense of place and home lives in his lyrics more than photographs, symbols, etc. The Firm co-founder returns to his Williams Houses in East New York, Brooklyn for the first time... Read more

March 12, 2016 Video

Black Sheep Dres Gets Wicked With The Wordplay In This Freestyle (Video)

Black Sheep Dres was the most recent guest on DJ Eclipse's Rap Is Outta Control radio show. While on, the Native Tongues member and evitaN co-founder finished off his appearance with a freestyle that's one of his best. Calling for some wordplay, D-R-E-S hit his mark with almost three minutes... Read more

March 12, 2016 Video

Dot Demo Turns A Careful Whisper Into A Crazy Freestyle (Video)

Dot Demo is one to watch. With influences like Big Pun, Nas, Jay Z and J Dilla, the Bronx, NY MC has high standards and high expectations. He recently hit Statik Selektah’s Show Off Radio and wrecked a couple of beats, turning a careful whisper into a crazy freestyle. Dot... Read more

March 11, 2016 Video

Cam’ron & New York’s Subway B-Boys Dazzle in a Video That Redefines Creativity (Video)

Perhaps the only thing more ubiquitous in New York City than the subways are the subway performers who use the time between station stops to amaze the crowd - or at least attempt to - with music, poetry, speeches, or dance. There has developed a microcosm in the subway dance... Read more

March 11, 2016 Video

PRhyme & Logic’s Deluxe Collabo Goes To Animated “Mode” (Lyric Video)

For Logic, to be knighted by DJ Premier and Royce 5'9" at once is a huge deal. The Gaithersburg, Maryland MC is big on restoring a rawness to Rap through intricate lyrics, concept-driven songs, and feisty flows. Who more represents the success of that outlook than PRhyme? The trio (including... Read more

March 11, 2016 Video

Just Blaze Plays Some Unreleased Jay Electronica, Busta & M.O.P. And More In A Mix (Video)

Earlier this week (March 7), Just Blaze stopped by the studio to spin a nearly hour-long set for DJ City, after which the Paterson, New Jersey record producer and master of the decks indulged his hosts with an interview. DJ City, a digital record pool for DJ professionals - is... Read more

March 11, 2016 Video

Heavy D Tells Some Untold Stories About Cutting Classic Records & Self-Love (Video)

November will mark the fifth anniversary of Heavy D's death, a loss which continues to elicit pangs of grief throughout the Hip-Hop community. The money earnin' Mount Vernon native made his indelible mark as a Jamaican-born MC whose contributions in the late '80s and early '90s with Heavy D &... Read more

March 11, 2016 Video

Lil Dicky & Snoop Dogg Have A Serious Conversation About Making “Comedy Rap” (Video)

Lil Dicky is the latest guest on Snoop Dogg's GGN show. There, the two Professional Rapper collaborators have a largely serious discussion about the craft of rapping, getting in where you fit in, and the hope for an eventual return to form of the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team. "To... Read more

March 11, 2016 Video

Daddy-O Says “Rakim Told The Biggest Lie In Hip-Hop,” In An Unfiltered Interview (Video)

Professor Daddy-O is an MC/producer who has been actively working for 30 years. The front man for 1980s Brooklyn, New York pioneers Stetsasonic, Daddy-O would help introduce the world to Prince Paul (the group's DJ and one of its producers), as well as Mary J. Blige, Lil' Kim, and others.... Read more

March 10, 2016 Video

Royce 5’9″ Explains Choosing To Sign With Tommy Boy Instead Of Dr. Dre (Video)

Royce 5'9" released his first gold album, care of Bad Meets Evil's Hell: The Sequel. The 2011 album released on Eminem's Shady Records, which is part of the same Interscope umbrella that includes Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and previously, 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. Notably, while Royce is signed to Shady/Interscope... Read more

March 10, 2016 Video

MC Lyte is Cold Rockin’ Hip-Hop Feminism in Major Ways (Video)

MC Lyte has added activist, businesswoman, and philanthropist to her resume thanks to her tremendous work in empowering children and women. Having founded the Hip-Hop Sisters Foundation, a non-profit that promotes positive images of women of ethnic diversity, she has made it her life's goal to work on behalf of... Read more

March 10, 2016 Video

Yuna Rocks A DJ Premier Track Better Than Most MCs Do (Video)

Wanderlust - the overwhelming desire to travel - may be one of the most relatable concepts in the human experience. Whether geographically or otherwise, thoughts of arriving elsewhere can be freeing or suffocating, and Malaysian singer Yuna explores that dichotomy beautifully in her DJ Premier-produced single "Places to Go." Having... Read more

March 9, 2016 Video

Hopsin Airs His Grievances With Funk Volume On “Ill Mind Of Hopsin 8” (Video)

Over the years, Hopsin has been known to play pranks on fans and the media. In December of 2014, he claimed he was retiring and moving to Australia, only to reveal a couple of weeks later that it was a gag and he had a new album on the way.... Read more

March 8, 2016 Video

Celebrate International Women’s Day with Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, TLC, & More (Video)

March is Women's History Month, and as we get closer and closer to the presidential election in the United States, the likely reality of the country electing its first female president is a topic of excited discussion. Furthermore, 2020 will mark the centennial of women's suffrage in the U.S., making... Read more

March 8, 2016 Video

J. Cole & Bas Are Working Late While Other MCs Keep Sleepin’ (Video)

Queens, New York rapper Bas is nearly two full years out from the release of his debut album, 2014's Last Winter, and he's keeping the momentum up with Too High to Riot, released on March 4. The Dreamville Records signee - born Abbas Hammad - has naturally established a strong relationship... Read more

March 8, 2016 Video

FUBU Founder & “Shark Tank” Star Daymond John Lists His Keys to Success (Video)

The entrepreneurial spirit has been present in Hip-Hop culture since its inception, from the creative youth who began to throw block parties to those who made and sold mixtapes to classmates at school. One area of the culture which really fostered entrepreneurship is fashion, and recent films like Fresh Dressed... Read more

March 7, 2016 Video

Chris Rock & Ice-T Discuss Making “New Jack City” On Its 25th Anniversary (Audio)

Twenty five years ago tomorrow (March 8, 1991) New Jack City was released to theaters. Largely conceived and written by Barry Michael Cooper, and directed by Mario Van Peebles, the film starring Wesley Snipes would live well beyond its impressive theatrical run. A quarter century later, the Warner Bros. movie... Read more

March 7, 2016 Audio, TV/Film

The Internet Drop 3 videos in 1 & Invite Tyler, the Creator to the Party (Video)

Grammy-nominated contemporary Soul outfit the Internet offer up a melange of sounds and sights in an ambitiously packaged music video. Comprised of three separate vignettes, today's release celebrates three stand-out tracks from last year's Ego Death. "Special Affair," "Curse," and "Palace" are all treated independently but are pieced together in... Read more

March 7, 2016 Video

Nobody Beats The Biz Markie. This Documentary Trailer Shows Why (Video)

For more than 30 years, Biz Markie has been a Hip-Hop multi-threat like no other. The Long Island, New Yorker raps, DJ's, produces, dances, acts, and sings. While the B-I-Z would ultimately pave the way for everybody from Digital Underground to Devin The Dude, Gnarls Barkley to The Pharcyde, he... Read more

March 7, 2016 TV/Film, Video

It’s Official. YG Is Bringing G-Funk Back (Video)

Last year, when YG released "Twist My Fingaz," the lead single from his forthcoming album Still Krazy, it sounded like he was making a statement. The track, which featured an interpolation of Funkadelic's "One Nation Under A Groove," oozed the G-Funk sound that dominated the West Coast, a generation before... Read more

March 6, 2016 Video

2 Chainz & Lil Wayne Stage A Rap Battle & Throw Heavyweight Blows (Video)

Due to their immense commercial success, sometimes people forget that 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne can really RAP. They use the video for "Bounce," from 2 Chainz's just released album Collegegrove, to remind all that their pen games remain sharp as steel. Drawing heavily from a recent episode of Empire,... Read more

March 6, 2016 Video

Wayne Brady Freestyles With Action Bronson & Steals The Show (Video)

This week, Action Bronson made an appearance at Shade 45 on a show hosted by Whoo Kid and DJ'd by Alchemist. Joined by Meyhem Lauren, Bronson was there to promote his VICE cooking web series. While there in the Shade 45 "fish bowl," Bronson spotted none other than the multi-faceted... Read more

March 5, 2016 Video

Fat Joe & Remy Ma Discuss How Big Pun Is Still Watching Over Them (Video)

Fat Joe and Remy Ma joined The Breakfast Club for a lengthy discussion yesterday (March 4). In fact, it was the longest interview in the show's history, clocking in at a whopping 78 minutes. The two discussed everything from their tumultuous history to Love & Hip-Hop to their forthcoming collaborative... Read more

March 5, 2016 Video

Black Sheep Dres & Jaleel Shaw Fly High With the Help of New York City’s Jazzy Streets (Video)

The musical marriage of MC Dres (of Black Sheep) and Jazz saxophonist and composer Jaleel Shaw represents an intersection of two genres with a longstanding history. Shaw - a frequent collaborator of Robert Glasper's - released his second solo album back in 2008, but music's perennial ability to inspire others... Read more

March 4, 2016 Video

Zoe Saldana Looks Better in Blueface Than Blackface. What Happened, Miss Simone? (Video)

Less than a week after the 88th Academy Awards took place during a maelstrom of controversy surrounding the lack of diversity in Hollywood, the official trailer for an upcoming biopic about iconic singer Nina Simone was released, and the controversy continues. Starring Zoe Saldana in the lead role, Nina tells... Read more

March 4, 2016 TV/Film, Video

Royce 5’9″ Discusses “The Most Significant Day Of His Life” & Debuts 2 New Songs (Video)

On the heels of announcing the forthcoming release of Layers (April 15), his first solo album in nearly 5 years, Royce 5'9" paid a visit to the Sway in the Morning show to premiere the album's lead single, "Tabernacle." Over the course of a nearly 35-minute interview, Royce would play... Read more

March 3, 2016 Video

Step Inside The Mind of Earl Sweatshirt With A Wildly Diverse DJ Set (Video)

Earl Sweatshirt is the latest to play a DJ set for Boiler Room. Performing under the alias "Earl Fletcher" at Babylon Skate Shop in Los Angeles, the Odd Future member's set is truly all over the place. Some may see it as a sprawling mess. For others, it is a... Read more

March 3, 2016 Video

Kid ‘N Play Discuss Being Some Of The Earliest Innovators in Hip-Hop Fashion (Video)

From the beginning of their careers, Kid 'N Play have been trendsetters. They were among the first to craft Hip-Hop songs with big hooks, they were pioneers in Hip-Hop dance, and they led the way for Hip-Hop stars in Hollywood film, with their seminal House Party franchise. In addition to... Read more

March 2, 2016 Video

A$AP Ferg, Your Old Droog & Wiki Crush A Next Level Cypher With A Live Band (Video)

There are few things in Hip-Hop more exciting than a great cypher. Over the years, there have been some special ones, big and small. On a grander scale, Eminem, Black Thought & Mos Def rocking together comes to mind, as well as the TDE cypher where Kendrick Lamar went absolutely... Read more

March 2, 2016 Video

10 Years After a Classic, No Malice Loves & Distances Himself From Clipse’s Music (Video)

Come November, an album which helped to define the sound of a generation will be turning 10 years old. In 2006, Clipse released their second album, Hell Hath No Fury, home to singles "Mr. Me Too" and "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)." However, as time would tell, its true strength... Read more

March 2, 2016 Video

Kxng Crooked Celebrates Those That Came Before Him As He Plots His Future (Video)

On Februay 12, Kxng Crooked and Statik Selektah released their collaboration album, Statik Kxng. The album was filled with Statik's hard beats and Crooked's complex rhymes, as they took Hip-Hop back to the basics. "Let's Go," featuring Termanology, was one of the album's standout tracks, and now Statik Crook' have... Read more

February 29, 2016 Video

Nas Details That Time He & Biggie Were Supposed to Collaborate (Video)

"Gimme the Loot" is a Hip-Hop staple, a classic piece of the Notorious B.I.G.'s repertoire from what is arguably one of the most influential debut albums in history. But what some may not know is that 1994's Ready to Die almost inspired a remix to the song featuring Nas, another young MC who also... Read more

February 29, 2016 Video

Elzhi Drops First Visual Dose of “Lead Poison” & Describes Deeply Personal Inspiration

In the nearly five years it's been since Detroit MC Elzhi has released a full-fledged solo project in the form of his Elmatic mixtape, Heads have been eager for his return. So eager, in fact, that many gladly contributed to the rapper's Kickstarter campaign in an effort to raise the... Read more

February 29, 2016 Food for Thought, Video

Rakim & Talib Kweli Unveil The Master Plan As They Rock “Paid In Full” Together (Video)

Fans of traditional New Orleans jazz may already be familiar with the Soul Rebels. Performing every Thursday in their hometown, the band formed in the early '90s and has since exploded into an international touring sensation, sharing their unique approach to brass band repertoire with millions of people around the... Read more

February 29, 2016 Video

Writers From The 90s Look At The Media’s Role In The East vs. West Beef (Video)

Twenty years later, there are few developments more significant in Hip-Hop than the events that unfolded around the feud that arose between Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. That bad blood started when Tupac was shot in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in New York City, in 1994. There... Read more

February 28, 2016 Video

This Is The Only Way Straight Outta Compton Stood A Chance For a Best Picture Nomination

Despite the fact that the film Straight Outta Compton featured a predominantly Black cast, Black producers and a Black director, the only people nominated for an Academy Award in conjunction with the movie were its White writers. Many believe the film was worthy of several nominations, including Best Picture, Best... Read more

February 27, 2016 Video

This Documentary Treats Masta Ace’s “Disposable Arts” Like The Masterpiece It Is (Video Premiere)

Fifteen years ago this October, Masta Ace released his sophomore solo album, Disposable Arts. The Jcor Records release marked the Brooklyn, New York MC's first album after a six-year period. While signed to Big Beat/Atlantic Records, the Masta Ace Incorporated alum aimed to return to his solo catalog. The recordings... Read more

February 27, 2016 Exclusive, TV/Film, Video

No Malice Won’t Count Out a Clipse Reunion, Announces New Film & Album (Video)

In the years since Virginia Rap duo the Clipse broke up, brothers No Malice and Pusha T have not made many appearances in the booth together, but as Push shared in a recent documentary, there has been no love lost between them. No Malice (fka Malice) embarked onto a life... Read more

February 26, 2016 Video

Scarface Plays Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” On Guitar (Video)

As an MC, Producer and author, Scarface is a man of many talents. Over the years, he's also shown himself to be an able guitarist. In concert, the MC born Brad Jordan has been known to put down the mic and pick up the six-string to pluck out a tune... Read more

February 26, 2016 Video

Curren$y & Alchemist Charge Their “Mack Book” with Rhymes & Vintage Clips (Video)

It's only the second month of the year, and already New Orleans MC Curren$y has released two free collaborative projects. In January, it was The Owners Manual with Cool & Dre, and in February arrived The Carrollton Heist with the Alchemist. Named after a major thoroughfare in Crescent City, Heist... Read more

February 26, 2016 Video

Royce 5’9″ Is Releasing a New Solo Album & It’s His Best Work Ever. This Video Shows It.

Royce 5'9" (as it is now officially stylized) is releasing his sixth solo album, Layers, on April 15, 2016, his first in nearly 5 years. Distributed through his own Bad Half Entertainment, the Mr. Porter and Royce executive-produced LP delves deeply into the many sides of the Detroit, Michigan veteran... Read more

February 26, 2016 Exclusive, Food for Thought, Video

Xzibit Cast As Crooked Record Executive In Upcoming “Empire” Episodes

Veteran MC Xzibit has made a solid career out of acting. In addition to his hosting on series such as MTV's Pimp My Ride, the onetime Loud Records star lyricist has appeared in XXX: State Of The Union, 8 Mile, and TV reboot Hawaii Five-O. According to Deadline, Mr. X-to-the-Z... Read more

February 25, 2016 News, TV/Film

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Lay the Foundation for Black Star in this 1997 Performance (Video)

For Heads, there may not be a more-missed entity in Hip-Hop retail than Fat Beats. Established in New York City in 1994, the former brick-and-mortar outlet for tapes, CDs, LPs, and more now only exists as an online retailer, but its legacy remains vivid, thanks in part to live performances that... Read more

February 25, 2016 Video