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Boots from the Coup Says Raising the Minimum Wage is Not Enough…We Need Revolution

Over recent months, there has been an ongoing struggle to raise the minimum wage in an effort to address the rise in the cost of living for millions of Americans. The concept is pretty straightforward - raise the minimum wage, and people can afford to live, pay rent, raise a... Read more

J. Cole & Omen Prove Things Change, But Thoughtful Music Has Not (Audio)

While Bas and Cozz have jumped up early to show Dreamville's fast-track to a full-service record label, Omen has been with J. Cole since nearly the beginning. From 2009's The Warm Up, MC/producer Omen has been with Cole, sharing a similar perspective. Omen's 2010 Delayed mixtape featured an early Kendrick... Read more

The Story of Kid ‘n Play Is Much More Complex Than Haircuts & Kick Steps. Watch Their Unsung Episode (Video)

In the late 80s and early 90s, Kid 'n Play had an enviable string of hits in music, film and on TV, and they did it as nice guys. But, that doesn't mean they didn't have to overcome obstacles or battle with life's ups and downs. Each had to grow... Read more

The Formula: Classic Hip-Hop Is Taking Over Radios Nationwide…Again

Nostalgia is a powerful sentiment. As Heads know all too well, simply hearing a track from a former era can rekindle memories of childhood, important life events, a particular friend, or just a particular feeling. That nostalgia has always been there, but part of its beauty is its amorphous nature;... Read more

Method Man Shares Thoughts on RZA, Friendships with Biggie & Tupac (Video)

Method Man visited DJ Envy, Angela Yee, and Charlamagne tha God on 105.1's Breakfast Club morning radio show today and discussed a whole host of topics ranging from his forthcoming album (The Meth Lab, August 21), his work in the film Trainwreck (Judd Apatow says he wants to put every... Read more

Ghostface Killah Blasts Action Bronson. It’s Personal Now (Video)

It was all good, four years ago. Former collaborators Action Bronson and Ghostface Killah are seemingly in new waters now. Earlier this month, Bam Bam Bronson made some remarks about G.F.K. while appearing on ESPN's "Sports Nation." Immediately following reports of a perceived diss against the onetime collaborator, the Queens,... Read more

Today Is International Boombox Day. Celebrate With the Volume WAY PAST TEN (Video)

Today (7/20), is International Boombox Day. Whether the day of recognition is an official holiday or not, it seems as good a time as any to celebrate one of the most iconic devices in Hip-Hop history. Whether it was adorning the shoulder of LL Cool J, used as a metaphor... Read more

Cuba’s Hip-Hop History Resonates In The New Culture Exchange (Video)

Earlier today, it was announced that the United States and the island nation of Cuba have formally restored ties, marking the first time in 54 years that such diplomacy has existed between the two countries. In literal terms, it means that Havana now has an officially active U.S. embassy, while... Read more

Dungeon To Mountain: Sign A Petition To Honor Outkast Alongside Robert E. Lee

In music, the two members of Outkast are living legends. Andre 3000 and Big Boi have accomplished massive feats in Hip-Hop originality, style, and evolution, coupled with sales benchmarks and award acclaim. However, as both MC/producers are natives of Georgia, a powerful grassroots petition is motioning to have Antwan André... Read more

Slaughterhouse Gives New Meaning To Bar-Brawl on Southpaw’s R.N.S. (Video)

Slaughterhouse's "R.N.S." is a lyrical upper-cut within the Southpaw soundtrack. The Just Blaze and araabMUZIK-produced song featuring Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, and Joe Budden is more of the same pedigree from the hardcore Rap quartet. For the video, it's bars and concrete—beyond the rapping, as the Shady... Read more

DJ Premier & Dr. Dre Are Clearly Up To Something, What Could It Be?

Nas' It Was Written. The 8 Mile Soundtrack. Game's The R.E.D. Album. Only a handful of times in their careers, combined spanning more than 50 years, have Dr. Dre and DJ Premier worked on the same album in a production capacity. There would have been several more of those times,... Read more

Black Eyed Peas’ Retro Single Gets A Video Treatment That’s Slick Like That (Video)

With the release of the Black Eyed Peas' cyclically-minded "Yesterday," the video follows quickly. Half of the group's formal lineup: will.i.am and apl.de.ap make the song, while Taboo appears in the video (and drops a few Public Enemy-minded bars). Like the single's heavy-handed production theme of interpolating, sampling, and alluding... Read more

Big K.R.I.T. & T.I. Make A Retro-Melodic Car Cut With Mitchelle’l (Audio)

Big K.R.I.T. and T.I. are proven masters of car songs. Both Southern MCs love old schools, boomin' systems, hydraulics, and "bowling ball swirl." Grand Hustle/Hustle Gang singer Mitchelle’l already made a song rooted in that Texas Slab Music sound. "Spillin' Drank" is a gliding record that sounds like what would... Read more

Erick Sermon, Joell Ortiz & Sheek Louch Offer Hard Lessons From Concrete Places (Video)

In late April, Erick Sermon premiered "Make Room," a crosstown New York City verbal essay featuring Joell Ortiz and Sheek Louch. The song offers some hard advice to a host of people simply doin' it wrong. For the just-released visual, E-Double, Donnie G., and Yoawa certify themselves in the company... Read more

Jay Z Blessed Stretch & Bobbito’s Show With 3 Different Freestyles In 1995 (Audio)

Earlier this week, AFH shared a 1996 three-hour radio show of DJ Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito The Barber's show (thanks to DJ Eclipse, who spun then and digitized it now). Big L was among the show's guests, bringing with him Ma$e, Bloodshed, and Killa Cam'ron (as Children Of The Corn).... Read more

Buckwild Has A Gift In Producing Emerging MC Talent. So Meet DanO (Audio)

From Big L and O.C. to Meyhem Lauren and Beanie Sigel, Buckwild is gifted in helping artists assemble their debut projects. The Bronx, New York native and non-rapping member of D.I.T.C. is a master of combining sampling, melody, with a balance for streets and crossover airplay. A native of Lagos,... Read more

Run The Jewels Cat-Scratch The First “Meow The Jewels” Single (Audio)

The fan-funded Meow The Jewels remix project by Run The Jewels is on the horizon. Following January's snippet reel, "Meowrly" marks the first single. With Killer Mike, El-P, and Boots' vocals still in tact from "Early," this version incorporates those "cat sounds" in a way that strangely feels anything by... Read more

Not Feeling 2000s Black Eyed Peas? will.i.am & apl.de.ap Travel Back To Yesterday (Audio)

A lot has been said and written about The Black Eyed Peas' early 2000s transformation. From a group with its roots tied to Eazy-E and Ruthless Records, to some of the biggest global hit-makers of the last decade, will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie got in where they fit in—and in... Read more

15 Years Later, Common’s “The Light” Remains a Shining Example of Hip-Hop Love

On July 18, 2000, Common released "The Light," and with it came one of Hip-Hop's greatest love songs. Along with Black Star's 1998 track "Brown Skin Lady" and The Roots' breakout 1999 single "You Got Me," "The Light" represented a focus on mutual respect, vulnerability, and a soulful approach to... Read more

Blu Epitomizes the Term “Real Hip-Hop” on The Return (Video)

Blu was not a gang banger. He makes that crystal clear in his opening line on "The Return." Yet, unlike many of his peers who make false claims of affiliations, he paints a sobering picture of the costs that can come with those ties. Without judgement or glorification, he calmly... Read more

Vic Mensa Is Back On His EDM Flavor, Thanks To Skrillex & Jahil Beats (Audio)

As one of the more versatile artists in Hip-Hop today, every Vic Mensa track is an apparent opportunity to go in any direction. Teaming with EDM superstar artist/producer Skrillex and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native Jahlil Beats (who is also part of the Roc Nation family), Vic leads up to Traffic with... Read more

Chris Rivers Diagnoses Mind Playing Tricks On Me With A Vibrant Concept Flip (Audio)

The same week Scarface reveals that he's putting Geto Boys album-reunion plans on ice, Chris Rivers approaches his weekly throwback freestyle, veering to Rap-A-Lot Records' biggest hit. Taking "Mind Playing Tricks On Me," the early twenty-something New Yorker flips the concept of the chorus to make the song about mental... Read more

Redman, Method Man & Erick Sermon Always Deliver in The Clutch (Audio)

In the canon of Hip-Hop mentors, Erick Sermon is top-rank. The Brentwood, Long Island, New Yorker (with partner PMD) brought in Redman, Das EFX, K-Solo, Keith Solo, and the earliest days of Rick Ross. The EPMD MC/producer has an ear for talent. While he mentored Red' and Keith in Def... Read more

Action Bronson & Gangrene Make A Rental Car An All-Terrain Vehicle (Video)

Gangrene's Alchemist and Oh No share a love of hijinks with Action Bronson. Together, the cross-country homies take a rental car out for a spin that is none too good. Directed by Decon/Mass Appeal's master videographer Jason Goldwatch, this will appeal to lovers of pranks, corporate upsetters, as well as... Read more

Start Your Weekend with Dr. Dre, DJ Quik & More with 3 Volumes of a G-Funk Anthology (Audio)

It's Friday, and a newly released series of G-Funk mixes has got your weekend listening pleasure all sorted out. The first three of a ten-volume G-Funk anthology have been released, featuring works from DJ Quik, Tupac, Tha Dogg Pound, Nate Dogg, Mc Eiht, and dozens more artists who contributed to... Read more

Scarface Speaks on His Health Problems & The Fans Deciding Against a Geto Boys Reunion Album.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Scarface was hospitalized in his hometown of Houston, Texas. While touring with his longtime group, the Geto Boys, the platinum veteran MC left a date in New Mexico to seek medical attention. Speaking with Rolling Stone this week, 'Face explained. "I was really... Read more

Slaughterhouse Make Some Real Fight Music for Southpaw (Audio)

For the last few years, the members of Slaughterhouse have been pursuing their individual muses. Since their album Welcome to: Our House was released, Royce Da 5'9" teamed with DJ Premier to form PRhyme, Joell Ortiz released 2014's House Slippers and human, a collaborative album with !LLmind (in stores now),... Read more

Sheek Louch Heads to Virginia to Borrow a Red Hot Clipse Beat (Audio)

This has been a busy summer for Sheek Louch. In late June, the Brooklyn native and member of the Lox released the debut single from Silverback Gorilla 2, a sequel to its 2008 predecessor. Featuring Billy Danze, Trae tha Truth, and Joell Ortiz, "Hood Nigga" is an anthem for neighborhood... Read more

Buckshot & Smif N Wessun Have a Boot Camp Clik Reunion on a Statik Selektah Banger (Video)

Last week, Statik Selektah released his stellar Lucky 7 album on Duck Down Music. That compilation, which Statik says is his last solo project, features a smorgasbord of MCs, including Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, Royce Da 5'9", Your Old Droog, Rapsody, Big K.R.I.T., Styles P, Bun B and more. Ever... Read more

YG Twists a P-Funk Classic for Some of That New California Love (Audio)

"I really got somethin' to say. I'm the only one that made it out the West without Dre. I'm the only one that's 'bout what he say. The only one that got hit and was walking the same day." YG may have obtained his success without the help of Dr.... Read more

Travel Back To Big L, Cam’ron & Ma$e Freestyling on Stretch & Bobbito in 1996 (Audio)

The Children Of The Corn is a group shrouded in mystery. The Harlem, New York collective included four would-be major label lyricists in Big L, Ma$e, McGruff, and Cam'ron. However, many fans of those individuals are unfamiliar with the group that also included producer Digga (Jay Z, 50 Cent, Shyheim)... Read more

From the Beastie Boys to Pharrell: This Film Looks at the Merging of Hip-Hop & Skateboard Culture.

As with any culture, the influences of the few can infiltrate the consciousness of the many, transforming a movement at large into a collection of smaller microcosms. One of Hip-Hop's greatest strengths is its eagerness to embrace the flavors of its surroundings, and while now it is arguably the world's... Read more

Method Man & Redman Are Back And Keeping It Straight Gutter (Audio)

Whether as individuals, or as a team, Method Man and Redman have become stars, almost by accident. The Staten Island-Newark tandem is as talented as they come in Hip-Hop, but neither the Wu-Tang Clan MC or the Def Squad lyricist ever seemed to tailor their theses to the mainstream. Instead,... Read more

R. Kelly Is Not Afraid of 5 Fingers Of Death. Catch The Kellz Freestyle (Video)

R. Kelly is often said to improvise many of his hits. Sitting at the keyboard, the 25-year veteran freestyles those very melodies and choruses that have changed the sound of R&B, and presumably created a few lives too. Somebody who is not often in the media, Kellz swung through today's... Read more

Hussein Fatal’s Range & Versatility Remembered In A Successful Career, Below The Radar (Audio)

Less than one week ago (July 10), Outlawz member Hussein Fatal died in a Gainesville, Georgia car accident. The 38 year-old born Bruce Edward Washington, Jr. had nearly 20 years invested in a Rap career at the time of his death, with nearly two dozen releases, including albums, collaborative projects... Read more

Mobb Deep Talk 20 Years of The Infamous & Perform Shook Ones Pt. II at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival (Video)

Throughout music history, there will be those artists whose very names elicit memories so powerful, fans can remember exactly where they were when they first played that track, first heard that album, and first heard them live. For fans of Mobb Deep, the last 25+ years have provided one of... Read more

Capone, Noreaga & Tragedy Khadafi Celebrate The Stand Up Men in Their Lives (Audio)

Too often in life, we celebrate those who have passed away after it's too late for them to hear the praises. Capone, Noreaga and Tragedy Khadafi seek to rectify that in the latest release from C-N-N's upcoming Lessons album. On "U.M.A.R." (Ur Man's All Real), the three MCs take time... Read more

Here’s a Look Back at the Amazing Talents of Biz Markie in 1988 (Video)

Biz Markie may be one of Hip-Hop's most underrated talents. Perhaps because he was a perennial jokester, people sometimes overlook his prodigious abilities as both an MC and a human beat box. However, with witty punchlines, far out sonics and a willingness to take on any subject matter, Biz stands... Read more

A$AP Rocky & Rod Stewart Perform “Everyday” Together, In A Luxury SUV (Video)

One of the cooler new segments on TV is funnyman James Cordon's "Carpool Karaoke." Rather than the cliche on-stage performance, the British host for "The Late Late Show" drives around, and picks up celebrity musician guests for a little car-concert. Cordon's Range Rover picks up a fellow countryman in Rod... Read more

Chance The Rapper & The Social Experiment Aim To Reach Victims Of Chicago Violence (Video)

Chance The Rapper and his cohorts consisting of Donnie Trumpet and the uber talented Social Experiment (SOX) have had quite the summer following the release of their successful, star studded album, Surf. The music itself hails from the artists' experiences growing up in their hometown of Chicago, addressing the issues... Read more

Kool Keith & L’Orange Wander Through Time To Discover New Sounds (Video)

The latest visuals from Kool Keith and producer L'Orange's upcoming project, Time? Astonishing!, open in a similar vein as some classic MF Doom intros or a '60s comic book television series, a la "Superman," where the viewers are introduced to an all new, time traveling hero, "The Wanderer," through the... Read more

You Can Hate Me Now: How Early Nas Critics Show the Intricacies of Hip-Hop Nostalgia

In a recent article, writer Lucas Garrison explored the underbelly of '90s Internet forums, focusing specifically on the discussions about Hip-Hop music. What he finds of particular interest are the conversations that developed around Nas and the critical diatribes related to the Nas of 1994 versus the Nas of 1997.... Read more

N.W.A. Discusses The Authenticity Of “Straight Outta Compton” With Fab 5 Freddy (Video)

As the host/VJ of "Yo! MTV Raps," Fab 5 Freddy was a major correspondent with N.W.A. at a time when the Compton, California group was fiercely counter-cultural. Twenty five years later, Freddie reunites with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and MC Ren on the set of August 14 biopic... Read more

Public Enemy’s Energy Only Grows. See The Man Plans, GOD Laughs Title Cut (Video)

Today (July 15), Public Enemy made their latest album, Man Plans, GOD Laughs available for stream. Formally released next week (July 22), Chuck D, Professor Griff, DJ Lord and Flavor Flav used the moment to bum-rush the bandwidth with an LP that shows its admitted influence by the likes of... Read more

Kendrick Lamar Joins Jidenna in the Video for the Fiery Remix to Classic Man (Video)

Three weeks ago, Kendrick Lamar set the web on fire with the addition of some scorching verses to Jidenna's infectious song, "Classic Man." Now, the remix gets the visual treatment and K. Dot joins Jidenna on screen. The video features vintage cars, lots of California love and a cameo from... Read more

If Brandy Was Singing In Disguise on the Subway, Would You Wanna Be Down? (Video)

For more than two decades, Brandy has entertained audiences around the world, both as a singer and an actress. But, is she good enough for New York City subway riders? The talented Ms. Norwood went undercover, underground in the transit tunnels of the Big Apple. Wearing a scarf, hoodie and... Read more

Kid ‘N Play are the Latest Hip-Hop Icons to Be Honored on TV One’s ‘Unsung’ (Video)

In March of this year, the classic movie House Party turned 25, igniting a hilarious and nostalgic trip down Memory Lane for Heads and movie buffs. A progenitor of the Hip-Hop Comedy canon, the movie starred Christopher "Kid" Reid and Christopher "Play" Martin, a Rap duo also known by their... Read more

Eric Garner’s Family Awarded $5.9 Million By NYC, But The Fight For Justice Continues.

As of yesterday (July 13), the family of Eric Garner has reached a settlement with New York City. The family and attorneys will receive $5.9 million, according to The New York Times. The wrongful death settlement closes nearly one year to the day following the July 17, 2014 death of... Read more

Eric B. & Rakim Meet Spiderman As Marvel Mashes Up Hip-Hop & Super Heroes

From Tony Starks to MF DOOM, CZARFACE to Dr. Dooom, Hip-Hop and comics have a long history together. Marvel, a 75-year publisher of some of the world's most beloved titles (Spiderman, Hulk, Captain America, X-Men, The Fanatastic Four, etc.) knows this. That's why, beginning this October, they will be releasing... Read more

Joell Ortiz, Chris Rivers, Bodega Bamz & Emilio Rojas Rep Their Cultural Pride on Latino Pt. 2 (Video)

Joell Ortiz revisits "Latino," the cultural pride anthem from his 2007 debut album, The Brick: Bodega Chronicles. On the updated 2015 version, he brings in fellow MCs Chris Rivers, Bodega Bamz and Emilio Rojas on an !LLmind production. The video for "Latinos Pt. 2" uses the New York City Puerto... Read more