Drake – Make Me Proud ft Nicki Minaj
Here's the latest track to drop from Drake's upcoming Take Care album. Check out Make Me Proud featuring Nicki Minaj. Click here to download.... Read more
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Slaughterhouse – The Illest
Fresh off DESTROYING the Cypher, Slaughterhouse is back with a red hot new joint. Check out The Illest. Lyricism is back!! Click here to download. Also, click here to download the uncensored version of the Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse, Eminem BET Cypher.... Read more
Mobb Deep – Street Lights
Mobb Deep puts in work on a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League track. The melancholy piano chords used by the League mesh well with Mobb Deep's dark flow. Check out Street Lights (with tags from Funk Flex). J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League stays busy. Click here to download F.A.M.E., the song they produced for Young Jeezy... Read more
Dr. Dre plays a snippet of a new song (Video)
Dr. Dre recently held an in studio listening station and played part of a new song. The beat is tough--vintage Dre--and sounds like it may feature Jay Rock. Check out the video below. If you missed it, here's Dre's Die Hard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jPNiCeR-8aA... Read more
Travis Barker – Just Chill ft Beanie Sigel, Bun B and Kobe (Video)
Here's the new video for Travis Barker's Just Chill. Beanie Sigel and Bun B hold down the verses. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H6H5rSerws&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Nas – It’s a Tower Heist ft Rick Ross
Fresh off dropping his new video for Nasty, Nas is back with a new song. Here's It's a Tower Heist featuring Rick Ross and production by Salaam Remi. Click here to download.... Read more
Nitty Scott, MC – Auntie Maria’s Crib (Video)
Nitty Scott, MC hit the big screen last night in one of The Cyphers. Here's her latest video, Auntie Maria's Crib. She goes in on a beat that has a vintage 90's feel to it. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpOnQ0S-UJo... Read more
Black Thought – Stay True ft Malik B & MdotL
Here's a previously unreleased song from Black Thought. Check out Stay True featuring Malik B and MdotL. Click here to download.... Read more
LL Cool J drops an incredible verse as his acceptance speech for the 2011 BET Awards I Am Hip-Hop Icon Award. It’s further proof of why he’s one of the GOATs. Check it out.
The BET Hip-Hop Awards Cyphers got a lot of attention but one of the best moments was LL Cool J's acceptance speech for his I Am Hip-Hop Icon award. It's the first acceptance speech I can ever recall being written in rhyme and it shows why he continues to be... Read more
Here are some of the best of the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cyphers. These include, Big K.R.I.T., Kendrick Lamar, TechN9ne, Machine Gun Kelly, B.o.B., Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Skillz, Blind Fury and of course Shady 2.0. Click below to check them out.
Who had the best verse? Big K.R.I.T., TechN9ne, Machine Gun Kelly, Kendrick Lamar and B.o.B. Reek Da Villain, 2 Chainz, Busta Rhymes and Ludacris Lady of Rage, Blind Fury, Dom Kennedy and Skillz Yelawolf, Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 5'9" and Eminem Click here for the rest... Read more
XV – Boss Level
If you're a fan of the type of dance music you might here at the Ultra Music Festival, Coachella or Electric Zoo, you'll really dig this new track from XV. If you want more straight-forward hip-hop, it's not for you...Props to him for stepping out and not playing it safe. ... Read more
Khrysis & Sean Boog (The Away Team) – The Road to Redemption (Video)
Here's a new video from The Away Team. They chop up Marvin Gaye's song I Want You on the track. Check out The Road to Redemption. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_nmQAHJ38KA Here's the Marvin Gaye original song used on the sample. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmZ03Q7AoaU... Read more
Stalley – Born to Win (Video)
Here's a cool "day in the life" video of Lamar Odom's return to his hometown Queens. The video is set to a soundtrack of a tight new song by Stalley which was produced by J. Rawls. It's part of a series by Nike called Always On. Check out Born to... Read more
Rapper Big Pooh – They Say ft Choklate
Here's the latest from Rapper Big Pooh's upcoming album, Dirty Pretty Things. Check out They Say featuring Choklate. Click here to download.... Read more
Murs – 316 Ways (Video)
Here's a new video from Murs for 316 Ways. The song is from his Love & Rockets Vol. 1: The Transformation album, which is in stores now. It is produced in full by Ski Beatz and is one of the best albums to drop this year. Click here to buy... Read more
Bumpy Knuckles – Fake
You know it's a good day for hip-hop when you get new tracks from both Pete Rock and DJ Premier. Bumpy Knuckles does what he does (murder MCs) on Fake, produced by DJ Premier. Check it out. Click here to download.... Read more
Common – Hard Knock TV Interview (Video)
Here's an extended interview of Common. He discusses why No I.D. produced his entire new album, his current status with G.O.O.D. Music, creative license in writing, how acting opened him up, a potential collabo album with Nas and much more. Check it out. Click here to download Blue Sky, Common's... Read more
Stalley – Larry Bird (Video)
Stalley gets it in on a rocked out Ski Beatz' track. Check out the video for Larry Bird. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osJdi2KiIOU&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Torae – That Raw
Wow. Pete Rock laced Torae with that BOOM BAP on That Raw. Check out this heat rock. Click here to download.... Read more
Kendrick Lamar interview by LRG (Video)
Here's an interview of Kendrick Lamar where he discusses some of his current musical inspirations. He cites artists like Bilal, Floetry, D'Angelo and Erykah Badu as influences on his melody and general sound. That shows in the soulfulness that is heard throughout Section 80. Check out the interview below as... Read more
Pac Div – The Greatness
Here's a hot new joint from Pac Div. It's called The Greatness and features a track from No I.D. that sports gospel-tinged harmonies and lush piano chords. Check it out. Click here to download. ... Read more
?uestlove breaks down the story behind The Roots upcoming Undun album (Video)
He discusses how the album is a concept album and why having the steady gig on The Jimmy Fallon show has given The Roots the security to fully pursue their artistic freedom. Given how much The Roots have already pushed the boundaries of hip-hop, this album should be extremely interesting. ... Read more
Big K.R.I.T. – Money on the Floor Behind The Scenes Studio Session (Video)
Big K.R.I.T.'s Money on the Floor featuring 8Ball, MJG and 2 Chainz dropped a couple of weeks ago. Here's a dope behind the scenes look at the making of the track from Cinematic TV and shot by the good folks at Motion Family. Check it out. Click here to download... Read more
Raekwon – Dart School (Video)
Here's Raekwon's latest video. Check out Dart School. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSYQeeb_grA&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Hip-Hop & Love from A3C – Here’s a recap of one of my best hip-hop experiences ever.
A3C was an amazing hip-hop experience this weekend. It was a 3-day hip-hop festival and conference featuring informative panel discussions during the day and showcases with a mind-blowing amount of dope artists at night. Much like at South by Southwest, there was no floss--just a collective respect and love for... Read more
Can you imagine DJ Premier and Nas rocking a classical music track? You don’t need to…as part of a documentary by RE: GENERATION about the history of music, Primo was commissioned to create a classical music track and he and Nas did a collabo with the Berklee School of Music Orchestra.
The film also chronicles the journey of 4 other producers creating music outside of their traditional genres, including Mark Ronson making a jazz track with Erykah Badu. The film won't be released until 2012, but you can check out a trailer featuring Premier preparing for his track below. Seeing how... Read more
Russell Simmons & Rick Rubin – Def Jam’s First 25 Years (Audio Interview)
Here's an interview of Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin on the founding and legacy of Def Jam. The intro is a bit stiff (the interview is from NPR...) but it's very cool to hear the story of Def Jam from the voices of the founders, themselves. Click here to hear... Read more
The Weeknd – Initiation
The Weeknd's new track Initiation is dark, brooding and soulful. The effects he puts on his vocals (continually going from low to high to low again) make it an ear-bending sonic experience. Check it out. For more new music from The Weeknd, click here to check out his remix of... Read more
ElzHi – Out Da Box TV Interview (Video)
Here's a very well done interview of ElzHi by Out Da Box TV. He discusses ElMatic, Slum Village, his early hip-hop influences and more. Check it out. Click here to listen to and download ElMatic, his mind-blowing retake on Illmatic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc8z5zsG7pY&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Saigon – Oh Yeah (Our Baby) (Video)
Here's the latest video from Saigon's The Greatest Story Never Told, one of the better albums to drop this year. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2U2846xnMV8... Read more
Talib Kweil gives an impromptu performance of his new song Distraction and Thieves in the Night during an Occupy Wall Street protest against economic inequality. Check out the video.
Talib Kweli drops 8 minutes of knowledge in rhyme in this impromptu performance on some steps during a peaceful protest against economic equality (Occupy Wall Street). First, he performed a brand new song called Distraction and then he spit some verses to Thieves in the Night. It's a great reminder... Read more
Here are The 50 Best Radio Freestyles, according to Complex. They discuss each freestyle AND provide audio for each one. It includes freestyles from Tribe, Wu, Snoop, Kanye, Common, Biggie, Nas, Eminem, Jay-Z and many, many more. It’s unbelievable. Just classic.
Complex has been doing a "best of" series for a while but THIS ONE is the best yet. They recently compiled The 50 Best Radio Freestyles and each entry is accompanied by the audio. This compilation would have been worth it for the legendary Common/Kanye battle, alone. The fact that... Read more
Curren$y – Corvette Doors
Curren$y flows over one of the hottest tracks on Pharrell's In My Mind album. Check out Corvette Doors. Click here to download. And, here's Pharrell's original. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgLfJuKUWiw... Read more
J. Cole – A Day in the Life (Video)
AOL followed J. Cole on his album release date and distilled the experience to a tight 3:50 video. Watching it reminds you why so many people rooted for J. Cole in the first place. Congrats to him on 217K sold in week 1 and having the #1 album in the... Read more
Ski Beatz Interview (Video)
Ski Beatz has been in the game for a minute as a producer. He is best known for his work with Jay-Z (Dead Presidents) and Camp Lo (Luchini) but he is still doing damage today (produced all of Curren$y's Pilot Talk tracks and has an album with Murs coming soon).... Read more
Quan – Feels So Good (Video)
Here's a new video for Quan's Feel So Good. The track bumps. His flow is right in the pocket on the soulful beat. The video is also very well shot, particularly for an indie. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShX8pwZsBUA&feature=player_embedded... Read more
Jackie Chain – Parked Outside ft Bun B and Big K.R.I.T.
Big K.R.I.T. has blazed the hooks of a couple of songs recently. Last week was his feature on T.I.'s I'm Flexin' (also produced by K.R.I.T.) and here's another. Check out Parked Outside by Jackie Chain, featuring Bun B and Big K.R.I.T. Click here to download.... Read more
Donny Goines – Champion’s Anthem ft Bun B, XV & Pill
Bun B, Donny Goines, XV and Pill go in on a monster beat that has a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League feel to it (though it's produced by Maki). Check out Champion's Anthem.... Read more
J. Cole performs Work Out and Cole World on Jimmy Kimmel Live (Video)
Keeping with the live music theme, here are a couple of performances by J. Cole from the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. He does a version of Work Out that is funkier than the recorded version, and below is his performance of Cole World. Also, click here for a behind the... Read more
The A3C hip-hop festival began Thursday in Atlanta and AFH is here covering it. We caught Rapper Big Pooh kept the energy at a high level when he hit the stage. Below is our footage of him performing Nobody Like Me, which gives you a taste. Check it out.
The A3C hip-hop festival began today in Atlanta and we're here covering it. It's hip-hop in its purest form. There is music in every room and the talent ranges from people doing their first shows to legends like Grandmaster Flash and MOP. Tonight, there were several showcases. We caught J-Live... Read more
K-OS – Faith Pt. 2 ft Drake
K-OS dropped a really hot song last year called Faith. It featured a soulful hook, a verse by Drake and a track courtesy of the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. Here's part 2 of the song, with new lyrics from K-OS. Check out Faith Pt. 2. Click here to download.... Read more
Redman, Joell Ortiz, Schoolly D – First Time on the Mic (Video)
What was your first time like? That's the question that was asked of Redman, Joell Ortiz and Schooly D regarding their story of the first time they got on stage. Check out this HIGHLY entertaining video. Props to Red Bull for the series.... Read more
9th Wonder – A Day With 9th Wonder (Video Interview)
Here's a great interview of 9th Wonder. Whether you're a fan of his or a fan of hip-hop, generally, you should watch this just for the knowledge dude drops. He's been in the business for quite some time and is a student of the game AND a teacher (literally...he's a... Read more
Rick Ross – I Love My B*tches & You The Boss ft Nicki Minaj
Here are 2 new joints from Rick Ross' upcoming album, God Forgives, I Don't. I Love My B*tches: You The Boss featuring Nicki Minaj:... Read more
Statik Selektah – Never a Dull Moment ft Action Bronson, Termanology & Bun B
Statik Selektah's song Never a Dull Moment is driven by lush piano chords that mesh nicely with the flows of Action Bronson, Termanology & Bun B. It's a bit of a different sound for Statik Selektah but it's a good look. Check it out. Click here to download.... Read more
A.Dd+ – Insomniac Dreaming
Black Milk blessed A.Dd+ with a super hot track on Insomniac Dreaming. A.Dd+ did the track right with their verses. This Texas duo continues to be more OutKast than UGK. Check it out. Insomniac Dreaming (prod by Black Milk) by A.Dd+... Read more
Termanology – Mama Knows (Video)
Here's a "one and done" tight verse from Termanology. Check out the video for Mama Knows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URK0TACJnJo&feature=player_embedded... Read more