AFH Ambrosia for Heads

Common & John Legend Are Presented With Golden Globes…By Prince (Video)

Moments ago this evening (January 11), it was a historic moment for the careers of Common and John Legend. The former G.O.O.D. Music label-mates, as a pair, took home "Best Original Song" Golden Globes for the song "Glory" from the film Selma. Not only does the honor put John and Comm'... Read more

The Beastie Boys & Nas Unearth A 5 Year-Old Visual That Hasn’t Aged A Day (Video)

It was a major affair back in 2009 when the Beastie Boys and Nas released the spiking commentary track "Too Many Rappers." The Def Jam superstars of 1986 teamed with the critical label acquisition of 2006 in a song that was appropriate for the times. Released on vinyl, and also... Read more

There Have Been A Gang Of Death Row Records Documentaries, But This One Stands Tall (Video)

Starting when the label was less than six years old, documentaries started releasing around the creation, controversy, and commercial dominance of Death Row Records. Started by Marion "Suge" Knight and Dr. Dre in late 1991, the Los Angeles, California-based label released classic, multi-platinum albums by Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Tha Dogg... Read more

A.O.T.P. Meets D.I.T.C. As Apathy Announces Collaborative LP With O.C., Perestoika

Veteran Willimantic, Connecticut MC/producer has announced—via a new video—that he is planning three albums for 2015. A member of veteran charting act Army Of The Pharaohs, recent super-group Get Busy Committee, and founder of Demigodz, Apathy has stayed quite busy since his shelved tenure at Atlantic Records in the early-mid-2000s.... Read more

GZA Freestyles, While Ol’ Dirty Bastard Beat-Boxes In A Bathroom In 1991 (Video)

In 1991, GZA (as "The Genius") was on the same Cold Chillin' Records that he would later diss on "Labels." The future was bright for the Brooklyn, New York MC who was working with Easy Mo Bee on Words From The Genius at the time. Released in February of that... Read more

Picking Up Girls Gets Trippy In Childish Gambino’s Sober (Video)

For Hip-Hop artists of the moment, is anybody making as alluring videos as Childish Gambino? Donald Glover's career in film, television, and the performing arts comes to life in so many visual companions to his acclaimed songs. "Sober," from the STN MTN / Kauai project is no expection. Set in... Read more

Ghostface Killah & MF DOOM Are Back In Action, Bustin’ Ray Guns On The Mic (Audio)

With so many chambers to Ghostface Killah's repertoire, few could have expected "DOOMStarks" to intersect with what G.F.K. has cooking with BADBADNOTGOOD. However, in the bitter cold of January, Ghostface, MF DOOM, and the Canadian band trio light it up with their "Ray Gun" shootout. This lyrically whimsical track comes... Read more

Snoop Dogg Signs With Pharrell, Again, For An Album Called…Bush

UPDATE: Following October 2014's news that Snoop and Pharrell were back in business together (read below), some details have emerged on the forthcoming album. To be titled Bush, is due in March, 2015. Snoop reportedly confirmed this last night (January 7) at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some... Read more

Do Remember: TRU & C-Bo – That’s How We Break Bread (Audio)

In truth, it's been a pretty quiet decade for Master P. For the most part, the No Limit Records founder seems to have chosen a pathway out of the Rap-Race rat-race, living the good life in that Southern California sun. Although P has developed some new acts at No Limit,... Read more

M.O.P. & Maino Cinematically Show You The Brooklyn They Love (Video)

As 2014 year-end lists flood the Internet, magazines, and more...one Hip-Hop album that seemingly deserved more recognition is M.O.P.'s Street Certified. Billy Danze and Lil Fame's first foray with Nature Sounds Records brought in DJ Premier as an executive producer, without simply aiming to push the Mash Out Posse back... Read more

Lil Wayne to Release a Song With…Master P. Catch the Snippet (Video)

In the same two-week span that saw LL Cool J and Canibus set aside more than 17 years of differences, another Hip-Hop beef may be coming to an end. Lil Wayne and Master P have never exactly been nemeses, New Orleans, Louisiana has played host to a longstanding rivalry between... Read more

Do Remember: Killer Mike & M.O.P. – Push Back (Audio)

With Killer Mike on the minds of Ambrosia For Heads staff and readers this week, "Do Remember" looked deep within the Adamsvillain's catalog this week. Back in 2008, Killer Mike was in a major transition. The MC now stealing the show alongside El-P with Run The Jewels was in the... Read more

Men Of The Year: How Killer Mike & J. Cole Represented Hip-Hop Honorably In 2014 (Food For Thought)

Happy 2015 from Ambrosia For Heads! As we, as Heads, reflect on the year that was, it's important to look for the specific individuals that made it great. In Hip-Hop, this year was something of a rarity, where a spectrum of nominees could be argued for "Album Of The Year."... Read more

Phonte, DJ Premier & Royce Da 5’9″ Geek Out About Rap, Memories & Battles (Video)

Structure isn't everything in Hip-Hop interviews. Sometimes organic, natural, nonrestrictive discussions go a heck of a lot farther. In their ongoing PRhyme media campaign, DJ Premier and Royce Da 5'9" get an unlikely guest in Phonte. The Stashed orchestrates a casual discussion about a number of things with these three... Read more

Shabaam Sahdeeq’s New Collabo Project Includes Ras Kass, Rah Digga, Masta Ace & Harry Fraud (Mixtape)

Brooklyn, New York veteran MC Shabaam Sahdeeq has maintained an illustrious underground Hip-Hop career for more than 17 years. S-Dub, as he's also known, has combined Lyricist Lounge-tested MC wordplay with '80s and '90s BK imagery that made everybody from Sean Price to Ill Bill, Skyzoo to Kool G Rap... Read more

Waka Flocka Jacks Beats From Nas, Tribe, D.O.C., Mobb Deep and SPITS?? That’s Right…(Audio)

Almost two weeks ago, Waka Flocka Flame rattled even his biggest skeptics with "3:30," a lyrical clinic over-top of J. Cole's "Fire Squad" instrumental. The response was overwhelming for the Brick Squad Monopoly rapper who isn't given his credit as "an MC" just every day. So what does he do... Read more

Ice-T Interviews Kool Keith, & The Ultramagnetic MC Explains Creating His Groundbreaking Style (Audio)

Heads may not know this, but back in 2000, Ice-T and Kool Keith made an album together in Pimp To Eat. The Analog Brothers, consisting of Keith, Ice, Marc Live, Black Silver, and Rex, was believed to be a response (largely on Keith's part) to RZA's "Bobby Digital" persona. The... Read more

Black Moon’s Evil Dee Releases a Mixtape Of All New Material (Mixtape)

Straight out of Bushwick, Brooklyn, DJ Evil Dee has made some amazing Hip-Hop records. A onetime high school DJ phenom, this centerpiece of Da Beatminerz is mean on the mix, the drum machine, and diggin' in the crates. The sound-provider of Black Moon established Duck Down as a source of... Read more

KRS-One & Ol’ Dirty Bastard Rock A Stage In 1995 (Video)

Uncle Ralph McDaniels has not only shed light on dope Hip-Hop for decades, his lens has captured it. Yesterday (December 19), the Video Music Box VJ extraordinaire shared some 1995 footage (from the VMB Archives) of KRS-One and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard wildin' out to the just-released "Who Shot... Read more

YG Bangs On Wax With DJ Quik, Mack 10 & Tha Relativez’ Big Wy (Audio)

YG's My Krazy Life, in many ways, feels like a mid-1990s Gangsta Rap album. The CTE/Def Jam Records experience (which YG felt was Grammy-snubbed), combines strong Compton neighborhood talk with storytelling, sex-centric tracks, and honest revelations of an early twenty-something just trying to live. "Bicken Back Bein Bool" is one... Read more

Punch Makes A Potent Song About Living Past 25, With Kendrick Lamar On The Hook (Audio)

President Punch of Top Dawg Entertainment has begun transitioning from independent label executive to a thoughtful MC in 2014. No stranger to TDE's pre-Interscope releases of the early 2010s, Punch was part of the ensemble that made albums by Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and ScHoolboy Q so potent. His... Read more

Blu’s soul amazing Returns, With A 31-Track Part Four (Album Stream)

For the fourth time in two years, Blu has released a soul amazing collection. Part Four, as it were, includes 31 songs, stemming from a host of projects, well known and otherwise. Those collaborative efforts include work with Black Milk, Nottz, Cunninlynguists, Rapsody, and even a rare Large Professor remix.... Read more

LL Cool J Refutes Battling Jay Z, Talks 2 Types Of Album Styles & Some Amazing Rumors (Audio)

The Combat Jack Show has left Hip-Hop journalism better than they found it in 2014. In the closing weeks of the year, the show invited LL Cool J for what immediately feels like one of the finest sit-downs. At nearly two hours, LL turns towards his devout Hip-Hop fans, his... Read more

Gangrene’s Oh No Makes A Thumping Beat Out Of Nintendo 64 Samples (Video)

Oh No is the next contestant on the Rhythm Roulette platform. Part of Gangrene, blood brother of Madlib, the Oxnard, California producer/MC wanted to do things a little differently for Mass Appeal's series. That said, Oh No The Disrupt goes D.I.T.C., but not in the record crates. Rather, he uses... Read more

DJ Spinna & J. Rocc Cross The Coasts In 2 Separate ’90s Mixes (Audio)

Two veteran masters of the mix are DJ Spinna and J. Rocc. AFH's faithful are quite familiar with J. Rocc, the SoCal spinner who is part of JayLib, The Beat Junkies, and a frequent affiliate with Stones Throw Records. Across the country, in the borough of Brooklyn, DJ Spinna was... Read more

Ghostface Killah Compares Himself To Martin Scorsese. Here’s Why (Food For Thought Interview)

Speaking about his upcoming eleventh solo album, Ghostface Killah is in his glory. The Staten Island MC is spirited, especially on the subjects of 1980s Rap and 1990s cinema. The day his 36 Seasons was publicly premiered in a full-length NPR Music stream, Ghost speaks to Ambrosia For Heads, and... Read more

Yasiin Bey On Recent US Events: “We Are At A Watershed Moment For Humanity”

Besides rapping, singing, and acting, Yasiin Bey (f/k/a Mos Def) is a Spoken Word artist and a self-proclaimed humanitarian. Deliberately out of the spotlight for much of the last five years, Yasiin opted to put his thoughts to audio, surrounding the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner (among others),... Read more

DJ Premier Ranks PRhyme Among Best Albums; Royce Da 5’9″ Talks Sobriety Saving His Life (Video Interview)

We are less than one week away from PRhyme (December 9), the self-titled project by the newly-formed group of Royce Da 5'9", DJ Premier, and Adrian Younge. Late last month, in HeadQCourterz Studios, Nickel and Premo sat down with AFH TV to discuss, at length, the album. In the nearly... Read more

Does Inspectah Deck Know His Wu-Tang History Better Than RZA? (Video)

After MTV News asked RZA, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna about some of the re-purposed Wu-Tang Clan logos over the years, Rob Markman and his team gave the squadron a little bit of a quiz. The questions range between the order of the solo discography, to how many... Read more

Yes-Men & Soft Rap Lovers Are Poked Fun At Featuring PRhyme, Miguel & Lady Of Rage (Video)

Funny Or Die linking with PRhyme doesn't seem too expected. Still, the online video channel knows their Hip-Hop, and in celebration of the new self-titled album by DJ Premier, Royce Da 5'9", and Adrian Younge, they rolled to the studio. Specifically, Funny Or Die appears to be tongue-in-cheek making fun... Read more

DJ Premier Mixes Up A Special Set For Def Jam’s 30th Anniversary (Audio)

In his career, neither DJ Premier nor his group Gang Starr were ever signed to Def Jam Records. However, the HeadQCourterz Studios producer has worked with an arsenal of Def Jam's talent over the years, ranging from Jay Z and Method Man, Ludacris to Kanye West, to Teflon and WC.... Read more

Royce Da 5’9″, DJ Premier & Adrian Younge Are In Their PRhyme (Album Review)

In what felt like the last days of Underground Hip-Hop, a relative unknown named Royce Da 5’9” teamed with DJ Premier to release a 1999 12” single, “Boom.” Although Game Recordings placed their trademark bikini-clad “Hip-Hop Honey” on the picture cover single, no alluring marketing tools were necessary, as the... Read more

Wu-Tang Clan Members React To Logo Copycats & Tributes (Video)

The "W" has taken on a life of its own over the last 21 years. Wu-Tang Clan's logo design has become not only a legal trademark, but a brand unto itself. From traditional goods like shirts, posters, skullies to mouse-pads, custom-painted Volkswagen Beetles, and a bevy of tattoos, this logo... Read more

Killer Mike Stands Up For Rap Lyrics, Pens An Op-Ed For USA Today

If Hip-Hop in 2014 needs a "Man of the year," Killer Mike is steadily beckoning nominations. Less than one week after a powerful, heartfelt reaction to a court decision to not indict Ferguson, Missouri Police Department Officer Darren Wilson for the murder of teenager Michael Brown, Killer Mike is taking... Read more

Ever See This Rough and Rugged Big Daddy Kane Freestyle? (Video)

In the discussion of GOATs, one name continually resurfaces: Big Daddy Kane. As one of the first purveyors of multi-syllabic rhyming, Kane is literally the father to a style that has endured for decades. Ain't nothing like the real thing though...Here's a look back at Kane in his purest element,... Read more

What Would Illmatic Sound Like if Biggie Was Rhyming? Like This (Mixtape)

Biggie or Nas? That's been an age old question in GOAT discussions for decades. The debate likely will never be resolved but it does beg the question, what would Illmatic have sounded like if Biggie was rapping? That's a query that has been addressed and the answer is...phenomenal. Here's a... Read more

Was Kendrick Lamar’s SNL Performance a Tribute to Method Man & ODB? RZA Speaks (Video)

Last week, Kendrick Lamar took the stage on Saturday Night Live and gave an incredibly dynamic performance of his current single, "i." The rendition featured a live band and Kendrick showcasing some of the choreography from the song's video. Strikingly, K.Dot also wore black eye contacts and his hair in... Read more

Eminem Released Infinite 18 Years Ago Today

With the anticipated release of his 9th studio album, Shady XV, Eminem continues to prove that he still has a ton of fire left in his gut. Look no further for proof of this fact than with the release of his 18 minute lyrical massacre, "Shady CVXPHER," that recently set... Read more

Freddie Gibbs’ Next Studio Album Is Announced

Following his first Top 200 charts appearance, care of 2014's Pinata album with Madlib, Freddie Gibbs is back in the lab. Since the critically-acclaimed March album, a commercial benchmark for the Gary, Indiana native, Gibbs has released The Tonite Show, with producer The World's Freshest. Already, Gibbs released the first... Read more

Who Wants Some Rare Early Cuts From Jay Z, DMX, The Beatnuts & Black Sheep? (Mixtape)

A lot of the would-be Hip-Hop stars of the 1990s put in studio recording work years before their names got hot. Moreover, the artists, their early labels, and teams had to go to risky expense of pressing these moments to wax in hopes of breakin' even, or perhaps giving them... Read more

Snoop Dogg & DJ Premier Recall Making The Final Gang Starr Song, An MC Eiht Battle (Video)

Snoop Dogg's GGN interview series is reaching that whole other level. Tha Doggfather welcomes DJ Premier to the guest seat. Snoop and Premo, who have worked together a number of times, still find a way to unearth some really grabbing stuff here. Going back to the final Gang Starr album,... Read more

The Universal Zulu Nation’s 41st Anniversary Is In November & Your Favorite Artists Are Involved…

On November 6-9, New York City will play host to the Universal Zulu Nation's 41st anniversary. Over the course of seven planned events (with possibly more coming), those involved include Afrika Bambaataa, Black Moon, 9th Wonder, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Sadat X, Da Beatminerz, Psycho Les, DJ Jazzy Jay, Kool... Read more

Ab-Soul Reveals His Music Industry Family, Getting Radio Fines To Nardwuar (Video)

One week after Ambrosia For Heads' "search for the GOAT" pitted Ab-Soul against Joe Budden, leave it to Nardwuar to present Soulo with a copy of Joe Budden, the album—something the Carson, California MC is apparently a massive fan of. This interview, Nardwuar's latest within the Black Hippy/Top Dawg Entertainment... Read more

Big K.R.I.T. Kicks A So-Sincere Verse From Cadillactica On Sway In The Morning (Video)

Big K.R.I.T. doesn't freestyle. He tells Sway Calloway as much during this week's stop on Sway In The Morning. However, when urged to take a minute to gather an upcoming collection of couplets, after a quick freestlye over "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," K.R.I.T. comes out of nowhere with a... Read more

Sometimes I Rap Fast, Sometimes I Rap Slow: The Evolution Of JAY-Z’s Flow (Food For Thought)

As another NFL season loads up, the sports news cycle is dominated by teams, offenses, depth charts and injury reports. Although not a fan (au contraire), I often marvel at the dynamic strategies of Bill Bellichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots. From season-to-season, the three-time Super Bowl champions... Read more