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

UPDATE: The original March 26 story erroneously reported that Mopreme Shakur was recently deceased. We apologize for that mistake and any confusion it may have caused. In fact, Mopreme's Thug Life band-mate Big Syke is the artist whose obituary we linked to in that statement, and intended to report. In... Read more

DJ Premier and Pete Rock are reportedly working on a joint album. The two producers have shared credits, each producing classic singles for Nas' Illmatic. They've also positioned tracks alongside one another on LPs by Heavy D & The Boyz, Rakim, and Non-Phixion, among others. Even when they compete, the... Read more

Ice Cube is the most recent guest on N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN's Drink Champs. The same weekend Cube's Fist Fight opened in theaters, his "Pushin' Weight (Remix)" collaborator asked him about one of his most famous films, Friday. While the 1995 F. Gary Gray-directed film (written by Ice Cube and... Read more

It has been nearly 25 years since Leaders Of The New School released an album, care of 1993's T.I.M.E. Mentored by The Bomb Squad, especially Chuck D, Long Island, New York's L.O.N.S. would create a launchpad for Busta Rhymes, along with Dinco D, Charlie Brown and DJ, Cut Monitor Milo.... Read more

During his life, The Notorious B.I.G.'s three Top 10 solo singles were all produced by Puff Daddy. The founder and CEO of Bad Boy Records worked with his "Hitmen" on each of "Big Poppa," "One More Chance (Remix)" and 1997's "Hypnotize." Those three records, as well as 1994's "Juicy" (which peaked... Read more

Q-Tip, Jarobi White, Busta Rhymes, and Consequence appear on this week's episode of Drink Champs. N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN interview A Tribe Called Quest members and affiliates about a litany of subjects. Q-Tip, who speaks at length about producing "Bonita Applebum," as well as A.T.C.Q's 2016 material, spoke about his... Read more

Naughty By Nature celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2016. The New Jersey trio released new music, including a reunion with Queen Latifah, and toured multiple times. In truth, the group has been together, and recording professionally much longer than 25 years. In 1989, as The New Style, Treach, Vin Rock,... Read more

More than 20 years ago, Capone-N-Noreaga made their breakthrough care of 25 To Life's "L.A., L.A." The Marley Marl-produced single featured Tragedy Khadafi and Mobb Deep. The remixed song, eventually packaged on 1997's The War Report debut from C-N-N, was a reply to Tha Dogg Pound and Snoop Dogg's 1995 single,... Read more

On August 3, 1995, many historians believe that the East Coast and West Coast Hip-Hop Beef was declared. Accepting the Source Award in Madison Square Garden for the Above The Rim soundtrack, Death Row Records CEO and co-founder Suge Knight told attendees, “Any artist out there that want to be an... Read more

DJ Clue was a pivotal figure in bringing Hip-Hop mixtapes from street culture to the charts. The Queens, New York native began in the mid-1990s, and helped pioneer the idea of exclusives. Records by Wu-Tang Clan, Jay Z, and The Notorious B.I.G. would appear on the mixmaster's unauthorized cassettes and... Read more

Today (October 29), marks the 25th anniversary of Ghostface Killah's landmark solo debut album, Ironman. To celebrate the anniversary, Up North Trips and Its Overture have put together a new mix, spotted on Ego Trip, to commemorate the LP. In addition to featuring much from Ironman, the mix expands to... Read more

Twenty years ago tomorrow (October 29, 1996), Ghostface Killah released a seminal solo debut album in the form of Ironman. To that point, four Wu-Tang Clansmen (GZA, Method Man, O.D.B., and Raekwon) had all stepped to the front with solo efforts, spreading their creative darts across Rap's board. As the... Read more

E-40 is an artist who has created a career that's nearly 30 years old. The Vallejo, California Rap kingpin is a master of reinvention, while forever staying true to who he was as a self-made Mail Man, slangin' CDs and tapes out of an Oldsmobile Cutlass since the late '80s.... Read more

Beanie Sigel has experienced one of the highest profile months of his extensive musical career. The South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania MC started September as an esteemed veteran, reportedly in plans to make a collaborative album with former foe Jadakiss. However, after briefly appearing on Meek Mill and Omelly's "Ooouuu" reply to... Read more

In the early 2000s, Roc-A-Fella Records was fast expanding its film division. The label, founded by Jay Z, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke was also entrenched in one of the most exciting Rap battles of the last 15 years, thanks to Jay's beefing on wax with Nas. In... Read more

Queens, New York veteran MC Akinyele has not released an album of new material in more than 15 years. However, the raspy-voice rapper remains very much tied to the Hip-Hop culture he came up through. DJ Khaled and Drake's current hit "For Free" is an homage to a 1997 single... Read more

In 1999, Jay Z and DMX embarked (and majorly cashed in) on the Hard Knock Life Tour. Although Jay Z's album gave the tour its name, the lineup was a joint headliner of the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder and DMX. Both artists had become the flagship acts at Def Jam Records... Read more

Over 17 years ago, Rawkus Records released Soundbombing 2. That LP, a Top 30 on the Pop charts, helped further the ongoing introductions of Eminem, Dilated Peoples, High & Mighty, Company Flow, and others to the masses. An elite independent label at the time, Rawkus (then home to Mos Def,... Read more

In 1995 and 1996, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur were label mates at Death Row Records. Notably, 'Pac had made a cameo in Snoop's 1994 film, Murder Was The Case—which was directed by Dr. Dre. He would also release a hit video single on Above The Rim soundtrack in "Pour... Read more

KRS-One recently appeared in Birmingham, England, speaking before a live audience. In a video published July 15, the Boogie Down Productions co-founder and MC legend spoke about allegations of sexual abuse made against one of Hip-Hop's pioneers, Afrika Bambaataa. The longtime friend and collaborator of Bam' argued that major agencies... Read more

Throughout the last 25 years, Queens, New York duo Mobb Deep has worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, Nas, and 50 Cent. However, it is now learned that Prodigy and Havoc collaborated with late Pop icon Prince. Speaking with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN's "Drink Champs" Podcast (Episode #17), Havoc... Read more

Talib Kweli and Kanye West have made several notable collaborations. That artistry began 14 years ago, with the release of the Brooklyn, New York MC's first solo album, Quality. Following acclaimed full-length projects with Black Star and Reflection Eternal, the Rawkus Records flagship artist embarked on his first release through... Read more

In the canon of Hip-Hop, the most famous Source Awards is the 1995 year. There, tensions between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records came to a head, after Suge Knight aimed a thinly-veiled criticism at onetime associate Puff Daddy from the microphone podium. Snoop Dogg, Danny Boy, Dr. Dre, and... Read more

KRS-One is the latest guest on N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN's Drink Champs Podcast. There, the iconic Boogie Down Productions MC sipped hand-crafted mai tai's and discussed a litany of topics, at incredible length. Known for lecturing at some of the most prestigious universities around the globe, publishing books, and educating... Read more