jay-z Archives

Beyonce & Jay Z Are Expecting Twins As Music’s Royal Family Expands

Beyoncé and Jay Z's 14-plus-year journey together has been something that music fans have watched transpire and develop, in real-time. Dating back to their early 2002 courtship, both music giants were guarded about the details of their private life. Their 2008 wedding was a testament to that. Eventually bringing that... Read more

February 1, 2017 News

A New List Declares Who’s Been The Best MC Every Year From 1979 to 2016

2017 is still too young to have its best MC crowned, but a new list has named the best MC in each year, since 1979. From Grandmaster Caz to Chance the Rapper, MCs of all generations have found themselves mentioned in the comprehensive list generated by a team of writers... Read more

January 30, 2017 Fresh

Finding The GOAT Producer: Kanye West vs. Scott Storch. Who Is Better?

“Finding the GOAT Producer” begins. The third installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest producers vying for the #1 spot. Thirty producers were pre-selected by a panel of experts, and two slots will be reserved for wild-card entries, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to ensure no deserving... Read more

January 25, 2017 Finding the GOAT

Finding The GOAT Producer: The Neptunes vs. Just Blaze. Who Is Better?

“Finding the GOAT Producer” begins. The third installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest producers vying for the #1 spot. Thirty producers were pre-selected by a panel of experts, and two slots will be reserved for wild-card entries, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to ensure no deserving... Read more

January 20, 2017 Finding the GOAT

Finding The GOAT Producer: Noah “40” Shebib vs. Puff Daddy & The Hitmen. Who Is Better?

“Finding the GOAT Producer” begins. The third installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest producers vying for the #1 spot. Thirty producers were pre-selected by a panel of experts, and two slots will be reserved for wild-card entries, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to ensure no deserving... Read more

January 18, 2017 Finding the GOAT

Fat Joe Signs To Jay Z’s Roc Nation. Their Beef Is All The Way Over (Audio)

In 2016, Fat Joe and Jay Z made a statement in both of their careers when they recorded the "All The Way Up (Remix)" together (alongside Remy Ma). Reportedly dating back to the late 1990s, the eventual Terror Squad leader and the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder were caught in a beef... Read more

January 18, 2017 Audio, News

Royce Takes The Keys From Khaled & Jay Z And Unlocks A New Level (Audio)

Royce 5'9" says he's starting to have fun young again. That is deeply apparent on his "I Got The Keys" freestyle. In what may be shaping up to be a weekly song series from Nickel Nine, the Detroit, Michigan veteran takes one of the biggest records of 2016 (by DJ... Read more

January 16, 2017 Audio

Listen To Some Of The Best Hip-Hop Songs Of 2016 & More In 1 Playlist (Audio)

2016 is officially a wrap. For many it will go down as one of the more challenging years in recent memory, but, no matter what may have transpired, it was a period in which a lot of great music was released. Skillz’s 2016 Rap Up Reminds Us Of The Year’s... Read more

January 7, 2017 Audio

Jay Pharoah Is Funny But This Freestyle Is No Joke (Video)

Jay Pharoah is not the first comedian who can imitate famous rappers and singers as part of his act. However, it is abundantly clear that the Virginia native is out to be the best. This past week, the former SNL cast member (who ranked #55 in Rolling Stone's all-time funniest... Read more

December 31, 2016 Video

Skillz’s 2016 Rap Up Reminds Us Of The Year’s Highs, Lows & Reasons To Stay Woke (Audio)

2016 is coming to a close. Years from now, how will we, the people, remember such an expansive year in Hip-Hop music, news, and culture? This year, some of the biggest MCs in the genre released new albums. Several of these efforts came in short notice, challenging new distribution platforms... Read more

December 30, 2016 Food for Thought

Nearly Every Jay Z Guest Verse, Live Performance & Rarity Has Been Collected In 1 Place (Video)

In 2016, Hip-Hop, which once traded cassette tapes of live shows and DJ sets has evolved such that nearly all music ever recorded is available at one's fingertips. As such, each artist has a digital footprint. Jay Z has had one of the longest and most prolific careers in the genre.... Read more

December 20, 2016 Fresh

Stillmatic Turns 15. Here’s A Look At Nas’ Return To His NY State Of Mind (Video)

Fifteen years ago today (December 18), Nas released his fifth album, Stillmatic. At a time before popular Rap stars were making albums into series and franchises, Nasir Jones flashed back to his 1994 debut. In the seven years since, the MC had two #1 albums, and gone platinum many times... Read more

December 18, 2016 Food for Thought

Jay Z’s Examination of How the Justice System Fails People of Color Is a Must Watch (Video)

Far too often, a person's story of pain and struggle only receives its due attention when it's too late. It's true for Kalief Browder, who at 16 was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. After spending three years in prison without ever being convicted (let alone awarded his right... Read more

December 16, 2016 Lifestyle

2016’s Boldest & Most Important Political Statements In Hip-Hop & Beyond

2016 has been a rough year. From seemingly endless celebrity deaths to a political campaign unlike any other to racial tensions dominating headlines, these last 12 months have been riddled with great sorrow. But as history continues to remind us, out of great pain comes great resilience, and actors, athletes,... Read more

December 14, 2016 Food for Thought

Cam’ron Talks Jim Jones Beef For The Last Time. He Says Dipset Is “Over” (Video)

Hip-Hop is in a climate of reunions. A Tribe Called Quest shocked the music world last month with a secretly recorded album, their first in 18 years. After more than 20 years away from album-making, Pete Rock & C.L. have confirmed an LP for 2017. The L.O.X. have inked a... Read more

December 2, 2016 Video

The LOX Have Signed To Roc Nation & Are Releasing A New Album This Month

Roc Nation is looking like it wants to run the table on lyrical MCs. Starting with J. Cole, the label has assembled a roster that includes Jay Electronica, Vic Mensa, Rapsody, and now...The LOX. The trio of Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch is the latest to join the company... Read more

December 1, 2016 News

A Business School For Former Drug Dealers Argues You Can’t Knock the Hustle

One of the most insidious byproducts of the horrendously destructive so-called "war on drugs" is its direct role in steering millions of Americans into a life of street crime. Dealing drugs can be a lucrative option, especially for those who live in communities in which other, legal opportunities are scarce.... Read more

November 29, 2016 Lifestyle

Kanye West Reportedly Transported To The Hospital In Handcuffs For Erratic Behavior

Earlier today (November 21), Ambrosia For Heads reported on the cancellation of the remainder of Kanye West's The Saint Pablo Tour. While many have commented on a number of bizarre incidents regarding the talented artist/producer, the nature and proximity and escalated levels of those incidents suggested that something was very... Read more

November 22, 2016 News

Something Is Very Wrong With Kanye West. He Cancels His Tour. (Video)

2016 has been a whirlwind ride for Kanye West, including #1 albums, game-changing music videos, armed robberies within his family—and that's only some of the "highlights." The Saint Pablo Tour—which corresponds to West's February The Life of Pablo album has been making its rounds across the United States—featuring the artist... Read more

November 21, 2016 News, Video

Salaam Remi Says He Has 3 Albums Worth of Unreleased Nas Material (Video)

Earlier this year, the Fugees celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Score, an album whose sonic story was in large part shaped by producer Salaam Remi. In the years since, the Queens, New York legend has worked across the musical spectrum, helping to steer successful trajectories for artists including Amy... Read more

November 7, 2016 Video

The Weeknd Takes A Sample DOOM & Biggie Rocked And Freaks It For The Club (Audio)

For lovers of samples, Isaac Hayes sophomore album Hot Buttered Soul is a must-own album. Released during 1969 on Enterprise/Stax Records (where Ike was a major writer and producer), this album was a Top 10 on the charts, and went to #1, even before Hayes gave "John Shaft" his theme... Read more

October 31, 2016 Audio, Fresh, The Bridge

Super Ugly: The Complete Evolution Of The Jay Z & Nas Beef From 1996 – 2001 (Video)

2016 has been a year of unexpected and multi-layered beefs, many of which have centered around the MC many love to hate: Drake. Over the Summer, Joe Budden and the Toronto MC mixed it up with Budden sending 4 diss records Drake's way in response to two records, "4pm In... Read more

October 29, 2016 Video

President Obama Gives His Current Top 5 MCs As He Prepares To Leave Office (Audio)

When President Barack Obama took office in 2008, Hip-Hop was in a widely different place. That was the year that Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III sold more than a million copies in its first week available. That year, T.I. made one of his loudest statements in Paper Trail, before going... Read more

October 28, 2016 Audio, Fresh

Joe Budden Puts His Life In A Music Video So You Ain’t Gotta Ask

Last week, Joe Budden released his Rage & The Machine album. The third single from the self-released LP is "I Gotta Ask." Featuring a great deal of lyrical, cadence, and beat references to 1998 Jay Z single "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" (produced by New Jersey's own 45 King)—this song... Read more

October 25, 2016 Video

DJ Clark Kent Details How In Awe Biggie Was Of Jay Z When They Met (Video)

DJ Clark Kent is one of the people who was incredibly close to The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay Z at the same time. In the mid-1990s, Clark was working tightly with Jay on Reasonable Doubt. Years after the former Dana Dane DJ and longtime radio personality first heard Jay lyrics... Read more

October 18, 2016 Video

Joe Budden Raps About His Life While Channeling Jay Z’s Hard Knock (Audio)

In June of 2003, Joe Budden's eponymous debut LP dropped, enjoying the success of its lead single, which arrived a month prior in the form of "Pump It Up." Produced by Just Blaze, the record remains one of Budden's most successful, but it almost didn't happen. Jay Z reportedly was... Read more

October 17, 2016 Audio

Joe Budden Discusses Why His Music & Personal Life Are At Their Best In 2016

If you're not constantly challenged, you're probably not doing it right. Joe Budden entered 2016 with a proven career—decorated with a cult music following, reality television history, a podcast, and an Eminem-backed super-group at his side. However, throughout the last 15 years, Joe Budden never seems to get complacent. When... Read more

October 17, 2016 Food for Thought

Here’s What Nas Would Say If He Could Go Back in Time to Stop Tupac & Biggie’s Beef (Video)

Celebrated sports columnist Bill Simmons recently hosted Nas on his weekly HBO talk-show series, the cleverly titled "Any Given Wednesday." In their discussions, the two discussed far more than the rapper's interest in sports and the host's interest in Rap, and along with fellow guests Kevin Durant and Vince Staples,... Read more

September 22, 2016 Video

Lupe Fiasco Serves Up an Oral History of “Food & Liquor” 10 Years Later (Audio)

For Lupe Fiasco fans, September 19, 2006 marked the arrival of one of the best debut albums from an MC in the 21st century. With Food & Liquor, the Chicago, Illinois storyteller was extending a discography he'd launched a year prior with his Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is... Read more

September 19, 2016 Audio

Jay Z Explains How The War On Drugs Really Is A War On People Of Color (Video)

Jay Z, one of the world's most successful artists and businessmen, made his way into the Rap game in part by spinning true-to-life tales about hustling in the streets, spending a considerable amount of his time coming up as a self-proclaimed D-Boy. Far from an unfamiliar trope in Hip-Hop music,... Read more

September 15, 2016 Lifestyle

A Mini-Documentary Shows How Jay Z’s Blueprint Laid The Plans For A New Era In Hip-Hop

On September 11, Jay Z's The Blueprint will celebrate its 15th anniversary. Its release on what is now an infamous date in American history for other, tragic reasons, marked a time in the Roc-A-Fella leader's career when criminal allegations and frequent diss tracks surrounded his image. However, it has proven... Read more

September 7, 2016 Video

10 Reasons Why Jay-Z & Biggie’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” Almost Didn’t Happen (Video)

DJ Clark Kent is a legend. In addition to being a renowned DJ, he is also a producer exrtraordinaire, having made such tracks as Troop's "Spread My Wings," Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "Player's Anthem," and Mariah Carey's "Loverboy." However, perhaps his most respected contributions in Hip-Hop circles were the records he made... Read more

August 31, 2016 Video

Dame Dash To Produce Roc-A-Fella Series That May Answer A Million & One Questions

It has been more than a decade since Jay Z, Damon "Dame Dash," and Kareem "Biggs" Burke sold Roc-A-Fella Records. The New York City label responsible for introducing the record-buying world to Jay, Kanye West, Beanie Sigel, The Diplomats, and others remains alive—only as a division of Def Jam. Its... Read more

August 30, 2016 News, TV/Film

20 Years Later, OutKast’s ATLiens Is A Masterpiece Of Space & Time

True to its extraterrestrial theme, OutKast's 1996 sophomore album ATLiens was of another world. Like the "Paid In Full" vocal sample proclaimed, André 3000 and Big Boi added "new color, new dimension, and new value" to the mid-'90s Hip-Hop ethos. Arguably, this came at a time when Hip-Hop's soul needed... Read more

August 25, 2016 Food for Thought

Akinyele Suggests An Unkept Promise Planted The Seeds For The Nas & JAY-Z Beef

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

August 14, 2016 Audio

DMX Says He Won Every Battle With Jay Z. Who Won The War? (Video)

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

August 13, 2016 Food for Thought, Video

Hip-Hop Stood Tall In July. Here’s Some Of The Best Of The Month (Audio Playlist)

July was a tense and complicated month. The killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police, both captured on film, led to national protests, heated discourse and some misguided shootings of police officers, presumably in retaliation. Political conventions held by the Democratic and Republican parties further divided the nation... Read more

August 2, 2016 Audio

Rapsody Becomes The First Woman MC To Sign To Jay Z’s Roc Nation Label

For almost a decade, Snow Hill, North Carolina MC Rapsody has been paying dues in her Hip-Hop career. After acclaimed album The Idea Of Beautiful, standout mixtape She Got Game, and a key appearance on Kendrick Lamar's platinum #1 album To Pimp A Butterfly, Rapsody has landed her next major... Read more

July 16, 2016 News

Jay Z Takes A Stand Against Police Killing Citizens (Audio)

509 people have been shot and killed by police in 2016. Words and hashtags are not enough. Write the United States Department of Justice today, and make a stand.... Read more

July 8, 2016 Audio

Jay Z’s 2000 Westwood Freestyle Portrays An MC In Stride For The Throne (Audio)

Right around the year 2000, Jay Z found himself in London, promoting his first #1 album, Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life. As the album was approaching 3 million units sold (it sits at more than 5 mill scanned in 2016), Shawn Carter hit Tim Westwood's radio show. In a new position,... Read more

July 7, 2016 Throwback, Throwback

Jay Z & Dr. Dre Could Be Collaborating In The Biggest Way Yet

Over the last 17 years, Dr. Dre and Jay Z have come together multiple times. From Jay's stellar verse writing on "Still D.R.E." to Dre showering Hov' with an Aftermath beat of a new variety in "Trouble," some of the collaborations have been memorable. However, in the technology space, the... Read more

June 30, 2016 Lifestyle, News

Skyzoo Brilliantly Exacts “Revenge” On Jay Z On “Friend Or Foe Pt. 3″ (Audio)

Crown Heights Brooklyn MC Skyzoo grew up not far from the Marcy Houses that raised Jay Z. Although the two lyricists are more than a dozen years apart in age, S-K-Y always vocalized just how much S.Carter inspired his art and style. The extended, nasal bars, emphasis on brands and... Read more

June 30, 2016 Audio

DMX Breaks Down While Discussing How God Saved His Life (Video)

This morning (June 28), DMX was a guest on The Breakfast Club. The onetime superstar rapper spoke for more than an hour with Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee, and DJ Envy about a host of topics. At times drinking cognac straight from the bottle, the Yonkers, New York lyricist got... Read more

June 28, 2016 Video

This 20th Anniversary Jay Z Mix Leaves No Doubt His Debut Was A Classic (Audio)

This Saturday (June 25) marks the 20th anniversary of Jay Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt. The 1996 Roc-A-Fella/Priority Records LP would launch a career trajectory that has arguably been one of Hip-Hop's biggest, transcending from the Marcy Houses to the top of Hip-Hop, as well as streaming platforms, fashion, liquor,... Read more

June 21, 2016 Mixes, Throwback

DJ Premier Gives The Inside Story On The Making Of Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt 20 Years Later

Twenty years ago, Jay Z had a hustler's ambition of releasing an album and then walking away. His lifestyle already afforded the finer things in life, so he was not making the music for the money. Rather, in his 26 years of life, he had accumulated some formidable stories that he... Read more

June 13, 2016 Food for Thought

Hear The Best Hip-Hop Of May 2016 In One Playlist (Audio)

As May helped us get ready for Summer, it brought the heat for Hip-Hop, too. De La Soul delivered on the promise of their new album And The Anonymous Nobody, with the scorcher, "Pain," and Redman announced a new group called 1000Volts, consisting of himself and DJ Jayceooh, releasing his... Read more

June 7, 2016 Playlists

Pusha T & Jay Z’s Explosive Single Was Inspired By One “Appalled” TV Host

Twenty-three year-old Tomi Lahren has made a name for herself as a conservative TV broadcaster. Host of Tomi on The Blaze network caught fire earlier this year, criticizing Beyonce's Super Bowl Halftime performance of "Formation." On her show, the Rapid City, South Dakota native criticized the pop superstar and her... Read more

June 3, 2016 Fresh

Chris Rivers Recaps The Week’s News In A Blistering Freestyle (Video)

Bronx, New York MC Chris Rivers has supplied Hip-Hop Heads for years with a steady stream of freestyles, collaborations, and an acclaimed onslaught of mixtapes. The son of Big Pun now is the latest lyricist to accept Ambrosia For Heads' challenge to weave headlines in music, news, and lifestyle from the... Read more

June 2, 2016 Video

Pusha T & Jay Z Push Each Other To Their Absolute Best On New Single (Audio)

Pusha T has released the first single from his forthcoming album King Push, and it is a barn burner. Wasting no time with fodder, Push unloads one of the finest songs he's released in years in "Drug Dealers Anonymous," featuring Jay Z. The DJ Dahi-produced track features each MC flexing... Read more

May 31, 2016 Audio

Jay Z Addresses Lemonade While Smashing The “All The Way Up” Remix (Audio)

One of the hottest records of the year just got a whole lot hotter. After ruling the radio and clubs for the last couple of months, Fat Joe & Remy Ma's "All The Way Up" has been officially remix and it features new verses from Remy and Joe, as well... Read more

May 24, 2016 Audio