AFH Ambrosia for Heads

Archives

Sugar Hill Records introduced hip-hop to most of the world. Nuff said. They are the 4th most important hip-hop record label of all time.

#4 Sugar Hill Records Much has been written about the allegedly shady past of Sugar Hill Records and the lack of credibility of the Sugar Hill Gang (many of Big Bank Hank's rhymes were actually bitten from Grandmaster Caz). Regardless, it cannot be denied that most people had never even... Read more

Tommy Boy kicks off the Top 5 as the 5th most important hip-hop record label of all time.

#5 Tommy Boy Records More than any other hip-hop record label on this countdown, Tommy Boy Records is noteworthy not for impressive stats or significant accomplishments of individual artists, but for the overall breadth and impact of its entire catalog. For more than 20 years, the label released hip-hop records... Read more

Hip-Hop may never have been anything more than a fad without Profile Records, the 6th most important hip-hop record label of all time.

#6 Profile Records Founded in 1981 by Steve Plotnicki and Cory Robbins, Profile Records was the first label to establish hip-hop with the mainstream as an enduring genre. There had been some hit singles, previously, but Profile was the first record label to have a rap album certified gold (500,000+... Read more

Ruthless Records re-defined the boundaries of rap music, making them the 7th most important hip-hop record label of all time. Click here to read more about Ruthless and to hear a playlist of some of its key artists: NWA, Eazy-E, The D.O.C., Bone Thugs N Harmony and more.

#7 Ruthless Records Ruthless Records, founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller, in 1987 re-defined rap music in several ways. The label was the first to put the West Coast on the map as a force to be respected in hip-hop. Before Ruthless, there were outliers like Ice-T, but... Read more

Ed Lover – Yo! MTV Raps Old School Mix (Mixtape)

Yo! MTV Raps is making a return for 1 night only tonight at midnight on MTV2, right after the Sucker Free Awards. To commemorate the event, Ed Lover got on the wheels at New York's Hot 97 to do an old school mix of music from the Yo! era (Nice... Read more

Rap-A-Lot Records was the 17th most important hip-hop record label. Also holding down the South at #12 is…

#12 No Limit Records While Rap-A-Lot was the first major label to rise from the South, No Limit Records was the record label that put the "Dirty Dirty" on the MAP. No Limit established the South as a stronghold for hip-hop that many might argue has never been relinquished. Despite... Read more

The 14th most important hip-hop record label of all time might be the most controversial on the list…

...but not because they didn't put out dope music. #14 Uptown Records Uptown Records did not make its mark with rap music, though it was founded by former rapper Andre Harrell (one half of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and was home to some significant rappers. Uptown Records was extremely... Read more

Arguably the most acclaimed artist in hip-hop was on the 15th most important hip-hop record label of all time.

#15 Ruffhouse Records Ruffhouse Records is another one of those record labels where few outside the music industry knew the label, but EVERYBODY knew its artists. Ruffhouse was founded in 1989 by Chris Schwartz and Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo who got his nickname due to his skills at chopping up... Read more

The Dirty South began playing a major role in rap music long before No Limit and Cash Money. The #16 most important record label in hip-hop music is Rap-A-Lot Records. Check out a playlist of their key artists below.,

#16 Rap-A-Lot Records Not from Houston but I Rap-A-Lot...Long before Cash Money and long before No Limit, Rap-A-Lot records was the voice of hip-hop in the South. Founded by J Prince in 1986, the label put Houston on the map. That was no small feat given that rap music was... Read more

Rawkus and Loud were the 20th and 19th most important hip-hop record labels, respectively. Numbers 18 and 17 are…

Select Records and Fresh Records How can Select Records and Fresh Records be ahead of Rawkus AND Loud??? 2 words: historical context. Without a doubt, both Rawkus and Loud released records by some of the greatest MCs to ever bless the mic, but each of those record labels was building... Read more

The Fat Boys – All You Can Eat (Video)

Happy Thanksgiving. We hope you get your grub on and enjoy the day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-s-SeigWs... Read more

RIP to the Overweight Lover Heavy D. He was Hip-Hop’s original BIG man. Here’s a tribute playlist featuring some of his many hits.

We wish you a peaceful journey. Also, here was his incredible performance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards just last month.... Read more

The 90’s will always be considered the Golden Age of hip-hop. Click below to listen to all 250 songs that XXL named the best of the 1990’s.

That's not to say that decade will always be the best, nor that it contains the best year in hip-hop (in fact, read this if you REALLY want a debate) but, just as the 70's will always be considered Classic Rock (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, etc.--note other great... Read more

If you like that West Coast G-Funk sound, this week’s Soul Cooking playlist is for you.

It's no secret legendary beat makers like Dr. Dre and DJ Quik were heavily influenced by the likes of Parliament/Funkadelic, Slave, Cameo, Zapp and Rick James, to name a few...You'll find lots of that classic funk sound on this playlist.  Just press play, sit back and prepare to get funked... Read more

All the recent heat around The Beastie Boys has gotten me thinking about Def Jam of old. You can’t talk about the original Def Jam sound without mentioning Rick Rubin. He is the subject of our latest Producer Series playlist.

Rick Rubin was a purist. He liked BIG thumping 808 drums, hard snares, hard rhymes and not much else on his songs. At the time, when rap was still being recorded mostly over disco and R&B covers, his sound was revolutionary. He was among the first to capture the rawness... Read more

Vado, Jadakiss and Ludacris take it back to the days when a track was hard drums and an even harder hand clap.

Here's Check 'Em Out. Click here to download.  Remember when these types of tracks used to be the standard for hip-hop? Check these out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s5DCRAAsyc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4478SMAc2qM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0mKgnC6acE... Read more

The 80 Blocks to Tiffany’s Reference from the last post inspired some video crate digging. Check out this 20/20 clip on hip-hop from 1981.

It is reported to be the first nationally-televised news story on hip-hop...ever. Though in some respects the verbiage almost sounds like an SNL skit because it's so rudimentary, it is also incredibly deep on some levels: 1. it's fascinating to see footage on the beginnings of the culture, 2. it's... Read more

My heart is heavy. Hip-Hop has lost 1 of its most important voices. The one and only Nate Dogg. Words alone cannot commemorate Nate Dogg. Here’s a playlist that showcases just a few of his great contributions to rap music. His impact cannot be overstated.

From his start with 213 with Warren G and a young Snoop Doggy Dogg, through his work on The Chronic, through more features than can possibly be counted on some of hip-hop's biggest records, Nate Dogg's silky-smooth gangsta flow is synonymous with the sound that put the West Coast on... Read more

Hollyweerd’s Yellow Pages has a mid-90’s feel to it. Imagine a Southern Souls of Mischief spitting on a Pete Rock track…

Check out the video... http://vimeo.com/21012902 ...and the Pete Rock and Souls of Mischief comparisons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiTy71nSkKw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONpxDfhMjjk... Read more

Two underground legends, Defari and Madlib, connect on Puro. Check out the video.

The Likwit Crew never got the props they deserved.  King Tee, Tha Alkaholiks and Xzibit were sikwidit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRtouB7ZiQs&feature=player_embedded Here's some of that Likwit goodness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-idMUSekU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2clm68lcsQQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H91kWpUNiwU... Read more

A couple of weeks ago, Nice & Smooth dropped a new video for a song that is 22 years old. Ironically, the song is called No Delayin’.

In celebration of the video, this week's New World Auder (where Omar Akil re-arranges the tracks of an album for your listening pleasure) is of Nice & Smooth's eponymous album. NEW WORLD AUDER: NICE & SMOOTH "NICE & SMOOTH" This N.W.Aud was inspired by the 2011 flip of a classic... Read more

New EPMD??? Yeah, that’s right…and it’s to the beat of The Breaks.

Check out Don't Get Clapped. Click here to download.  And here's Kurtis Blow's The Breaks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KMrPDiw8PQ... Read more

Check out AFH TV. Get ready…

Check in whenever you need your fix of the best in hip-hop culture (old and new). Watch live streaming video from ambrosiaforheads at livestream.com... Read more

How could I not post a new joint by Showbiz and KRS-ONE ? This one is called We Love This and also ft Fred Tha Godson

Click here to download.  And, here are a couple of classics from Showbiz and the blastmaster KRS-ONE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_jpVH3nlZo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDyYHIDJ1CQ... Read more

Let's keep it O.G. for a minute. Redman dropped a new mixtape today. If you're a fan you'll dig it.

This one is just a warm up before he drops his new album called Reggie. He starts the mixtape with a new addition to the Soopaman series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE9FDIvoQh8 Click here to listen to and download the mixtape Pancake & Syrup. Tracklist is below.  His new album Reggie drops on 12/6.... Read more

Let's Go!!! – Playlist

Old school hip-hop playlist guaranteed to get you hyped. Tracklist below. Click here to play. Notorious B.I.G. – Who Shot Ya? Jay-Z – Rock Star Lil Cease ft. Lil Kim and Puff Daddy – Play Around Big Pun – Glamour Life Mase ft. Puff Daddy – Can’t Nobody Hold Me... Read more