In a ceremony held last October, Dave Chappelle was formally presented with the Mark Twain Prize For American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Alongside family and friends, including Yasiin Bey, Common, Kenan Thompson, Jon Stewart, and Tiffany Haddish, Chappelle’s more than 30 years in comedy... Read more

9th Wonder's introduction to the Hip-Hop industry (by way of Little Brother's The Listening) is not even 15 years old. However, in that time, the producer/DJ/professor has become a powerful voice in the music and culture. Like his discography, 9th has been an advocate for the songs, albums, and musicians he... Read more

For any student of Rap music, its origins in other forms of African-American musical traditions is well known. Many scholars argue that the roots of the rapping tradition can be found in the call-and-response elements in Black church music and the dozens. Certainly, the arrival of a distinct Blues sound in the... Read more

Earlier this week, Brother Ali expressed his belief that more of America's Muslims should be identified by and celebrated in the media, particularly in an era when Islamophobia is so present in the U.S. He mentioned Muhammad Ali by name, calling him a leader whose role as a Black Muslim... Read more

Having launched in 2012, the PBS television series Finding Your Roots merges genealogy and celebrity in a reality show which documents notable people tracing their ancestral heritage. Hosted by well-known public intellectual Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the show provides its guests with research-based documentation about where their respective families originated... Read more

As the one-year anniversary of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly inches closer and closer, the Compton MC is still dominating conversations about the best in the game. Tonight (January 7), he will be a guest and performer on The Tonight Show, where he will likely provide viewers with a... Read more

On September 2 and 3, the incomparable D'Angelo sat down with Tavis Smiley for the singer's first long-format television interview in over a decade. The conversation spilled over into two episodes of Smiley's PBS show, which is not surprising considering the magnitude of the subject at hand. In the first... Read more

Killer Mike (born Michael Render) has been making moves in his music career for more than a decade, working alongside the likes of Outkast, Ice Cube, Funkadelic, and of course El-P, with whom he performs as Run the Jewels. The success of RTJ, for many, is what has launched Render... Read more

Michael Jackson is the latest subject of PBS Digital Studios' Blank On Blank animation series. This 1980 recording from a MJ interview highlights his waving off genre labels, admitting that his on-stage dancing is improvisational, and working with Quincy Jones. There's a lot to love about this...including the fact that... Read more

Like Erykah Badu before him, Nas inks up his time slot on PBS' television series, Finding Your Roots, in which the New York born artist traces back his family lineage far beyond the reaches of his own personal discoveries. The host of the show and Harvard professor, Dr. Henry Louis... Read more

While Nas is among Hip-Hop's most introspective MCs of all time, Heads know that Nas interviews are not always on the same level. While artists like 50 Cent, Tupac, and KRS-One have never struggled to open up for interviews at all outlets, the Queensbridge superstar (much like his formal Brooklyn,... Read more