Open Mike Eagle’s latest video may seem like a proselytizing infomercial peddling cheaply made wares, but “Hymnal” takes on a far deeper message. The final visuals off his recent project, Brick Body Kids Still Daydream features New York MC Sammus, and although they both spit a serious tale, neither take... Read more

There have been several memorable Hip-Hop roommates. During the early 1990s, Gang Starr members Guru and DJ Premier lived together at several New York City residences (one was a Brooklyn home owned by Branford Marsalis). RZA and Ghostface Killah were under the same roof in the days before Enter The... Read more

Throughout the 2010s, Nocando has been one of the most interesting MCs making noise in the West Coast independent Hip-Hop scene. Claiming to have won more than 100 battles, this MC was mentored by members of the Freestyle Fellowship and Project Blowed. However, the Los Angeles, California native is well... Read more

Many Heads have seen the footage of a pre-deal Biggie Smalls ripping into an opponent in his own neighborhood, outside a Brooklyn storefront (posted below). The Notorious B.I.G. was clearly a battle-tested MC who brought his confidence, wit, and commanding delivery to a decorated career that includes a diamond-certified double... Read more

On October 8, 1991, a group of Hip-Hop minded lovers of Jazz and improvisational artistry calling themselves Freestyle Fellowship dropped To Whom It May Concern. Together, Aceyalone, J. Sumbi, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., Self Jupiter, and a handful of like-minded creatives were planting the seeds for a vibrant underground underbelly in... Read more

For many years, Los Angeles, California has served as a bastion of a diverse, eclectic, and consistently inspiring underground music scene. Much of the city's extensive history of being a center for African-American arts and music dates back to the 1930s and '40s, when Central Avenue was not only a... Read more

2015's Los Angeles, California Hip-Hop scene includes a plethora of colorful figures. It is now cool (and accepted) to be unconventional. Whether Kendrick Lamar, Earl Sweatshirt, or Blu, plenty of MCs from Southern Cali have come to creative forks in the road, and blazed trails by simply going straight. In... Read more

From that Freestyle Fellowship-launched Project Blowed camp (Aceyalone, Myka 9, Volume 10, Ganjha K, Abstract Rude, Skee-Lo, etc.), Open Mike Eagle is one of the newer artists. Down with Busdriver and 2Mex, California's O.M.E. (who hails from Chicago originally) is known for bombastic deliveries, precise technical flows, and a sardonic... Read more