Queens ArchivesAmbrosia For Heads

Jam Master Jay’s Killers Have Been Convicted

In a breaking story, this afternoon (February 27), a Brooklyn, New York jury has convicted two men for the murder of Hip-Hop legend Jam Master Jay (aka Jason Mizell). Karl Jordan, Jr. and Ronald Washington are the two men the court deemed responsible for the murder of the Run-D.M.C. co-founder... Read more

February 27, 2024 News, Trending Stories

Cormega Explains Why The Realness 2 Is A True Sequel To The Original

Upon its mid-2001 arrival, Cormega's The Realness lived up to its title. After years of waiting his turn, the MC asserted himself to step forth with a body of work that combined a passion for wisdom-drenched lyricism with a survivor's tale of life in New York City streets and the Rap industry. The independently... Read more

September 20, 2022 Exclusive, Interview, Video

Meyhem Lauren & Daringer Break Down Their New Album

Less than two weeks ago, Queens, New York MC Meyhem Lauren partnered with producer Daringer, architect of the Griselda Records sound, for Black Vladimir (embedded below). The 15-track album involves Action Bronson, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Flee Lord, Elcamino, and Hologram and finds brilliant chemistry between two artists that go... Read more

September 7, 2022 Exclusive, Interview, Video

Consequence Takes A Tour Of Queens In The Video For His Last Phife Dawg Collaboration

In March, it will have been four years since Phife Dawg passed away. The MC/producer born Malik Taylor was not able to see the final album release from A Tribe Called Quest, 2016's We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service. However, he worked on the LP that... Read more

February 14, 2020 Video

Homeboy Sandman Is A True Original. Watch Him Spit A Freestyle Like No Other MC.

Fresh off the release of his Dusty album (embedded below), Queens, New York's Homeboy Sandman popped by Peter Rosenberg’s HOT 97 late show to converse about life, his artistic journey, the importance of uniqueness, and monotony in today’s Hip-Hop climate. The 39-year-old Elmhurst representative, who has solidified himself as one... Read more

November 10, 2019 Video

Nas Celebrates Prodigy & Queens On A Stellar Pete Rock Track (Audio)

Life is too short to listen to bad music. So…let Ambrosia For Heads fight through it for you and only supply you with that great stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it’s ever been. Not only are we able to... Read more

July 19, 2019 Audio

Joell Ortiz & Hit-Maker Salaam Remi Have Released A New EP. Take A Listen.

This past year has been busy for Brooklyn, New York's Joell Ortiz. Last year, the Slaughterh*use co-founder linked up with veteran Michigan producer Apollo Brown for the release of their joint venture, Mona Lisa. Then at the beginning of 2019, Joell caught a wave with Dipset affiliates The Heatmakerz and... Read more

June 8, 2019 Audio

Large Professor Lights The Fuse For Tragedy Khadafi & Truth On A Remix That Bangs

Queens, New York MC Truth has been rapping for more than half of his life and is influenced by the likes of Mobb Deep, Run-D.M.C., Nas, Kool G. Rap, A Tribe Called Quest, Organized Konfusion and other local legends that have played a significant role in shaping his style. While... Read more

April 25, 2019 Video

A New Documentary Investigates Who Killed Jam Master Jay. See The Trailer

Sixteen years ago, Run-D.M.C. co-founder Jam Master Jay (aka Jason Mizell) was murdered in his Queens, New York studio. He was just 37 years old. The murder remains unsolved. A new documentary by Brian Oakes (Abstract: The Art Of Design, Jim: The James Foley Story) aims to take a closer... Read more

December 6, 2018 TV/Film, Video

The Perfect Day In Hip-Hop: When Wu-Tang & A Tribe Called Quest Dropped Classic Albums

November 9 may as well be a day of observance for Hip-Hop Heads. With A Tribe Called Quest’s third album Midnight Marauders and Wu-Tang Clan’s debut Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) both dropping on that day 25 years ago, it's a date that seems hard to imagine. While many release dates... Read more

November 8, 2018 Do Remember

50 Cent Announces He Is Producing A Prequel To Power

Fifteen years after launching one of the biggest Rap careers of the 2000s, 50 Cent has found a new source of artistic and commercial success through Power. Since 2014, the Starz series has become a top draw for the network and premium cable shows of its kind. Following its fifth... Read more

November 1, 2018 News, TV, TV/Film

Queens, NY Has Named August 19 “Ralph McDaniels Day” (Videos)

Today (August 19) will forever be Ralph McDaniels Day in the borough of Queens, New York. The confirmation was made this evening, during Uncle Ralph's second 35th-anniversary celebration for Video Music Box. A free event took place at Jamaica, Queens' Roy Wilkins Park, and Ambrosia For Heads was on hand... Read more

August 19, 2018 Exclusive, Video

The Real Hangover: Ed Lover Tells The Story Of His Wild Night Out With Mike Tyson (Video)

Ed Lover is best known as one of the hosts of Yo! MTV Raps in the late-1980s and early-1990s. However, the Queens, New Yorker has worn many hats over the years including rapper, actor, radio personality, and even dance innovator. His prominent positions in TV and radio have allowed him... Read more

July 14, 2018 Lifestyle, Throwback, Video

Finding The GOAT Group: Fat Boys vs. Run-D.M.C. Who Is Better?

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’ annual competition series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to... Read more

June 18, 2018 Best Hip-Hop Group, Finding the GOAT

Finding The GOAT Group: Organized Konfusion vs. Black Star. Who Is Better?

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to... Read more

May 11, 2018 Best Hip-Hop Group, Finding the GOAT

Finding The GOAT Group: Mobb Deep vs. Black Moon. Who Is Better?

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to... Read more

April 27, 2018 Best Hip-Hop Group, Finding the GOAT

Dynasty Teaches That Simplicity Is Genius Over A Brilliant Apollo Brown Beat (Video)

Queens, New York's Dynasty embodies power, leadership, and sovereignty. All of this is apparent from her past work with Talib Kweli and DJ Premier. From her 2016 album Forever, DY; Dynasty recently dropped the visuals for her single, "One Day," produced by Detroit, Michigan’s Apollo Brown (Ras Kass, O.C., Planet Asia).... Read more

April 24, 2018 Ready Or Not

Capone-N-Noreaga Join Forces With Cormega To Rule A Track Like Queens Kings (Audio)

It's been four years since Cormega released an album. Still, the Queens, New York representative has stayed busy releasing books, a la carte singles, and maintaining his ironclad reputation for feature work. 2014's Large Professor-produced Mega Philosophy is an album that offered plenty to sustain fans of introspection and cultural... Read more

April 23, 2018 Audio

Phife Loved Hip-Hop, But Hip-Hop Needed Him (Video)

Today (March 22) marks two years since the passing of one of Hip-Hop’s grandest luminaries, Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. While his legacy and imprint on music is still unfolding and carving out its place within the Rap history books, his efforts on the microphone maintain their relevancy... Read more

March 22, 2018 Do Remember

Roc Marciano & Action Bronson Show Hip-Hop Can Be Grimy & Soulful At The Same Time (Video)

Roc Marciano has piloted a unique lane in Rap. Since his solo debut, Marcberg, in 2010, each consecutive project seems to be more anticipated than the last. With Rosebudd’s Revenge last year, the Hempstead, Long Island MC/producer's buzz reached a new pinnacle in the eyes (and ears) of many. So,... Read more

March 14, 2018 Video

Flip The Script: Graffiti Writers Are Awarded Millions After Their Works Were Painted Over

In a landmark ruling, a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York has awarded a $6.7 million judgment on Monday (February 12) to 21 graffiti artists whose work was destroyed in 2013 at the 5Pointz complex, near the Mega Dice Casino, in Long Island City, Queens. The financial settlement comes after a... Read more

February 13, 2018 News

MRG Pays Respect To Lonzo Ball’s Uncompromising Hustle In His New Video

Queens, New York native Matthew Raymond Guzmán, best known as MRG, is a Dominican-American MC who often brings his own heritage and upbringing to the forefront of his Hip-Hop. His inspiration comes from rappers like Kanye West, Nas and Daddy Yankee, and he distinctly pulls a card from the later... Read more

January 25, 2018 Ready Or Not

The Kennedy Center Is Celebrating Rap’s Pioneers With A Concert Series

The John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center has gradually created a bona fide space for Hip-Hop within its gates over the past year. It has appointed A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip as its First Artistic Director of Hip-Hop Culture in 2016 and is awarding LL Cool J as the first ever... Read more

November 10, 2017 News

Sean Price’s Eternal Talent Shines On A Track By Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs (Video)

Through the later years of Sean Price's career, he became the consummate cleanup batter whenever he stepped to the mic on a track that featured multiple MCs. More times than not, "P!" figuratively smacked the beat out of the park with his gruff delivery, compound rhymes, and alliterative wordplay. Price... Read more

November 8, 2017 Video

Large Professor Supplies Fashawn With A Vintage Beat & He Skates On It (Video)

Decked out in a red t-shirt supporting one of Mobb Deep's favorite spirits and bandana as a sign of respect to the “late, great Prodigy, The H.N.I.C,” Fashawn takes to Flushing, Queens with a local, Large Professor, in this new eponymous visual. One of XXL magazine’s 2010 Freshmen, Fashawn has... Read more

October 19, 2017 Video

N.O.R.E. Says He Knows Who Ruined Prodigy’s Mural & Why (Video)

One of July's most disturbing stories in the Hip-Hop space was when a Queens, New York mural honoring the late rapper Prodigy was defaced on July 6. The attack came just two weeks after the Mobb Deep co-founder's death. Artists Jeff Henriquez and Eli “Eos” Lazare had created the work... Read more

July 28, 2017 Video

Prodigy Mural Permanently Removed After Being Vandalized Twice In A Week (Video)

Less than a week after a mural dedicated to Mobb Deep co-founder Prodigy was painted, it has twice been defaced. Saturday morning (July 8), the Queens, New York mural created by Jeff Henriquez and Eli “Eos” Lazare was covered by white paint. At the time, the mural was less than... Read more

July 10, 2017 Fresh

Prodigy Mural In Queens Is Vandalized Just Hours After Completion

On Thursday (July 6), a mural dedicated to Mobb Deep MC Prodigy was completed in Queens, New York. The aerosol wall painting paid respects to the hometown artist (born Albert Johnson) who died on June 20. Created by Jeff Henriquez and Eli "Eos" Lazare "out of love and respect" for... Read more

July 8, 2017 Fresh, News

Developers Who Destroyed A Graffiti Landmark Aim To Use Its Heritage In Their Redesign

Queens, New York's 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center was a Hip-Hop landmark that endured for decades. Dubbed "The Institute Of Higher Burning," the Long Island City art space was home to a living shrine of graffiti. Curated by writer Meres One (aka Jonathan Cohen), the five-story warehouse building built in 1892... Read more

May 29, 2017 Lifestyle

Akinyemi Is The Latest Queens MC Trying To Be A Hip-Hop King (Video)

Queens, New York has given Hip-Hop some of its most captivating, creative and distinctive, yet still relatable acts, from A Tribe Called Quest to Nas to Pharoahe Monch. Like the aforementioned MCs, newcomer Akinyemi is a true individual with unique flows and imaginative concepts, but with an air that somehow... Read more

March 28, 2017 Exclusive, Ready Or Not

Why Kool G Rap Is A True MC’s MC Who Is Criminally Underrated (Video)

Kool G Rap is currently gearing up for his first album in more than five years, The Return Of A Don. Said to be featuring Raekwon, the late Sean Price, and Saigon, this LP already promises to appeal to lovers of lyricism. 2017 marks 31 years of the Queens, New... Read more

March 12, 2017 Video

DJ Red Alert Offers Some Deep History About Why The Bridge Wars Really Started (Video)

Hip-Hop's biggest story-line in March of 2017 is a Bronx MC apparently responding to an MC from Queens on the microphone in back-to-back disses. Thirty years ago today (March 3, 1987), that tactic was introduced by Boogie Down Productions' two-song arsenal on Criminal Minded used against MC Shan, producer Marley... Read more

March 3, 2017 Throwback, Video

Finding The GOAT Producer: No ID vs. A Tribe Called Quest. 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 23, 2017 Finding the GOAT

Roxanne Shanté’s Biopic Shows Hip-Hop History Is Incomplete Without Her Story

In 2015, the film Straight Outta Compton took N.W.A.'s story and projected it on not only film screens, but the mainstream consciousness. For a group of Gangsta Rap pioneers on an independent label, the record-setting film eclipsed the commercial success ever available to Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren,... Read more

January 22, 2017 News, TV/Film, Video

Q-Tip Recalls Playing The “One Love” Beat For Nas The First Time They Met

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

January 13, 2017 Throwback

Finding The GOAT Producer: Havoc vs. RZA. 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 13, 2017 Finding the GOAT

Nutso Is Respected By Rap Legends. Does This Video Single Catch Wreck To You?

Flushing, Queens rapper Nutso is a true school lyricist with endorsements from some of Hip-Hop’s elite. His Domingo-produced REDSunday album, released in October, features a who's who list of Queens Hip-Hop royalty like Kool G Rap, Prodigy, Tragedy Khadafi, Craig G, Cormega, and Capone-N-Noreaga. On “Catchin Wreck" (featuring Tony Born and... Read more

December 6, 2016 Ready Or Not

Eric B. & Rakim Affiliate, MC and Manager Ant Live Has Passed Away

According to several sources, veteran Hip-Hop figure Ant Live (aka Anthony Barrier) has died. Stetsasonic co-founder Daddy-O and podcast host Combat Jack are among those who have confirmed the news on social media. While the details of Ant's passing are not clear at this time, Rakim spoke about Live's health... Read more

November 18, 2016 News

Phife Dawg Will Be Immortalized As A King With A Street In Queens

The same day (July 30) that A Tribe Called Quest's Beats, Rhymes & Life celebrates its 20th birthday, there is some important news surrounding the late Phife Dawg. The MC/producer born Malik Taylor will reportedly be immortalized by an official New York City-sanctioned street re-naming in Queens, New York. Okayplayer... Read more

July 30, 2016 News

Large Professor Broke More Than Atoms 25 Years Ago. He Broke New Ground.

By the early 1990s, Wild Pitch Records proved to be one of the most exciting labels in Hip-Hop. It was their logo at the center of the record that made key introductions for Gang Starr, Lord Finesse, and Flavor Unit lyricist Chill Rob G. Stu Fine’s label appeared to be... Read more

July 19, 2016 Food for Thought

A Queens Councilman Is Seeking To Memorialize The Legacy Of A Tribe Called Quest With A Mural

In history, A Tribe Called Quest has joined legends like Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, and Nas in making Queens, New York an iconic Hip-Hop landmark. Following the death of founding member Phife Dawg, one business on the Linden Boulevard that A.T.C.Q. rapped about (and another politician) want the world to... Read more

June 7, 2016 Fresh

Tragedy Khadafi Provides A Hip-Hop Insider’s Tour Of “The Bridge” (Video)

When MC Shan and Marley Marl made "The Bridge," they were not only talking about the history, talent, and surroundings of Queensbridge Houses, they were paying homage to the nearby parks where it all happened. The places Shan rhymed about is the same park that years later, Nas would admit... Read more

December 2, 2015 Video

Royal Flush Iced Down New York City’s Late ’90s Run Alongside N.O.R.E. (Video)

1997 was one of Rap's most transitional years. In the settling dust of the East Coast vs. West Coast feud, both shorelines produced some standout Hip-Hop albums. Not all of the material necessarily made the charts, but it was in this resettling that movements such as Rawkus, No Limit, Cash... Read more

September 3, 2015 Do Remember, Throwback

N.O.R.E. Speaks For the First Time on Squashing His Beef With Nas (Video)

While being known as one Rap's lighter personalities, N.O.R.E. (f/k/a Noreaga) has had his share of rifts. From Nas to Prodigy, Cormega to partner Capone, the Lefrak City, Queens MC has had cold periods with several of his closest associates. Speaking with Doggie Diamonds TV, the onetime Def Jam Records... Read more

May 1, 2015 Video

Spit Gemz & Kool G Rap Host A Wordplay Clinic In Latest Collab (Audio)

Spit Gemz is one of Hip Hop's rising rugged Rap voices. In his track “Legacy," he teams up with veteran supreme lyricist Kool G Rap to deliver some of that classic New York under-belly flavor. The two MCs both represent Queens, but it's not the only thing they have in... Read more

April 15, 2015 Audio

Kool G Rap & Mic Geronimo Support Nutso On A Hardcore Queens Cut (Audio)

Kool G Rap may have the Midas touch of cosigns. From Nas to Papoose, Large Professor to MF Grimm, the Kool Genius has an ear for fellow lyricists on the come-up. Fellow Queens, New Yorker Nutso is far from new, having worked with G, along with Trae Tha Truth, Psycho... Read more

March 22, 2015 Audio

Finding The GOAT: Mos Def vs. Pharoahe Monch…Who You Got?

As we continue the ultimate battle for the title of the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time), we are asking you to help us rank who is the greatest MC to pick up a mic. We will take over 35 years of Hip-Hop into consideration, pairing special match-ups in a sequence not... Read more

October 21, 2014 Featured-homepage, Fresh