What's The Headline? Archives

Evidence Discusses Starting Over After Dilated Peoples (Video)

Last Friday (June 25), Evidence released his latest solo album, Unlearning, Vol. 1. The Rhymesayers Entertainment release featuring Conway The Machine, Alchemist, Boldy James, and others has already been met with applause, including Ambrosia For Heads' 10 Best Albums of 2021 (so far) list. Notably, Unlearning breaks from Ev's Weatherman series, dating back to his first solo album,... Read more

June 29, 2021 Exclusive, Interview, Video

Skyzoo Explains How Phonte Talked Him Out Of Retiring

Earlier this month, Skyzoo released his latest album, All The Brilliant Things. Already named as one of Ambrosia For Heads' best of 2021 so far, the Mello Music Group LP is reportedly three years in the making. In a run that includes the Pete Rock-produced Retropolitan and 2020's standout The... Read more

June 22, 2021 Exclusive, Interview, News, Video

Swizz Beatz Explains Why He Will Not Release His Vault Of DMX Music

Last Friday (May 28), DMX's final album, Exodus, was released. DMX's reunion with Def Jam Records album was made over years and overseen by Swizz Beatz. Beyond their mutual ties to the Ruff Ryders, X and Swizz shared a brotherhood. From the onset of DMX's late 1990s skyrocket to fame,... Read more

May 30, 2021 Video

J. Cole’s Off-Season Has Several Cryptic References To Illmatic

Last Friday (May 14), J. Cole released his sixth album, The Off-Season. Three years removed from his acclaimed KOD, Cole returned with more social commentary, versatile deliveries, and plenty of themes to unpack. Whereas his 2018 outing was an indictment on drug use amid the youth, especially within the Rap community, Cole's... Read more

May 17, 2021 Video

DMX’s New Album Features Nas, JAY-Z, Griselda & More. Here’s The Tracklist

UPDATE: Swizz Beatz has released the full tracklist for DMX's Exodus album, which will be released on May 28, and it is even more star-studded than previously reported. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Swizz Beatz (@therealswizzz) Here is the full tracklist: 1. “That’s My Dog” feat.... Read more

May 11, 2021 Video

Redman & Method Man Are Making Blackout 3

Last night (April 20), Method Man and Redman proved to be the big dogs of Verzuz, with one of the most anticipated displays since the platform's creation. The performance was part concert, part competition. Two of Hip-Hop's closest figures made all who tuned in feel their chemistry as they ran... Read more

April 21, 2021 Video

DMX’s New Album Is Coming This Summer & It’s Filled With Superstars

Last Friday (April 9), family, friends, and millions of Hip-Hop fans mourned the loss of DMX. The 50-year-old rapper born Earl Simmons passed away at age 50. For the previous week, X had been on life support in White Plains, New York hospital, following a cardiac arrest. Decades into a... Read more

April 13, 2021 Video

Here Are Some Reasons Why 2000 May Be Hip-Hop’s Greatest Year

At Ambrosia For Heads, we celebrate Hip-Hop throughout the ages. Earlier this year, our What's The Headline podcast launched a series examining the calendar years that made the music and culture reach its full potential. After taking a loving look back at 1984, the next episode drops in on Y2K.... Read more

April 6, 2021 Video

T Dot Eric Recalls Documenting The 1995 Source Awards Clash From The Front Row

Photographer T Dot Eric has taken some of the pictures that have defined how Hip-Hop thinks of its heroes. His work includes legendary flicks of Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Big L, D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Gang Starr, De La Soul, and Black Star—only to name a few. T.... Read more

March 30, 2021 Video

No MC Has Been Better Than Benny The Butcher The Last 2 Years

Benny The Butcher has just released his first 2021 album, The Plugs I Met 2. The Black Soprano Family founder teamed with Brooklyn, New York veteran producer Harry Fraud for the nine-track LP, which features 2 Chainz, Fat Joe, Jim Jones, French Montana, the late Chinx, and Benny's protege, Rick Hyde.... Read more

March 23, 2021 Video

JAY-Z’s Sale Of TIDAL Will Transform How Artists Are Paid For Music

Just weeks after selling half of his stake in Ace of Spades, JAY-Z made another power move. Hip-Hop's first billionaire mogul sold his stake in Tidal to investor Jack Dorsey's Square company in a reportedly $297 million deal this month. Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, also leads the mobile payment company, which now welcomes... Read more

March 9, 2021 Audio, Video

Will DMX’s Reunion With Def Jam Return Both To Glory?

This month DMX appeared on N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN's Drink Champs for a second time. Since the Hip-Hop show's inception, X has been a top draw for Drink Champs, sitting at the table and giving a real and raw interview to his past collaborator Noreaga back in episode 3. Great conversations with Puff... Read more

February 23, 2021 Audio, Video

1984 Was The Year That Changed Everything For Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop Heads regularly debate the culture and music's greatest years. There are usual and deserving suspects, of course. However, Ambrosia For Heads' What's The Headline podcast is launching a series where we make a case for those years—and some others too. As we currently live in what some consider Orwellian times, 1984... Read more

February 10, 2021 Audio, Food for Thought, Video

Snoop Dogg & Eminem Have Been Feuding For Months. Here’s Why

Two of Dr. Dre's greatest proteges are Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. He developed one esteemed lyricist at the top of the 1990s during the establishment of Death Row Records and the other at the tail-end of that decade, solidifying his Aftermath Entertainment imprint. Ever since, Snoop and Em partnered... Read more

January 18, 2021 Audio, Video

A New Phife Dawg Album Is Coming In 2021

This week, Ambrosia For Heads recorded what is likely the final What's The Headline episode of the year. In the season 2 finale, we react to some of the LPs that our readers told us we missed after our "Best Albums List" for 2020. Additionally, we discuss next month's 63rd... Read more

December 22, 2020 Audio, Video

Statik Selektah Explains What We Have To Do To Protect Hip-Hop

Less than two weeks ago, Statik Selektah released his ninth compilation-style album, The Balancing Act. The esteemed producer/DJ/Showoff Records founder involves a cast that includes Nas, Black Thought, Killer Mike, Sean Price, Jack Harlow, Method Man, Benny The Butcher, Evidence, Joey Bada$$, and Jadakiss, to name a few. However, the album,... Read more

December 8, 2020 Audio, Exclusive, Video

Kanye West’s Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Turns 10. Is It His Best Album?

One decade ago (November 22, 2010), Kanye West released a blockbuster album in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Whereas 2008's 808's & Heartbreak confronting loss and lust with sounds that veered beyond 'Ye's first three albums, 2010's M.B.D.T.F. marked a return to form, even if it was nothing like the Roc-A-Fella Records mid-2000s run. Just... Read more

November 23, 2020 Fresh

Busta Rhymes Opens Up About His Near Death Experience

Less than three weeks since releasing the highly-acclaimed Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, Busta Rhymes continues to give fans greater context about a comeback album like no other. In speaking with Van Jones' The Messy Truth, the veteran MC/producer discussed how Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad mentored Leaders... Read more

November 16, 2020 Fresh

MC Eiht Details Lessons He Learned From EPMD, Rakim, Menace II Society & More

MC Eiht is the latest guest on Ambrosia For Heads' What's The Headline podcast. In a 90-minute discussion, Eiht revisits highlights from his entire 30-plus-year-career. The Hub City O.G. details the formative years of Compton's Most Wanted and how he assumed the writing responsibilities for both MCs in the collective.... Read more

October 27, 2020 Exclusive, Video

The LOX Break Down How To Make A Classic Album (Video)

Three weeks ago, The LOX released their fourth album, Living Off Xperience. The D-Block/Roc Nation release includes contributions from DMX, Benny The Butcher, Westside Gunn, Large Professor, T-Pain, Oswin Benjamin, Nottz, Statik Selektah, and their artist, Dyce Payne. Less than a month since its release, the LP from one of... Read more

September 22, 2020 Exclusive, Fresh, Video