Evan Nabavian stabbed Un and made you take the blame. Nas has officially returned from his Damian Marley-guided African pilgrimage with two new guest verses. Fortunately, all that spirituality hasn’t left Nas so high-minded (or high) that he can’t make songs called “Dog Shit” and “So Fresh.” You can’t really hail these two as the […]

Another post should be up later this afternoon, deadlines and dawdling permitting. In the interim, necessity demands sharing this incredible cut from the ATL’s top-ranking Lonnie Lynn/Rick Bawse impersonater, Sean Falyon. The West Philly-raised Falyon, pairs up with the dependably great Playboy Tre and Scar, to drop an incredibly poignant slice of the Dungeon Family-type […]

Under no circumstances should Skinny Jeans and a Mic be better than Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon.  After all, Cudi has the co-signs (Kanye, Common, the uh, Black Eyed Peas)  the would-be indie icons brought in for Aoki-crowd mustache cred (MGMT, Crookers, Ratatat) and the back-story: at age 11 loses father to cancer, makes […]

Good book and all, but honestly why was anyone surprised when it come out. It might’ve been the least shocking thing I’ve ever read. Newsflash: Bobby Knight’s an asshole. Moving on. First and foremost, Crooklyn’s Classics is holding it down this week, posting on a greatest hits of mid-90s hip-hop soundtracks. Included, among others are: […]

The best rap of the worst year.

Steven Louis explores the powerful deep cut from Outkast's 1998 classic.

Sun-Ui Yum takes a look at tsar of gamble's new LP, 'a furnace in the coin fountain.'

Photos via Tito Garcia & Quayvo Shots. Joshua Lerner teaches at a school, accredited. If most rap artists still make their bread and butter through touring and stage performances, as Harold Stallworth stated last week in an article for this site, it serves us well to wonder: what are the factors that make for a […]

B. Michael Payne steps into the arena. It must feel weird being even a relatively old-school hip-hop head. Back in the late 90s and early 00s, you only knew Kanye West as a Roc-a-Fella producer with occasional placements on semi-underrated Jay-Z projects. The College Dropout leak and College Dropout album were game changers, but for […]

See Also: The 50 Greatest Producers of All-Time #50-41 The Greatest Producers of All-Time: Honorable Mention 40. Battlecat At the risk of excluding forgotten pioneers, you can trace the local roots of LA hip hop production to five names: Dr. Dre, Joe Cooley, Egyptian Lover, Arabian Prince, and DJ Battlecat. The latter broke in as […]