Iomos Marad’s full length debut album Deep Rooted is the thoughtful emcee’s introduction to the world. As an All Natural emcee and a member of the Family Tree,Iomos flexes his lyrical prowess in the same vein as Mos Def, J-Live, Talib Kweli and others. Marad is deep-rooted in his family, in his city’s history, in hip-hop, in [cont.]

Heads sometimes need to be snatched back to when hip-hop was fun. In a time where bullshit like “making the band” and women shaking their tail feather is ruling the airwaves, Jemini The Gifted One brings along new beatsmith DJ Danger Mouse to transport hip hop back to the mid-nineties, when it was all about [cont.]

From the depths of New York City basements comes Babbletron. Comprised of emcees Cool Calm Pete and Jaymanilla with production provided by DJ Pre, Babbletron embodies the sound of Def Jux and conceives its own impression. With this being the second release from the Jukie affiliated Embedded imprint (the first being The Bedford Files) Babbletron comes foward [cont.]

With a relatively interesting name in tow, 7Heads releases its first installment of the 7Heads Are Better Than 1 series, No Edge Ups in South Africa. As the indy label, which houses names such as J-Live, Asheru and Blue Black, El Da Sensei, and Djinji Brown,  begins its ascent up the hip hop hierarchy, one [cont.]

Metaphorically speaking, Ras Kass is the Vince Carter of this rap shit. Don’t believe it? Well listen up. Back when the west was nothing but G-funk, along came a young man from virtually unknown C-Arson (Toronto) named John Austin AKA Ras Kass (Vince Carter). The young cat turned hip-hop on its collective ear with his [cont.]

Zion I has put in some work over the last few years; check the resume: From the underground album of the year in The Source (Mind Over Matter), to the evolving of the groups sound on their follow up (Deep Water Slang 2.0), to being featured on the X-Games and as the only hip hop group in [cont.]

First impressions mean everything!!  A few months ago while checking out Atmosphere’s God Loves Ugly tour, one unknown, rather curious looking emcee took the stage and proceeded to make a very immediate and lasting impression.  After running thru some solo-cuts, dazzling freestyles and beat-boxing the crowd into submission it was evident that Brother Ali was not [cont.]

Table Turns, the independent hip-hop collective who began as an open turntable event three years ago, has built itself a label specifically for the DJ, but has since made strides to embrace the emcee as well. After the release of Rob Swift’s Sound Event, Tableturns is back at it again with the release of State [cont.]

After serving up an incredible debut, Movies For The Blind, concocting a slick conceptual rendition of the Billy Dee Williams and Sly Stallone cop thriller with partner Camu Tao, (The Nighthawks), and spearheading the incredible Weathermen Conspiracy mix CD, the bastard child of Stanley Kubrick, Cage, somehow finds time to give his fans more with the EP [cont.]

Grand Agent embarks on another mission as preserver and defender of what he calls “Traditional Rap” on his follow up to By Design, Fish Outta Water. GA has taken his more focused approach overseas,where he has been since his debut, and recorded his second full length almost entirely in Germany. As GA puts it he’s trying [cont.]

If there ever was an emcee who belonged on the back of a milk carton, the Queens native who spit along side A Tribe Called Quest on the under appreciated Beats Rhymes and Life, who also happens to be Q-Tip’s cousin, Consequence. After the initially disappointing, but later appreciated performance Cons drifted off into the land [cont.]

What is it with Nas these days? Does he realize the plethora of beatsmiths that could be at his disposal? Why does he still choose to work with producers who just can’t keep up with the venomous spew that the world renowned street poet has displayed over and over again. Well after the dynamic retooling of [cont.]

At one point, the RZA was the most consistent producer in the game, with his name being mentioned alongside beatsmiths like DJ Premier and Dr. Dre. But after the Wu mansion flood years back which washed away a ton of beats (not to mention a future). RZA has transformed into the ridiculous Bobby Digital and produced some sub-par (compared [cont.]

In the four-years since the Rebel INS dropped his slept-on Uncontrolled Substance (which still went Gold with virtually no input from RZA) debut, it seems that heads have nearly forgotten about one of the Wu’s sharpest blades.  On the heels on Wu’s Iron Flag, Deck has experienced further growing pains as a solo-artist, jetting from [cont.]

Straight out of Detroit and hot off of Slum Village’s biggest hit to date, “Tainted”, comes neo-soul crooner Dwele. The producer/eMCee turned producer/singer (he tried it just for fun and it worked….ha who woulda guessed!?!?) attempts to serve up this so-called nu-soul revolution with its most innovative piece yet… SUBJECT. Good news; Dwele has mastered [cont.]

Bleeding from the very veins as DJ Shadow and RJD2 comes the Nigerian born, middle eastern bred, and Morehouse alum Science Fiction with his stellar debut Walls Don’t Exist. Utilizing the same techniques that created the monsters known as Deadringer and Endtroducing… Sci Fi injects his own persona into the stew. If Rjd2 is adrenaline and Shadow is [cont.]