History tells us that it is really difficult to make a decent group album. The larger the group, the more unlikely that you can make more than one great album, just ask Wu-Tang. If I was a white girl in college this is the kind of hip-hop I would be into. People used to call [cont.]

Lupe Fiasco expounds and expands on his fifth studio album Tetsuo & Youth. Those expecting a significant dose of anime imagery hinted at the title, prepare to be disappointed. Those looking for an innovative take on hip hop, look no further. Forget the twitter beefs, dude delivers a serious album. Yes, it sounds like it [cont.]

The album title, Respect the Architect – borrowed from a 1995 Guru Jazzmatazz track – seems a bit forced, but luckily for the longtime fans, and new heads seeking quality over gloss, the title is the only thing that is out of place in this effort. The title and the artist demand consideration, calling to [cont.]

Kid Cudi has always been a bit of an enigma. Do mainstream music fans, the ones that throw their hands in the air, and wave them carefree-like every time that “Pursuit of Happiness” or one of its million remixes comes on in the club, really get Cudi the way that Sidney Deane got Jimi? If [cont.]

On Place in the Sun, the eighth album from LA Latino funk collective Ozomatli, the band eschews its grittier, politically charged earlier ethos in favor of a more pop sound. While this critic has missed most of the last few Ozomatli albums, so it’s unclear if this is a completely new development, but it’s really [cont.]

Overall the new Curren$y joint The Drive-in Theatre is a solid throwback to the smoked out hip-hop albums of old, but it doesn’t feel complete. Curren$y solidifies his place in the game with solid wordplay and metaphors, while conveying the pimp and hustler southern player lifestyle through his choice of subject matter. His silky smooth [cont.]

For those of you yearning for a time when the DJ’s name preceded the MC’s check out this  little video of the classic track T.R.O.Y. being performed by Pete Rock and CL Smooth live in San Diego recently at Soundwave at the Wave house. Overall this was a great show with the dynamic duo running [cont.]

Ghosts of the Barbary Coast is another collaboration between Aesop Rock and artist Jeremy Fish, available for download from def jux right here. The art is Fish at his surreal tattoo influenced best. The track called “tomorrow morning” is pure Ace Rizzle , with the strangely catchy chorus of: tomorrow morning when the wharf is [cont.]

RZA recently released a new track in honor of his fallen Wu-Tang brother ODB and Sally Menke, long time editor for Quentin Tarrantino. The track sounds like a hip hop update of a Morricone score from an old-western film coupled with a soulful chorus, calling on the talents of Justin Nozuka and Kobra Khan, with [cont.]