In a mere two years, Big Krit has gone from virtual unknown to sought after veteran. When the Mississippi native burst on the scene in 2010 with his impressive mixtape K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, he did so without a national following and without really any known commodities backing him. Since then Krit has become an artist [cont.]

Del is an emcee whose persona transcends the indie underground where he has resided for a number of years. He and his Hieroglyphics cohorts have been able to make the career decisions they have wanted to since being dropped from their major label deals nearly twenty years ago. With creative control intact, Del has been [cont.]

The trio of Andy Cooper, Dizzy Dustin, and Young Einstein have built up a small, but loyal fanbase over the years, with their lighthearted, classically trained brand of hip-hop. Producer Young Einstein propels the group with an endless selection of breaks and samples, changing every few bars or so, always keeping listeners on their toes. [cont.]

Curren$y is an emcee lucky enough to experience a second childhood in hip-hop, as he first debuted as a No Limit solider ten years ago, as a member of the 504 Boyz. With the sheer amount of crap the label was shoveling out at that time, it was easy to overlook diamonds in the rough [cont.]

If there is one lesson Rick Ross has continually found success from it’s the old “If it’s not broke, then don’t fix it” cliché. While one could make a case over the technical abilities of the rapper, you can’t deny his ability to crank out hits. His formula of being able to capture ears with [cont.]

Let’s get something out of the way from the jump. The initial reaction to Masta Ace’s new album might go something like this: “I’ve heard all of these beats before. And what’s up with that album cover?”. It’s a good thing we don’t judge books by their covers; or albums, for that matter. At surface [cont.]

Nepotism has always existed in hip-hop, for better or for worse. Rapper gets on, then signs his less talented friends and cousins, many whom try to acts as clones of their successful peer, usually bringing down said rapper in the process. There are some exceptions to the rule; The Clipse are a pair of brothers [cont.]

Let’s face it – posthumous albums usually disappoint. In the case of J. Dilla, he’s been pretty fortunate to have his legacy live on in a positive manner with solid releases like The Shining and Ruff Draft, the latter of which was completed before his passing. There hasn’t been a terrible amount of remixing or [cont.]

Fan favorite Aesop Rock producer and Ninja Tune instrumentalist, Blockhead, returns with his fifth LP for the label, Interludes After Midnight, an ode to the late night public access television shows he grew up on. This theme doesn’t necessarily transcend to the music itself, unless Block is sampling bits and pieces of the programming that [cont.]

Producer Statik Selektah has very quickly risen to the top of the underground’s current crop of beat-makers over the last few years. He has not only released a steady stream of projects with several high-profile collaborators, but he’s also maintained a level of quality with each one. When working with the Shade45 resident, rappers know [cont.]

Let us get one thing understood, and that is that controversy sells. As someone who is certainly not oblivious to this, David Banner decides to experiment under that very premise. With his latest effort appropriately titled Sex, Drugs, and Video Games, Banner attempts to challenge the masses while feeding them what they want. All three [cont.]

Usher hasn’t seemed interested in making good music for some time now. Back when he put out Confessions, which feels like forever ago, he appeared to be taking his talent to new heights and evolving as an artist. But he’s made it clear with his last couple albums (Here I Stand and Raymond v. Raymond) [cont.]

What do Biz Markie, Busdriver, and Blueprint all have in common? Aside from the fact that all three have each made their mark on the hip-hop scene, they all seem as far apart in their lyrical and song delivery approach as possible. On his new album, Hope In Dirt City, Canada’s Cadence Weapon fuses the [cont.]

It must be hard being Bobby Ray. Here you have an artist with such immense talent that was spawned as one of Hip-Hop’s rising stars, who has achieved success by experimenting beyond the traditional genre. Obviously as Hip-Hop has evolved so has its children, so it’s not uncommon to hear a rapper doing much more [cont.]

It’s been five years since El-P’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, his last studio full-length for the currently dormant Definitive Jux imprint. Moving on to Fat Possum, the very prolific emcee/producer has made up for lost time by releasing two side-by-side albums – his own Cancer 4 Cure – and Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music, both [cont.]

February 23, 1986: The LA Times’ Connie Johnson penned a young Janet Jackson had “truly arrived” after releasing her third studio album Control. “This is a story about control, my control,” Jackson declared on the album and title track intro. A year to date from that review a child was born, who on May 11, [cont.]

Killer Mike started out as one of the umpteenth members of The Dungeon Family – a Native Toungesque collective formed around Outkast and The Goodie Mob. No offense to the rest of the crew, but many of them have had a hard time carving out successful solo careers or building solid fanbases for themselves. Maybe [cont.]

Miami’s ¡MAYDAY! is a crew that has defined the art of paying dues. They first broke onto the scene with their local hit “Quicksand”, followed by their breakthrough smash single “Groundhog Day” (featuring Cee-Lo Green). The latter boasts over 2 million views on it’s first day on YouTube – much owed to the affiliation with [cont.]

Boasting a career that spans over two decades, Showbiz and A.G. are the post-Guru answer to Gang Starr – a seminal New York duo that has never lost it’s vision. As DJ Premier re-introduces them on this “free-album-before-the-album”, the two have settled in a natural vibe. From the sound of Mugshot Music: Pre-Loaded – a [cont.]

Stones Throw describes Quakers as  “a hip-hop collective boasting 35 members which orbits around a core of three producers: Fuzzface (Geoff Barrow), 7-Stu-7 and Katalyst.” For those that don’t know, Geoff Barrow is the backbone behind classic “trip-hop” pioneers Portishead, making the prospect of a hip-hop full-length produced by him quite exciting. Yet with so [cont.]