Coney Island emcee, Torae, has been building a steady fan base, gaining recognition through collaborations with DJ Premier, his ‘Barrel Brother’ Skyzoo, and of course, producer Marco Polo. Torae’s 2009 collaboration Double Barrel with producer Marco Polo was critically acclaimed and left fans wanting more from “Da Young Veteran”. With his long anticipated official debut [cont.]

Every artist has some kind of stigma or preconceived notion about themselves that they forever try to live down. For Asher Roth, it was the inevitable Eminem comparisons, which he addressed head-on on his debut LP, Asleep In The Bread Isle on a track called “As I Em”. He’s done enough at this point to [cont.]

In 2007, Blu dropped an underground classic with producer Exile called Below The Heavens. Almost a perfect hip-hop record, this was almost the album that closed the book on the indie hip-hop movement. The Fat Beats vinyl era was coming to an end, while the digital blog-hop movement was just beginning. A large part of [cont.]

Fresh off a stint in prison, the self -proclaimed, “King of the South”, T.I., returns with his latest musical offering to start the year off right. The Grand Hustle leader presents a mixtape full of all original music to prep fans for his inevitable studio release coming sooner than later. If it feels like we’ve [cont.]

Interesting how things come full circle – Common’s longtime producer No I.D. (Can-I-Borrow-I-Dollar-longtime) recently found himself producing hit tracks for Kanye West’s last two LP’s – while Common went on to tap guys like The Neptunes, Dilla, and Kanye himself for his last few LP’s. With No I.D. taking on the position of executive VP [cont.]

Let’s face it, Naughty By Nature haven’t necessarily had a plethora of new musical output over the past decade. Aside from Treach’s excellent guest verse on Celph Titled and Buckwild’s Nineteen Ninety Now, and a handful of other guest verses, they have mainly spent their time touring the world off of their catalog of hits [cont.]

The standard definition of the term energy is a feeling of possessing such strength and vitality, and perhaps this is the most fitting adjective that symbolizes rapper Cappadonna, the Staten Island native from the hip-hop group the Wu Tang Clan. Energy is also an element that remains consistent throughout his latest work of The Pilgrimage [cont.]

North Carolina-based emcee Median knows how to alleviate the drama. His first two projects; The Path to Relief EP and Median’s Relief appear to be named in that spirit, and The Sender is no exception. Brought to you by Jamla and +FE Music, the full length sophomore offering of this Hall of Justus comrade actualizes a [cont.]

B.o.B. has seen a relatively quick road to success over the past few years, thanks to massive pop singles like the lovey-dovey “Nothin’ On You” with Bruno Mars and the more introspective “Airplanes” with Eminem. But prior to his deal with T.I.’s Grand Hu$tle imprint, Bobby Ray was making noise on the mixtape scene, and [cont.]

In every group, there is always a breakout star. Michael Jackson stood out in the Jackson 5. Q-Tip is the most recognizable face of A Tribe Called Quest. You know the story. Group breaks up, one member goes on to super stardom. In the case of Rapper Big Pooh, he found himself initially on the [cont.]

These days, most underground artists do not tour nationwide, let alone, worldwide. With the changing musical landscape, fickle fan bases, and the rising costs of touring, most East Coast clubs seldom see their brethren from the West roll through their towns. Zion I and the members of the Living Legends defy modern touring conventions. Both [cont.]

Let’s face it, posthumous albums usually suck. Reason being, the estate and/or record label gathers up all of the leftover material from said deceased artist, slaps some fonts on an old press photo, and tries to pass it off as an album. Even worse are the remixes, which attempt to “update” the artists’ sound for [cont.]

I guess at 17, listening to “Distortion To Static” in the whip, I fully expected The Roots to be around 17 years later at 34. Of course, at that time, I also expected by now I’d be listening to A Tribe Called Quest’s ninth LP and Biggie’s sixth. However the transformation that The Roots crew [cont.]

As I open the product, my body starts to shake in anticipation. The latest drug to hit the street, pure and uncut, a newfound experience with Mobb Deep’s Black Cocaine. Once I begin to take it in, my dopamine reactors start to surge. A reggae chant on “Dead Man Shoes” is a unique approach for [cont.]

Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame – collectively known as M.O.P. – have been one of the most consistent New York hip-hop groups since Gang Starr, continuing to deliver an unadulterated, undiluted brand of raw street-hop for almost two decades. The pinnacle of their career was with their 2000 single “Ante Up”, which led arguably the [cont.]

Jedi Mind Tricks is a household name when it comes to indie hip-hop. The group has been a staple of the underground and at this point fans know exactly what to expect. Hard beats by Stoupe and violent rhymes by Vinny Paz and Jus Allah have made JMT a fan favorite, bringing the group an [cont.]

After releasing one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums of 2010 (Nineteen Ninety Now), Celph Titled and Buckwild return, at the end of 2011, with Nineteen Ninety More; a companion piece to the album from last year. Anyone who spent any time on hip-hop websites and message boards, around the time of the release [cont.]

Eminem’s Shady Records imprint has been around for over a decade, but curiously has never signed another white guy. Considering that Em is arguably the nicest emcee in the game, for him to embrace a member of his own race would obviously draw comparisons, making it a lot to live up to for whomever that [cont.]

Society has always been a big sap for a good, classic underdog tale. It is as though it is deeply encrypted into the human DNA sequence to root for the little man in hopes that he will take down the current reigning “machine” and emerge victorious. We leaped for lizards when our favorite little red-headed [cont.]

“People that hate on Drake aren’t listening to the music,” said Talib Kweli, to me, in an off camera conversation a month ago or so back, in Las Vegas. And it’s true. Let’s face it, the majority of commercial hip-hop sucks – and the state of commercial R&B music is even worse. It’s easy to [cont.]