Atmosphere has been evolving over the last few years. The group’s recent work (When Life Give You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold and To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy), has taken the raw, personal and often bizarre nature of their earlier material and turned it into something more reflective, mature and [cont.]

It seemed only natural that eventually the Non-Phixion and Jedi Mind Tricks camps would eventually converge, given both crews’ share a similar obsession for conspiracy theories spread throughout history, not to mention raw, dark beats fashioned after classic, 90′s hip-hop. Ill Bill and Vinnie Paz collaborated on a track called “Heavy Metal Kings” some time [cont.]

Ohio’s Blueprint has been putting it down on the underground scene for a good decade now, becoming an integral limb in the Rhymesayers family tree, and without a doubt one of the most consistent artists in his class. It’s been five years since his last LP with RSE, 1988, and with Adventures In Counter-Culture he [cont.]

In a span of mere months, producer/emcee Big K.R.I.T. has gone from a virtual unknown to an up and comer with an ever increasing fan base. Krizzle’s 2010 release K.R.I.T Wuz Here was one of the year’s biggest successes and surprises and brought hip-hop fans the kind of soulful, heartfelt record they clamor for. With [cont.]

Oneirology refers to the study of dreams, a theme explored throughout The Cunninlynguists fifth LP of the same name.  A loose knit concept LP, Oneirology finds the southern-underground crew in their most focused form yet, traveling into the dark territories that only dreams and rap music can offer. Produced entirely by Kno, the album’s pace [cont.]

Boston emcee Reks has been making noise in the underground scene for about ten years now. The Brick Records alumnus’s critically acclaimed debut Along Came The Chosen dropped in 2001 and featured the likes of Pacewon & Young Zee of the Outsiderz, 7L & Esoteric, J-Live and Shabaam Sahdeeq.  His 2008 follow-up Grey Hairs, also [cont.]

The curse of the classic album. Every artist in the world wants to release an LP that shifts the paradigm of music as a whole, and remains timeless to listeners decades later. It’s arguable whether or not Pharoahe Monch did this on Organized Konfusion’s Stress: The Extinction Agenda in 1994, or later with his debut [cont.]

Travis Barker has led one of the most interesting and storied careers as an artist, from his humble beginnings as drummer for Blink 182 to performing with DJ AM at different spots on the globe. Tragedy struck Barker in 2008, after surviving a Lear Jet plane crash alongside DJ AM, while four others died. DJ [cont.]

The story behind Raekwon’s Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang LP is loosely based around the kung-fu flick of the same name – two warring factions with similar styles that ultimately realize they are one in the same. In the case of Raekwon, this is a chance for him to do a new LP unsupervised by RZA, more [cont.]

A KRS-One and Showbiz collaboration is theoretically the stuff “true school” hip hop heads’ dreams are made of. Eleven ’90′s flavored tracks; smooth but boom bap at the essence, coupled with the blastmaster’s thick, commanding original raps is a reminder that the vets are not lacking in skills. Still, KRS’s authoritative and sometimes superior vibe [cont.]

Lupe Fiasco’s Lasers is a classic case of artist versus record company—the tug of war between artistic integrity and commercial viability. Unfortunately in this case, the artist either lost the battle or simply gave up the fight. Lasers is an over-synthesized, annoyingly “pop,” hit and miss effort, that simply lacks the style or substance to [cont.]

The mystique of The Greatest Story Never Told is almost as rich as that of Detox; that being a highly-anticipated album with a super-producer attached to it, only to be delayed indefinitely. In the case of Saigon’s debut, it almost seemed like this album wouldn’t come out at all, as he recorded it for Atlantic [cont.]

Brooklyn emcee Joell Ortiz has long been on the radar of hip-hop fans. With humble beginnings on Rawkus under the name Jo-Ell Quickman, Ortiz has killed the mixtape circuit in addition to his 2007 debut The Brick: Bodega Chronicles. The former Aftermath signee’s credentials range from being  featured in The Source’s “Unsigned Hype”, XXL’s Chairman’s [cont.]

“This ain’t no lyrical, miracle, chop your head off… none of that shit.” Those words punctuate the introduction of Murs and Terrace Martin’s collaborative effort, Murs and Terrace Martin Are… Melrose. While the Living Legend is certainly capable of getting deep with it, as evidenced by his collaborative efforts with 9th Wonder, this isn’t one [cont.]

Boston rapper Slaine has been on the scene for a minute now, releasing a series of critically acclaimed mixtapes, as well as holding memberships in the Special Teamz and La Coka Nostra supergroups. Always one to steal the show, despite his loyal fan-following he has yet to release his own solo LP. While doubling as [cont.]

The 11th edition of Madlib’s Medicine Show series boasts an initially daunting 28 tracks, but at just over an hour long; the album is an almost perfect creative blend of beats & rhymes, jazz laced instrumentals and comedic interludes. Don’t be surprised if you’re compelled to run it back in its entirety. The whole thing [cont.]

Indie hip-hop and conscious rap seems to have completely disappeared over the last few years, as today’s scene revolves more around “blog-hop” instead of a loose-knit family of indie labels releasing product via retail. Thankfully, there a few people left to carry on tradition, most notably the world famous DJ Revolution, and his new discovery [cont.]

A new breed of rapper has emerged within the last few years; one that is stuck between their golden age and the current music scene, which is a fusion of everything elitists proclaim isn’t Hip-Hop. This group of undaunted artists define Hip-Hop on their own terms and don’t give a damn what anyone has to [cont.]

Long ago, MCA solicited a 12″ single for Black Thought called “Hardware”, produced by DJ Krush, suggesting that this was the first single from his “forthcoming” solo album Masterpiece Theatre. While the record was not a “hit” in a hit-defining industry, heads loved it and begged for the album’s release. Eventually we all came to [cont.]

Posthumous compilation; no rating given. Gunfire cut the lives of too many talented emcees short. 2Pac, Notorious BIG and Scott LaRock instantly come to mind. Typically lost in the shuffle of the deceased is Big L. At 24, Lamont Coleman’s life was stopped in a barrage of gun fire. Many believe he was on the [cont.]