When Mark Ronson first stepped on the scene, it was easy to dismiss him as “the guy from Foreigner’s kid”. After all, showbiz is filled with nepotism, and time after time we’ve seen famous people put their less talented relatives on. In Mark’s case, talent runs in the family, as he has proven over and [cont.]

Right now, Dam Funk is part Dr. Dre, part Madlib and part George Clinton. However this was an evolution, as the early demo tapes that comprise Adolescent Funk show he started more as a disciple of Prince, Michael Jackson and Egyptian Lover. “Fonky Island Life” kicks off the collection which starts with odd samples of [cont.]

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a decade since Ohio emcee Copywrite released the critically hailed The High Exhaulted. Since then, Copywrite has been in and out of music, dealt with a number of personal issues and has finally resurfaced for his first full length album since 2002′s The High Exhaulted with [cont.]

The Bay Area’s Zion I crew, made up of producer Amp Live and emcee Zumbi, have always been known for their incredible consistency and diverse musical palette. While they got off to a rough start, over the course of the group’s career, they improved with time, gaining a loyal following, perfecting their sound, never afraid [cont.]

Ne-Yo’s fourth studio album, Libra Scale, is supposedly a concept album – a story of average guys having to choose between fame and power, and love, while becoming superheroes called upon to protect the planet. Or something like that. Anyway, any trace of this story is completely lost on this reviewer. Maybe it shows up [cont.]

When Curren$y dropped Pilot Talk earlier in the year, it received mixed reactions. Some shot down the subject matter, or lack thereof. Others were upset due to the fact that most of the material had already been leaked to the blog sites several months back. Stoners were just happy to have the album. Leading up [cont.]

In 2010, the still (barely) waving G-Unit flag has been held up by Lloyd Banks. With head honcho 50 Cent doing off doing what he does best (Chelsea Handler, making bad movies,  inciting random beefs, making strange youtube cameos/collabos, and  crashing teleconferences), the one-time successful label has fallen on hard, not to mention… strange, times.  [cont.]

Nicki Minaj has had an incredible year, collaborating with just about every major rapper that had an album, and in many cases stealing the show. Sure, her ridiculous bodily proportions, unique facial expressions, and Gaga-esque wardrobe collection suggest that she’s nothing more than a concoction of some evil record company, but Nicki’s style is all [cont.]

Coming straight out of Wilmington, North Carolina, are emcees KonSCI and Tronic form MindsOne. The crew, with members originally hailing from D.C., Albany, and Charlotte, formed in Wilmington, NC in 2002, when emcees Tronic and KON Sci met and later connected with DJ Noumenon. In 2006, the duo released an EP titled; The Time Space [cont.]

While we all knew from his rhymes that Kanye had Slick Rick levels of egotism early on (“Why you think, me and Dame cool, we assholes…”), but we didn’t see it manifest outside of his music itself until later in his career, through numerous incidents that would appear on TV, YouTube, etc. Regardless, the man [cont.]

Let’s discuss a trend that has been circulating in hip-hop for a little while now, the sequel album. It seems as If a lot of artists right now are coming out with the “sequel” to either their most critically acclaimed or commercially successful albums. Now, at first there was nothing wrong with this concept, but [cont.]

Consistency is often a gift and a curse within hip-hop circles. Spend too much time doing the same thing and the sound gets stale. Go too far out of the box and fans long for the sounds of yesterday. This is the space Chicago emcee Twista occupies today. After rhyming over sonic soundscapes from the [cont.]

The mixtape has become such an essential part of the hip-hop landscape that in some cases it’s better than an album by a given artist. J. Cole’s third official mixtape, Friday Night Lights, surely has to be one of the best ever made. Following The Come Up and The Warm Up, and a treasure trove [cont.]

Cee-Lo Green has been an extremely talented, yet painfully underrated artist since his career started as a member of the Goodie Mob in the 90s. Ever since he sang the intro song “Free” on the Southern collective’s Cell Therapy album, it was evident that the big bellied Southerner has vocal chops that match his lyrical [cont.]

Celph Titled has never really had a proper solo LP. The Gatalog was a bullet-ridden collection of just about every song he’d recorded during the heyday or the indie hip-hop movement, while his collaborative album with J-Zone, Every Hogg Has It’s Day was a concept record that only allowed him half the spotlight. His latest, [cont.]

There is rarely an artist that is so much more than just an artist. Case in point is J-Live. Going on nearly 15 years in the hip-hop game, J-Live is an emcee who never succumbed to the mainstream, never dumbed down his lyrics or production, and remained true to what is now referred to as [cont.]

The Bay area’s Lyrics Born has dwelled in the underground as part of the early 00’s group Latyrx and made a name for himself as a staple in the bay with solo endeavors such as Later That Day. But his latest outing finds him moving way left of the music he is known for, which [cont.]

Compilation; No rating given. Rebuilding. In the sports world, the term is normally used as an excuse when you’re favorite team isn’t doing that good. “Oh, we’re rebuilding,” is the excuse often given.  It’s been awhile since 9th Wonder’s departure from Little Brother. Aside from crafting albums with the likes of Murs and Buckshot, 9th [cont.]

One thing you can say about Massachusetts: they kept it real. Many of their tri-state neighbors felt the need to modernize (read: water down) their sound to appeal to other markets or a “wider audience”, as we say. But pretty much everyone in Murder Mass has maintained the classic east coast hip-hop aesthetic that was [cont.]

Seven years ago, Joe Budden dropped “Pump It Up,” scoring the biggest hit of his career. And while the track went hard in the clubs and the car, it was hardly Budden at his best. Fast forward seven years later and “Jersey Joe” is in full stride on the independent circuit. Mood Muzik 4 – [cont.]