In six years, Flying Lotus has released four albums, starting with 1983 leading to his newest, Until the Quiet Comes. Beginning with a foundation of electronic music and hip-hop, he’s quickly evolved, digesting unique sounds and genres, blending samples, live music, and vocals to create something that you can’t prepare for. For those who listened [cont.]

The history of what would one day become Wu-Block dates back to a song by Fat Joe called “John Blaze”, which featured both Raekwon and Jadakiss, among other rappers. This would be the first time that someone from the Clan appeared on a track with someone from the post-Bad Boy crew, The Lox, despite accusations [cont.]

In Los Angeles’ new era of hip-hop, many artists have found it most beneficial to represent themselves and remain independent. Pac Div discovered this reality after signing with Universal Motown in 2009 when they felt that commercialized stardom wasn’t a good fit for them and they ripped up the contract. The West Coast trio was [cont.]

Game has experienced a series of highs-and-lows throughout his seven year career, which began as an Aftermath/G-Unit Recording artist, then took several strange turns from there. After a public falling out with 50 Cent, and a struggle to maintain his relationship with mentor Dr. Dre, Game has made a series of questionable moves publicly. Among [cont.]

“Sometimes I ain’t get in trouble, trouble got in me…” When one thinks of the last few years for one Clifford “T.I.” Harris, it’s hard not to acknowledge that line. Though his image has been repaired through his reality series starring him and his family, as well as various other community endeavors he has been [cont.]

Chief Keef is one of these artists whose personal drama is as or more interesting than his music. The 17-year-old from the South Side of Chicago has not only led a surge in popularity for a new local subgenre called “drill music”, he’s admittedly shot at police (so he says at the beginning of this [cont.]

Wiz Khalifa’s career has had a bit of a whirlwind turn of events after the success of “Black & Yellow”. The single thrust him from underground mixtape artist to major label superstar, yet he was unable to match the success of that single with his 2011 debut, Rolling Papers. While much of that album pandered [cont.]

Big Boi introduces himself on Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors as one half of Outkast, and while he and Andre 3000 have taken different creative paths, Big Boi’s solo work is proving he is more than capable of holding his own. This is technically his second solo effort, a follow-up to 2010’s Sir Lucious Left-Foot, [cont.]

Over the years, countless rappers have gone head-to-head with their major label benefactors, many times ending up with their albums being shelved or simply being dropped from the roster. In the case of Atlantic Records alone, we’ve seen many of underground rapper at odds with the label, such as Apathy, Little Brother, Lupe Fiasco, and [cont.]

When you hear the title Jet World Order 2, you may think of the sequel to a story about the Illuminati planning to rule the airways with cruel intentions domination; or perhaps on a lighter note, an aviation company. But on realistic measures, one could assume that the Southern rap collective is back at it [cont.]

Roc Marciano has experienced somewhat of a second childhood in hip-hop, first debuting as member of Busta Rhymes’ fledgling Flipmode Squad, after the departure of Lord Have Mercy. He later teamed with Pete Rock on his Petestrumentals Beat Generation project, acting as one of the only voices on the largely instrumental LP. He finally released [cont.]

In one of the most unexpected super-group/collabo records of the year, Murder Mass / Showoff emcee Termanology teams up with M.O.P.’s Lil Fame (aka Fizzy Womack), for the humorously titled Fizzology LP, for Brick Records. Produced almost entirely by Fame, the album explores what things sound like if Fame trades rhymes with a more cool [cont.]

We’ve reached a point in hip-hop where consumers can’t trust what the major labels are selling them, making it harder and harder for buyers to throw down their hard-earned cash for music. With the indie scene moving from 12″ vinyl to the blogs over the last five years, much of the best new music is [cont.]

Ryan Leslie is one of music’s largely still undiscovered super-talents, on par with artists like Pharrell and Kanye West, as each a producer, writer, singer, and emcee. He completely self-produced his last two albums, his self-titled Universal / Motown debut, and it’s follow-up, Transition, both released in 2009. Despite this, Ryan Leslie has yet to [cont.]

The history of Columbus, Ohio’s MHz is perhaps one of the most intriguing stories in underground hip-hop lore. They first stepped on the scene in 1998, via a handful of vinyl only singles on Bobbito’s legendary Fondle ‘Em Records imprint. While these 12-inches hardly made them a household name, they did catch the ears of [cont.]

LA’s Styles Of Beyond have been putting it down since the birth of the independent hip-hop movement, which saw the release of their fan favorite albums, 2000 Fold (1998) and Megadef (2003). The SOB’s caught the ear of Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, who invited them to be a part of his Fort Minor offshoot project, [cont.]

It is safe that there are some rappers who understand their lanes, and they stick to them very well. In this particular case, Sean Price has shown that when it comes to supplying aggressive content, he’s in a class of his own. The Boot Camp Click and Heltah Skeltah representative has always had a knack [cont.]

In the midst of Disney buying Lucasfilm, we witness yet another corporate mega-merger; a scenario all to familiar to Public Enemy. A group that started on rap’s pioneering indie label, Def Jam, Chuck and Flav slowly watched one record company be eaten by the next, reaching this point, where they all have more or less [cont.]

Philly’s Meek Mill has had quite a breakthrough year, after signing with Rick Ross’ MMG imprint. Over the years, we’ve seen new rappers struggle to keep up with their father emcees, many times just regulated to being another number on a highly populated label roster. Not so for Meek Mill, whom has branched out on [cont.]

“Here’s a guy at the intersection of the corner of jazz and hip hop.” Karriem Riggins is heralded, albeit quietly, as one of the most talented musicians connected to hip-hop culture. Of the qualities present in artists with this distinction is the ability to traverse genres while fusing influences into their own creations. Riggins embodies [cont.]