Virginia is for lovers. And now it’s for music lovers, too, with the release of You Need This Music from Norfolk’s Nottz. To those with the attention to detail to notice his liner note fame, Nottz is not an unfamiliar name. As a producer he has worked with Busta Rhymes, Biggie, Snoop Dogg, Rakim, and [cont.]

Canibus had kind of a tough break. One minute he was the most critically lauded emcee in the Tri-State area, the next he found himself blackballed by the very industry that jocked him. Strangely enough, he was even used as a punchline in Benzino’s (terrible) Eminem dis track some years back saying “Five shades darker [cont.]

Guns cocked, shots fired, flames—enter Waka Flocka’s debut, Flockaveli. The 17-track album, which features cameos from Pastor Troy, Wale, and several other rappers, is one of the most anticipated albums of the year—in a good and bad way. Waka’s fans are overjoyed that his debut has finally arrived while his critics are happy to have [cont.]

Producer/emcee Von Pea, of Tanya Morgan fame, steps out on his own with Pea’s Gotta Have It. The LP is concept-themed and takes Von Pea back to his high school days, when he was known only as Devon Callendar. Von Pea was apparently inspired to create the album after digging up an old high school [cont.]

Listening to the new 7L and Esoteric album 1212, the first thing I thought was “god damn Esoteric sounds angry”. Then again when you’re an MC and you rep Boston you have every right to be. From Edo G. and the Bulldogs to Guru (who was originally from the New England state) Boston has a [cont.]

Cunninglynguists producer Kno might just be the most underrated producer in all of Hip-Hop. His plush soundscapes have powered his group and the collective known as QN5 to success and a pretty solid cult following over the past decade. But the time has come for Kno to step from behind the board and in front [cont.]

Radric Davis, better known to the world as Gucci Mane, has taken his slice of the hip-hop pie in recent years. Haters will hate, but the fact remains; Gucci has achieved commercial success. Even with jail time, Gucci released numerous mixtapes and with The Appeal, he brings us the third studio album in the Gucci [cont.]

At the beginning of The Naked Soul Of Sweet Jones, Pimp C states “My first solo album, bitch. I ain’t never had one before. They dropped that other shit while I was in the penitentiary…. I got out and dropped that comp on they ass and fucked them up….this is Pimp C starring in the [cont.]

Bruno Mars is the voice behind two of the summer’s biggest rap singles, B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ On You” and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire”, not to mention the writer of Flo-Rida’s “Right Round” (by way of Dead or Alive) and Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You”. Oh, and there’s that current Itunes chart topper of his own, “Just The Way [cont.]

You might be familiar with Aloe Blacc from his hit single, “I Need A Dollar”, heard at the beginning of each episode of HBO’s How To Make It In America. But Aloe’s been around for years, first debuting in the late 90′s as one-half of Emanon, a group formed with west-coast producer extraordinaire, Exile. But [cont.]

Slug, the MC for one of hip hop’s longest running and consistently interesting groups, has switched his style up. On Atmosphere’s When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, he became a third person storyteller. Previously, he’d given us some of the most personal, raw and vivid lyrical content of anyone who has [cont.]

Skyzoo & !llmind have been building their individual reputations over the last few years with quality release after quality release. Skyzoo first grabbed our attention with a slew of  dope  mixtapes including 2005′s The City’s Favorite and 2007′s banging Corner Store Classic. After following up his mixtape success with the 9th Wonder collabo album: Cloud [cont.]

Following up a pair of poorly received LP’S – his rock-opus, Rebirth, and the Young Money album – Lil’ Wayne’s buzz hasn’t died down over the last year. While we all expected Tha Carter IV to be released around this time, his extended vacation at beautiful Riker’s Island has pushed that project back for a [cont.]

While Ski Beatz might not be a household name among hip-hop heads, he has without a doubt made his mark on the industry. Most famously, he produced much of Jay-Z’s classic debut album, Reasonable Doubt, as well as Camp Lo’s Uptown Saturday Night. He also started his own offshoot of Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-A-Blok Records, which [cont.]

Damn. Ice Cube is still doing it,son. Twenty-six years in the game and the man known as O’Shea Jackson is a Hip-Hop legend. One can say what they want about his acting ability and sub par releases in recent years, but this fact still remains; Ice Cube is still relevant. In recent years, Cube has [cont.]

Big Remo’s Entrapment is presented by 9th Wonder, but it is not one of the 9th’s collaboration albums, such as the ones he’s done with MURS, Buckshot and Jean Grae. Still, the production has a familiar laid back feel, and Remo, a Winston-Salem, N.C. native like 9th, has the smooth, relaxed flow to match. Surprisingly, [cont.]

It’s no surprise that like minded individuals, John Legend and The Roots would eventually find each other collaborating on some kind of project together. Never did we expect this, however, a full length album of funk/soul covers of the 60′s and 70′s. The idea behind Wake Up was to capture the spirit of the Black [cont.]

Das Racist are a Brooklyn based indie hip-hop act , made up of Himanshu Suri (via Queens) and Victor Vazquez (via San Francisco), who first got some shine from their addictive innanet hit, “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell”. The songs repetitive nature caught the ears of various hipster critics, making way for their Shut [cont.]

There aren’t many hip hop albums this year that opened on a better note than Super Chron Flight Bros.’ Cape Verde, which starts off with “Reggie Miller”. Usually thought of as a closer, the first song off of their new LP is a great distillation of their sound. It’s got a laidback, NYC vibe and, [cont.]

The plight of the female emcee has been well documented by hip hop scribes for the past decade. Rather than seeing femcees whose name is made from their lyrical ability, many gain notoriety from their looks and open display of sexual energy. But that’s where Rah Digga comes in. Ten years removed from her lauded [cont.]