Texas’s own Dorrough, (or Dorrough Music, as he is sometimes referred), returns with his second LP, following the success of last year’s addictive clubs-to-the-cars anthem, “Ice Cream Paint Job”. The title track for the Prime Time Click frontman is “Get Big”, another bouncy Nitti produced banger that captures much of the same effect of his [cont.]

It’s a bold statement when you call your latest project Album of the Year. But for Detroit producer/emcee Black Milk, his audacious claims aren’t unwarranted as Album of the Year is one helluva complete package that is sure to be on many year-end lists. Let’s get this out of the way: Black Milk is an [cont.]

Bay Area rap outfit, The Pack, return with their second full length LP, Wolfpack Party, following their 2007 LP Based Boys, which expanded on their debut EP, Skateboards 2 Scrapers. It’s been four years since their debut hit single, “Vans”, and The Pack has gained more publicity for the antics of Lil’ B than any [cont.]

It’s rare that after three albums and an EP a band can maintain such a distinctive sound. But the Budos Band are masters of combining nearly every genre that gave birth to hip hop in to one sonic punch to the stomach that never felt so good. They manage to play elements of jazz, afrobeat, [cont.]

With his sophomore LP Everything Changed Nothing, West Covina native Trek Life embraces the phrase ‘life goes on’. The album is an ode to the reality that no matter what changes occur in one persons’ life, the world still turns and other lives are still lead. With an LP produced entirely by renowned beatsmith Oddisee, [cont.]

DJ Muggs was notably absent from Cypress Hill’s Rise Up LP, as he suggested in our recent interview that B-Real wanted to take the group in a different direction. Despite this, Muggs has been keeping busy as a producer with a number of offshoot projects, the latest being Kill Devil Hills, a collaborative LP with [cont.]

Summer time is the season that makes memories. Three months of warm weather lead to three months of partying, relaxation and vacation. International Summers combines the talents of emcee John Robinson and producer Lewis Parker and attempts to make its own summer memories. As described by JR on the albums intro track, “Summer Begins”, the [cont.]

Posthumous albums never seem to pan out. Reason being, is that they are usually made up of songs leftover from the artist’s catalog that either the artist or the label did not feel were strong enough to see release. While we all dream of raiding the vaults of unreleased music from our favorite artists (and [cont.]

Between all eight million plus Wu-Tang affiliated MCs, Killah Priest and his fellow Sunz of Man are some of the few that actually standout. They remain foot soldiers in the grimy, dark ’90′s production / rhyme style, almost to a fault. Not that they can’t pull it off; it’s like being a grandmaster in a [cont.]

Dirt Nasty is the rapping alter-ego of actor and all-around-man-about-town Simon Rex. He made his debut in 2008 with his self titled album, a loose knit collection of songs that found him rapping about sex, celebrity, and the mean streets of Hollywood. His persona was that of a washed up actor using hip-hop as his [cont.]

It’s kind of hard to believe that one of today’s biggest new voices in pop music used to be an intern for Def Jux. That, and he loves Little Brother. We can only imagine – was Mike Posner bouncing around the Jux offices in 2005, filling orders for Cannibal Ox t-shirts whilst singing the lyrics [cont.]

The last ten years have left the music industry and hip-hop in a strange place. It used to be if you were great, you’d drop a crazy label debut like Nas’ Illmatic or Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. Now if you have talent and ability, it’ll be displayed on mixtapes and web only tracks. Not only that, [cont.]

It’s probably a little bit of a stretch to say that Bun B is underrated. He had a good run with the late Pimp C in UGK, he’s had two well regarded solo albums and it’s pretty much the consensus opinion among hip hop fans that he’s dope on the mic. Still, it’s fair to [cont.]

Ya’ll know Ras Kass. The self described “water proof emcee” has been putting it down for as long as you remember, dropping memorable lyrics and hip-hop quotables for over 16 years. However, the memory of a cohesive Ras Kass album almost goes back that many years. With legal and label issues, it’s been tough for [cont.]

Instrumental albums are a mixed bag. Sometimes you find a producer slapping ten leftover beats on a CD-R and then turning it into the label to spruce up with artwork for mass consumption. Other times you get a fully realized magnum opus that forever changes the way we look at hip-hop production. El-P’s latest (which [cont.]

Just like a top pro athlete, Paul Wall has his eyes firmly locked on the title. In his case, it’s the crown he wears as the self-proclaimed People’s Champ, and he’s clearly in a frame of mind to defend his gold on his latest studio effort, Heart of a Champion. Right from the opener, “Take [cont.]

Better late than never. It’s a phrase fit to describe Stat Quo’s debut album Statlanta. After being discovered by Dr. Dre and Eminem and then signed to Aftermath and Shady Records,  the Atlanta emcee appeared to be well on his way to making moves. That was 2003. Seven years and numerous mixtape and appearances later, [cont.]

On paper, the prospect of a *new* Slum Village album – at this point in the game – just sounds like a bad idea. Two of the core members, J. Dilla and Baatin have passed away, and there’s already a shroud of negativity surrounding the group’s final LP, Villa Manifesto, as remaining members T3 and [cont.]

Who is Mr. Hudson? He’s the British vocalist that suggested we “dah-nce in style” for a while on Jay-Z’s “Young Forever”, propelling the song to be another hit single from his Blueprint 3 opus. But he’s more than just a guy who can cover Alphaville for a hook – in fact, he’s partly responsible for [cont.]

Weed and hip hop have a relationship that goes way, way back. As a a result, this reviewer remembers one person assuming I must be smoking back in high school because “you listen to rap, don’t you?” Few current rappers get as much mileage out of the pleasures of lighting one up as Curren$y. The [cont.]