As far as artists trying to have it both ways – that is, keeping their street cred intact while selling records at the same time – few currently have it figured out like Plies. The Florida-born rapper made sure everyone knew how real he was by including the word in the titles of his first [cont.]

And he’s back for another round. Emcee Chali 2na has always stolen the show with a unique combination of charisma, stage presence and of course distinct voice. As a member of Jurrasic 5, Chali always had listeners waiting for his verses and clamoring for his solo debut. However, Chali’s 2009 debut; Fish Outta Water, was [cont.]

Canada’s Drake is an interesting success story. An ex-teen actor took up a career as a rapper/singer, releasing a couple of buzzworthy mixtapes that saw him collaborating alongside Little Brother, Dwele, Trey Songz and Kardinal Offishal, among others. This self-proclaimed “backpack rapper” really hit it big when he “dropped a mixtape [that] sounded like an [cont.]

Lazarus is the debut from Gym Class Heroes frontman, Travie McCoy, who looks to build a name for himself as a solo artist after a public breakup with Katy Perry. Experimenting with rap-rock fusion on his earlier material, Lazarus – along with it’s popular lead single “Billionaire” (feat. Bruno Mars) – takes it even a [cont.]

Apollo Brown first graced the national scene as the winner of the Detroit/Midwestern leg of the Red Bull Big Tune producer beat battle. The Detroit producer now brings us his official debut project,The Reset. The fifteen track opus sets out to bring the Detroit beatsmith into the forefront and judging from the title, keep itself [cont.]

Open Mike Eagle comes from the school of the west coast underground, studying under the tutelage of Project Blowed greats that came before him, such as Freestyle Fellowship. But for a scene that prides itself on how off kilter one can spit, Open Mike Eagle delivers a surprisingly down to earth, smart hip-hop record with [cont.]

“Rappers don’t retire, they make comebacks.” That’s from HipHopSite.Com’s review of Scarface’s supposed farewell album, Emeritus, which came out at the end of 2008. Obviously, he’s back, and the retirement talk was never really believable. And really, why should he call it quits when he can still play the game? Like a great athlete, Scarface [cont.]

Ten years ago, Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek helped define the face of Rawkus Records, as well as the indie hip-hop movement, with their self-titled debut LP, also known as Train of Thought. Arguably a hip-hop classic, this magnum opus captured the essence of the one producer / one emcee team up, much like classic [cont.]

Guilty Simpson is an emcee with skills that also has a knack for working with some of the dopest producers in the game. From his work with J Dilla to Black Milk, Guilty gets it in. As always, Madlib is a busy man, dropping more releases than No Limit in the 90s. The LP OJ Simpson [cont.]

Janelle Monae’s debut EP, 2007′s Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), only offered a glimpse of what to expect from the Outkast-affiliated songstress, who made her debut on the soundtrack to the duo’s Idlewild film. Nothing terribly earth-shattering, the EP introduced us to a petite, wierdo-hipster chick who believed she lived as an android in a [cont.]

This is a highly personal observation, and it will no doubt be blasphemy to some, but there’s something about reggae music that’s kind of…irritating. It’s a genre with limited range and it seems to be only produced by guys named Marley. You wonder, doesn’t anyone from this family want to get into another line of [cont.]

Declaime has been a featured west coast artist for about 10 years now. His resume includes collaborations with the Likwit Crew; debuting on the Alkaholiks second album;Coast II Coast and with Lootpack on Soundpieces: Da Antidote. Straying away from the singing and harmonies associated with his alias, Dudley Perkins, Declaime brings us his latest; Fonk. [cont.]

There are a lot of people trying to do what Sage Francis does really well. One of the fundamental problems with the indie hip-hop movement was that it allowed anyone with a computer to attempt to make a name for themselves. Granted, this problem runs rampant in commercial hip-hop as well, but the underground was [cont.]

8Ball and MJG are high on the list of southern hip-hop pioneers, up there with The Geto Boys and UGK, to mention a few. The duo from Memphis has consistently laid it down with dope releases. 8Ball and MJG bring us their eighth studio album; Ten Toes Down, which refers to commitment and total devotion.The [cont.]

Interdependent Media founder TRUTHLiVE looks to make a name for himself with Patience, an open, honest debut album produced entirely by Jake One. Hot off the heels of Jake’s critically acclaimed Stimulus Package with Freeway, TRUTH has got a cocked eyebrow or two looking in his direction with this release. TRUTH’s debut is one that [cont.]

With Gucci Mane currently incarcerated for a probation violation,fans of his may be wondering where they’ll get their fix. To remedy this,Gucci linked up with DJ Holiday to bring us The Burrprint 2. In high definition, bitches. The Burrprint 2 begins with some heartfelt words from the locked down Gucci and continues on “Intro( Live [cont.]

Basic Vocab is a three man group consisting of Miami, Florida natives: Mental Growth, JL Sorrell and producer Tony Galvin.  Their 2006 debut album The General Dynamic was throwback that took the listener back to the “golden age” of hip-hop. On A Better Way, their second full release, BV again takes the listener back to [cont.]

In today’s market, longevity calls for more than just a hit single, dance craze, or even the ability to kick a hot 16. Either you have to be incredible on the mic, or have the talent to write and produce your own music, to insure your career lasts well beyond a decade. That being said, [cont.]

Who is Clutchy Hopkins? Well, his album art and the grainy photos on his website don’t answer that question. Clutchy is described as the son of a Motown recording engineer and a man that “traveled the globe exploring exotic music, rhythms, and mysticism.” Whether this is actually fact or myth is unknown. But upon hearing [cont.]

Fans of Little Brother will probably agree that the group’s history is like a microcosm of most of the last two decades in the rap game. After all, they’ve already had label trouble, video controversy, people trying to pigeonhole their sound and internal strife – and all of it has happened since 2003. Now it [cont.]