You have to imagine that at some time during his four-year absence, following one of the biggest club songs in the last five years (“Yeah” feat. Ludacris and Lil’ Jon), Usher was sitting on the couch watching MTV thinking, “Okay, Justin Timberlake, I see you.” While Usher kicked back and collected royalty checks off the [cont.]

In this day and age, every subgenre of creation receives an equal platform for public attention. That platform is the internet, which you are using right now, and was invented by Al Gore on that legendary stormy evening when he was flying a kite with a calculator tied to it. By using your internet, you [cont.]

Halfway through the first track of Flobots sophomore effort, Fight With Tools, it was a little unclear of the direction the record was taking. Flobots, a six-man hip-hop group from Denver, had managed to stay under the radar up until now. So rightfully, it was a little shocking when the intro track, “There’s A War Going On For Your Mind”, started [cont.]

Bun B has one of the most powerful voices in hip hop. Fluid, precise and measured; It demands attention. Too often, though, he’s not saying much. For much of his career, moments of introspective genius have been sprinkled amongst syrupy dirty south cliché. For II Trill, follow-up to 2005′s Trill, Bun takes a substantially more [cont.]

Shine is the second album from West London based rapper/singer Estelle, and the first release from John Legend’s new Homeschool Records imprint, via Atlantic Records. She first came onto the scene with a V2 Records U.K.-only debut called The 18th Day, but never made it’s way stateside (expect that to change with the current level of [cont.]

Shit is fucked. Whether on the micro scale of hip-hop itself, to the median of the descent of the music industry, to the macro scale of world politics, shit is fucked. The seeds of discontent germinating within The Roots crew date back to their humble beginnings, as demonstrated in the album’s opening skit, which offers [cont.]

It is rare nowadays to see a producer and an emcee form a collaboration that is just mutually between the two of them.  Maybe within a group, you see one member take the helm of the production, while the other concentrates on the rhyming (for example Mobb Deep), but for two established artists in their [cont.]

The U.K.’s Dizzee Rascal became a bit of a household name a couple years back with his hit single, “Fix Up, Look Sharp”, which found the grime/garage rapper flexing over Billy Squire’s “Big Beat” sample, in his dirtiest British accent. Embracing his culture to the fullest, Dizzee’s an emcee who’s never been one to try [cont.]

Blue Sky Black Death have already proved adept at their production for artists such as Holocaust and Hell Razah with the former being a high point of underground albums last year.  With their new album, Late Night Cinema, they explore instrumentals without the anchor of a steady voice.  Late Night Cinema is their latest attempt to [cont.]

Slug’s musical topic of choice? Slug. Perhaps not anymore. On Atmosphere’s sixth full-length release, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, emcee Slug steps out of his own shadow, choosing rather to expand his lyrical depth with an emphasis on character-driven dramas. Gone is the personal diary – for the most part. [cont.]

If there’s a rapper who is all things to all fans, this reviewer has yet to hear him do his thing. That doesn’t stop some from trying, and it seems to be the primary objective for Fat Joe on The Elephant in the Room, his eighth solo release. No question, Joe’s been in the game [cont.]

It was an accident. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. It broke the rules of what a hit single should be. The unlikely pairing of Goodie Mob frontman, Cee-Lo, and remixer-turned-super-producer, Danger Mouse was a fluke in today’s age of disposable music. But “Crazy”, coupled with a ridiculously solid debut, did it for Gnarls [cont.]

AZ has not had the best of luck.  Back on Illmatic, one would have thought that he would be mentioned in the same breath as some of the peers who went on to become icons in hip-hop (most notably 2Pac, Biggie, and Nas). And why not?  Sosa has displayed various projects of his own as [cont.]

Disclaimer from the editor: Okay, why the fuck is HipHopSite.Com reviewing the Madonna record? This is “hip-hop” site dot com. Madonna isn’t hip-hop. She’s not even R&B!?!? True, however, when a record – like this one – is exclusively produced by Timbaland and The Neptunes, it doesn’t matter who it’s by, we are going to [cont.]

It’s been a minute since we heard from the self-proclaimed Funky Homosapien, Del. His first two records were cult classics, helping launch the Hieroglyphics crew, whom, as a whole, played a huge role in the creation of the indie hip-hop movement. Del remained elusive during the underground’s new frontier, releasing a few solo records, (Future [cont.]

Spring is in full swing, which means those of us living in areas with seasonal weather (i.e., not L.A. or Miami) are feeling that unmistakable rush of regeneration. Like the flowers blooming in our yards, the legs of fine young ladies are sprouting from their shorts, and the new Lyrics Born record is a suitable [cont.]

In a musical era where carving out a unique identity is more important than ever, Rick Ross’ problem is that he seems interchangeable. With a voice and delivery that makes it hard to pick him out of a lineup of his fellow Southern contemporaries, the Miami-based rapper could easily fall victim to an identity crisis. [cont.]

After an outstanding 12” with DJ Premier and an equally impressive 12” alongside Buckwild and Kool G Rap, expectations are high for a Little Vic full length.  The question is, can an emcee hold his own among the sea of mediocre rappers for a full 72 minutes?  The answer is Each Dawn I Die. This [cont.]

Once you craft a classic hip-hop record, it’s hard to maintain that level of quality throughout the remainder of your career. Case in point is Showbiz and AG’s Runaway Slave, one of a handful of records that helped define the sound of New York rap in the early 90′s and jump-start the D.I.T.C. movement. The [cont.]

So many people have tried to “do” Portishead. Meaning, after the Bristol trio changed the alternative music landscape in 1994 with their debut album Dummy (and infectious lead single “Sour Times”), many other artists tried to duplicate the new form of music dubbed “trip-hop” at the time. Massive Attack and Tricky were also a part [cont.]