Dungeon Family native and familiar voice behind just about every soulful Outkast hook not done by Andre 3000, Sleepy Brown finally sees release after sitting in major label limbo for the past couple of years. Having his earlier material leaked way before it was ready for release killed Brown’s Universal debut, but thanks [cont.]

     On Paris to Purple City, instead scouring the Caribbean for the currently popular reggeaton emcee, the Purple City Byrd Gang, went to the land of the Eiffel Tower, to obtain some of its newest exports.      With all the beats being master-minded and blessed by the hands of Agallah the “Don Bishop;” blaring horn [cont.]

     9th Wonder has a knack for taking a solid emcee and enhancing his sound to near classic status. He took an already dope Murs and made him doper, an ill Jean Grae and made her iller and pumped new life into Buckshot’s career. Now comes the task of bringing Brooklyn newcomer Skyzoo’s buzz to [cont.]

      In 2003, Louis Logic stepped onto the scene with his critically acclaimed debut, Sin-A-Matic. The album introduced the self-proclaimed “drunken dragon” to the world, with his own brand of off-the-wall, sometimes crass rhyme-styles and a penchant for heavily descriptive visual lyrics, hence the title. With his follow-up LP, Misery Loves Comedy, Lou has since [cont.]

      Dan the Automator is no doubt one of hip-hop’s most creative and technically sound producers. 1996′s Dr. Octagon, perhaps his most heralded project, helped redefine and regenerate interest in hip-hop during a lull of creativity at the time. His projects are revered, and his long list of collaborators is only matched by a handful [cont.]

    J Rawls is one helluva producer. Unfortunately, in this day and age of Hip Hop, a producer the caliber of Rawls goes unappreciated. From his work with J Sands on Lone Catalyst projects to some of his phenomenal work on BlackStar’s “Brown Skin Lady”, Rawls has been known to craft beautiful soundscapes. But there [cont.]

      Are we already at the point where artists like Christina Agulera and Ludacris have so many albums in their respective catalogs, that now they are seeking a “more mature effort” with their latest releases? Luda’s Release Therapy is the man’s fifth release with Def Jam, and definitely shows growth for the still budding emcee/DTP [cont.]

        The secret is out. Reviews thus far for DJ Shadow’s The Outsider have not been positive. After dealing with online backlash from a dedicated, albeit confused fanbase, a defensive Shadow issued the following statement on his website: “Repeat Endtroducing over and over again? That was never, ever in the game plan. Fuck that. [cont.]

       Nightmares on Wax is the brainchild of George Evelyn, a producer / musician from Leeds, UK, who cut his teeth during the height of the “trip-hop” or “acid jazz” movement of the 1990′s. While he’s been releasing albums with Warp for the last couple of years, In A Space Out of Sound marks the [cont.]

    The duo of Haysoos and SoulStice, better known as WadeWaters, may be a part of the next generation of emcees attempting to bring hip-hop back to its “feel good” sound, but their debut release, Dark Water, is like a television show that has gone into syndication, “We’ve seen this episode before.”      People complain about [cont.]

      First appearing on Kanye West’s “Touch The Sky”, which started off his multi-platinum, arguable classic, Late Registration, Chicago’s Lupe Fiasco is the personification of perfect product placement. Next being taken under the wing of Fort Minor frontman, Mike Shinoda, Lupe got his shine on the group’s  The Rising Tied LP, as well as the [cont.]

    Swollen Members have been one of Canada’s hottest hip hop commodities for some time. They have received international fame, had solid sales and a worldwide fan base. But as the group grew in stature with releases like Monsters in the Closet, Balance and Bad Dreams, they collectively tilted their longtime fans’ heads with the [cont.]

   A lot of question may rise when you see that there is a rap group from Reno Nevada by the name of “Who Cares” with an album called The LP. Shit sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Where are they from? Who Cares! What do they sound like? Who Cares! Will you like it? Who [cont.]

     Midwestern trio of emcee Adeem, DJDQ, and producer Maker have built a solid fanbase among the backpack set, together as Glue. Whether ithrough their highly revered Scribble Jam performances or through their word-of-mouth indie releases, Sunset Lodge and Seconds Away, Glue has become the middle-American crew to watch. Now teaming up with NYC powerhouse, Fat Beats [cont.]

      Listening to records from artists from the highly versatile Anticon camp, it’s hard to believe that these guys started out making hip-hop. In the case of Dose-One, it seems even stranger that he battled Eminem at Scribble Jam some ten years ago, but then again, the stuff these guys have releases has always been [cont.]

     As someone who grew up on Too $hort’s early albums – from Born To Mack to Shorty The Pimp, you kind of always know what to expect from the Oaktown legend. Of course, this also makes the average attention span of a $hortdog fan last about five albums. By then, you’ve had your share. [cont.]

      Remember when Def Jam used to make classic records? The Roc-A-Fella imprint era of Jay-Z or Kanye West doesn’t count, either.  Referring to Def Jam, the label itself. It’s been so long, that a lot of you probably don’t remember something like this ever happening. That was back in the 1980′s - when the label launched [cont.]

   When overseas import, Nicolay, exploded onto the scene with Phonte of Little Brother on the Foreign Exchange Connected album, the landscape of production was changed once again. With Nic’s soul sonic force intact, Connected turned many critics on their collective ear. Implementing a vibe that has yet to be heard, Nic immediately provided an [cont.]

   According to his press release, one of Agallah’s first claims to fame came when he followed the infamous Supernatural vs. Craig G battle in ’96.  Now that’s big.  For those who don’t know, the “Freeestyle: The Art of Rhyme” DVD released last year shows footage of this historic moment in freestyle history. Since then, the [cont.]

   By now, we all know that J-Zone has a pretty ill sense of humor.  From album to album, J-Zone has lit up our lives with witty and offbeat tales about everything from masturbating to sexing up underage girls. But even aside from his undeniable sense of humor lies a certain penchant for creating these [cont.]