For the last couple of years, Outkast have been dodging rumors and speculation about the group’s breakup. Andre 3000 has lived up to his “eccentric artist” tag, declining to participate in trivial matters like, um, performing, while Big Boi has fought to keep the Outkast name alive, even if 3000 is not there to [cont.]

   Living Legends’ latest release is a pleasant surprise. After years of putting out music on a grassroots level, selling tapes from their backpacks on Bay Area streets and throwing cheap concerts, the collective’s recent material has lacked the charm and focus of their older work. Although this is a problem with overly prolific artists [cont.]

   Former hustla builds a buzz in the South, then signs with Def Jam, and releases a debut album with top notch production. Sound familiar? Last summer Young Jeezy set the streets on fire with Thug Motivation 101 and in 2006 Rick Ross’s Port of Miami will be bumping in car stereos in every hood [cont.]

  When Hip Hop lost James “J Dilla/Jay Dee” Yancey, the culture lost one of the finest and most consistent producers ever. Dilla created soundscapes for damn near everyone and was one of the few producers who didn’t have to say his name over a beat. Sadly, some still don’t know who the man was behind [cont.]

    Obie Trice is a graduate of the late 90′s / early millennial independent hip-hop boom, debuting on wax as “The Well Known Asshole”. Fellow Detroit native, Eminem, noticed his talent after already validating Royce 5’9 and D12, making Obie the first new artist signed to Shady Records. His debut, Cheers, introduced the rest of the [cont.]

    These days, being picked as one of Urb Magazine’s “Next 100″ isn’t really the coveted honor it may have once been. Sure, we’ve seen a lot of talented listed among those ranks, but think about all the hundreds of artists listed throughout the years that didn’t make it, or didn’t bring anything new or [cont.]

  You have to hand it to Faith No More frontman, Mike Patton, for continuously reinventing himself. Take for example, an artist from his era, Axl Rose, who is “working” on the new Guns and Roses album, Chinese Democracy (and has been for the past seven years). Instead of fading into obscurity, Patton has not [cont.]

    After the breakup a few years ago of the seminal Boston group Electric Company, which left emcee Insight and emcee/DJ Edan in search of solo fame, the remaining members of the band – Anonymous, Raheem Jamaal and Moe Pope — reemerged as Project Move to reclaim its spot as one of the leaders of [cont.]

     Chances are, you’ve heard southern rappers chanting “Free Pimp C” in their rhymes over the last few years. While relatively unknown to the general public, Pimp C has crept his way into several timeless rap singles, such as Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’” and Three Six Mafia’s “Sippin’ On Some Sizzurup”, along with UGK partner Bun [cont.]

   The Low Budget crew is no joke. After first gaining national attention with the release of Kev Brown’s reinterpretation of Jay-Z’s swan song, Oddisee, Cy Young and Kenn Starr boosted the collective’s profile on Halftooth Records’ early compilation You Don’t Know The Half. But it was the track “If” — which featured the likes [cont.]

    It is very daring to step out of the box of making “everyone” records and create something specifically based on beliefs that are near and dear to your heart. Lord Jamar may best be known as 1/3 of the legendary group Brand Nubian who’s religious and political stances separated them from most any other [cont.]

    When you think of Texas, things like candy paint, southern drawl and Mike Jones automatically come to mind. Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Scarface, Geto Boys, etc are many of the artists that put Texas on the map. Strange Fruit Project, therefore, can be considered your not-so-typical Texas groups. While most from Texas love the chopped [cont.]

    It’s hard to believe that Jurassic 5 has been in the game for almost a decade now, since their 12-inch debut on Blunt Records around 1997 or so. The “leaders of the old school” have gone through some changes since their leap into the major leagues, their sound slowly evolving from throwback/backpack to a [cont.]

    Cut Chemist has always shined no matter what project he has been apart of. As a former deejay/producer of Jurassic 5 (together with Nu-Mark), he lent his trademark signature sound to the crew’s first three projects, while also helping jumpstart latin-funk-hip-hop outfit Ozomatli’s first record. He really began to shine as a solo artist [cont.]

   Pharrell Williams isn’t your everyday rapper/singer/producer type. He offers a quirky side that isn’t seen much in music today. While being 1/2 of the dynamic Neptunes duo (with the hardly seen Chad Hugo), Pharrell has been part of some of hip-hop’s biggest hits and most daring endeavors. Apparently, somewhere in the midst of all this [cont.]

    A wise rapper once said, “watch who you let in your crew / cause when them niggas fall off / they gonna bring you down too”. Of course, if anybody ever paid attention to those lyrics, hip-hop would be a totally different animal than it is today. Instead, it sucks, because even the handful [cont.]

   At first glance there was a lot to hate about the Procussions, to the point where it felt like a shadowy conspiracy wherein some vaguely evil button-pusher at Rawkus Records had burrowed into my brain, picked through the cobwebs, jotted down every musical mannerism that grates on my last nerve, and funneled it all into [cont.]

     During the heyday of indie hip-hop some five or six years ago, back when everyone had a bedroom based label, Emanon debuted on Ill Boogie records, as a part of the “Earplug Series”. The duo of emcee Aloe Blacc and producer Exile showed promise, but unfortunately were overshadowed by the stars of the series, [cont.]

   Boot Camp Clik has always been a truly underground super group.  They’ve garnered a cult following with their uncompromising, gritty-as-gravel sound since the mid-90s, and a decade later they’re still sticking to their guns.  As hip-hop rapidly changes its flavor of choice from year-to-year, BCC keeps it true with that “gutter-gully-gangsta” music. The group’s [cont.]

    Peeking from the shadows of Kanye West, with a Grammy award in hand for penning “Jesus Walks”, is another Chi-town emcee by the name of Rhymefest. The general public may not know who Rhymefest is, but you can guarantee that everyone who truly loves Hip Hop has heard the name once or twice. Kinda [cont.]