After Jay-Z and R. Kelly packed dancefloors with collaborations such as “Fiesta (Remix)” and “Guilty (Until Proven Innocent)”, instead of recording just another single together, the duo had an even bigger idea. As kings of their respective genres, hip-hop and R&B, two forms of music that overlap and intersect each other more than we’d like [cont.]

      A time comes in a MC’s career (those worth their salt at least) when he realizes that his ultimate success or lack thereof falls squarely on his shoulders. If he’s not getting the right beats, it’s his job to go out and find those heat rocks; if the record label isn’t seeing his vision, [cont.]

      Horse races, the Super Bowl, and life – always bet on the longshot to make the most off a relatively small bet. And in Chicago rapper Longshot, the legendary Molemen crew of Chicago hopes that they have a winning ticket to claim as their own. “I ain’t gonna live up to my name,” Longshot [cont.]

     Entering their 16th year and 7th album of their career, heads may joke and call them “De La Old”, but for Pos, Dave, and Maseo, it’s just another day at the office. The philosophy of Buhloone Mind State was “we might blow up, but we won’t go pop”, yet when they didn’t blow up, [cont.]

Compilation: No Rating Given     Eastern Conference Records has been known to showcase some of the finest underground acts while maintaining such a cohesive sound. And while they’ve been instrument in the earlier careers of today’s allstars, even those that moved on (Cage, Eminem, Royce), they still have been able to maintain credibility in the fickle [cont.]

     While he has over ten years invested in the game, The Alchemist still remains a virtual unknown name to the average hip-hop fan. However, ask the same fan if they’ve heard Mobb Deep’s “Got It Twisted”, Jadakiss “We Gonna Make It”, or Dilated Peoples “Worst Comes To Worst”, and they’ll nod, probably adding in [cont.]

      Assembling 50 of anything is no small task – just look at how long it took for the United States to bring together 50 states (that were already basically connected) or how some football teams struggle to bring together 50 players. But Cyrus tha Great (in tribute to Tony Touch and his two volumes [cont.]

     “He look like Big, he sound like Big. Yo, I’m B-L-A-C-K, nigga ya dig?”  It is no secret that Compton’s newest sensation, Guerilla Black, is the closest thing to the Notorious B.I.G. reincarnated.  Guerilla Black utilizes Biggie’s flow, voice and wordplay perfectly.  Black even pronounces and stresses words in the same manner that the late [cont.]

     It’s taken years for heads outside of the Midwest to catch wind of everything Chicago’s vast underground has to offer. Thanks to artists touring more extensively, getting greater distribution (and thanks to the Internet of course), things have finally changed in 2004. Enter Verbal Kent of Organic Mind Unit, one of Chicago’s many subterraneous [cont.]

      2004 has been a big year for Talib Kweli. It got a jump-start when ’03 ended with Jay-Z’s The Black Album, where the Jiggaman immortalized his fellow Brooklyn brethren on “Moment Of Clarity”, where he stated “If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically, Talib Kweli”. From there, the hype for Talib’s [cont.]

    Rob Sonic is the mouthpiece of Sonic Sum, now spitting over his own beats whilst producer Fred Ones drops his own solo debut. Whereas Phobia Of Doors is as varied and colorful as the platoon of guest MCs it featured, this Telicatessen is a more homogenic and dour establishment, stocking fractured narratives from the white intellectual [cont.]

     It’s been five years since Mos Def’s classic debut album, Black on Both Sides. Since then, Mos has become host of Def Poetry Jam, a thespian of sorts from his career defining role in HBO’s Something The Lord Made, to his smaller bit parts in flicks like Brown Sugar and Monster’s Ball, and a fixture that’s bigger [cont.]

      With the release of Dr. Octagon, Kool Keith reinvented himself; no longer was he the star of Ultramagnetic MC’s, but now a full-fledged solo artist. After the release of this classic LP, Keith followed up with two more excellent releases, Sex Style, and Dr. Dooom. Both showcased Keith’s strange, spaced-out style, each with their [cont.]

     The Bay Area’s Quannum Projects has built its first-class reputation in hip-hop simply by consistently dropping quality material since the mid-90s. From the early Blackalicious EPs to the Lifesavas’ 2003 debut album, Spirit In Stone, this crews’ momentum has yet to falter.  But even as Quannum fans have come to expect nothing less than dopeness, heads [cont.]

     Who even knew Ali Shaheed Muhammad could rap? Like Pete Rock, he’s holding his own, slicing and dicing his timely rhymes superbly as his own beat productions soar. As he drops his first solo LP, making him the last member of Tribe Called Quest, A to do so, heads will just have to consider this long [cont.]

      There is good news and bad news for Robust following the release of his sophomore album, “Potholes In Our Molecules.” The good news is that even Eminem’s early work (see “Infinite”) was sloppy, misguided, poor in sound quality, and, to put it simply, not very good. The bad news is that, well, Robust’s “Potholes” is [cont.]

     When you are an artist who’s real name is Michael Jackson, you may have a hard time being taken seriously. When you are an artist/producer who is the little brother to beat-conductor extraordinaire Madlib, you may have an even harder time making it in this music biz. But if you are Oh No, you take [cont.]

     The face of underground hip-hop would be vastly different were it not for Company Flow. Their full-length debut, Funcrusher Plus, offered a completely unique aesthetic of rapping and production, and was almost instantly heralded as a watershed album. Today, El-P remains hot from the blistering, intensely personal Fantastic Damage, an album that sold remarkably well [cont.]

    When Al Tariq (aka Kool Fash) left The Beatnuts  after their self-titled full-length debut, it felt like a devastating blow to the group’s then uncertain future. After all, they had just dropped a classic EP and LP back-to-back, and suddenly, the third-of-the-trio packed it up to pursue a solo career. However as the years [cont.]

     DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing has spawned countless imitators since its release almost a decade ago, but it still sounds unique. On this, his first full-length, Diplo has delivered a sound just as inimitable and fully formed; but where Shadow’s soundscapes were by turn paranoid, menacing and ethereal, Florida rides stuttering crunk drum programming and warm basslines [cont.]