Compilation; no rating given       Though the status of his crew is a bit up in the air right now, it’s difficult to imagine any underground hip-hop fans fronting on Del The Funkee Homosapien’s work in the early-to-mid-nineties. In this time period, Del and Hieroglyphics authored a number of classics that are still getting burn [cont.]

    Originally introduced as the man providing the sonic backdrops to Aesop Rock’s first two official releases, Float and Labor Days, Blockhead shared production duties on last year’s Bazooka Tooth with other producers, most likely to work on his instrumental opus for Ninja Tune, Music By Cavelight. Following the little heard Broke Beats, this album marks [cont.]

      Prozack Turner of Foreign Legion has charisma and he knows it. The people at Dreamworks obviously knew it too when they signed him. While DreamWorks has since been bought out, leaving Prozack in uncertainty, this bay area MC took the initative and made “tour only” copies of his solo debut Death, Taxes & Prozack available.      [cont.]

     The revolution will not be televised…for that matter the revolutionary damn near wasn’t even heard. R.B.G, Dead Prez’s sophomore effort has been through the ringer over the course of the last year. Columbia initially dropped them on the cusp of releasing R.B.G (the LP was getting rave reviews at the time, including a 4 1/2 mics [cont.]

     Part of what has made California’s Living Legends a mainstay in underground hip-hop is the fact that they’re just regular guys. Compared to the book smart rappers who often spew obscure references, the LL crew is just easy to relate to on one level or another. Roughly ten years after their emergence, the Mystik Journeymen, [cont.]

  Cassidy is known for his battle, mix tape and spotlight-stealing guest appearances, but the question people have been wondering is can the Philly native put together a solid album?  Show and prove time has arrived for the first act from Swizz Beatz’ label, in the form of Split Personality.      “Hotel,” featuring R. Kelly, has [cont.]

     Grimm’s last decade of life has been nothing short of tumultuous. It began in 1994 when he was shot ten times and confined to a wheelchair. From there, he did time for conspiracy to distribute narcotics and was just recently let out. Somewhere in between this time period, MF Grimm (his previous moniker) found space to [cont.]

To many, including this critic, N.E.R.D.’s debut album, In Search Of…., is a classic. Not a hip-hop classic, and not a rock & roll classic, but surely an oft overlooked classic in popular music. Sure, it didn’t match the sales or critical acclaim of say, Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, however this surprisingly solid mixture of [cont.]

     As the lyrics from the title-track of the Visionaries’ new album, Pangaea, imply, this six-man crew out of Cali began like a supercontinent–just like the Earth did before it drifted as separate continents that shifted. Key Kool illustrates the metaphor best when he raps, “We’re not all alike but fall right into place.” And [cont.]

     The word “organic” by definition means forming an integral element of a whole, the word “thoughts” means to have an intention, these words together form the group “Organic Thoughts”.   That is what this New Jersey crew represents; original and innovative thoughts not only about the state of hip-hop, but the state of the world.  [cont.]

In the early 1990′s, both Madlib and MF Doom were considered barely breaking hip-hop rookies. Neither was on anyone’s best emcee or best producer lists, and nobody was terribly excited when their names were attached to releases. That’s because, at that point, they were virtually unknowns. And while the two didn’t know each other, both were just [cont.]

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely those of the critic and do not reflect those at hiphopsite.com or the United States hip-hop following. With that do not attempt to crucify the critic for his views of Dizzee Rascal’s debut album “Boy In Da Corner”. But in the immortal words of a brother named Sense “if [cont.]

Young Gunz (Young Chris and Neef) made their initial impression as members of Beanie Sigel’s State Property click.  While they have been appearing on various Roc-A-Fella projects over the last few years (including Jay-Z’s Blueprint 2), Young Gunz have not been a “priority” at Roc-A-Fella, which the title of their debut, Tough Luv, conveniently hints at, [cont.]

Compilation; no rating given.     Third in their series of forward-thinking, genre-bending, yet true to the heart hip-hop, El-P’s Definitive Jux  imprint delivers their latest compilation disc, jam-packed with 16 new selections from Jukies new and old. Working simultaneously as a symbol of what the label is and what’s to come, this comp showcases the [cont.]

   Over the last decade, hip-hop has gone through a transitional phase, morphing into overblown big budget albums accompanied by over hyped guest appearances (with the words “featuring” actually outshining the artist), coupled with over budget videos,  oversized jewelry, and cars with over proportioned females…. you get the idea. What happened to keeping it simple? [cont.]

      It’s easy to overlook just another name, in the game oversaturated and flooded by emcees, crews and predictable marketing schemes. Even the most attentive ears - that would me mine - can miss or have a low tolerance when listening to yet another rap LP. Hailing from Milpitas, California, Encore’s no newcomer, already with a lengthy [cont.]

     At a time when its vogue to go solo and with large crew outfits going the way of N’ Sync (bye, bye, bye) the massive Boston, MA collective Electric (Insight, Anonymous, Dagha, Moe Pope & Raheem) is bound to draw comparisons to left coast counterparts Jurassic 5 in both structure, foundation (similar to J5′s self-titled [cont.]

    With the Goodie Mob preparing One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show for a spring release, it’s a little more than obvious that they are sour about Cee-Lo’s departure from the group. And with good reason - Thomas Callaway (better known to most as Cee-Lo Green) was the glue that kept the crew together! While this has [cont.]

      Sometimes you just need some good ol’ no frills hip-hop. No big booty chicks, no thugs, no guns, no bling-bling, no 24-inch rims with spinners, no Bentley, no shiny suits, no throwbacks, or definitely no shit for the grown and sexy. You just need hip-hop from the roots, minus the camera tricks. What Halftooth has done, is brought together [cont.]

     Getting his start under the wing of Peanut Butter Wolf, Planet Asia first caught the attention of hip-hop fans with appearances on two defining Stones Throw releases, PB Wolf’s My Vinyl Weights a Ton and Rasco’s Time Waits For No Man. Show stealing verses on both albums led to subsequent 12inch singles with west-coast staple [cont.]