Who did these guys think they were? They actually had the audacity to make their introduction completely dissing the Black consciousness movement with their debut single, and on top of that, dissing our moms?!?! Two X-Clan-esque characters stood at the beginning of the video preaching, “Yo, we need some brothers to be dropping knowledge”, [cont.]

Recorded perhaps some 5 years back, this record is a document of history. As an emotionally lawless AWOL One revisits a project some 3 albums released past its inception (blame the industry for tardiness) – for while his most recent collaborative work with L.A. production-powerhouse Daddy Kev (and the most recent ) have probably thrown more muscle [cont.]

It would be wrong to say that this album is boring, but on occasion it can be. What What created wonderful beats as Run Run Shaw  behind the decks for the unheralded Natural Resource, she wowed heads in and out of New York City, garnered the ear of The Herbaliser and created equally captivating late-90′s joints with [cont.]

There is a very small percentage of producers who stay away from the norm and set their own style & patterns. The Opus, reigning from Chicago has been crafting its own style, trend and musical ideas for years. Last heard on Rubberoom’s CD, the Opus releases their first album entitled, 0.0.0. – First Contact. This [cont.]

On his last album, Restless, Xzibit reinvented himself, transforming from the disgruntled L.A. emcee with the underground chip on his shoulder, to full-fledged C-Walkin’ Cali G. While in most cases, these types of transformations yield disastrous results and disposable albums (Buckshot, Mic Geronimo, Saafir, Tash Of The Liks to name a few), X is of that rare [cont.]

An odd, alluring ode was “Christina”. The somewhat standout track of sorts from last year’s joint three-man album, The Netherworlds, that being between Anacron, Himself (Of The Netherworlds) and Murs of the Living Legends. That being MURS who did “Christina”, that being, the odd, alluring ode to the beautiful and quite talented actress, Christina Ricci. The song, [cont.]

Stones Throw is a model-consummate recording label (and trust me, I run my own). What once was merely Peanut Butter Wolf’s out-the-house San Francisco operation, shuffling out solid, consistent 12″s of the late Nineties, has honed in on a few highly successful formulas that have proven both musically and conceptually praiseworthy. Upon the entrance of nuevo [cont.]

 Probably emerging from somewhere within the crew photo inside Mobb Deep’s The Infamous LP, the trio of Ty Nitty, Twin Gambino, Godfather steps up to the plate, in attempts to carry on the legacy of Havoc and Prodigy, as well as the legendary Queensbridge projects. With a number of QB’s finest back them up, not to mention [cont.]

“I am a part of that population that grew up listening to P.E., Rakim, KRS, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, N.W.A., Kane, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Stet, MC Lyte and too many others for me to name here. That population is partly bored and partly saddened by the music that is dominating [cont.]

While Boston’s Mr. Lif used Emergency Rations to get some shit off his chest about the U.S. government, I Phantom is more of a self-examination of how our hero of the downtrodden fits into the system. Billed as a concept album, (more Book Of Human Language than Prince Among Thieves), this loose-knit narrative begins in [cont.]

Remember these cats from the early 1990′s? Yet another victim of record label and corporate cutting, their scheduled sophomore release back then timed unfortunately into being shelved. Basically, Yaggfu Front were dropped from their label, Mercury. But now, under an independent Mends, The Secret Tapes puts together some of their nostalgic productions and rhymes from 1992 [cont.]

Apparently their follow-up album got caught in some sort of release limbo, thus the massive L.A. Symphony take a break from their vast individual solo releases to throw out a quick 9 song EP in the form of the cutely titled and packaged (in a baggie with a baloney sandwich on the cover) Baloney. Conceptually, they [cont.]

Described as both “a party at Dan The Automator’s house” in the liner notes, and “a look inside my head”, by Dan himself, Wanna Buy A Monkey is the first mix CD from one of music’s busiest and most well-loved producers, covering everything from raw hip-hop to indy rock, and his own stuff that lands [cont.]

Irony, pain, vulnerability, and insanity are apparent in the title before the listener hears the album. This is not music you pipe into the background at a party to boost the ambiance. This is real music – the cries of a tortured soul who lacks the ability to express himself any other way. It becomes [cont.]

 After seeing his debut, The Best Part, get massively bootlegged and go unreleased for nearly three-years, J-Live is already well versed in Industry rule #4080. Yet, at least J was proactive during his prolonged absence, as just months after The Best Part’s “proper” release, J-Live is ready to tackle the arduous task of following up [cont.]

 At this point, each release from the Wu-Tang Clan should instead have a giant question mark on the cover, rather than a yellow phoenix icon. Reason being is, that ever since the release of Wu-Tang Forever, the have been wildly inconsistent – but still would surprise us from time to time with an album like Ghost [cont.]

As the first solo act to emerge from the Weightless Recordings stable, Illogic  steps up with his second disc, Got Lyrics, and puts his flag down in the state of Hip-Hop. With many having slept on the first disc, judging a book by its cover (only a plain white background with the words Illogic -Unforeseen Shadows [cont.]



       Conjuring up images of Common holding a mug asking “Can I Borrow A Dollar”, or Eazy E dancing with a piece of cardboard in the “Dre Day” video, the Cunninlynguists debut album Will Rap For Food instead follows a different philosophy – if rappers make “jiggy shit” because they “gotta eat”, then why not rap for [cont.]

Name one up-and-coming emcee, (or, in fact, any established emcee) that does not yearn to hear their voice over the production of DJ Premier. However, for every benefit that comes from working with Primo; his signature drum claps and cut-up voice samples add an instant credibility and curiosity to any project. There are drawbacks as [cont.]