Forget the whole Marshall/Slim Shady/Eminem trichotomy, the real identity crisis going on in hip-hop is in the churning thoughts of Oliver Hart, alias Eyedea. He’s a self-hating braggart, an introspective extrovert, a seriously poetic battle rapper, a new-jack producer, at home alone with a pad as he is onstage on HBO. After slaying his competitors on [cont.]

Seemingly the first of its kind, well regarded Dilated Peoples (amongst others) music-video director Jason Goldwach (aside producer Peter Bittenbender) team up with indie-mogul Damian “Domino” Siguenza (Hieroglyphics, of course) to churn out one very interesting film/album package. One side you have a compact disc soundtrack, highlighting exclusives from the likes of Del The Funkee Homosapien, [cont.]

Ever since his 1998 debut, Confessions Of Fire, Cam’ron’s relationship with his former label, Epic, has been sketchy at best. Though both of Cam’s releases on Epic went Gold, his claims of mismanagement are not entirely unfounded, as radio-friendly singles came (“Horse & Carriage”) and went (“What Means The World To You”) without being fully [cont.]

Cormega is one of those rare artists that after dealing with a fair amount of label politics, continued to work his ass off and do whatever it took to get out of his deal with Def Jam, and release a solid debut album, which came in the form of last year’s The Realness. After such a [cont.]

Review 1: There are certain artists (2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Public Enemy, Jay-Z, N.W.A., among many) that transcend the genre of hip-hop and reach a level of popularity so intense that their every move becomes news fodder. The spotlight that is now firmly attached to Eminem’s back, can also be correlated into the public microscope he now [cont.]

There are very few emcees that can combine a good voice presence and content during their whole career, let alone one album. When Mars Ill (featuring ManChild on the lyrics & DJ Dust on the beats and cuts) first released Raw Material a few years ago – they not only began growing a fan base, but [cont.]

To my knowledge DJ Murge is a producer from Victoria Island in British Columbia, right outside of Vancouver. This is his production compilation set atop a backdrop of some artists you know (especially if you follow the affiliated Battle Axe movements) and some that may not (if outside of the greater BC area you dwell). So all [cont.]

Dedicated crate diggers People Under The Stairs are the exact opposite of the conventional sampling method, going to extreme lengths to unearth rare records to make the tightest beats possible. In contrast, mainstream artists with enough cash to get the rights to the music they to want sample just for the recognition, not for love of [cont.]

Off the strength of the lead single, “Addictive” featuring the legendary Rakim, Truth Hurts was immediately thrust into the limelight of the hip-hop and soul sub-category. The first question lingering about this release is, can Truth Hurts bring enough bad assed singing to make a long player listenable? The second question, can she find a mix [cont.]

 Each of The Demigodz core members had impressed us with a number of classic indy 12″ singles over the last few years, but the name remains unknown. They appeared on the types of songs that the average head might recognize from their local college radio show, but somehow couldn’t put a name to the voice (or [cont.]

If international acclaim equaled dope lyrics and production on record, these guys would be at the top of the game. Unfortunately, the connection isn’t always so simple. The Mystik Journeymen hit us with Magic, a project that will certainly satisfy their voracious fans but do little to draw in the skeptics from other realms. The listening [cont.]

Looking back a few short months ago, when I was arranging the pressing of the now-classic “Rain” / “Find You Out” 7-inch, I had an interesting conversation with RJD2. Upon hearing a few advance treats from his album, not to mention the tracks for the 45, I told him that I seriously thought that he [cont.]

Swollen Members rampant Canadian industry-shakedown did nothing short of placing the personification of what ‘underground’ hip-hop once was atop a celebratory silver platter, by all means, they are large (in Canada). But to the American ear, the Battle Axe  sound still speaks of a grit-scape and sans Abstract Rude’s mish-mash of a million styles on P.A.I.N.T., [cont.]

While Nas and Jay-Z battle over who is the king of New York, and Dr. Dre wears his crown over California, has the question ever been asked, who is the ruler of The South? Looking back at history, there’s one man who has kept his place in the game with a classic album under his belt, numerous classic [cont.]

While it may have not been evident to some at the time, in the early era of Fondle Em Records, Bobbito was really on his shit. He was taking risks by signing no-name artists, with little history or crew affiliation to tie them to, and creating some classic records. Among Siah & Yeshua Da Poed, [cont.]

When people were talking about the Fellowship album that was supposed to be on Celestial, this, more or less, was it. Or at least was the precursor to be could-of-been an incredibly remarkable album for Celestial. Well, Celestial disappeared for a while, the Fellowship fell on hard times and then somehow released Temptations, a ramshackle [cont.]

While Nature’s under-appreciated debut, For All Seasons, was placed on Columbia’s proverbial backburner and went through nearly two-years of industry gridlock. Nate’s conversational flow, commingled with production from Trackmasters, L.E.S., and EZ Elpee nevertheless stood the test of time and helped salvage what could have potentially been a fruitless effort. Though, many felt Nate caught wood [cont.]

Who would have thought that it would ever come back to this? In today’s industry of big-name producers using expensive equipment and 100+ track studios to churn out the next batch of slickly produced radio hits, there stands a skinny white kid who seems oblivious to it all. Perhaps the 23-year-old Edan has been locked in [cont.]

A few years ago before the The Neptunes were politicking with the elite industry tastemakers, Chad and Pharrell got together with childhood friends Malice and Pusha T and recorded Clipse’ debut Exclusive Audio Footage. Yet, there was a glitch in the Matrix, as Exclusive Audio Footage was scrapped by Elektra even after receiving some favorable press and reviews in [cont.]

Supastition is one brilliant writer/emcee who through his 7 Years of Bad Luck LP, has more than enough to say about his countless trials and tribulations. In making an effort to be appreciated as an emcee, a father, a son and a survivor, his raps are all self-defining compositions from the past seven years. The funny [cont.]