Rawkus’ re-entry into the rap game (after a brief hiatus during the switch of distribution to MCA), comes in the form of Soundbombing 3, the third in their series of mix CD’s spotlighting their current roster, as well as the hot new shit for the coming months, in true mixtape fashion. This time sharing deejay [cont.]

After releasing two successful singles “The Powers of Nine Ether” and “Metaphysics” on Bobbito’s Fondle Em Records, a European Tour, several side projects, and their debut full length Coming Forth By Day: The Book of the Dead, the Scienz of Life crew returns with their sophomore effort Project: Overground: The Scienz Experiment on Subverse. After first [cont.]

The story of Percy Carey is a disheartening one. Pronounced dead on the scene from the infliction of 8 gunshot wounds to the body, Carey who’d recorded arguably the most memorable verse of his career (that being, KMD’s “What A Niggy Know” remix) only days before the shooting was faced with frighteningly never being able [cont.]

Way before Rakim was rocking a graying beard next to the luscious lips of Truth Hurts, or even before he pioneered the idea of rap and R&B collaborations on Jody Watley’s “Friends” (yes, it was all his fault), there was Paid In Full, the debut album from Eric B. & Rakim, which ushered in a new [cont.]

The game is funny no? Just over a year ago, if you polled any hip-hop head, which member of The Lox that they predicted was ready to make waves as a solo-artist, it’s a good bet most of those voters would have given a ringing endorsement to the group’s most lauded member Jadakiss. However, as [cont.]

All we wanted was an instrumental album. After being thoroughly impressed (yet again) by Dan The Automator’s leap into the alternative-rock genre with last year’s surprise mainstream smash, Gorillaz, (which initially only got hip-hop’s attention thanks to the two Del The Funkee Homosapien tracks), it seemed a bit uncharacteristic of Dan to leave us hanging [cont.]

How do comeback after selling 12-million records and winning a slew of Grammy Awards? Well, if your Lauryn Hill, you take a four-year sabbatical and— get your head right. Not only does Lauryn’s Unplugged endeavor go completely against the grain, it will undoubtedly go down as one of the most emotionally tinged efforts to be [cont.]

Wake Up Show alum, Noggin Nodders founder, and one time partner confused to Kool Keith  (Masters of Illusion), Motion Man looks to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight with his debut solo release, Clearing The Field, blessed by the dynamic Kutmasta Kurt, who delivers wall-to-wall production for the entire project. Motion’s solo effort is [cont.]

Veteran producer/engineer Djinji Brown describes himself as an ‘enthomusicologist’ - vainglorious perhaps, but wholly fitting indeed. As Dinji’s self-production Sirround Sound proves, where there is a drum, there is a beat and where there is a beat, there will be movement. Deep-fried Dub-riddim meets House meets Afro-Cubanism meets a couple hip-hop beats is the formula translated through [cont.]

 Just before Puff Daddy was crowned as the originator of New York’s jiggy sound, there were two voices from the BX that did it before him, (and arguably just as well), but hardly saw the success levels of Sean Combs. Perhaps it was because Camp Lo’s sound was a little more raw than Bad Boy’s overly [cont.]

Think back for a minute to when A Tribe Called Quest released The Love Movement. In retrospect, whether it’s realized or not, this was a superb album, despite a few questionable collabos with N.O.R.E. or out-of-place aggression from Redman & Busta Rhymes. Regardless, fans and critics alike dissed the album, as many of them were still bitter over [cont.]

It seems as if a summer cannot go by, without a release from N.O.R.E.. Whether solo or with Capone, he has been one of the most consistent thug rappers falling victim only to flaky labels. Now with Def Jam and getting the overdue push he deserves, you can guarantee that there’s no stopping him now. [cont.]

   If Hieroglyphics’s wildly inconsistent discography proves anything, it proves you can count on them to deliver dope debuts. Peep game: Del The Funkee Homosapien’s I Wish My Brother George Was Here, Souls’ 93′ Till Infinity, Casual’s Fear Itself and their unifying family effort, Third Eye Vision, were the truth. Even the ostracized Extra Prolific’s [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.]