Moderation. Something many hip-hop artists don’t fully grasp the scope and importance of. On a few levels moderation plays a vital part in the end result of Declaime’s full length debut (and follow-up to maxi-EP Illmindmuzik, Andsoitsaid. There’s the Madlib factor; a dominant, if not strong selling point of this LP. Producing 23 of the [cont.]

Much like your typical popular rappers, (all whom are biting his originality, as he would be sure to tell you), Kool Keith brings his latest project, just under a year since his last solo effort. Picking up somewhere where Matthew left off, Spankmaster should hold over the legions of Keith’s fans for a while, bringing [cont.]

Jay Dee and Pete Rock’s extremely contrasting contributions to BBE’s ambitious, and rapidly unfolding Beat Generation series, has made it increasingly difficult to discern where the labels true musical vision lies. While Jay Dee’s Welcome To Detroit was a more rhyme-orientated opus, Pete Rock’s Petestrumentals was a distinctly jazzy, instrumental based endeavor. Wil.I.Am’s Lost Change is [cont.]

 Billed as “The Weapon Of Choice For 2002″, Definitve Jux steps back up to the plate with not only the blueprint for the label itself, but in fact, the blueprint for the next movement of underground hip-hop. Call it what you want, but after listening to this album, it may be finally time for a larger [cont.]

Let’s face it – crew albums suck. It’s even safe to say that crew albums are usually worse of a product than dead rapper albums. We’ve seen the tired formula before – a rapper blows up, and then to satisfy the fans in between his consecutive solo albums, (and hey, make more money!) he introduces [cont.]

 Even with Lauryn Hill taking an extended sabbatical, no one has stepped up in her absence to carry the hip-hop/songbird flame. That was until now. With her debut, Cuts For Luck and Scars For Freedom, Mystic seamlessly bridges the gap between soulful harmonizing, and introspective lyricism; and no one since Lauryn has bridged this gap so [cont.]

Working as it’s sixth release, (count ‘em), Take It Or Squeeze It is probably The Beatnuts’ most solid project since the glory days of the classic Intoxicated Demons EP. Much has changed since the days of their debut; no longer is their sound as jazzy as it once was, not to mention the fact that [cont.]

While Pep Love put some of the “pep” (pun intended) back in Hiero’s step with Ascension. The Hieroglyphic crew desperately needs another member to step-up. And to be blunt, its about time Casual stood up, as he has been lurking in the shadows for over seven-years now. Though a seven-year hiatus is a virtual death-sentence in hip-hop, [cont.]

Hip-Hop’s firestarters have returned, although this once eight-man crew has diminished down to three core members, Q-Unique , Jise , and Swel 79 . But the idea of the crew’s demise doesn’t stop the remaining Arsonists from continuing to set microphones on fire, as they note on the title track and album’s opener “As the [cont.]

Dan The Automator’s latest foray into the world of alt.rock (or whatever) is not only a spin-off of the Handsome Boy Modeling School project, but also a quick follow-up to the surprise hit of the year, Gorillaz. In the long-standing tradition of many a sensitive male compiling mix CD’s of randy selections from Portishead, Air, [cont.]

Since breaking in quietly with hometown duo, Mood, in the mid-90′s, DJ Hi-Tek’s climb up the crate-digging ranks has been a slow one. While Hi-Tek garnished some well-overdue exposure for his work on Black Star’s debut, and with running mate Talib Kweli on their critically acclaimed Reflection Eternal endeavor. Tek’s name is still rarely mentioned when [cont.]

Much like their polar opposites, M.O.P., the collective of genius MC’s known as Anticon has a love / hate relationship with its audience. The divided hip-hop populace either falls into two categories, those that dig Anticon, and those that don’t. Anticon’s biggest fans worship the ground that Sole, Dose, Why, Jel, and the crew walk on, [cont.]

Fat Joe The Gangster. Joey Crack. Don Cartegena. Throughout his career, Joseph Cartegena has assumed many aliases, but with his fourth album, J.O.S.E (Jealous Ones Still Envy), he hopes to take the title left unclaimed when Frank White died, the King of New York.      Unfortunately, J.O.S.E. shows that Joe is more of a follower [cont.]

Let’s rewind back to the first time I met Eminem, (again). You know the story. That day in 1997, I purchased a whole stack of EP’s from the man himself, in a hotel room in Vegas, like some kind of shady drug deal. When he left the room, his manager said to me, “We also [cont.]

As some may know, Screwball ain’t new to this. Like the song say, they’ve seen it all. Hostyle, Poet, KL, and Quran have remained staples in the indie Hip-Hop market before it was even considered to be one. Following the Hydra method of constantly releasing singles, these fellas had a catalog of pressed material before [cont.]

 Hip-hop’s economic evolvement has made it nearly impossible for groups to remain self-contained, but the breakup of A Tribe Called Quest was especially disheartening. After culminating their decade long run of influence with, The Love Movement, Tribe loyalists immediately shifted gears, and turned their attention to frontman Q-Tip’s solo-debut Amplified; delegating the group’s oft-neglected Phife [cont.]

Is it me or could Encore , Planet Asia, and Kazi  battle each other with no one being able to figure out who’s who? Not to say that they sound absolutely identical, but there’s a lot of similarities in their baritone flow as well as short, punchy rhyme scheme. None of this should take away from [cont.]

The only reason I gave Sear the time of day on his Fondle Em single was because the beat, lifted from some old Tribe Records LP, was just so f*ckin’ ill. But Sear, better known as the former comedic companion to Stretch and Bobbito The Barber, isn’t all that intriguing as an MC, sounding like [cont.]

The concept of concept albums isn’t as conceptually tight as one might think, granted Prince Paul’s Prince Among Thieves had many a moment and The Dan The Automator /Del The Funkee Homosapien connection, Deltron 3030 appealed to some, the overall end product usually doesn’t come to met the expectations set for it on paper. Unclear directions [cont.]

The heralded NYC spot known as the Lyricist Lounge has become a cherished hip-hop institution. Its original platform was built around exposing up-and-coming verbalists, and the list of then unknown names who frequented the Lounge is an esteemed one; Mos Def, Rah Digga, Dead Prez , Mobb Deep , Last Emperor , Cocoa Brovaz , [cont.]