One man’s passion for digging couldn’t be better defined than by listening to his previous releases, The Lootpack’s Soundpieces and Quasimoto’s The Unseen. Even evidenced on his latest single, “Loop Digga”, Madlib proves himself to be one of the last of the true crate diggers. While many of today’s hip-hop producers have traded their samplers for [cont.]

Take notice of a common trend in hip-hop music. Every year, a “new” artist or producer gets enough of a buzz surrounding them, that every label is asking them to hop on a remix or guest appear on some other artist’s record. Right now, Xzibit and Rockwilder fall into this category; a few years ago it was [cont.]

        You may recognize his face as the lead from Whiteboyz, or from cameos in Subway Stories or The Thin Red Line, but after experiencing Jails, Hospitals, and Hip-Hop, you’ll know his name is Danny Hoch. Jails, Hospitals, & Hip-Hop is Hoch’s third solo show for the theatre, paying homage to Eric Bogosian’s Sex Drugs [cont.]

Imagine the shock the art world would feel if they had stumbled upon a vault of never-seen-before paintings by Pablo Picasso, some one hundred years after his death. Or imagine what the buzz would be like in the film world, if they discovered a completed Kurosawa film from 1972, which was locked away in his safe. [cont.]

 After introducing their multi-culture style of honest, instrumentally driven hip-hop to the masses two years ago with Behind The Front, and it’s breakthrough single “Joints and Jams”, the trio returns to the scene to pick up right where their debut left off. Bridging The Gap is the second chapter in the BEP empire’s legacy, and [cont.]

First introduced to the world by Jeru The Damaja, Afu Ra has built a steady fan-base through a consistent string of 12″ singles, despite the major-label woes that delayed the release of his debut album, Body Of The Life Force. Although his former label, Gee Street, folded, Afu has maintained a presence in the underground, and [cont.]

        There is an interesting sub-culture among hip-hop fans, one that s mission is to unearth every sample used by their dream team of producers, from Erick Sermon to DJ Shadow to Showbiz to the Dust Brothers. Where the obsession comes from, most likely stems from the fact that hip-hop music was birthed upon the doubling up of [cont.]

 Many DJ-produced and turntablist albums have withered into a category of being labeled as mix-tape or short-term material. Something you taste, not swallow nor digest. In fact, many of these past albums by the likes of Funkmaster Flex, DJ Clue, The Allies, Rob Swift and others were formatted just like mix-tapes or run-throughs, which in a [cont.]

 Chances are, the latest LP from Hieroglyphics’ frontman, D-E-L, will not be the critics choice this year. Most people are stuck in a certain state of mind at the moment, and because of that, they really won’t be able to enjoy his latest LP. It even took yours truly a few listens of Both Sides [cont.]

Birthed on the now infamous “Rebel Alliance” EP, which introduced the world to Boston indy heavyweights such as 7L & Esoteric & Virtuoso, Mr. Lif has built a name for himself, releasing several indy 12” singles, on several different labels. From Brick to Grand Royal, Lif finally lands on El-P’s new Def Jux imprint, letting us get [cont.]

 Though The Fugees, The Score, sold 11-million records, and catapulted two its erstwhile members to superstardom, Wyclef Jean has nevertheless managed to redefine himself as a solo-artist. Similar to its classic predecessor, The Carnival, Clef’s quest to disassociate himself from traditional hip-hop parameters is freshly anewed with his subtle sophomore LP Ecleftic. With oft-times nothing [cont.]

 Foreign Legion is all that is traditional “independent” Hip-Hop, musically and lyrically Prozac and Marc Stretch stick to the conventions previously paved and run with it. Which ultimately, depending on the tastes of the listener, will make or break this Bay Area crew’s debut. Fun loving braggadocio, endearing raps about Hip-Hop culture, with an occasional ‘secret [cont.]

 Following suit with piecemeal releases from his Freestyle Fellowship brethren (a la Timetable, Suther’n Fried Chicken and even Accepted Eclectic), Self Jupiter steps to the plate with his first respected release of this stature. As the more elusive limb of the Fellowship tree, Jup, who spent a portion of the 90′s incarcerated, blossoms as a sort of [cont.]

The Shapeshifters are like Hip-Hop aliens, born and bred amidst the smog and clutter of L.A. yet honed and seemingly cultivated by the rap version of Oscar The Grouch, AWOL One. Synonyms with multiple generation dubs that are as gruff and fuzzy as his ever-unique vocals, Awol personifies the L.A. underground like no other. Like [cont.]

It’s no secret that Busta Rhymes has the uncanny ability to create classic hip-hop masterpieces, it’s just that they are few and far in between. Of the course of his four album / four year solo career, we’ve seen him bang out a number of timeless tracks. “Woo-Hah”, “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See”, [cont.]

?The sophomore release from L.A.’s People Under The Stairs begins with an intro of shit-talking fans, who seemingly know nothing about the group, simply because they hadn’t heard them on the Wake Up Show or seen their records at Fat Beats. While heads have slept on their first album, (including this one), these People give it [cont.]

In the wake of Matthew, First Come, Firt Served and Lost In Space, Kool Keith heads were undoubtedly digested a mass of Thorton bravado, some overwhelmed others underwhelmed. Yet if Keith was to drop another album in the same vein as the aforementioned joints, many would undoubtedly begin to question the longevity of one of today’s [cont.]

 The Hip-Hop world has an exhausting amount of late-fees when it comes to paying Moka Only the dues he rightfully deserves. Having a textured catalog of material more extensive than some entire record labels, Moka’s contribution to the music has been unheralded and under-appreciated at best. With a Battle Axe full length along side several other [cont.]

 Mixtape master Tony Touch, best known for his 50 MC freestyle mixtapes, steps into the major leagues with The Piece Maker. Tommy Boy backs Tony’s first legal mixtape, and in the process, Mr. Tony Toca taps just about everyone to represent with original selections. The album is made up of all new material, some of which [cont.]

Planet Asia has undoubtedly made an impact on Hip-Hop consumers these last few years. Running with the ethic of dropping joints one after another has proven a successful pay-off, scoring the vainglorious Fresno-bred emcee a major deal with Interscope Records. As a precursor to the album and to keep his momentum up, Asia delivers the slim-yet-thick [cont.]