The Beastie Boys performed their new collaboration with Nas, “Too Many Rappers” during a live performance at this year’s Bonnaroo festival. This is the first song released from the group’s forthcoming release, Hot Sauce Committee Part One, dropping September 15th.

The Beastie Boys have completed their new album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, and are eying a September 15th release date for the collection, on Capitol Records, as usual. Notably, “Part 1″ is a new addition to the previously announced title, which originally was just “Hot Sauce Committee”, suggesting there may be additional volumes released [cont.]

The word “nigger” is defined as (1) a hateful slang term for an African-American person or (2) a member of a socially disadvantaged class.  Perhaps the most derogatory term in the English language, it managed to become a term of endearment, a symbol of comradory, an in a sense, instilling the feeling of social/emotional acceptance.  So is it still offensive?  [cont.]

The God Son himself, Mr. Escobar, is back.  Well sorta.  This greatest hits album is long overdue if you ask this critic.  Nas has been putting it down for years making himself one of the undisputed kings of Hip Hop.   There are so many classic gems that have been released over the years.  He has [cont.]

   Nas’s bold declaration that “hip-hop is dead” might shock some of today’s new generation of hip-hop listeners, but the fact of the matter is, heads from Nas’ era have been saying that for years. But Nas’ isn’t sour. He has accepted that the artform that we grew up on has changed completely in the [cont.]

       There comes a time when a man has to look at himself in the mirror and decide if he is happy with what he sees. When everything surrounds you is gone and the influence outside your window is calm, that’s when you have to stare at the image on the other side and [cont.]

On “Last Real Nigga Alive” Nas states “I’m the last real nigga alive that’s official.”  Now while nearly every emcee currently holding a mic (sans Eminem) will take some offense with that statement, to be blunt, there are only a handful of emcees breathing who can honestly claim that they are putting there life between the [cont.]

The first commercial release by Nas after being the subject of Jay-Z’s painfully humiliating verse in “The Takeover” isn’t a direct retaliation, but a proclamation of Nas’ standing in the hip-hop game. While the consensus is that Nas is almost incapable of a suitable reply, “Salute Me (The General)” shows that he can still pen a [cont.]

Usually I don’t like covers, but this is a rare case. “Da Bridge 2001″ is more a remix than a cover, saluting the original, yet coming some 13 years after it was released. Marley Marl pretty much leaves the original beat in tact, and MC Shan starts things off with altered lyrics, getting the last word in [cont.]

 On the celebratory posse-cut “Da Bridge” Nas laments “we from the largest project, yo the biggest on earth, Queensbridge know the history, left y’all cursed.” While Nas’ salvo may at first appear to be nothing more then your typical, emcee hood-reppin rhetoric, there is truth to his manifesto. After all, the infamous Queensbridge projects have churned [cont.]

Let’s face it; every emcee has limitations. And even ones as brilliantly talented as Nas are no exception to the rule. Nas’ weakness was exposed on Nastradamus; a horrid attempt at gaining pop-acceptance, which by there own admission was the last straw for even the most steadfast Nas fan. Though Nastradamus was Nas’ artistic abyss, for [cont.]

“One was ehhh, the other was Illmatic / that’s a one hot album every ten year average”. Spoken by Jay-Z on “The Takeover”, these words burned deep under the skin of Nas, most of all because most everyone agrees with them. After Nas dropped his classic debut album some ten years ago, he continually disappointed fans with [cont.]

Outspoken Emcee Stabbed A Record of 103 Times; Also Bitten Repeatedly By Pack Of Wild Dogs New York, NY – Rapper 50 Cent, who received major press and radio play from his single, “How To Rob” a humorous song about how he fantasized about robbing the industry’s top rap-stars, was stabbed 103 times last weekend, [cont.]