"This is straight up, pioneer driven/ I ain't stoppin till I am, where Em is" ~ Royce Da 5'9": 8-11 (Freestyle)As regarded a city as there is in America, Detroit has buit as big a name as they come, boasting hip hop acts such as Elzhi, Black Milk and of course, the technically enhanced veteran, Eminem. Almost forgotten amongst the cold confine...

There comes a time in every veteran emcee's career where an epiphany occurs and their music begins to reflect ambitious thoughts they have kept within the depths of their mind and never acted upon. While appearing on various R&B records throughout his career as well as touching on the subject on his own records in one way, shape or form, Ghostf...

by Christopher "DiZ" Lamb "This is black emo rap" ~ IllionaireA fine-tuned combination of Kanye West's charisma and personality and OutKast's eclectic persona perfectly describes Cleveland native KiD CuDi. Apart of XXL's 2009 Freshman Edition, CuDi was joined by the likes of West Coast emcee Blu (who released the critically acclaimed Below T...

Before Jay-Z vividly painted Mafioso murals on Reasonable Doubt, before The Notorious B.I.G. rose to prominence as a kingpin on Life After Death, the Chef from Staten Island cooked up some his hardest white.... the gritty cinematic masterpiece, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Similar to Nas, few hip hop heads will say that Raekwon has ever topped the impo...

It must be hard being Shawn Corey Carter. A beautiful wife in singer/actress Beyonce. Millions of dollars sitting in various bank accounts. His own brand new label in Roc Nation, which was achieved through a multi-million dollar deal with Live Nation. What else does he have left to prove? Even after the release of the maligned Kingdom Come and the ...

If there is one thing musicians have learned, it is that controversy sells in the music business. Despite "song covers" over numerous artists' hit records and issuing standout mixtapes to his fans in Genesis and Anticipation, it was Trey Songz' "freestyle" over Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" that caused the biggest firestorm. Calling out the...

Is there any one person who understands the thoughts that encircle the mind of Joseph Anthony Budden II? Very outspoken, many perceive his confidence and openness to voice his opinion as arrogant and disrespectful. After an idiotic emcee ranking contest by a now-defunct magazine, Budden's remarks would fuel and nearly lead to a possibly historic cl...

The saying "God always has a plan" really rings true when it comes to the creation of the Slaughterhouse movement. Moments away from erupting into arguably the greatest lyrical contest since Nas and Jay-Z's historic clash, Royce Da 5'9" and Joe Budden spoke with each other via telephone and the resulting conversation lead to Royce joining Brooklyni...

Since Nas' controversial statement in 2006 that hip hop was dead, it would seem that emcees are hellbent on preserving it, mainly by way of the "concept" record. Following in the footsteps of fellow Brooklynite Jay-Z, rapper Fabolous began work on his fifth studio LP, an album based around the gangster flick Carlito's Way. For years, the stigma tha...

A sabbatical from music usually spells doom for any artist's career, but most artists are not as revered as Maxwell. Eight years since his last studio release and thirteen years since his debut Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, an intense narrative that examines an adult romance from an initial encounter to its conclusion, Blacksummers'night signals the ...

The rap game these days is almost a joke, If you follow eastcoast hip-hop then by now you're probably used to the feeling of "disappointment", whether it's because your favorite rappers album keeps getting pushed back in to oblivion or they deliver a water-down final product which completely contradicts the reason why you liked them in the first pl...

Jeremih Felton is in a tough spot. He did not know that he would be signed on the spot after performing for Def Jam's L.A. Reid & Karen Kwak. He did not know that he would appear on a single for one of the most anticipated records of the year in Fabolous' upcoming LP, Loso's Way. He also did not know that his debut would spawn one of the bigges...

Aubrey "Drake" Graham has come a long ways since his role as the physically disabled hoops star from Degrassi. Following the release of his initial mixtape, Room For Improvement, as well as the critically acclaimed Comeback Season, Drake caught the eye of Young Money CEO Lil' Wayne who became a mentor of sorts to Graham. February 13, 2009 marked ...

By Christopher "DiZ" Lamb It has been a long three years for fans of the legendary Mos Def. After the release of experimental (yet still decent) opus, The New Danger in 2004 and the universally panned True Magic in 2006, fans watched in fear; fear of whether Mos would revert back to the jazzy vibes and peerless lyricism that shone bright on his ex...

Calling all hip hop practitioners; it’s that time again. While vacationing at the beach for Memorial Day, I stumbled across a young swag team of skaters. Each was practicing some new move that usually only the pros take a stab at. One of the kids had his Zune player jammed into his ears as if it were a diamond stud. When inquired as to his musica...