Vordul Mega is one half of Cannibal Ox, a group that despite releasing only one album (2002’s essential classic Cold Vein) remains amongst the most heralded rap groups of this millennium. After the titanic success of The Cold Vein, Vordul began work on a solo album, then suspended that record after signing a deal with Nature Sounds for what would become his first solo LP, 2004’s Revolution of Yung Havoks. While his name was now cemented in the annals of underground rap, Vordul was still struggling against the poverty and deprivation, the despair and hopelessness that hang in every corner of the ghetto. A Harlem resident since birth, he still lives and breathes uptown, the source of both his inspiration and his personal struggles.
Solange Knowles’, 1st single, “I Decided,” off of her forthcoming CD, SoL-AngeL and the Hadley St. Dreams enjoys the #1 spot on both Billboard’s “Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales” chart and the “Hot Dance Singles Sales” chart. It also lands at #2 on Billboard’s “Hot Singles Sales” chart. SoL-AngeL and the Hadley St. Dreams, Solange’s sophomore set, will be released on Music World Entertainment/Geffen Records on August 26th. Read on »
ATLANTA, GA — Perennial radio personality and hip hop hit-breaker Greg Street is primed for the release of “Greg Street Certified Worldwide,” his long-anticipated compilation for Interscope Records. The compilation’s first single is the upbeat, feel-good track “Good Day,” featuring Nappy Roots which is currently airing on BET’s “106 and Park,” features Street with a classroom of singing school children interspersed with scenes of members of Nappy Roots. The compilation also features appearances from Lil Wayne, Game, Soulja Boy, Kardinal, Rich Boy, Wale and more. Read on »
Once a member of the St.Louis R&B group Soul Tyde Black Spade’s dissonant keyboard pieces from Worrell world, doleful belting and earnest rapping has pulsed since the ’90s. To Serve With Love is his first proper album hip-hop version 3.0 for a prominent triage of soul, R&B and funk that take sonic favor. Rapping in a pitch part Common, part Q-Tip and a drowsy Busta Rhymes Spade appreciates women, moans about complex love affairs and nonchalantly talks about the brunt of being an emcee. Read more
Big Gates/Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic recording artist Plies has announced details of his very own non-profit organization, Big Gates and Plies Power Of Visions Foundation, Inc., as well as a scholarship program, the “Somebody Loves You” Scholarship Fund. This all comes as the Ft. Myers , Florida-bred rapper continues to ride the wave of success proven by his sophomore release, “DEFINITION OF REAL,” which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 215,000 copies in its first week. In fact, the album’s first week sales gave Plies the highest selling first-week numbers in the history of Miami-based Slip-N-Slide Records. Read on »
In the wake of Obama’s recent nomination, N.Y.Oil offers some
insightful commentary on the future of race relations in the U.S., the
effect on the black community and what we can all do to individually
further the historic progress being made.
Just as Obama endeavors to take back the country, N.Y.OIL again
reasserts his candidacy as an agent of change: the ceaseless crusade
to recover hip-hop from the misguided priorities and perspectives that
have come to publicly define the art form and culture.
New York, NY – Although most of the details are sketchy, the one thing that’s certain is that the once highly influential underground hip-hop DJ/Producer and Perceptionist member, Fakts One, one day, simply disappeared. Some blame problems with his record label that folded right before the scheduled release of his debut solo album. Others say the stresses of the unstable music industry led Fakts to turn his back on hip-hop as a profession. Whatever the reason, he decided to make a clean break from the music and many of his closest friends in the industry haven’t heard from him since.
One of the most critically acclaimed West Coast emcees of all time,
Ras Kass is renowned for his complex lyricism, sharp battle rhymes and
witty punchlines.
1996?s debut “Soul On Ice” established Ras as one of the front-runners
of the post West Coast gangsta rap movement pioneered by seminal acts
such as N.W.A. and nationally popularized by modern day icons Dr. Dre,
Snoop Dogg & more. Read on »
Hell Rell unveils the first webisode in his “Ruga Stories” series: a
rare glimpse behind the scenes at the photoshoot for the forthcoming
album, “Black Mask Black Gloves (The Ruga Edition)” in stores July 22nd
on Babygrande Records.
Rell reveals some gems about the forthcoming record, as well as his
lofty plans for the future, which include films, books and much more.
DukeDaGod drops by to offer some support as the two sound off on one of
the summer’s most anticipated releases. Read on »
Atlanta, GA - SnitchCraft, an urban novel by Edrea Davis, recently landed on the required reading list in a curriculum guide examining snitching at the Yale National Initiative of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.
The Introduction to Criminal Justice course, Police Investigative Challenges: To Snitch or Not to Snitch, That is the Unanswered Question, seeks to teach a comprehensive curriculum on the problems and repercussions associated with uncooperative witnesses. Read on »
(Monday, June 23rd, 2008 New York, NY) Renowned rapper and activist Immortal Technique, in conjunction with Fat Beats Record Store, will be encouraging the hip-hop generation to register to vote at his record release party in New York for his third album, The 3rd World. The party will start at midnight on Monday, June 23rd at the New York location of Fat Beats Record Store.
Eminem emerges from the shadows to rework Masta Ace’s classic “Slaughtahouse” for Delicious Vinyl’s RMXXOLOGY. Originally released on 1993’s Slaughtahouse, the track called for a “death to the wack MC’s” and the gangsta rap era. The original video featured Masta Ace and crew rhyming in an actual slaughterhouse. Dressed in white butcher suits, drenched in blood, and with axes in their hands, they explicitly made fun of the corny rappers of the day. Eminem tones down the heavy West Coast bass of the original and morphs it into a thumping groove that feels like a purposeful, pissed march. The seriousness of the beat is balanced by the playful metaphors of Masta Ace and his early 90’s flow.
If you’ve been following the hit MTV reality series Run’s House starring Reverend Run (of Run-DMC), then you already know about the hip-hop trio Team Blackout. Team Blackout consists of Rev Run’s teenage son JoJo Simmons and his childhood friends Zach, and Reggie. The Queens / Long Island natives have been rhyming together since the 7th grade, but it wasn’t until the 2003 New York City Blackout that JoJo, Zach and Reggie decided to officially unite and form Team Blackout – hence the name.
Sunz of Man members and deeply rooted affiliates of the legendary
Wu-Tang Clan, Hell Razah and Shabazz the Disciple are no strangers to
the game.
With the July 8th release of “T.H.U.G. Angelz: Welcome To Red Hook
Houses,” Razah and Shabazz expose their personal journeys, from their
upbringings in the Red Hook housing projects and its significance as a
breeding ground for “golden age” hip-hop, to the meetings with RZA, the
ensuing Sunz of Man days, up to and through modern day. Read on »
Hip-Hop ain’t dead…it’s gone global. The Snowgoons, the renowned German
production team consisting of Det, DJ Illegal, Torben & DJ Waxwork prep
for the June 24th bow of their sophomore release, “Black Snow” with the
video for the track “Who?” feat. Jedi Mind Tricks/Army of the Pharaohs’
affiliated Outerspace. Read on »
