Sunny days are here, but sometimes our energy is still cloudy– and that’s ok. This playlist is for all of the moody tings across the globe, going through the motions of life and riding the wave. Sometimes we don’t feel ourselves for…
Blog Archives
Quickie: Wifisfuneral
T H E S H O R T… Name: Isaiah Rivera Nickname: Lil Zay From Out The Bridge Birthday and Astrological Sign: March 20th, 1997 – Pisces Born & Raised: Born in the Bronx, Raised in Palm Beach Currently Residing…:…
Master P: The Man, The Myth, The Legend
It’s not often we have the opportunity to walk among icons as many–sadly–meet their maker prior to gaining recognition for their accomplishments. Fortunately, Master P–one of hip hop’s major moguls–is still making us say “ughhh” and encouraging today’s youth and…
23 Years Later: Remembering Outkast’s ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik’
Back in the ’90s, rappers were recognized by the coast. The west side had rappers like Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, Spice 1, and Warren G. The east coast had The Notorious B.I.G, Big Daddy Kane, and Public Enemy. Even though greatness…
Posted in CULTURE Tagged with: andre 3000, atlanta, Big Boi, classic, hip-hop, music, outkast, rap, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
Bay Rapper Larry June Expects Everything Organic
“Sock it to me,” “Good job, Larry,” & “Yeah, baby,” are just a few of the 70’s inspired phrases you’ll hear frequently from Bay Area rapper, Larry June. Arguably, his most memorable signature phrase is “Yee”– which is peppered throughout each of…
Viceland’s ‘The Therapist’ Will Make Us All Vulnerable
Following the 30-minute special on YG with the therapist featured by Vice in September of last year, Viceland has proceeded to entice us with yet another addictive series. The Therapist premieres in just a few weeks on May 8th, and…
Posted in BLOG, CULTURE Tagged with: DRAM, mental health, music, rap, the therapist, therapy, viceland, yg
Watch Smino Fall In Love In “Anita” Video
Lyrically witty St. Louis Rapper, Smino, debuted his official video for his single, “Anita.” The video tells a story of two strangers meeting each other in a dive, becoming vulnerable and almost falling for each other instantly. We go on a trip…
UPDATE: Our Top Projections For ‘XXL’s Freshman Class 2017’
It was no easy feat to come up with this year’s contenders for XXL‘s notorious freshman class. In the past, we relied on an A&R and word of mouth to spread the word about new artists. We blindly trusted the…
Syrian-American Woman Mona Haydar Represents Her Culture In New “Hijabi” Video
“Teleporting through trauma, I been stacking my karma. Nefertiti, no drama. Make a feminist planet. Woman haters get banished. Covered up or not, don’t ever take us for granted.” – Mona Haydar, “Hijabi” Over the weekend, an interesting video popped up on the internet that…
Watch Noname Take Over NPR With Her ‘Tiny Desk’ Concert
Chicago native and Chance the Rapper affiliate, Noname, stopped bt the NPR offices to deliver an intimate, candid Tiny Desk performance packed with lyricism. The set included songs from her long awaited 2015 breakout album, Telefone: “Diddy Bop,” “Yesterday” and–…
School Girl Crush: Method Man
Perhaps it’s his thuggish ruggish persona, or maybe it’s his ability to balance his street credibility with his aptitude for business. Either way, Method Man always has and always will have the juice as far as we’re concerned. Born Clifford Smith,…
Joey Bada$$ Comes Through With Another Fire Freestyle
Just last week, Joey Bada$$ stopped by the LA Leakers radio show to talk about his forthcoming album “for the times,” All-Amerikkkan Badass. He also delivered a few fire bars in a freestyle over Future’s “Mask Off” beat. The freestyle went viral, making fans…
Posted in MUSIC Tagged with: All-Amerikkkan Badass, freestyle, hip-hop, Joey Bada$$, Joey Badass, la, pro era, rap
Snoop Dogg To Honor Tupac Shakur With Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Tupac‘s legendary career will be celebrated next month with the late rapper’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pac’s former label mate and contemporary, Snoop Dogg, is also set to oversee the installation– making the honorary ceremony nothing but a…
Posted in MUSIC Tagged with: california, HALL OF FAME, hip-hop, legend, rap, rock and roll hall of fame, Rolling Stone, snoop dogg, tupac, west coast
Nic De La Paz Pays Homage to Classic New York Jewelry with Botanica’s ‘New York’ Collection
In our flashback post, Vintage Hip-Hop Jewelry Is Making A Comeback, we discussed the staple gold jewelry pieces for hip-hop artists: chunky rings, bamboo earrings and name plates were listed, just to name a few. These things essentially have never went…
The Cool Kids Reunite In Psychedelic New Video “TV Dinner”
Crispy Chi-Town rap greats, The Cool Kids, went their separate ways an odd number of years ago–but the duo, comprised of Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks, are back and seemingly here to stay. The eclectic lyricists recently blessed fans with…
Posted in MUSIC Tagged with: chicago, chuck inglish, hip-hop, mikey rocks, rap, SoundCloud, the cool kids, TiDal
Rick Rubin Has Created Masterpieces In Music For Virtually Every Genre Imaginable
For nearly 4 decades, Rick Rubin has contributed to the generation of some of music’s most noteworthy records. While many producers stick to a specific sound, Rubin has crossed music boundaries, creating masterpieces of sound for virtually every genre imaginable.…
A Gentle Reminder That Positivity Is Cool From Your Favorite Rappers
Hip-Hop often gets a bad rap for promoting violence and disrespect for women among other things. Fortunately, several talented artists are taking the craft back into their hands and reshaping how we listen to and feel towards Hip-Hop. Below are…
Future Drops Another Album: HNDRXX
As if 1 Future album wasn’t enough, the trap icon released yet another 17 track album titled HNDRXX, just a week after the release of FUTURE. It’s safe to say that man has been working. We are familiar with his frequent…
Kodak Breaks Our “Tunnel Vision” With Controversial New Video
Amidst the current chaos within the country (and with a fresh haircut), Kodak Black drops the highly anticipated track “Tunnel Vision” alongside a controversial music video. Unlike his previous music videos, Kodak takes a political approach in visually depicting the single.…
Celebrate Hip-Hop History With The ‘RAP365’ Calendar
Merriam-Webster defines the term history as a chronological record of significant events often including an explanation of their cause. According to this definition, one could compare history to an experience. Which is something Hip-Hop fans from all generations can relate…
School Girl Crush: Q-Tip
When A Tribe Called Quest first stepped on the scene in the 80’s, they were the weird, cool kids who somehow knew how to mend hip-hop and jazz together on another level. They took part in creating a lane of soulful…
New Music: Dyme-A-Duzin’s Surprise EP ‘Ghetto Olympics’
Just a few days ago Brooklyn’s very own Dyme-A-Duzin released a surprise five-track EP, ‘Ghetto Olympics.’ This EP is intended to bring fans closer to the edge of their seats as his highly-anticipated album ‘Crown Fried,’ is still in the works.…
Posted in CULTURE, MUSIC Tagged with: brooklyn, crown, crown fried, dyme-a-duzin, dymeaduzin, dymeZ, ep, fried, ghetto, ghetto olympics, new music, Olympics, rap
Gucci Mane Releases New EP and Teases Upcoming Album
Gucci Mane has been on a roll, well excluding his stint behind bars, he’s never really stopped. He’s healthy and thriving and has produced an elevated series of projects since his release and has yet again blessed us with more.…
Knxwledge Drops New Project WT.PRT10.8_
Ingenious producer, Knxwledge, has just dropped the latest volume of his ongoing project series, Wraptaypes, called WT.PRT10.8_. This is his first drop since dropping his collaborative album with Anderson.Paak, Yes Lawd!, as NxWorries. Wraptaypes consists of some of our favorite popular songs of the time, stripped down sampled…
Posted in BLOG, MUSIC Tagged with: 21 SAVAGE, Anderson .Paak, drake, hip-hop, Knxwledge, mixtape, NxWorries, rap, SoundCloud, Young M.A.
SCHOOL GIRL CRUSH: NAS
Nas’s ability to create ill lyricism that was hood with just enough intellect has always been the focal point of him as an artist, but that was just a part of what made him so fine. Nas had that mole, that…
Joey Bada$$ Delivers in New Freestyle With GQ
Never one to shy away from speaking truth, Joey Bada$$ recently released the politically charged record “Land Of The Free” from his upcoming anticipated album AABA. The record addresses the recent presidential election along with the contradictions that exist within…
Sorry PETA, Migos’ T Shirt Video Is Awesome
Migos has been having a great year, yea we’re only a few days in but it’s no secret that they’re crushing it in 2017. Donald Glover shouted them out at the Golden Globes, and Chance the Rapper believes that the…
Watch Young M.A Flex In New “Get This Money” Video
Young M.A is following up her street anthem “Ooouuu” and the viral sensation “Eat” with her latest offering “Get This Money.” The Brooklyn MC gave fans a preview of the visual at the end of her video for the freestyle “Eat”,…
24HRS ‘OPEN LATE’ Tour is Approaching!
24HRS, formerly known as Royce Rizzy, will be touring an eight-show tour this month starting on January 19th in San Fransisco. He is expected in New York at SOBs on January 24th. Joining him will be Los Angeles based Rap/R&B…
Big Chune Alert:Partynextdoor Hops on Big Lean’s “Stamina” Remix
It might not be summer, but “Stamina” remix instantly teleports you to somewhere warmer than where you probably are right now. Basically, it’ll make you want to bruk out at a day party while sipping on some henny punch (you know…
Happy Birthday to the Voice of New York, Angie Martinez!
Next in the line up of Capricorn season birthdays is the voice of New York, Angie Martinez. For outsiders of the Tri-state area who may not know who she is, Angie is known for making her big switch from the New…
Posted in BLOG, CULTURE, MUSIC Tagged with: Angie Martinez, entertainment, Girl Power, hip-hop, Hot 97, music, personality, Power 105.1, radio, rap
Get Into The Holiday Spirit With These 10 Hip Hop Christmas Songs
The holiday season is typically a time filled with joy. It brings together great food, family, gifts, and sometimes rhymes. From TLC to RUN DMC, history shows us that hip-hop artist have always found the time to express their holiday spirit,…
Event Recap: Va$htie Celebrates The 10 Year Anniversary of “1992”
Thursday evening, #RedLyfeSeason led a charitable event at SOBs in conjunction with HOT97’s Hip Hop Has Heart & The Fader with proceeds going to St. Johns Bread and Life Organization. To provide the soundtrack for the night, the evening featured…
Listen to Hodgy’s Debut Album featuring Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes & Salomon Faye
Aside from a name change, Hodgy (aka Hodgy Beats) is back in the mix with his debut album Fireplace:TheNotTheOtherSide. The album arrives along side major releases from Ab-Soul, J.Cole, Post Malone, The-Dream and Tech N9ne. The emcee who established himself as…
Ab-Soul Debuts “Threatening Nature” & Release Date For His New Album DWTW
Ab-Soul is back and he has a brand new track to accompany his upcoming album. Aside from J.Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only, Ab-Soul’s DWTW is slated to arrive Friday, Dec. 9. TDE’s own also unleashed the PakkMusicGroup produced track “Threatening…
Nas’ Kneeling Black Santa Sweaters Will Benefit Prison Reform
Nas is intertwining the holiday spirit with the fight to end mass incarceration this season. The Queens, NY native revealed that his new holiday sweater will be available via his clothing brand HSTRY. Proceeds from the sweaters that come in colors green,…
A Tribe Called Quest Lands First Number One Album In 20 Years
After a 20-year hiatus, A Tribe Called Quest has finally earned the number one album on Billboard 200 with their latest studio effort, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. The album was distributed via Epic Records and moved…
Politically Charged Hip Hop Songs & Freestyles To Help You Through Election Day
It’s Election Day, finally. With the 2016 U.S. Election arguably being the most controversial presidential election the country has seen, decompressing from all the craziness with the help of music can be used as a tool for liberation. For years, Hip…
Nicki Minaj Covers ‘The Power Issue’ of Marie Claire
With a brand new album and television series in the works, Nicki Minaj is here to slay and she’s bringing her JAY Z inspired work ethic with her. The Queens native recently graced the cover of Marie Claire’s “The Power…
DJ Khaled Brings Jay Z, DMX & Ja Rule Together For Iconic Reunion
A photo posted by Irv “Gotti” Lorenzo (@irvgotti187) on Oct 7, 2016 at 5:19pm PDT With the help of DJ Khaled, Beyonce’s Formation World Tour served as an epic platform for some of Hip Hop’s best to bless the…
downtowns sweetheart
@vashtie
- Casually kicking it in the @nyknicks locker room. @JimBeamOffical #KnicksDraft17 ift.tt/2t17vgP https://t.co/zUSOo2l8nT
about 2 hours ago - Thanks @NARSissist for this #powermatte lip pigment! So gorgeous and perfectly packaged! https://t.co/onF5dPk7hB
about 6 hours ago - The @violettenewyork Bootleg Tee is still up for grabs on the site:
bit.ly/VashtieBootleg… https://t.co/jugEX24lri
about 10 hours ago
