Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen — Fela Kuti’s drummer for roughly 15 years — passed away at the age of 79 on April 30 after suffering an aortic aneurysm. Now, the Gorillaz are paying tribute to the late African legend with a new single called “How Far?” featuring vocals from U.K. rapper Skepta and Allen himself. […]
After 16 seasons battling professional ballers in the NBA, Al Harrington had his entire life to map out. But after he witnessed the medicinal benefits from marijuana firsthand when his 80-year-old grandmother tried it for the first time in 2011 to fight her own battles — diabetes and glaucoma — a new career path opened […]
The Beastie Boys Story documentary was released Apple TV + last week, bringing the tale of “three bad brothers you know so well” into homes all over the world. For roughly two hours, the surviving members of the New York City trio — Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz — looked back on […]
To coincide with his string of humanitarianism during the global pandemic spawned by coronavirus, Eminem has announced his own three-hour special on his Shade45 SiriusXM Channel dubbed “Music To Be Quarantined By” (a play on his recently released album Music to Be Murdered By). The engaging set will take place at noon on Saturday (May […]
An Australian street artist who goes by the moniker Lushsux isn’t letting up on 50 Cent. After painting several murals of the Hip Hop mogul in the likeness pop culture figures such as Post Malone, Donald Trump, Tekashi 6ix9ine and Oprah Winfrey, he’s now moved on to Taylor Swift and a toothless Fiddy. Although 50 initially […]
Nef The Pharaoh didn’t wait long to deliver a sequel to his CHANGSZN EP. One month after dropping the project, the Bay Area Hip Hop stalwart has released the follow-up CHANGSZN 2. The second entry in the series features 10 tracks with Scando The Darklord making the lone guest appearance. Production is handled by Bayzilian, […]
Dayton, Ohio MC/producer Issa Ali has recruited Canada’s Hip Hop ambassador Kardinal Offishall and singer Trey Parker for “Don’t Stop,” one of 22 tracks on Ali’s debut album Book of Issa. As noted in the press release, Ali’s “love for classic soulful vibes over trunk rattling trap-like drums/percussion produces a sound with a massive appeal,” which is […]
For a brief moment in time, it looked like an Instagram Live battle between 50 Cent and Ja Rule could happen. The Murder Inc. boss told Fat Joe he was down and hype around the possibility started to swell. But Fiddy soon made it clear he wasn’t into the idea with a series of memes […]
Both critically and commercially, the 80s and 90s were an unparalleled sweet spot for New York Hip Hop. As the rest of the world caught up, the Big Apple spent much of the 2000s stuck in an identity crisis with radio stations riding the southern wave heavy and many new artists unable to break out […]
New York, NY – In today’s Hip Hop space, it’s not unusual for a rapper to be an actor, artist, and activist all at the same time — and it’s thanks to this environment that the actor Titus Makin is able to pursue a musical career under the Butterfly Ali moniker. But he insists that, […]
With professional basketball suspended indefinitely, Charles Barkley is no longer a weekly fixture on TNT. The former NBA MVP is, however, co-hosting The Steam Room podcast along with Ernie Johnson once a week. The two Inside The NBA co-hosts spend just under an hour covering mostly non-NBA-related topics. On the most recent episode titled “Next […]
The rumor mill starting buzzing this week after Kamaiyah refused to answer questions about her (apparently now former) friend Kehlani. On Tuesday (April 28), the Oakland spitter headed to Instagram Live to chat with her fans. When someone brought up her fellow Bay Area native, she replied, “Y’all keep asking me questions. I don’t fuck […]
D’ussé Palooza, a popular hip-hop party that originated in New York City, has fired one of its hosts after he was accused of coercive sexual behavior. Formerly Henny Palooza, the event is now named after Jay-Z’s part-owned cognac brand and has drawn attention from Swizz Beatz, Pusha T, Rick Ross, YG, and Wale. The multicity […]
Bay Area, CA – The concept of “big head science” isn’t really that difficult to comprehend — especially when Hieroglyphics’ Casual explains it. During a recent interview with RealStreetRadio, the tenured Bay Area MC laid out why he named his latest solo project Big Head Science. “It has multiple meanings, but the most obvious meaning […]
Fivio Foreign is not here for French Montana right now. During an Instagram Live stream on Sunday (April 26), the Brooklyn Drill pioneer called French out over his recent Coke Boys signee, Mr. Swipey. In the live, Fivio expressed to fans that he feels French is using Swipey to help him gain clout in the […]
Lexington, KY – Kentucky governor Andy Beshear held a news conference on Monday (April 27) that ultimately ended in an apology. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Beshear was addressing the current coronavirus pandemic when he referenced people who file for unemployment benefits under fake names — and used “Tupac Shakur” as an example. “We had somebody apply […]
New York City, NY – A new mini-series by Gimlet Media’s Mogul is giving listeners a much-needed weekly fix of Hip Hop nostalgia. Hosted by Brandon’ Jinx’ Jenkins, The Mogul Mixtapes explores iconic rap beef, unforgettable cultural moments, fashion and wild backstories from legendary albums — as told through interviews with artists, DJs, journalists and […]
Two of Hip Hop’s finest groups are getting in on the Instagram catalog battles. Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony announced on Monday (April 27) that he’d be squaring up against Three 6 Mafia‘s DJ Paul this Thursday (April 30). “This Thursday 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern time,” Bone wrote in his caption. “Instagram Live Celebrating over […]
NAV is launching the rollout for his third studio album. The XO/Republic Records artist has announced his Good Intentions LP by releasing a one-minute trailer for the project. The Canadian rapper/producer hasn’t shared a tracklist for the LP but did reveal a handful of its guests. Travis Scott and Gunna, who teamed with NAV on […]
Forbes magazine dubbed Kanye West a billionaire in a recent cover story after “months” of asking for Ye’s financial records. The esteemed business magazine determined his net worth to be around $1.3 billion. But evidently, ‘Ye took issue with that figure and insists he’s worth over three times that amount. Forbes staff writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg revealed shortly […]
West Bank, Palestine – 50 Cent has a reputation for sparking controversy with his constant Instagram antics but now, someone is leveling the playing field. An artist by the name of Lushsux has painted multiple murals depicting Fiddy as various pop culture figures, including 50’s former “son” Tekashi 6ix9ine and talk show host mogul Oprah […]
De La Soul and Tommy Boy Records have been embroiled in a contentious battle over De La’s masters for years. It appeared to come to a head in 2019 when the celebrated Hip Hop group put the label on blast Instagram, essentially accusing founder Tom Silverman of being a crooked businessman. After several rounds of […]
Quarantine – Black Thought was a recent guest on KXNG Crooked’s Crook’s Corner podcast where the two Hip Hop heavyweights (and their peppered beards) chatted by video as they both adhered to their various state’s stay-at-home orders. At the beginning of the discussion, they talked about how they were getting through quarantine and The Roots […]
DaBaby got another one. Billboard reports the North Carolina rapper’s third album, Blame It On Baby, landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album, featuring the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Quavo, Ashanti and others, sold 124,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. related news DaBaby On Criticism Of Not Switching Up His […]
Eminem and Michael Jordan have shared a long and fruitful relationship and understanding but according to Slim Shady, their one and only phone conversation left a sour memory in his mind. In the wake of ESPN’s 10-hour Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance, Sway Calloway decided to inquire on any fireworks from any past encounters […]
At the time of its release, Mobb Deep’s marquee album — The Infamous — wasn’t your ideal project destined to be heralded during its silver anniversary. However, as the group’s surviving member Havoc tells RealStreetRadio, “I don’t know if it sounds cliché as to whatever it is, but if it wasn’t for that album, I […]
Smoke DZA chopped it up with Lil Cease during a recent Instagram Live session where, naturally, the subject of The Notorious B.I.G. came up. At one point, they started talking about JAY-Z and Biggie’s relationship with the billionaire Hip Hop mogul. Cease, who was a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Biggie’s cousin revealed Biggie always […]
With the rest of the Hip Hop community using Instagram Live during quarantine as a means to promote albums, dance parties or simply interact with fans, DMX decided to take a different approach — bible study. Long known for being outspoken regarding his Christian faith, X’s first-ever solo venture on the highly popular platform involved […]
The Hip Hop mogul rap fans have wanted to participate in Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz series says he’s down to compete. After numerous rumored matchups were discussed between the Bad Boy mogul, Jermaine Dupri and others, the one name that most unanimously agreed with was Dr. Dre. During a recent Instagram Live discussion with […]
Houston rap legend Scarface is updating fans on his condition a month after he revealed his own battle with the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and says he’s glad to be alive. In a recent interview with fellow Geto Boy Willie D, Facemob reveals the same day he informed fans that he was diagnosed with COVID-19, he was […]