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Oh, to be young and rich - the hallmarks of the American Dream. Hip hop seems to relish in the idea of it. Not that other genres haven’t ever flaunted their extravagant lifestyles, but rarely do you hear rock stars, folk singers, or divas crooning about how much money they have throughout an entire album. […]

Marco Polo isn’t Timbaland. And in this case that’s definitely a good thing. Polo, a hip-hop producer originally from Toronto, isn’t a rapper, so he doesn’t try to be. Instead, on his debut album, Port Authority, he lets his highly talented guest emcees shine.
“You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” Polo […]

Guru is a legend. Along with DJ Premier, he solidified his spot in hip hop history as the rhyming half of the legendary duo Gang Starr, where he has become appreciated for his unique voice and mastery of monotone rhyming.
In 1993 he released a solo venture, Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1, the first in his series of […]

Nearly thirty years ago, The Buggles proclaimed that “video killed the radio star”. Now, Nas seems to think that radio killed hip hop. Did either of these things die? It’s 2007 and ironically, the only thing this author can remember killing a radio star… is hip-hop (and Rutgers women’s basketball). It seems to have come […]

Mike-E is not just a rapper. He’s not just a beat poet. Mike-E, and what he’s built his career on, is a humanitarian. Born in Ethiopia, Mike-E has an undeniable connection to his native Africa. And when he’s not volunteering for non-profit organizations or lending a hand to the education about and eradication of AIDS, […]

Phat Kat is an unsung father of Detroit hip hop. Alongside friend, DJ, and beatsmith J Dilla, the duo known as First Down became the first act from Detroit to be on major label (the now defunct Pay Day). After years of making appearances with Slum Village and grinding it out in the Detroit underground, […]

Outlandish is a very unique hip-hop group. For starters, the trio, based in Denmark, includes a member with a Moroccan background (Isam Bachiri), one with a Pakistani background (Waqas Ali Qadri) and one born in Honduras (Lenny Martinez). All are extremely religious; Bachiri and Qadri are Muslim, Martinez is Catholic. Formed in 1997, the group’s […]

Great hip hop albums are eternal: Nas’ Illmatic, Biggie’s Ready to Die, and Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet. One of the most incredible thing about these albums is how they never sound dated. When they were released, all of them were groundbreaking in their own way, be it politics, general lyricism, or outlook. […]

Rumor has it that Cleveland outfit Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has changed. Words like ’sellout’, ‘mainstream’, and ‘commercial’ are being thrown around. Yes, their latest album will likely be their most successful release to date, and yes, there is a DVD movie in the works; but it’s been nearly twenty years since BTNH started making music, and […]

Joell Ortiz isn’t like most rappers. He’s Latino: a negative in the eyes of some A&R’s. He’s a legitimate “baller”: he was offered scholarships to play college basketball. And he’s intelligent: He scored close to a 1400 on his SAT’s. His debut album, The Brick: Bodega Chronicles, proves Ortiz is unlike most rappers musically as […]