Sometimes publicity for an artist comes along with no money down, but they’ll eventually have to pay a high interest tax. A couple of months ago, Jim Jones thought he was Hugh Hef…Joe Francis when shooting his “Summer Time” video and got a couple of girls gone wild in the video. Now they’re coming for revenge because they allege they never authorized their cupcakes to appear in Jimmy’s feel-good film. Read the rest of this entry »

Home to Rip Ridaz and Damus, palm trees, sandy beaches and a million and one sports teams, California needs a wide scope to capture the ambiance of its daily happenings. And since two heads are better than one, Strong Arm Steady has extra insurance on their investment with three members in Krondon, Mitchy Slick and Phil Da Agony. Bleeding the West Coast in every step of their walk, Read the rest of this entry »

Years pass and circumstances change, but certain things remain. In our early days, Jelani’s work on Wait, You Can Rap? captured and held my attention for months. Then, he went silent, not releasing material for a prolonged period. The aspiring emcee was away perfecting his craft – honing his skills as an audio engineer and writer – while simultaneously attaining a college degree. Time spent served to show him life’s true challenges and tested his focus as a man and artist.

And thus, “De La Vega” is a detailed product of reflection. Titled after the NYC street artist James De La Vega, Jelani says “the entire theme of the song is based on the philosophy of De La Vega’s quotes, which I grew up seeing all around Harlem as a kid. The most famous ones that resonate with me the most are ‘Become Your Dream’ and ‘The pressure of survival in the big city will make you lose sight of your dream.” Over broad, jazzy horns, the lyricist uses short, sharp strokes to paint his picture of perseverance.

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Jelani – “De La Vega”

Hear ‘ye, hear ‘ye, ‘ol rotten azz tomatoes. King Vandalyzm is serving up a royal ketchup session in his own honor with BITCH Im’mis Talented. It’s like a “mirror mirror on the wall” kinda ordeal. You want comedy? Look at the song names. You want bare-bones MCing? Let his Killstreak collabo or pairings with Skyzoo and Naledge be your guide. Read the rest of this entry »

While it didn’t make our year end list, Phene’s Leap Of Faith was quietly a dope mixtape in 2010. Here we are five months later and the machine – being Phene himself – is still behind the project and dropping a visual for arguably my favorite track, “The Truth.” Read the rest of this entry »

Instead of chasing trends, PRO-Keds relishes their position as originals, able to remain relevant without invoking bells and whistles. The company’s 2011 Spring shoe line debuts under the highly-accurate tagline “Old School meets New School” with a dope video and lookbook shot in NYC by Eric Luc with direction from Dark Igloo, both versions incorporating lasting images of cool. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past year, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q and the other members of Black Hippy have taken a number of steps forward in this industry. They’ve appeared on “best-of” lists across the blogosphere, worked with big names like Tech N9ne, Dr. Dre, and J. Cole and improved immeasurably in their abilities. Now, they’re ready to take on the world. “Hell Yeah,” the first cut off Ab-Soul’s upcoming Longterm: Mentality, is the group’s opening salvo on anything and anyone that would stand in their path. Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody say cheese and get the freeze frame on the Kodak woman. Ladies love thugs and my thugs love Hip-Hop. Thugs love ladies and ladies they love Hip-Hop. Nina B. has been my Facebook friend for several years but it has been pretty mum on the musical side for her. It was only a matter of time until she got her negatives developed and 2011 looks to be the year that you’ll give her shutter your undivided attention. Read the rest of this entry »

Hollywood Reporter:

Continuing the annual Grammy Awards tradition of pairing A-list artists for musical collaborations, the Hollywood Reporter has learned that Dr. Dre will join his protege Eminem onstage at this Sunday’s show (CBS, 8 p.m.).

It will mark the rap icon’s first live television performance in more than a decade and comes on the heels of a stellar year for Em, who not only has the best-selling album of 2010 with Recovery, Read the rest of this entry »

Every now again you come across a song title that makes you step back & think whether you really want to even push play. There has to be something really defining affiliated to warrant a listen. When I saw “Loose Raps” behind Raven Sorvino I was skeptical until I saw that she was affiliated with the Language Artz, a collective I’m not even totally up to speed on save for knowing most tracks they’re involved with are pretty funky. Read the rest of this entry »

After posting about how SKULLebrities creeped me out at the grocery store a few weeks ago, the eccentric graphic company whose tag-line is “Rest In Parody” sent me their extremely dry rendition of Afeni’s son. Despite it’s solid neckhole and overall dope design, I’m still at odds as to whether or not I’d get side-eyed wearing it in public. Read the rest of this entry »

Vanette

Ciara Dropped From Jive Records [Concrete Loop]

How Inappropriate Is Your Valentine? [Uproxx]

The Inmate Wives of B-More [Miss Jia]

Man Dies After Freak Accident On Set Of “NCIS” [TMZ] Read the rest of this entry »

Kobe Bryant’s rise to one-name immortality has seen several chapters write themselves throughout his storied career. The world marveled at his theatrics while at Lower Merion High School in the mid ’90s. His controversial yet successful union with Shaq is a staple of early 2000′s pop culture. His vulnerabilities, both personal and professional, were shown through his sexual assault case and the days Read the rest of this entry »

Before Valentine’s gets into full swing, we offer up this audio morsel, courtesy of Dirty Waters. Taken from a 1997 radio broadcast, Stretch & Bobbito serve up two healthy hours of tasteful selections, low on the syrupy songs prone to making your ears hurt and the mind deject the whole concept of a holiday themed around a winged baby armed with a bow & arrow. Read the rest of this entry »

For everybody in the club doing the same ‘ol two-step, wishing the girl they were hollering at used her feet to hop in your car, Torae has the anthem for you. When you’re a lyrical giant, crafting an accessible single without comprising your craft can be a slippery slope, but Torae retains his footing on this smoothly operated gem that makes it cool to keep it casual. Read the rest of this entry »