The good brother Suave sent in this compilation video of what’s said to be every single sample Kanye’s used. Taken from LupEND88′s YouTube channel, the clip shows the original sample source then Kanye’s creation. Now, do we know if this is every song Mr. West has sampled for his albums? Read the rest of this entry »

Off cover and title alone, the new Waka Flocka mixtape, LeBron Flocka James 3, gets a nod. They truly don’t make them like this anymore (with good reason). The name and cover combo seem like a running joke that we’re all in on and have come to enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an MC for all seasons and The Boy Illinois is trying to be Hip-Hop’s solstice for the 2K11. Enter “Yer.,” a poppy jam with a bouncy cadence that still manages to grip a hold of some sort of rap sensibility. Read the rest of this entry »

Poor Jake Handegard hasn’t been getting much sleep lately. His tweet mentions, Droid phone and SkyPager that he had in the 4th grade has been going off nonstop because Juicy J always wants to shoot a new video. He was probably hesitant to back out the 300 film deal he signed after hearing “I Don’t Play With Games,” the latest of pure, uncut gangsta shit from O.G. Juice. Read the rest of this entry »

And like that, Gucci Mane’s back being a free man, just as daylight saving time draws to a close and we get ready to change the clocks in two weeks. No official word yet but Waka Flocka’s tweet says most of what we need to know for the time being. Read the rest of this entry »

Common and original partner-in-crime No I.D. together for “Six,” a track featured on Cocaine 80′s Ghost Lady EP. The track’s everything we’ve come to expect from the two Midwesterners who made their mark together: Lonnie Lynn’s conversational coolness over the producer’s effortless work behind the boards.

Ghost Lady’s available for free download at the Cocaine 80′s stash house.

Cocaine 80′s, Common & Over – “Six Ft. Over”

Beyonce’s getting her to-do list cleared before the baby comes and she goes on maternity leave in February. Up now, the remix to the 4 track “Party” featuring J. Cole as a lead-up to an accompanying video set to debut on 106 & Park on Tuesday, October 25th. Read the rest of this entry »

Festivals like A3C, CMJ and SXSW provide a bevy of great Hip-Hop performances for fans who come out. Not only that, these engagements also offer a fertile area for aspiring artists to get their music out to potential listeners as well as bloggers and other tastemakers who can help them take the next step in their careers. Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of madness going on, most artists don’t receive any feedback on what they can do to improve or increase their chances of getting noticed. Read the rest of this entry »

As a journalist my job is to objectively report news in a digestible, intelligent manner. Because I have this obligation, I haven’t been doing much political writing as all I can muster these days is “motherf*ck these motherf*ckin’ Republicans.” Read the rest of this entry »

The boulevard boys at Primitive are clearing out the old to make room for the new. On Saturday and Sunday, all merchandise will be 20% off both in-store and online. Read the rest of this entry »

The evening of October 20, 2011, will forever be known as one of the darker days the pro basketball has experienced in the past 20 years. Something felt different about these recent talks. As much as any fan tried not to, optimism was raised. There was no way the league would stand in their own way of not continuing on the run of popularity the past few seasons have helped spawn. There was faith. There was a sliver of hope off in the distance. Read the rest of this entry »

Nashville had an entertaining week from Sunday, October 9th to Sunday, October 16th and experienced great live performances due to tour routing that led to several Hip-Hop acts converging on the city in a seven day span. One Sunday saw our LivexDirectTN stage – a merger of the Hip-Hop & Love (Murs, tabi Bonney, Ski Beatz, e. al.) and L-R-Generations (9th Wonder, Freddie Gibbs, etc.) tours – followed by a Thursday night show featuring Das Racist and Danny Brown Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re experiencing the South Central blues, the scenario is probably Crips rule everything around me, kill or be killed. Slim The Mobster continues his War Music charge, reporting from the front lines over granite Sha Money XL production. Read the rest of this entry »

Life has been noticeably different since the iPhone appeared in my life. With the BlackBerry, listening to music was next to impossible with a trackball whose sole intention was to run my blood pressure sky high. Now, with the iPhone, listening to songs in the car as they overpopulate my e-mail is second nature. This new record from Blake Kelly crossed my path while riding back home last Saturday night. Read the rest of this entry »

A mellow dedication is the last song anybody would expect from the usually aggressive Immortal Technique. His message remains strong as ever but his methods are quite unorthodox on “Toast to the Dead.” Read the rest of this entry »