Articles By: Khalid Strickland

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Kwame & Beyond Belief

During my recent interview with rapper/producer Kwame, I didn’t mention the famous dart that The Notorious B.I.G. tossed at him (“Your life is played out like Kwame and them fuckin’ polka dots”). Kwame has heard that question a million times; why be a Hollywood producer and re-hash the same...

September 9th, 2009 | "Smoking Sessions With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, GENERAL, MUSIC, VIDEO | Read More

TSS Presents Fifteen Minutes With Anwan Glover

With his towering frame, unconditional loyalty and voice of a thousand Newports™, Barksdale enforcer Slim Charles became a fan favorite on The Wire. Anwan “Big G” Glover, the Washington D.C. native who so capably portrayed the street soldier, is proud of his breakout role. But like Slim inheriting...

September 4th, 2009 | "Fifteen Minutes With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, GENERAL | Read More

Poison Pen - “Facebreaker”

Before finding success in our respective trades, rapper Poison Pen and I have crossed paths for years in the rowdy streets of our hometown, Brooklyn.

July 30th, 2009 | AUDIO, LOOSIES, MUSIC | Read More

TSS Presents Fifteen Minutes With Felicia Pearson

Felicia Pearson was born to play her eponymous character “Snoop” on HBO’s The Wire. Discovered by actor Michael K. Williams (b.k.a. Omar Little) in a Baltimore club, the street-certified Pearson had no buffer zone between putting in work for her set and putting in work on the set....

July 10th, 2009 | "Fifteen Minutes With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, AUDIO, GENERAL, LOOSIES, MUSIC | Read More

Video: TSS x Capone-N-Noreaga x Dame Grease x Meeno

Camerawork by Clayton Donnelley I grind hard most of the time, but I’m a lazy b*stard at heart. If I don’t have to sit in front of a computer and transcribe a long-*ss interview, that’s fine with me. Lately, I’ve been having my homie Big Clay videotape my interviews. He’s an ex-bouncer...

March 17th, 2009 | ARTIST INTERVIEWS, AS TOLD TO, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK, Videos | Read More

“Da Game Been Good To Me” - UGK 4 Life Listening Session

The first time Bun B soldiered on without his UGK co-defendant Pimp C, fans of the revered Port Arthur, Texas duo didn’t fret. Bun capably held shit down as a solo artist and the faithful knew that the pair would be reunited once Pimp finished his prison bid. But only two years after Pimp came home...

March 8th, 2009 | EDUTAINMENT, Events, SMOKE BREAK | Read More

“Striving For Perfection” - On The Set Of Raekwon’s “Wu Ooh” Video Shoot

Yesterday in Sayreville NJ, the marquee outside of Club Abyss boldly announced its big event of the day as Raekwon was there shooting the video for his bangin’ new single, “Wu Ooh,” featuring Ghostface and Method Man. Before The Chef arrived, I shot the breeze with Rae’s brother/manager...

February 26th, 2009 | AUDIO, Events, Everything Else, GENERAL, LOOSIES, MUSIC, SMOKE BREAK | Read More

The Goonies

In the wacky world of Hip-Hop some artists are known more for scrappin’ than for rappin’. These predators rarely drop albums — music taking a backseat to their aggressive antics — but they make the rap game a lot more colorful by keeping the pretenders in check. With their genuine...

February 6th, 2009 | EDUTAINMENT, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK | Read More

“You Light Up My Life…” - Illmind’s Blaps, Rhymes & Life V2 Release Party

Pics by Sundiata Acree I don’t know much about fantasy sports, but the goddess of the blogsphere, Hot-97’s Miss Info, has long been an All-Star on my Fantasy Wife team. When I heard she’d be hosting a mixtape release party for New Jersey-based producer Illmind, I quickly enlisted. Illmind makes...

February 5th, 2009 | Events, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK | Read More

“Living Vicariously” - Left Eye’s Eye Legacy Release Party

Photos by Jasmin Strickland and Paul Bush Jr. On the real, I need a private jet or a teleportation device, à la Star Trek™. I was invited to the release party for Left Eye’s posthumous solo album, Eye Legacy. I figured I’d roll through the shindig and see what was poppin’. Only catch was that...

February 3rd, 2009 | Events, GENERAL | Read More

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With B-Real

At the crack of noon the other day, I rose out of bed, lit a pre-rolled spliff and set things off with a wake-and-bake session. Once that marinated, I was ready to interview B-Real of Cypress Hill. Our chat was via phone so we couldn’t have a smoking session in the physical. But I refused to chop...

February 3rd, 2009 | "Smoking Sessions With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, AUDIO, GENERAL, MUSIC, VIDEO | Read More

“The What” - Juelz Santana & Jim Jones Treat The Hood To “Notorious”

Many writers get into the journalism game to win Pulitzer Prizes or change the literary world for the better. Me? I’m in it for the free shit. Open bars, T-shirts, calendars of Ice-T’s wife, CoCo. If it ain’t on my dime, I’ll take it. If there’s time between bong hits and negotiating some...

January 19th, 2009 | Events, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK, TV/Movies | Read More

“Rise To Power…”

The dope game ain’t what it used to be, but there’s still a few dollars to be squeezed out of the fiends. In my hood, the gentrification of New York City comes with new clientèle: caked-up hipsters from out-of-town, looking to hit the slopes. Now, I don’t knock anybody’s hustle ‘cause Lord...

December 11th, 2008 | GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK | Read More

“Hoodman Clothing”

The moment I saw their “I Shoot Hipsters” logo on a sticker, Hoodman Clothing struck a chord with me. Not because I want to murk hipsters (for now), but because I feel what Eddie Huang, founder of the Hoodman brand, is getting at. Gentrification has turned New York City, once a cultural Mecca,...

December 1st, 2008 | GENERAL, Gear, SMOKE BREAK | Read More

“Emotionless” - Review Of Clipse Presents Re-Up Gang

Some of life’s pleasures are best kept simple: rum & Coke, dinner and a movie, T&A. Lyrically, there’s nothing primitive about Malice and Pusha T, the blood brothers who make up Virginia rap duo, the Clipse. However, they have a rudimentary musical formula: Hard-ass beats and skillful...

August 13th, 2008 | ALBUM REVIEWS, GENERAL | Read More