Home to many of the greatest albums that Hip-Hop has ever seen, the West Coast tradition is one of longstanding glory and pride. But as the years have worn on, the greats have transitioned into in the elder statesmen of the music, paving the way for the next generation.

In 2003, the octet of Strong Arm Steady was eager to take on the role of torchbearers. Read the rest of this entry »

Musical careers bloom and blossom, wither and falter, completing the full circle. For the great artists though, the nice, budding parts can still take place well after a sustainable catalog is obtained. Therein stands Talib Kweli. Around the world and back again, with numerous projects, singles and guest appearances to cement his legacy, yet he’s still in the middle of sculpting the landscape. Read the rest of this entry »

Intro by TC

DJ Premier.

The mere mention of the name can elicit a million different emotions from a million different residents of the house of Hip-Hop. Whether you’re a primetime industry player, artist with a collage of shiny plaques or disciple of the culture who’s allotted a percentage of your budget to the cause over the years, the Works of Mart have impacted your life in some shape or fashion. Read the rest of this entry »

In the military, when the top-ranking official of the operation is rendered incapable of doing their job, the next in line steps up and fills the slot without so much of a eye blink. The G-Unit battleship has posed a similar situation in 2010. Although General 50 Cent is still very much in tune with the rap world, he has come to a stage in his career where spitting rhymes isn’t his primal focus. Leave it to Lloyd Banks to all but obliterate his solo hiatus by clearing out car lots with his monster single “Beamer, Benz Or Bentley” and simultaneously renewing the interest in his camp’s brand in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

There are two lines of thought when it comes to dealing with the past. You can either do your best to forget it and put the best foot forward or you draw from those experiences to better handle the future. Von Pea, of Tanya Morgan, wisely chose the latter when the time came to begin work on his debut album Pea’s Gotta Have It. Taking the “Nati” off of Brooklyn, Von takes listeners back to the simpler days of of his time in high school. Read the rest of this entry »

Off the top of your head, how many rappers can you name who have consistently been getting radio spins for the last fifteen years? If you didn’t name Twista, you wouldn’t be alone. However, with storied hits such as “Celebrity Overnight,” “Let’s Go,” and a personal style mimicked into the ground, you also wouldn’t be giving credit to one of the genre’s most well-rounded artists, either. Read the rest of this entry »

Strength is generally found in numbers and the pairing of one of Hip-Hop’s most studious lyricists along with a divergent producer proves just that. Live From The Tape Deck, the remarkable collaborative LP from Skyzoo and !llmiind, has plenty of heads reminiscing back to the days when all you needed was a JVC stereo and Shell-Toe Adidas to get by. Read the rest of this entry »

Waka Flocka Flame.

No need for formal introductory irrelevance. You know the name well since you first saw it embedded into your eyeballs and you had to convince yourself that his name was actually WAKA FLOCKA FLAME. But from all the preconceived notions built around the man who bullied his way into our headphones with “O Let’s Do It” a year ago, how much of has the media portrayal affected your views of him. Read the rest of this entry »

Considering the renewed interest in the female rapper, you’d think Eternia & MoSS would shove their advantageous disposition in the faces of all who passed by. But that’s not what Hip-Hop is about and neither are these two qualified professionals. Hailing from two different spots on the map, learn how an accomplished musician and domineering wordsmith crossed paths to create At Last, their first LP together. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the deluge of MCs fighting for your clicks and ears these days. TiRon is well aware of the saturated talent pool and managed to etch his own path with substantial rhymes over honest, personal themes. His role in an emerging Los Angeles Hip-Hop movement alongside his peers in Pac Div, Blu and Nipsey Hussle shouldn’t be ignored either. He’s dropped three noteworthy projects for free.99 and is determined to sharpening his skills as an entertainer. Read the rest of this entry »

A decade is a long time when considering basically anything imaginable but for most Hip-Hop heads, it was time well spent absorbing the lone album that was bestowed on them by the classic MC/producer tandem of Reflection Eternal. Sporting a rapid-fire, metaphorically inclined wordsmith from Brooklyn by the name of Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, an extremely diverse soundman out of Cincinnati, the pair garnered critical acclaim from a multitude of fan niches with their seminal classic Train Of Thought, in late 2000. Read the rest of this entry »

When I found out that I would be interviewing Tila Tequila about her new album, Welcome to the Dark Side; where she’d be spitting ferocious bars over a bevy of banging beats, I knew the kind of questions I wanted to ask: What is the fundamental difference between rap and Hip-Hop? Is Aquemini really better than ATLiens? M-1 or Stic.Man?

It’s always a pleasure to delve into the inner workings of the well-oiled machine that is a lyricist’s mind. And Tila was no different. As a music journalist, this was a culmination of my life’s work. This was my Frost/Nixon.

Sit back, read and listen to an interview that will shake Hip-Hop to its core. Prepare to be astounded.

TSS: Hi, how’s it going?

Tila Tequila: I’m good, how are you?

TSS: Great. We were supposed to have this interview last week, but they said you had bronchitis.

Tila Tequila: Yeah, I have massive bronchitis, like, “oh my God.” I wasn’t used to the drastic change in weather and I smoke. In New York, it doesn’t seem like you’re smoking as much, but you’re actually smoking more. I had so much to do in one day to the next and the next that, by the end of the day, I just got sick and got bronchitis. It was just horrible.

TSS: I’m sorry.

Tila Tequila: I’ve been in bed ever since I got back to L.A. I’m still in bed now. [Coughs] Did you hear that? That’s my bronchitis. It’s disgusting.

TSS: That’s terrible. So, I guess I have to call you Miss Tila, now? Read the rest of this entry »

If resilience were a music certification, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s legend would have grown to folklore years before this point. Arguably the most successful Hip-Hop group in terms of sales to longevity to song quality ratio, the Cleveland, Ohio quintet have endured every debacle the industry could possible heave at them and have still emerged as supreme victors. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the increased opportunites to be heard through the microphone, the world still endures a dearth of female rappers and fans that will lend them an ear to be heard. Subtract the ones that are actually talented, and the pickens are even slimmer. But stats don’t speak for individuality achievement and Krishtine de Leon demonstrates enough core Hip-Hop in her blood to be considered going extinct anytime soon. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 was a year full of rapper/singer hybrids fighting for your attention. Outasight managed to separate himself from the pack with an unique sound and a host of feature efforts. The Internet favorite dropped two tapes, including the critically acclaimed Further, and his output throughout the year led to a deal with Warner Music Group. Despite his steady rise, he doesn’t seem complacent with his current situation. The Y-O native calls himself a “relatively unknown” artist among the mainstream crowd and is well aware of the road ahead of him. Read the rest of this entry »