Do remember, The Renaissance was one of the best albums of 2008 — meaning it shouldn’t have strayed too far from your rotation. If so, this jazzy wonder featuring the lovely Norah Jones should make you want to revisit Q-Tip’s cultural journey thru Hip-Hop once again. Read the rest of this entry »

Q Tip’s Kamaal The Abstract was a concept album that served a mish-mash of jazz, soul, rock and rap across eleven tracks. It was shelved in 2001 while he was signed under Arista. Then the LP hit the internet a couple of years ago and you know how that goes; it got bootlegged to oblivion. Anyway, I’m not eligible to cast the first stone as it’s been sitting on my hard drive for a minute. Read the rest of this entry »

Art by the homie Eric9

Not much to say that hasn’t already been said about this.

All fans of Mr. Yancey and his music should quite enjoy this. Anyone who isn’t familiar or appreciative of Dilla’s work, should definitely download this and get some knowledge. Rootzilla is a beast at mixing and blending, and he did Dilla’s work justice with this one.

A sequel is on the way and the tracklist is after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Karla Azcue x Wet Wednesdays

Drunk Hits Friend With Car Over $10 Bar Tab [Don Chavez]

“Very Happy” Mike Tyson Marries Girlfriend in Vegas [E!]

Twista’s Category F5 Details & Tracklist [FSD]

Stephen Colbert Got His Hurr Did [BoH]

Soulja Boy Is The King Of Atlanta [Nappy Afro]

Police Arrest 70 Year Old Tagger [Format]

Don’t Free Max B [Slang Rap Democracy]

Adam Lambert: Gay As He Wanna Be [Gawker]

The 5 Worst Moments In Kobe Bryant’s Life [Yardbarker]

Video: Q-Tip Talks Minnie Riperton [Nah Right]

The Honest Graduation Song [College Humor]

Nike Dunk High x NYLON Magazine Collection Release Info [KATC]

The Most Overhyped College Athletes in the Last 20 Years [TBL]

Conan On The Super Mario Thing [Today's Big Thing]

10 Robberies That Probably Really Sucked, For The Robber [Hail Mary Jane]

Have You Voted For L? [TSS]

The Ladies Of Friday The 13th [Gunaxin]

I Don’t Think This Is In The Domino’s Training Manual [Don Chavez]

Buy TSS Stuff, Become Instantly Major [TSS]

*shrugs shoulders*

I don’t know what this is about. The release notes (“This is a warm-up mixtape to what will hopefully be an amazing album from them…”) weren’t all that helpful nor did they make me believe a Higher Power is going to bring this triumvirate Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry ‘Ye, but this is Q-Tip’s song so he had to be in the picture. I’m sure everyone will appreciate you dropping another verse though. Read the rest of this entry »

Hip-Hop started out in the park… and Grandmaster Flash has pretty been there since the beginning. Playing a big part in the creation of deejaying as we know it, his contributions to Hip-Hop as a culture are undeniable. Few people with his perspective still remain a prominent figure in an art form that cannibalizes their old. So if anyone was qualified to break Hip-Hop down to it’s lowest denominator, Flash would be on the short list. On his latest LP, The Bridge (Concept Of A Culture), he takes a stab at doing just that. Sadly, much like the culture itself, a lack of direction has this compilation adding nothing new to the discussion. Flash assembled a motley crew of legends and upstarts together which all but guaranteed a choppy showcase before the play button is pushed. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo By Evie Robbie

Amanda Diva to be exact.

There’s a good portion of you that feel Hip-Hop doesn’t need a woman’s touch unless they’re tip drilling it. That’s quite alright. You’ll be explaining your Alpha male theology to Judge Judy sooner or later. But in the meantime, Mz. Diva’s poised to contribute her qi to the rap game in the form of the freEP titled Spandex, Rhymes & Soul which we be available in March, so listen up for the DivaSpeak with a couple of samples.

*Raises fist*

Girl Power, you twats! Read the rest of this entry »

From the press release —

J.Period’s highly anticipated to The Abstract Poetic is finally here. This styles precedented mixtape arrives on the heels of Q-Tip’s critically–acclaimed album, The Renaissance (released Nov 4), and urges a new generation of fans to take note of Q-Tip’s tremendous contributions to Hip-Hop throughout his career.

With an all-star lineup of contributors—De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, ?uestlove, Black Thought, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Consequence, Zion I, Skillz, Black Sheep, Kid Cudi, and Blu, The [Abstract] Best is a first of its kind in the mixtape game, and a testament to the depth of influence Q-Tip has had on Hip-Hop’s elite.

Nothing left but the tracklist. Read the rest of this entry »

Adrienne McCollum

10 Songs That Rocked the Digital Music World…[TDS]

Serena Williams On Jay Leno [Dime Wars]

DivaSpeakTV: The Wack Moments In Black History [OKP]

Too Black for B.E.T. By Jayson Scott Musson @ Union LA [Hypebeast]

YouTube Grabs 41% Share With 100M Viewers [Hypebot]

Six Guests That Need To Be On Detox [Nappy Afro]

The Billboard Q&A: Axl Rose [Billboard]

Kellogg to Drop Olympian Phelps [Adage]

Q-Tip Interview With Travis Smiley [Nah Right]

Thousands Of MySpace Sex Offender Refugees Found On Facebook [Tech Crunch]

Twitter.com/TSS_Crew

Words By Jason Hortillas

If you haven’t already listened to The Renaissance, you should, especially if you appreciate a Hip-Hop album dominantly produced by live instrumentation. When you see performances Read the rest of this entry »

As if I really need a reason to post a pic of A. Diva & those cute cheeks…

Fine specimen of feminity that she is, Amanda Diva apparently got into an e-skirmish recently. I’ll save you the story because Miss Info summed it up rather well. What I enjoyed most is Ms. Diva’s response was the following words in response to a commenter who that “She looks like she takes n– in her face…” Read the rest of this entry »

Found in the inbox from the homie J.Kim… Read the rest of this entry »

Generally, the bickering and babbling that coincides with ranking the year’s best LPs tend to blur the focus on the overall picture.

While some albums directly catered to personal preferences more immensely than others, all the selections emerged amongst the year’s best in regards to quality, visibility and of course, durability. Behold fifteen albums deserving of all the accolades and praises heaped upon them throughout the course of 2008. And their value will only solidify going in to 2009.

No order. No bias. Just noteworthy Hip-Hop.

Nas – Untitled

“From the brooding opening piano loop of “Queens Get The Money” to the uplifting snares on “Black President,” Nas channels his inner Walt Whitman as he explores the Black Diaspora. Lyrically though, his wordplay and delivery are sharp as ever as if all the attention to the title made Nas put extra effort and focus into his words…“ — From “America” – Review Of Nas’ Untitled Album

BONUS – Get familiar with Nas & DJ Green Lantern – The Nigger Tape Read the rest of this entry »

The title “Blogger” sounds so primitive. I envision a Blogger as someone who stamps his keyboard with rocks in his hands and fetches food by inserting a twig in an ant hill and eating whatever surfaces. But, alas, I am a blogger, and we are the first breed of e-Thugs — separated from punishment by the electro-glow of a computer screen. The blogging e-Thug has the most responsibility in the online community and abuses his power most often. Indeed, most blogs are top-of-the-noodle blather — for goodness sake, I’ve written about cereal Read the rest of this entry »