Sheek Luciano is a full bird colonel as far as industry vets go and his behind-the-scenes command has earned him the opportunity to call Def Jam his base of operations for the time being. To celebrate his newfound enlistment, he’s recruited DJ Green Lantern as his executive officer and along with Termanlogy, Sean C. & LV, Termanology and the rest of the Lox, Donnie Def Jam: Guerilla Warfare Vol. 1 is the next East Coast weapon of mass destruction. Read the rest of this entry »

The Art of War is here. Perhaps this is Maino’s statement to his doubters or his call to arms for his supporters. Either way, he’s serving as commander in chief and he’s taking his listeners to battle. In collaboration with DJ Drama and The Aphilliates, Maino spits more of his trademark simple, yet emotional raps that connect with most in some form or another. Jermaine’s found his niche, and revels in it for all to hear in this preemptive strike before The Day After Tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

Sheek got ahold of Beans and managed to shift Sigel’s focus from Jay to actually spitting rhymes that sound alright. Thus “1 Clip, 1 Gun” turns out okay. Read the rest of this entry »

My tour of the Big Apple continues with a stop in Yonkers. Sheek Louch has been relatively quiet since inking his deal with the place who lived up to the first half of their name by betting the house (and a portion of their integrity) on Shyne – otherwise known as Def Jam. Read the rest of this entry »

Deee-Blooccckkk!

Whether together or for dolo, these dudes keep putting out tracks to fill playlists. Read the rest of this entry »

One third of the Lox trio, Sheek checking in with new music. Off his upcoming Donny Def Jam mixtape with DJ Green Lantern. Read the rest of this entry »

When the gloves are off, the only time Jada is able to even sniff the championship belt is in the mixtape circuit. Pound for pound, he’s still one of the toughest MCs around, but his album record makes him more Sugar Shane than super MC. Nevertheless, the bell is sounding for the beginning of Round 3 in The Champ Is Here title fight. Read the rest of this entry »

SP The Ghost and Sheek sounding in good form over this rambunctious Green Lantern production, highlighted by a key PE sample for the chorus. Read the rest of this entry »

Pete Rock gifts Warlock Louch with a nice flip of “Eleanor Rigby” and Sheek does not disappoint by holding up his end of the bargain lyrically. Read the rest of this entry »

You can argue all day about which one of The Lox does the most damage individually. But you’d be a fool to argue that together they don’t make in-your-face, street grit sound like the best thing going. Read the rest of this entry »

I caught up with some friends and we rapped on music for a bit. Somehow the chat switched gears and we ended up talking about The Lox. Then the “Who’s better?” question came up and the room was quite divided. Read the rest of this entry »

There are certain words within each profession which are reserved for a select few who have toiled to reach a higher plateau. Within the world of music, terms like classic and legendary are bestowed upon those who have created acclaimed works and/or proven themselves to be head and shoulders above their peers. Being involved in such a fickle industry, where people constantly come and go, a long and consistent career can lead to an individual gaining a hyperbolic perception of self. With fifteen years in and the completion of his 8th studio album, Legendary, AZ certainly feels he’s entitled to such a lofty title. But is he really a legendary figure within the realm of Hip-Hop or is he just a legend in his own mind. Read the rest of this entry »

Termanology has already proved he can rip songs to shred by himself but imagine the damage he could do when paired up with the likes of Joell Ortiz, Bun B (again), Saigon or Freeway. Actually, all that has became a reality as he hooks up DJ Delz to deliver his latest project: Jackin For Beats. Read the rest of this entry »

Every rapper from any mid-sized town in America hopes to be the driving force behind putting their city on the Hip-Hop map, and Boaz is no different. Boaz’ base of operations is the cutting-edge cultural beacon of Pittsburgh, PA. Repping the Iron City and Boaz’ supposed Barksdaling of its street corners dominate the subject matter for the bulk of The Audio Biography.

Unfortunately there is no gimmick such as Houston’s “screwing and chopping,” or Miami’s dance-beat heritage to infuse The Audio Biography with a unique local flavor. Instead Boaz is forced to rely on an array of generic beats and his own presence to carry the album. Read the rest of this entry »

March 9th is soon to be declared a national Hip-Hop holiday. I can see everybody’s relationship to Big Read the rest of this entry »