Our friendly neighborhood Gangsta Gibbs generously took a minute from his relentless schedule to speak out against an issue that clearly needs speaking out against – sexting. From artists like Kanye and Chris Brown to politicians like Anthony Weiner, it’s clear that America is falling victim to the “I sent this bitch a picture my dick…” epidemic. Well, the mayor of Gary is having none of that. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to an aspiring MC’s career, a solid rap name is just important their actual talent. Coming up with that proper moniker, however, isn’t always so easy. In a world were reinforcement rules, the descriptive variability can be taken so many ways. Dumbed down or desperately deep. Dickies or leotard Levis. Big or Lil.’ Kid or Man. Hot or cold. Government or given. There are so many choices, but technically, it doesn’t really even matter. It’s not about what it says or means, as much it’s about how well it can be pushed to the people. See: Mike Jones. Read the rest of this entry »

If Jeff didn’t write that, you can bet your bank account that 500K Flea did. But this Thursday, it’s going down… Read the rest of this entry »

In my opinion nobody is seeing Nate when it comes to hooks.

But based on their run within the past three to four years I can see where someone would be justified in throwing Akon or T-Pain’s name in the mix, especially with Hip-Hop not being the best genre at remembering people once they’re out the public eye. Sadly, with Nate having been out of the mix due to health reasons the past few years, is all he’s done remembered by the casual fan? Read the rest of this entry »

In the comments yesterday, Benny Blanco said:

I hear TSS talkin about all the dudes on the xxl cover but never Asher Roth I wanna know yall opinion on homie I personally just dunno about him yet I havent jumped on the band wagon quite yet gotta listen to more songs I guess

Well, here’s Asher’s XXL freestyle. It’s self-explanatory like an IKEA manual. He pales in comparison to his classmates. In undergrad we called this “biffing,” i.e. falling flat on your ass or face.

I don’t question whether or not Asher Roth has talent — the dude can rap. But knowing how to rap and needing to be a rapper are two totally different things. He fits neatly into a SubZero refrigerator box I’ve labeled “Too Many Rappers, Not Enough Fans.” (More on that later…)

I don’t know, Benny, we’ll see. I’ll probably be wrong about Asher Roth’s lack of necessity or impact on the game. He’ll probably be wildly successful and I might even own an Asher Roth LP this time net year. But to continue with our XXL Basketball Analogy… Read the rest of this entry »

To keep TC’s high school basketball analogy going B.o.B. would be the guy whose family moved up north in the middle of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

I guess it’s time for me to lay my claim.

When it comes to these quote, unquote “Top Of The Class,” next-gen MCs, I strongly believe that Mickey Factz is easily the front runner of the herd. While his approach to the “Top” has been similar to the rest of his classmates, his content is not. To put it bluntly: conceptually he’s ready drop a 4 Cig debut (at the least). In regards to David and LC’s picks, if this was high school basketball, Corey Gunz would be dude who mastered the And1 moves but lacked in the fundamentals of running plays, and Blu would be the guy coaches begged to tryout but he would do his own thing instead.

Mickey’s that guy who makes the team because of his skills but never sees playing time. Read the rest of this entry »

LC already posted the Blu XXL bars for their Top Of The Class feature. And I agree that he is speeding his way up to my top five MC list. But Cory Gunz is just something out of this world. He puts words together so effortlessly and quick listening is the equivalent of trying to catch 40 quarters thrown in the air at the same time. Only thing you can do is rewind and try to get it all again. Read the rest of this entry »

I was just telling K1ng yesterday, Blu is fast becoming one of my favorite MCs. I’m talking of All Time, not just on some Right Now stuff. The man came out with three albums in a year; each sonically left of the last, all packed with flawless verses. Whether he’s new on the scene or not, you can’t deny Read the rest of this entry »

All of this talk of 1998, greatness & classics, it lead me to do some thinking and digging. We’re all consciously aware that most Hip-Hop periodicals have lost quite a bit of their relevancy & credibility. But there was indeed a time when what they said mattered. When they rated albums, you were hard-pressed to argue against them because, before payola & scandal beset them, the periodicals & their respective staffs showed a keen knowledge for was/wasn’t that knock.

Looking back left me wondering, where are you on the The Source‘s list of 5 Mic Albums? Read the rest of this entry »

What better way for The Source to ring in ’98 with their 100^th issue? With LL on the cover holding five golden Mics, the house that Mays & Benzino built was living the life as the industry standard when it came to magazines. Looking back on their 9-plus years covering the music we all enjoy, they provided top 100 lists for the best singles, albums, covers, athletes, etc as they not only celebrated their existence but the culture as well. This was evident in all of the congratulations from labels and artists in the advertising. Not satisfied to just recollect on the past, The Source also looked to the future technology would play in regards to the music and how its influences were making the music a global phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »

On Sept. 29th 1998 thanks to the efforts of XXL, 200 old and new school Hip-Hop artists assembled on 17 E. 126th Street in Harlem to show solidaridarity as they recreated the photo of Jazz musicians taken by legendary photographer Art Kane back in 1958 at the same address. The East, West, Midwest, and South were all represented the group got together to reflect on how far culture had come as well as what direction it would take in the years to come. Read the rest of this entry »