Following Illmatic, especially in retrospect, is the most impossible task in Hip-Hop history. Dubbed the greatest work of art the culture ever spawned, Nas’ sophomore effort, It Was Written, was thrown under the bus as a disappointment long after it graced shelves. But, it far from that, actually. Nasir carved time out of his schedule to speak with the folks at XXL to shed light on the project, which turned 15 years old this year. Read the rest of this entry »

Tupac Shakur will cover the next issue of XXL Magazine in celebration of the entertainer’s life and recognition of the 15th anniversary of his death. Featured profiles include Pac’s ex-wife Keisha Morris, his first manager and mentor Leila Steinberg, the Outlawz, stepfather Mutulu Shakur and Pac’s biological father, Billy Garland. Read the rest of this entry »

Somebody’s head just exploded upon reading that headline.

A few days ago several people on my Twitter timeline began venting their frustrations in reference to Soulja Boy playing the role of Bishop in what was billed as the sequel to Juice.

All I could do was shake my head. Read the rest of this entry »

Words by C. Paicely

Phil Adé plans to make his Fridays fruitful as he drops his fifth release under the PhilAdeFriday hashtag. Over the past two months the Maryland rhymer has sporadically dropped video remixes of his favorite tracks, such as D’Angelo’s “Devil’s Pie,” owning them enough to avoid pissing off purists. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s start at the beginning. The whole Freshman grades thing started innocently enough: I saw XXL‘s freshman concept for their 2009 class and thought it’d be good to treat them like an actual class with grades as the year progressed. When it was first published, I asked TC if he thought any of the rappers listed would read it. Clearly, I had no idea what kind of monster the grades would become. Read the rest of this entry »

Sure Stalley lives in New York City nowadays, but he apparently never got the memo that he had to “take his talents” elsewhere or completely abandon his home state to find success. No, Stalley perpetually keeps the crooked Cleveland “C” logo glued to his dome and drops his much-anticipated Lincoln Way Nights (Intelligent Trunk Music) mixtape co-sponsored by Mishka, XXL, Highsnobiety, DD172 and TSS. Read the rest of this entry »

Pardoning the obviousness of 2011 barely being a few weeks old, Eminem and XXL have made the biggest annoucement of the year with a simple pictorial statement. Read the rest of this entry »

Who needs Detox when you have…Botox®? Read the rest of this entry »

This may be a cover feature but it surely looks like those ads that appear in the tail end of the XXL. You know, the ones that belong in a special edition of Playgirl opposed to rap’s #1 mag. While the specifics behind the bizarre photoshoot are unknown, 50 Cent and Soulja Boy take their “Mean Mug” to epic proportions Read the rest of this entry »

Journey with Gary, Indiana’s finest 360° on the authentic gangsta tip. The OG mixtape was a rawer-than-sushi shootout designed for your weed smokin’ joyrides through the mind of the methodical genius. Where as Str8 Killa, presented a more concise and direct scope through Freddie Gibbs’ songmaking merits. And now, we have the full-length project stripped of its street décor to give your EP the missing pieces to the studio quality puzzle. Read the rest of this entry »

With the current anticipation and excitement surrounding this here release, nothing more needs to be said. But we’re going to say it anyway. Freddie has ascended to this milestone because you, the fan have given him enough support with his artistic craft and not forced him to compromise his core values when it comes to displaying his talents on the microphone. Read the rest of this entry »

Due to Hip-Hop journalism’s questionable past when it comes to ethics, people tend to jump to conclusions like “[insert label here] must have paid you guys off to get that review/feature”. It’s a knee-jerk reaction from disgruntled commenters that even we at TSS have to endure sometimes. I think it’s an easy way out and cheap trick to blame things you don’t agree with on bribery or industry politricks, and I know that a credible, honorable magazine like XXL would never stoop to anything like that. So, I’m going to chalk up their recent endorsements of Shyne as pure retardation. Read the rest of this entry »

If you stay up on your Hip-Hop and keep your ear to the ‘Net, then this post is surely for you and those who have been keeping Dom Kennedy’s lastest jawn in heavy rotation. In a couple of short clips from Decatur Dan’s spot, he gives a breakdown on some of From The Westside, With Love’s best tracks like “1997″ and his relationship with Don Cannon. Read the rest of this entry »

Along with the recommendations found here, DJ Whoo Kid and XXL have consolidated the year’s top Freshmen onto one mixtape to give the uninitiated a crash course in one sitting. It’s Big Sean, Donnis, Fashawn, Freddie Gibbs, J. Cole, Jay Rock, Nipsey Hussle, OJ Da Juiceman, Pill and Wiz Khalifa all competing for your headphone time. Will one of them make a new believer out of you? Read the rest of this entry »

If this is your first time seeing any of the artists mentioned, on behalf on the rest of the TSS Crew, I’d like to give you all a warm welcome to The Smoking Section. Because every last one of these rooks have been featured heavily on the site. None of these rappers are actually “new” or “freshman” in the traditional sense. Read the rest of this entry »