30 Rock wraps up tonight, as the Tina Fey-penned show signs off with its final episode. During the show's seven seasons of hilarity, it's never been shy of weaving rap references into its script (a tick helped by Donald Glover a/k/a/ Childish Gambino holding down a writer's position at one point). S ... More >>
Though artists like Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Baby Huey spoke on police corruption, it wasn't until the dawn of the rap era that the message in the music began to convey the anger and frustration of people who had been systematically disenfranchised and brutalized since the United States was ... More >>
If you've listened to much urban radio lately, or even a little, you may have noticed that Lil Wayne and his Young Money Entertainment labelmates, particularly Drake and Nicki MInaj, are quite popular. You may have also noticed the same thing in 2011. And in 2010. And 2009. But perhaps nothing under ... More >>
Welcome to Sound of the City's liveblog of the 2011 American Music Awards, the annual salute to the most popular popular music that exists in the American wild this year. While Lady Gaga and Adele and Beyoncé are absent, this year's show apparently has one performance that will cost $500,000 to pul ... More >>
VH1 spent last week counting down what the channel, and its panel of celebrities and "experts," consider The 100 Greatest Songs of The '00s. They certainly haven't been the first to assemble such a listRolling Stone and Pitchfork and every blog under the sun had their say about two years ago, ... More >>
Remember rapper Chamillionaire ("Chameleon" "Millionaire"), who had that song about "Riding Dirty" that was less about unspeakable sex acts we'd probably rather not want to catch him in the middle of rather than the proposition of being pulled over by law enforcement officials with illicit ... More >>
Being a dead rap artist isn't much fun. Whether The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, or J Dilla, death has never seemed to do much to alleviate the constant pressure on artists to muster up new recordings to satisfy the bulging posthumous rap retail market. (In the hip-hop world, possessing a heart t ... More >>
A new generation of MCs grapple with how funny they're allowed to be
Oh, the places you'll go. Namely Buffalo Billiards (Das Racist! Andrew W.K.!), La Zona Rosa (Chamillionaire and Paul Wall!), Stubb's (Broken Social Scene!), Aces Lounge (Solange Knowles!), and so forth. Have fun, but don't forget about the Voice's own fete, featuring Surfer Blood, Superchunk, ... More >>
"In the very act of trying to 'purify' an utterance of any gayness, after all, the no homo tag must contaminate it first--it's both a denial and a flashing neon arrow. This isn't to suggest that saying no homo is a radical act, but there's an appealing sense in which the phrase refuses to fun ... More >>
Major-label hip-hop records in burying-best-tracks shocker!
Two big shots rock the boat people
The frantic rise and fatal fall of hip-hop producer Disco D
Rap stars see how the other half lives
In defense, praise, and unrelenting awe of the increasingly vital Weird Al
