Hot 97

$HORT AND SWEET

Bay area veteran Too $hort blows the whistle at Stage 48

Beats, Rhymes, Life

Nas sits down for a chat

Harry Fraud's Top Five Procers This Year: "Alchemist, Alchemist, Alchemist, Alchemist, and Alchemist"

Harry Fraud has quickly risen as New York rap's go-to producer since helming French Montana's anthemic "New York Minute" featuring Jadakiss (and later, Nicki Minaj and ostensibly every rapper in the Tri-State Area) and "Shot Caller." He's also produced tracks for everyone from Action Bronson and Ric ... More >>

11 "Minor League Rappers" We Want To Hear on Hot 97

Last week Hot 97 Program Director Ebro Darden offered a weak explanation about his stations narrow playlist and why they don't play up-and-coming locals, saying--in so many words--that artists not getting spins on the station simply aren't ready for them. They're too underground. They haven't worked ... More >>

Sound of the Sandy City

The day the music tried

Six Superlative Summer Shows

Our music critic's picks for the season's hottest concerts

BAD BOYS

Hot 97’s annual On Da 
Reggae Tip returns

THE JAMAICAN SENSATION

Sean Paul moves from the dance hall to Webster Hall

Nicki Minaj, Summer Jam, Pop Fans, And What's "Real": A Few Thoughts

Last night on Hot 97, Nicki Minaj called in to Funkmaster Flex's show to chat about the sliced brisket that led to her peacing out of Sunday's Summer Jam. A brief recap: Hot 97 morning guy Peter Rosenberg called out "chicks waiting to sing [Minaj's poppy single] 'Starships' later," then called the s ... More >>

Live: Nicki Minaj Takes Off From Summer Jam, Nas And Lauryn Hill Climb Aboard

Hot 97 Summer Jam: Nicki Minaj, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, J. Cole, Wale, Meek Mill, DJ Khaled, Waka Flocka, Trey Songz, Maino, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, French Montana, Mavado, Tyga, Slaughterhouse (and Nas and Lauryn Hill) MetLife Stadium Sunday, June 3 Better than: Seeing a Nicki Minaj concert. In an er ... More >>

Kiss-FM, RIP

New York's urban radio pioneer goes dark after 30 years

Kiss-FM, R.I.P.

On Thursday Kiss-FM announced that after 30 years, it would stop broadcasting on 98.7 FM and join forces with WBLS, its longtime rival in the "adult urban contemporary" radio format in New York City. The stations will merge under the motto "One Family, One Station, Our Voice," with several Kiss-FM p ... More >>

CAN'T DENY IT

Fab takes the funeral service 
to Long Island's NYCB Theatre

Pazz & Jop 2011: Nick Minichino On Funkmaster Flex's ALL-CAPS Premiere Of Jay-Z And Kanye West's "Otis"

To supplement this year's Pazz & Jop launch, Sound of the City asked a few critics to expand on the reasonings behind their voting. This is from Nick Minichino, who voted specifically for Funkmaster Flex's premiere of Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Otis" this summer. ​That was the driving force of i ... More >>

Live: Wale Brings Lots And Lots Of Friends To The Highline Ballroom

Wale Highline Ballroom Wednesday, November 2 Better than: watching next week, when the show will air on MySpace. The line had packed itself six-deep, turning the long sidewalk from the Highline Ballroom to Ninth Avenue into a traffic jam of Wale fans. Or maybe just fans of events. Or maybe sheep. ... More >>

Premiere: Nine 11 Thesaurus, "Stressin'"

Santiago FelipeNine 11 Thesaurus Bushwick five-piece Nine 11 Thesaurus are the feel-good Odd Future--19-to-22-year-olds with a punkish ferocity crashing arty loft shows, rapping over distorted bursts of indie-noise and lo-fi fuzz. But unlike the west coast bomb-throwers, Nine 11's lyrics (as their ... More >>

Q&A: Dan Charnas, Author Of The Big Payback: The History Of The Business Of Hip-Hop, On Industry Rule #4080, Hot 97, And Lyor Cohen's CD Collection

​Dan Charnas' epic The Big Payback (New American Library/Penguin) retells the saga of hip-hop's rise from ghetto defense mechanism to global cultural powerhouse through the eyes of the businessman who sold it, first to America's kids, then to the corporate world. A former Source writer and the ... More >>

Live-Bonging the Prop. 19 Vote with Broam Chronsky

​As the results of America's midterm elections come to light, the Village Voice's expert panel of political thinkers and shapers will be weighing in live over the course of the evening. Covering California's landmark vote on whether or not to legalize Marijuana, Proposition 19, is our special ... More >>

Charting The Rise Of "Hold Yuh," Gyptian's Inescapable, NYC-Driven Dancehall Summer Anthem

"When I played it for him, he said, 'Go back to that, what a ping ping ting?'"​Whether you know it by name or not, if you've stepped outside in the last several months, you've heard Gyptian's "Hold Yuh" flickering out of at least a few idling vehicles. The über-minimalist dancehall ditty's pi ... More >>

This Week's Voice: Summer Jam 2010, Christina Aguilera, Against Me!, Bret Easton Ellis, and More

Nicki Minaj, in one of many "invincible Street Fighter 2 character" outfits. Photo by Santiago Felipe​In this week's Village Voice, Rob Harvilla keeps a running diary of Summer Jam 2010, where the best highlight Hot 97 could muster was a set from DJ Khaled. What happened, New York? Elsewhere, ... More >>

A People's History of Summer Jam 2010

Drake debuts, Trey Songz gyrates, and DJ Khaled wins at the hip-hop event of the year

Law & Order's Five Most Ridiculous Rapper Cameos

​Law & Order ends its 20-year run tonight. Throughout the show's long reign, phalanxes of honorable detectives have cleaned the New York streets of crime and debris while throwing out witty one-liners and re-enacting plotlines ripped from real-life headlines. Grabbing a cameo on the show has a ... More >>

Summer Jam 2010 Lineup Announced: Drake, Usher, Trey Songz, Ludacris, Juelz Santana, Nicki Minaj, Fabolous, Reflection Eternal, DJ Khaled, And Gucci Mane (Outta Jail In May!)

​June 6 at the newfangled Meadowlands. Rap Radar has the 11-minute clip of Hot 97 DJs yelling at each other/you as they make the announcements. I'm assuming they'll add Dirt Nasty later. And maybe B.o.B! A shame Die Antwoord's spoken for, eh?

DO THE TIGHTROPE

Janelle Monáe juggles three nights in NYC

The Clipse Come to Cam'ron for the "Popular Demand (Popeyes)" Video

When, back in August, we asked the Clipse about this song--which was only a rumor at that point--this is what they told us: And a song with Cam'ron is still coming. Can you guys let go any info about that? Pusha: I like to say this is the New York record of all records. You know how, like--livin ... More >>

CMJ, Day Two: New York Says Hello--and Then Goodbye--to OJ da Juiceman

"This guy's on the internet," says DJ Green Lantern, by way of introducing Atlanta's Pill--a curious diminution for a rapper whose best songs ("Trap Goin' Ham," or you know, "We Outside") are very much about being nowhere near anything like a computer. Anyway, it's not like being on the internet ... More >>

Video Finally Surfaces From the Converse Band of Ballers Tournament

HOT 97 belatedly posts footage from Converse's Band of Ballers tournament. The details will be familiar to you by now. But should you be a scout for an opposing team, the video evidence that Asher Roth is terrible at basketball--and that Jones rides a mean skateboard--may come in handy. Also, it t ... More >>

Seen Acting in Concert

The Hip-Hop Cops materialize in the West Village

Microcrunk

Atlanta reductionist rappers give snappy answers to stupid questions

The Source Under Fire

Here's Your Guide to the Lawsuits, Criminal Charges, and Beefs

Letters

Thug Radio

Beef and bullets in rap's corporate ratings war

Dial Straits

Life and Death at Hot 97: A Chronology

A Healthy Tune-Out

Hot words aimed at Hot 97 at chilly protest rally

Parallel Universe

Non-backpacker in da corner proves that London has 'hoods too—but no crunk quite yet

Waiting for a Prince

Fans get suckered at the Purple One's 'secret' gig

The Hiphop Cop

A Tale of NYPD's Rap Intelligence Unit

2Gether 4Never

Destroyed

Hip-Hop's Ur-Self Got Himself a War

Kings of New York

Post-Rappers' Delight

The Anti-Bling Kings

Fronting for the Enemy

Gay Men Who Make Homophobic Rappers Look Good

Hip-Hop Under Heavy Manners

The Police’s Sunday-Night Tunnel Vision

Love and Braces

High-Risk Fellatio

Alphabet City

The Year in Letters

MEA CULPA!

Records We Overlooked That Made a Splash in 1998