Hot 97

New Book 2pac vs. Biggie Unearths Much About the Pair: LIVE Reading Tonight

TONIGHT at 7 p.m., co-authors of the newly published 2pac vs. Biggie: An Illustrated History of Rap's Greatest Battle Jeff Weiss and Evan McGarvey will be reading their book live at the Housing Works Bookstore Café. They'll be joined by HOT 97 host DJ Peter Rosenburg and Duck Down Music CEO Dru H ... More >>

The Village Voice's Top 5 Book Events This Week, May 29-June 4, 2013

101 Classic Cookbooks 92Y Tribeca Wednesday, May 29, 7:30 p.m., $15 Here's one for the foodies--or really anyone who cherishes the cookbook as more than just a batter-stained instructional manual. Like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for baked goods, 101 Classic Cookbooks (Rizzoli) is the Fales Libra ... More >>

NYC's Memorial Day Weekend 2013 Hip-Hop Party Guide

Your long-awaited three-day weekend is finally here! When you're not booking it out of the city to go perfect your summer tan, check out these poppin' parties that have some hip-hop/dance flavor this weekend. See also: The Ultimate List of Free Summer Concerts in NYC, 2013

Let Them Eat Cake

You are cordially invited to the week’s best birthday party

The Best Dipset Songs Ever

Time flies especially when one of your aliases is "The Fly Boys." It's been 10 years since the Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and the rest of that "hooligan gang" the Diplomats (a collective of Harlem hustlers and goons) released their double disc effort, Diplomatic Immunity. Since then they've g ... More >>

The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Week, 1/28/13

Here are the ten best concerts to check out around the city this week, in no particular order.

MIDAS TOUCH

Trinidad James turns 
S.O.B.’s gold

The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Weekend, 1/18/13

Here are the ten best concerts to check out around the city this weekend, in no particular order.

The Audible Doctor Prescribes Beats, Rhymes, Working in Bulk

Many artists in the independent hip-hop world like to brag about how much they're hustling or grinding. MC/Producer The Audible Doctor is far too busy to speak of such things because he's actually doing it. The past two weeks have seen him release projects with both his group the Brown Bag All Stars ... More >>

So Nas Might Have Used A Ghostwriter. So What?

Earlier this week, one tweet and one blog post alleging that Nas had used ghostwriters—specifically, Jay Electronica and stic of Dead Prez—on his 2007 album Untitled. The tweet, by Jay-Z biographer dream hampton, came first; after that, former Hot 97 art director Frank William Miller Jr. ... More >>

The Top 5 Rap Songs Of The Week: Olympic Edition

There was a time when the best place to hear new music was Hot 97, when the sound of bombs going off would signal a song debuting across the city. But if anyone wanted those songs for themselves, they'd have to buy a whole damn album or sit around and wait until it came on the radio again. Yes, thes ... More >>

2 Chainz Brings His T.R.U. Story To The 40/40 Club

Last night at the 40/40 Club, during the listening session for 2 Chainz's debut Based On A T.R.U. Story (Def Jam), it became apparent that the Atlanta MC grew up watching What's Happening?—he kept insisting that he could feel someone recording his album in the crowd a la Rerun's run-in with th ... More >>

'Peter Rosenberg's Night of Real Hip-Hop' w/ Tyler, the Creator+Earl Sweatshirt+Raekwon+Asher Roth

Three Rappers Who Should Be The Center Square For MTV2's Hollywood Squares Reboot (And One Who Definitely Should Not)

Next month MTV2 will debut Hip-Hop Squares, a rap-centric takeoff on the "tic-tac-toe with trivia and celebrities" game show Hollywood Squares. (The non-genre-specific version of the show aired its last episode in 2004.) The show will be hosted by Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg, and MTV has announced a fe ... More >>

The Amy Winehouse/Nas Collaboration "Like Smoke" Has Leaked

​The posthumous collection of previously unreleased Amy Winehouse tracks Lioness: Hidden Treasures comes out next month, and today "Like Smoke"&0151;a track where Nas rhymes and Winehouse sings over a crisp, Salaam Remi-produced beat—premiered on Hot 97. The musical bed is apparently fro ... More >>

Download: Songs From Greg Fox's Side Projects, The Psych Quartet Guardian Alien And The Squelchy GDFX

​This week, wiry drummer Greg Fox announced that he was quitting black metal nirvana-seekers Liturgy, leaving the mega-buzzed art-rockers without one of Brooklyn's fiercest, blurstiest spasmotrons. Eager to explore other musical endeavors, Fox is blasting full-speed ahead with two side project ... More >>

The Top Ten Failed First Singles Off The Game's The R.E.D. Album

​This list began as a joke, but the longer I contemplated it, the more depressing its basic concept became. Consider: not only could I easily string together ten of Game's fruitless attempts to force label executives to release The R.E.D. Album, his followup to 2008's LAX; I had to make decisi ... More >>

Ten New York Bands You Should See At This Weekend's Northside Festival

Making Friendz (aka Tami Hart) plays Shea Stadium tonight.​Northside Festival starts tonight! Finally, your very own chance to see the best emerging local bands taking over Brooklyn bars for four nights... or as we like to call it, "pretty much every weekend in New York ever." We here at Sound ... More >>

If You Leaked Kanye West's "Mama's Boy," You'd Better Watch Your Back

​The leak earlier this week of Kanye West's "Mama's Boy" (known first to the Internet as "Mama's Boyfriend") has, as you might expect, greatly displeased the moody MC and those people with interests in the business of his music. Last night Kanye's label Island Def Jam released a statement sayi ... More >>

Live: Rick Ross Lives Out His Dreams At Summer Jam

​Hot 97 Summer Jam New Meadowlands Stadium Sunday, June 5 Better than: Sitting at home and moping like 50 Cent. Rick Ross closed out Summer Jam. Just so there's no revisionist history here, let's remember how incredible that statement is. Three years ago, Ross was the punching bag of hip-h ... More >>

Live: Soulja Boy Tears Himself Away From Twitter For A Half Hour At Webster Hall

The hardest-working man in social media. Pics by Puja, more below.​Soulja Boy Webster Hall Thursday, December 2 Better Than: Every rap show I've covered this year. ('Sup, Drake.) There's a lot of nonsense associated with Soulja Boy. Excessive use of the word "swag" aside, the guy's most popu ... More >>

Best Of NYC: Worrying About Nicki Minaj

Poppin' it so crazy kooky

Meet the Surprisingly Young Guy Who Is Organizing Lupe Fiasco's Protest Against Atlantic Records

Won't somebody please liberate this record?​Matthew La Corte is a 17-year-old rap fan from West Paterson, New Jersey. Specifically, Matthew's a fan of Lupe Fiasco, the bright, tortured, socially-conscious Chicago rapper whose third album, Lasers, has been infinitely delayed by his record label ... More >>

Listen To Fabolous' Bonkers Freestyle On Hot 97 Last Night

​"This the flow that put haters on they deathbed/And make the chicks blow the whistle, give me ref head." SOTC favorite Fabolous stopped by Hot 97 last night and regaled Funkmaster Flex with a five-minute freestyle that feels like as good a way to start your day as any -- Fab seems particular ... More >>

Drake Is Not Exactly Answering Lil Wayne's Prison Phone Calls

​"I call Drake at least once a week," Lil Wayne told Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex last night, phoning in from Rikers. "I actually call three or four times a week, but he only picks up for me once a week." He was laughing when he said it: Wayne, of all people, knows what it is to be one of the most ... More >>

This Week, in the Voice: The Andrew Cuomo-Shelly Silver Donkey Show

​How many Democrats does it take to make a donkey show? In this week's cover story, Village Voice columnist Wayne Barrett takes account of the opposition New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo will actually have to face: Shelly Silver, and the rest of our state's old-school democrats.

Ranking XXL's Freshman Class at the Highline Ballroom Last Night

​In what has become an annual tradition, the minds over at XXL magazine recently unveiled the elite class of fresh-faced rappers they dub the Freshman 10. Mostly products of Internet buzz and/or critically acclaimed mixtapes, the Freshman class issue has risen from a gimmicky excuse to put non ... More >>

The Decade in Music Genre Hype

A solemn tribute to once-hot-shit trends that (mostly) won't be joining us in the '10s

The Clipse Go Apartment Shopping in NYC

Clipse in NYC. Photo by Rebecca Smeyne​Hey, so the Brothers Thornton are moving here. Vulture even went apartment shopping with them! There are many good details in the ensuing piece, not limited to the revelation that Pusha and Mal do not use their government names, even when they're talking ... More >>

Ghostface's NSFW "Stapleton Sex": Taking Porno Rap to a New Level

Where to even begin here? On Friday, Ghostface debuted a new song off Wizard of Poetry called "Stapleton Sex," telling the Shade 45 DJ Angela Yee, "I read an interview where Natalie Portman said she likes dirty rap, obscene lyrics and all that. I figure she can dance to this one. I'm looking for y ... More >>

Live from the Converse Band of Ballers: Mad Decent Loses, Fool's Gold Wins, and Jim Jones Takes Home A Golden (Spraypainted) Trophy

all photos by Puja PatelThe Brooklyn Crew's aggressive (and we suspect, inebriated) group of fans Converse Band of Ballers Wednesday, August 12 Yesterday's Converse Band of Ballers was as much of a shit-talking contest as it was a three-on-three tournament. The invite-only event went down at the C ... More >>

Governor Paterson Spent Last Night in the Company of Funkmaster Flex

​True story. Apparently our state's governor was spotted out at 1am last night at Chelsea's the Taj, where in addition to Deejay Logic and some other dudes, Funkmaster Flex himself was on the turntables. How many Flex bombs did this coming together warrant, we wonder. One hundred? Five thousan ... More >>

The New Rap Battle: 50 Cent Vs. Rick Ross

Building a new paradigm with fewer rhymes and more costumes

Prodigy’s 25th Hour

A Queens rap icon scrambles to prepare for life on the inside

On Russia, With Love

Gary Shteyngart sings the blues; Tribeca Film Fest goes Bang Bang

Jah Division

Free speech, cultural sovereignty, and human rights clash in reggae dancehall homophobia debate

Outdoor Concerts & Music Festivals

Jammed radio transmitters go downtown and eat beats like a vulcha

A Critic's Job at Work

On Da Corner Worldwide

Hip-Hop, R&B, Dancehall, Crunk, Grime, er, Music by Black People

Music

World War of Words

As Battles Turn Complicated, Murder Remains Bigger Than Hip-Hop

Music

Powder on My Mind

Fear Seeps Into the Cracks of a Block in Queens

Ladies First

Female DJs Got a Foot Through the Door, Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Listings

Music

Music

Fox on the Run

Judaism in the Air

Taking Torah on the road