Ice Cube (Rapper)

Music Summer Guide: Erykah Badu and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Team Up

Two nights of orchestral-soul invention, Amerykahn made

Rakim's Most Random and Confounding Appearances

This Thursday night, the man who set the standard for greatness in rap, Rakim, takes the stage for a show with Wu-Tang member Raekwon at Stage 48. It's a rare event that fans get to see Rakim as, even in this era of 24/7 social media, he's remained one of the few artists in hip-hop to maintain an au ... More >>

Pazz & Jop: Kendrick Lamar, Finally Compton's Most Wanted

It took quite some time for the rapper to become an overnight success

Five Great Nas Songs You May Have Missed

Tonight, hip-hop legend Nas will be sitting down with Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony Decurtis at the 92Y for a discussion on his lengthy, important and influential career. For over 20 years, Nas, with his innovative writing style and signature delivery, has contributed some of the most ce ... More >>

Double eXcel: Wu-Tang Clan's Masta Killa and OutKast's Big Boi

Old souls speaking the same tongue

Monster Magnet's "Space Lord": Is It Rock and Rap's Missing Link?

Tomorrow, stoner-rock heroes Monster Magnet come to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to play their debut album Spine of God in its entirety. As career-making as that album was, talk of looking back on the group's legacy calls to mind their biggest hit, 1998's "Space Lord." While the song has since be ... More >>

What Will the Miley Cyrus/Tyler, the Creator Collaboration Sound Like?

Why are Miley Cyrus and Tyler, the Creator collaborating? Probably because they know how awesome it will be. See Also: - On Odd Future, Rape and Murder, And Why We Sometimes Like the Things That Repel Us - Miley Cyrus Takes Her Party In The USA To Occupy Wall Street

Kendrick Lamar Wants Us All To Say "Bitch"

Last week, Kendrick Lamar had the whole world calling each other a bitch. You may know young Kendrick from his good kid m.A.A.d. city album, which was executive produced by Dr. Dre and is apparently so wondrous a body of work that it was magically certified as a classic even before it was released. ... More >>

Five Free Full-Length Troma Musicals To Watch This Halloween (When Your Power Is Back)

If Mother Nature hasn't already shaken you to the core, and you find yourself in need of a good scary movie this Halloween, New York's Troma Studios have got you covered. Most known for the cult classics The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High, Troma holds the distinction of being the world's l ... More >>

A Killer Mike Crash Course

Tonight, one of Atlanta's favorite sons, Killer Mike, plays with Wu-Tang Clansman GZA at Irving Plaza. In many respects, this has been a banner year for Mike, whose El-P produced album R.A.P. Music has given him the most accolades of his career, as well as his work touring with the Into the Wild tou ... 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 >>

Live: Young Jeezy Plays To The Locals At The Highline Ballroom

Young Jeezy Highline Ballroom Monday, July 25 Better than: Listening to Funkmaster Flex break a record live on air. Yep, Jay-Z did come out to play, and yes, Kanye did put in an appearance, but the biggest draws at Young Jeezy's NYC gig were the secret stars. Despite initially taking the stage wi ... More >>

Mike Bigga Lets Loose

The Atlanta MC's Pl3dge is an exhilarating, politically charged ride

Ten Reasons Why Dr. Dre's Detox Will Be Great

Does this man have another classic in him?​Dr. Dre's long, long awaited Detox has received its latest release date, this time via a press release from Interscope's London office guaranteeing that hip-hop's most-awaited album will touch down on "February 2011." The project's first single, "Kush ... More >>

Q&A: DJ Premier on Where Rap Went Wrong and How to Fix It

​If New York hip-hop has a spiritual gatekeeper, it's DJ Premier. Along with being part of definitive '90s rap duo Gang Starr, Premier has balanced crafting songs for certified rap royalty Jay-Z, Biggie, and Nas with supporting the city's more varied and underground scenes. His upcoming label ... More >>

Insane Clown Posse Talk Juggalo Magic, Justin Bieber, Trekkies, and Being Rich

"Juggalos are not just ICP fans. They're much more than that. They're not the Deadheads, they're not the KISS Army, they're not hippies. Juggalos are something that's never happened in the music industry. Juggalos are AMAZING!" As Juggalo week at Sound of the City draws to a close, we give you thi ... More >>

Mike Tyson's Top Ten Rap Cameos

​Reggie Rock Bythewood's One Night in Vegas, airing on ESPN tonight as part of the network's "30 for 30" documentary series, shines a light on the little known friendship and many parallels between tortured souls Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur. The title of Bythewood's documentary is a reference ... More >>

The Top Ten Rap Supergroups That Never Happened

Over the weekend, the rapper Sean Price took to Twitter to propose a collaboration album between his own Brooklyn-based Boot Camp Clik hip-hop crew and Staten Island's mighty Wu-Tang Clan. The idea has been received rapturously. But then again, theoretical hip-hop supergroups usually are. Rap's hi ... More >>

Family Comedy Gone Limp: Tooth Fairy

Eminem Can Still Rap, World. (So Can Black Thought.)

Every year, the BET Hip-Hop Awards--the 2009 edition of which aired last night--round up three or four different rapper cyphers, taped off-site and with somewhat counterintuitive gangs of MCs going in with what are ostensibly freestyles. Last year, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Juelz Santana, and Ace Hood t ... More >>

News Roundup: Knitting Factory Opens, Jay-Z Calls Out Scalpers, Glasvegas Dude Found in NYC, Snoop Dogg Finds New Job In Tough Job Market

​--The Knitting Factory is back. After getting chased out of Tribeca last year, the venue has rebounded, and will open up again at their new location in Williamsburg at Metropolitan and Havemayer (a/k/a the old Luna Lounge) for the first time tonight. Les Savy Fav, the comedian Hannibal Buress ... More >>

Interview: Rapper Nipsey Hussle on West Coast Hip-Hop and Rolling Sixty Crips

"I mean Aspen, Portland: They're on the West Coast, but for an L.A. dude it's like the middle of nowhere. We got U.S. Marshals hopping on the bus in Salt Lake City." Not since the emergence of The Game on the national hip-hop scene has Los Angeles had such a promising new rapper as Nipsey Hussle. ... More >>

Emo-Rap Discovers the Mixtape

Cam'ron's New Mixtape: Pretty Great

The Dirty Heartbeat of the Golden Age

Reminiscing on the SP-1200, the machine that defined New York hip-hop

Diddy's Little Helpers

Why hip-hop ghostwriting is an art now, and an actually respectable one

Carrie Underwood and John Legend Ruin the NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show

NY Mirror

R&B for the Thugs, From the Ladies, With Help From the South

No Sense, Just Dollars

Rap statement infatuated with a hatred of love for the pain

Black for Blue

Learning to Love Tha Police

How to Be Good

Sensitive-Guy MC Consults Navel, God, Erykah

Film

Clipped Wings

To the Manor Bored

Nigger-'tude

Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy's Troublesome Word

Hip-Hoperation: Mindcrime

Byterock’s Greatest Hits

The Politics of Napping

Music

Rising to the Top

Laps and Marco Polo in the Hip Hop Pool

Spliff Competition

Roto-Roots Rock Flushes Your Troubles Down the Drain

I Want My B-E-T

Let Us Now Praise Famous Gangstas (and Their Videos)

Breaking Camp

Action Adventure, Behavior Modification, No Lanyards

Profits of Rage

Chuck D's Same Old Song?

Music

The Hill Is Alive

The Iceman Cometh Back

Nothing's Shocking

Puckfellas