Ja Rule

Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn... Sorry Sergio Leone

Defend Your Ballot: Nick Greene, Who Didn't Get a Pazz and Jop Ballot

You can't really know where you're headed unless you know where you've been. For that reason, we're taking a look back at Pazz & Jop 2012 to drill down into the ballots of contributors and voters who participated. Maybe amongst the rubble we'll find clues about what lies ahead for music lovers in 20 ... More >>

Jay-Z Coldplay = Play-Z: A Rundown of Other Oddball Mashups

On New Year's Eve Brooklyn's Barclays Center will be alive with the monster double-bill of Coldplay and Jay-Z. Two titanic musical entities that have spent the past decade being the epicenter of their genres, their alignment for one night is sure to be a colossal way to bring in the new year. But de ... More >>

How To Stop Masturbating To 50 Cent

Last week, 50 Cent took to Twitter to tackle an issue few rappers have dared address: the sin of masturbation. He even went so far as to offer a handy four-step guide to avoiding the temptation to debase yourself: Step 1: To avoid the urge to masturbate stop going to porn sites. Step 2: Make a con ... More >>

The Fall Of Curtis: How September 11, 2007 Changed Everything For 50 Cent

Let me indulge in a little bit of Jay-Z/Kanye fan fiction in the least 50 Shades of Grey way possible: Def Jam President and retired rapper Jay-Z was fed up. 50 Cent had been sending subliminal barbs Jay's way for eight years, starting with a shot Mr. Carter's way on "How To Rob" when they were b ... More >>

100 & Single: fun., Gotye, Carly Rae Jepsen, And The Era Of The Snowball Smash

If you're a pop fan, I'm going to guess you like at least one of the last three No. 1 songs in America. In many ways, 2012 has been an entertaining year for discriminating chart-watchers, as a slew of left-field singles have made strides on Billboard's Hot 100. I've met people who love fun.'s "We A ... More >>

Nine Culinary Ventures By Hip-Hop Artists

Today, excitable Long Island-raised rap firebrand Flavor Flav will open his House Of Flavor restaurant in Las Vegas. The restaurant—which will have fried chicken and something called a "red velvet waffle" on the menu—is Flav's second attempt to break into the food world, following the di ... More >>

Oddsmaker: Do Beyoncé And André 3000 Have Enough Swagu To Beat Kanye And His Dozens Of Friends At The Grammys?

​The Grammys created the awkwardly named Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category ten years ago, around the time Ja Rule's various "thug love" duets were dominating the airwaves. The award recognized a growing sector of popular music that didn't quite fit into the preexisting rap, R&B or pop song ... More >>

100 & Single: LMFAO's Pair Of Chart-Toppers Suggest Stardom, Guarantee Nothing

​The national star-making machinery only begins to take you seriously when you command the field more than once. Just like, say, GOP presidential candidates, pop acts can't chart one strong number and assume dominance is permanently theirs. They've got to come back on top, week after week, sur ... More >>

Holler! The Ten Loudest, Shoutiest Rappers

Waka Flocka Flame is the sort of of hip-hop artist who doesn't so much rap or flow as he shouts his ass off. It's a formula that imbues the Atlanta-based rapper's songs with a boisterous, visceral appeal—and one that he's looking to continue with the release of his second studio album, Triple ... More >>

Radio Hits One: The Long, Long Legs Of Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday

​A few weeks ago, my colleague Chris Molanphy broke down how "Super Bass," the late-breaking crossover smash from Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday, presented a rare example of a hit album taking months to yield a top 10 single after moving major units out of the gate. But at the time, I was patiently ... More >>

Ride The Free Parking: Suggested Modifications For The Metallica Monopoly Game

​ Given that Metallica themselves have raised the question, "Can you ever really have enough money? Can you possess enough beachfront properties and Fifties-style hot rods?", it makes sense that the band will have its own Monopoly game, which goes on sale in the band's online store next week. ... More >>

Prodigy Speaks Freely

The Mobb Deep MC is out of jail and ready to look back on his life

Ja Rule Pleads Guilty to Gun Rap

​The AP says rapper Ja Rule pleaded guilty to a July 2007 gun possession charge in Manhattan supreme court this morning.Cops found the loaded, semiautomatic weapon when he was pulled over for speeding three years ago. He was reportedly promised a two-year prison sentence in exchange for his plea a ... More >>

Rufus Wainwright on 50 Cent: "I Know He's Gay"

​When not explicating the mores of the Insane Clown Posse to befuddled internet denizens, critic and SOTC pal Jonah Weiner has an entertaining sideline asking musicians ridiculous questions for Details. Like this one, posed to cabaret icon Rufus Wainwright: "You own lederhosen custom-made by a ... More >>

The 50 Worst Songs of the '00s, F2K No. 1: Counting Crows ft. Vanessa Carlton, "Big Yellow Taxi"

F2K has been a countdown of the 50 worst songs of the decade. Relive the whole long journey here. Thank you, and we're sorry. As a concession to a vile, contemptible decade marked by commerce over reason, we pleaded to our editors at the Village Voice to let us publish the No. 1 entry as one of t ... More >>

F2K No. 30: Swizz Beatz with Ja Rule and Metallica, "We Did It Again"

F2K is a countdown of the 50 worst songs of the decade. Track our progress here. It's shit, snitches! After rap-rock had successfully worn itself down into a parody of self-parody, hip-hop producer Swizz Beats set out to make the most cartoonishly macho rapcore song in history. In fact, every ti ... More >>

Letters: April 23 Edition

The New Rap Battle: 50 Cent Vs. Rick Ross

Building a new paradigm with fewer rhymes and more costumes

50 Cent Is Still Pretty Good At Embarrassing Other Rappers

While 50 Cent's sneering, self-righteous, conniving persona basically keeps him from making good music at all these days, he's still perfectly suited to go in on another rapper. And so: "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)." Making fun of Rick Ross for being a correctional officer is a little 2008, ma ... More >>

Six Signs of a Sick Economy

Read this and then start hunting for some recession-proof bargains

Status Ain't Hood's Greatest Hits

Young Buck Attacks Lil Wayne

Jurassic Park

Old-timers want attention, need better songs

Flow Charts

Akon's singer-who-awkwardly-raps routine was stolen and perfected by the ladies he covets

Music

Stuff you need to know to avoid ostracism

Jay-Z is Afraid to Fight

Grow Dem Bow

Reggaetón expands, consolidates, gets gussied up, breaks through, and looks to firm up its pummelling legacy

Mariah Carey Beats 50 Cent on Billboard Year-End List?

The Irv Gotti Trial: The Jury Deliberates

The Irv Gotti Trial: Text Messaging? For Real?

The War on Rap: Is It Real?

The Irv Gotti Trial: Still Going

The Irv Gotti Trial: Day Two

The Gotti Trial's War on Love Songs

White Freedom

The angstiest wigga alive exercises privilege, bears cross, rallies flock, begs forgiveness

No Sense, Just Dollars

Rap statement infatuated with a hatred of love for the pain

Jammed radio transmitters go downtown and eat beats like a vulcha

One Crunk Nation Under a Reggae Ton of Grooves

In Da Fight Club

Wherefore Art Thou?

The Thug You Save May Be Your Own

Murder, My Sweet

Thug Love Is All Around

World War of Words

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

Film

Fearless Game

The Beast of Both Worlds

Rappers and R&B Singers Unite for Commerce’s Common Cause

Fronting for the Enemy

Gay Men Who Make Homophobic Rappers Look Good

Dub for Dummies

Soul's Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)

Wrongs of Spring

Five Radio Presets, Five Formats, Five Songs, Go