Jadakiss

Curren$y Smokes Tons of Weed, and Still Works Much Harder Than You

Let that man multitask. In between bong snaps and awaiting a new episode of The Regular Show to come on New Orleans' rapper Currren$y is also having an extensive conversation with SOTC about the scattered array of topics potheads tend to have. Like about cartoons for instance. And snacks and shit. ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Live: The Cops Shut Down Fool's Gold Day Off; DJ A-Trak Throws Out More T-Shirts

Check out our slideshow from the party. Fool's Gold Day Off: French Montana, Danny Brown, Brothers Macklovitch, Just Blaze, Flosstradamus, Flatbush Zombies, Nick Catchdubs, Ricky Blaze, Party Supplies, #BEEN #TRILL, Telephoned, and more City Winery Monday, September 3 Better than: Rain. Last yea ... More >>

Let's Imagine What DJ Khaled's Kiss The Ring Will Sound Like

Despite every living rapper seemingly being just a phone call away, Miami radio personality/record executive/professional shouter DJ Khaled has never once put out a good album. He's been 0-for-5 (yes, DJ Khaled has released five albums), and Kiss the Ring, his sixth record, is on the horizon. Khal ... More >>

The Top Ten "Otis" Freestyles

​ In the run-up to yesterday's release of Watch The Throne, the project's first official single, the Otis Redding-sampling "Otis," was re-done and freestyled over by many a rapper. So to tide you over until the physical version of Watch The Throne (packaged with a bonus CD-ROM containing a vec ... More >>

Nas And Kanye West Leak Tracks, Lead The Pack (Again)

"Queensbridge, y'all ready to see Nasty Nas?" Thus begins Nas' "Nasty," a return to form that justifies the answer to that question always being "Yes, duh!" With rugged, street-level bars about the finer things in life and being better than other rappers that recall his legendary post-Jay-Z battle ... 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 >>

Download: XXL Freshmen Class Member Fred the Godson's "Headbanger"

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing MP3s from new and emerging local talent. Bronx rhymebeast Fred The Godson is the only rapper representing the five boroughs on the cover of the XXL "Freshmen Of The Year" issue--and he's a hell of an ambassador. His rhyme style, a silky update ... More >>

Ten Reasons Why The Wu Tang Clan Are The Greatest Rap Group Of All Time

​Raekwon, the Wu-Tang Clan's resident slang scholar, released his new solo album, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang, last week; it's the latest installment in a magnificent saga that's now nearly two decades strong and leaves Staten Island's finest rap representers firmly in the conversation for hip-hop's g ... More >>

What This Year's Bizarre Chart Results (Arcade Fire! #1!) Say About the State of Music in 2010

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!​If the band Spoon can be trusted, then Billboard is about to announce (and here we are!) that the Arcade Fire and their label, Merge, have the #1 record in the country. (They've already done it in the UK.) The Suburbs sold 156,000 copies its first week out, ... More >>

Styles P Wrote a Novel

The hard-boiled NYC rapper has found a new artistic medium for his badassness

Photos: Rites of Spring, A DJ Benefit For Haiti Featuring Alex Ross, Björk, Dave Longstreth, Tyondai Braxton, and Brandon Stosuy

Björk, Brandon Stosuy, and the Dirty Projectors's Amber Coffman. All photos by Sam Horine.​We won't pretend to be remotely objective about Rites of Spring, last night's DJ benefit for Haiti organized by our pal Brandon Stosuy and featuring the diverse yet weirdly complementary talents of the ... More >>

Some Food for Thought, Courtesy of Eddie Huang

Tasty ChompsEddie Huang​Eddie Huang has gotten on his blog to talk about the American-born Taiwanese food he'll be serving at Xiao Ye, his new restaurant on Orchard Street. There are some photos of the food, which looks meaty and filling, and a Jadakiss video. And then there is Huang's explana ... More >>

Jay-Z's 'Empire' Strikes Back at Last

His first #1 song is his first Pazz & Jop chart-topper as well. Go Yankees.

Buy 175,000 More Copies of Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream and Win A Free Punch in the Face from Taylor Swift

How convenient that Michael Musto decided to dress up as Susan Boyle this week. Photo by Chad Griffith.​Or something like that. For the fifth, face-obliterating week, the UK siren Susan Boyle is #1 on our charts, selling 510,000 records this week, and 2,982,000 overall--proof if there was ever ... More >>

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 >>

Fabolous Releases Loso's Way Today, Unveils Twitter Campaign We Always Knew He Had In Him

Alright, alright Fab, we give--did you know that today is the long-awaited release date of Fabolous's Loso's Way, a record we'd been cautiously anticipating until we remembered that all of Fab's records are the same semi-disappointing cyclone of r&b collabos and bad puns? ("I'm not that little pr ... More >>

Summer Jam 2009: One Man's Twitter-Based Narrative

Yes, our fair blog's most avid Summer Jam enthusiast is long gone. But Hot 97's annual fete/debacle raged on last night at Giants Stadium, and friend of SOTC/Vibe guru Sean Fennessey was there to bemusedly take it all in, including yes, Jay-Z's live debut of his Auto-Tune riposte and thrilling com ... More >>

Asher Roth, Upper-Middle-Class and Rising

Say hello to the white (but not white-trash) rapper du jour

On Busta Rhymes's "Number One" Featuring Akon and T.I.

A week or so ago, Sean Fennessey somewhat mischievously asked "Does Busta Rhymes Have A Classic On The Way?", a question that was brilliant in the sense that the more you thought about it, to more it started to look like it might be true. Back on B.S. was actually going to be a good album--"album ... More >>

Another Free iTunes Single of the Week: Slim's "Good Lovin' (feat. Fabolous & Ryan Leslie)"

Last week's prediction: "Auld Lang Syne" Anyone eagerly awaiting Fabolous's Loso's Way (guilty) should probably listen to "Good Lovin'," the second single off former Puff Daddy apprentice/112 vet Slim's Love's Crazy. The first, "So Fly," had Jadakiss in the Fabolous role, and Kiss, who's had some ... More >>

MGMT Dresses Up as Pilgrims on the Internet, Web Sheriff Sends Cease-and-Desist on Behalf of the Mayflower

Wale's Mixtape About Nothing: Best Seinfeld-Related Mixtape Ever

Status Ain't Hood Does Summer Jam, Again

Hot 97's Summer Jam: A Preview

Status Ain't Hood's Favorite Live Shows of 2007

Track 18 Wins Again

Major-label hip-hop records in burying-best-tracks shocker!

Freeway's Free at Last: A Preview

Track 18 Wins Again

Major-label hip-hop records in burying-best-tracks shocker!

Young Buck Attacks Lil Wayne

Timbaland, Reconsidered Again

50 Cent Attacks Lil Wayne

Live: Zune's Old-Rapper Picnic

Live: Hot 97's Summer Jam

Preview: Ghostface Killah's New Album More Fish

New York Rap is Regional Rap

50 Cent vs. Diddy: Battle of the Rap Villains

50 Cent and Jay-Z are Friends Now

Anatomy of a Banger: DJ Khaled's "Holla At Me"

The Murder Inc. Trial: The Defense Rests

Status Ain't Hood is Worried About Beanie Sigel

Public Service Announcement

Status Ain't Hood Interviews Juelz Santana

Status Ain't Hood Interviews Young Jeezy

The Cotton Club

Black-conscious hip-hop deals with an overwhelmingly white live audience

Made in Manhattan

Flip Off the Ol' Block

Turkey Shoot 2001

Salaam