Pimp C

Critics Need to Lay Off Macklemore

The recently-crowned number one song in the country, as you probably know, is a Seattle-based white independent hip-hop artist's ode to shopping at thrift stores. I'm not sure exactly how the stars aligned and/or what Illuminati clerical error caused it to happen, but "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and ... More >>

A$AP Rocky Lights Up The City

Harlem's crack-slinging bad boy cleans up, puts New York rap back on the map

Five Dead Rappers We'd Love To Hear More From

There are few things in the music business as puzzling as the post-mortem release, many of which are terrible grave-robbing cash-ins and awkward Reanimator-esqe collaborations. Still, with so many hyper-creative and prolifically productive hip-hop artists no longer with us, there are a few whose stu ... 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: Katy Perry Is Soaking In It At The Prudential Center

​ Katy Perry w/Robyn Prudential Center Sunday, June 19 Better than: Being sent to bed without dessert. Pop music can be a funny thing sometimes. So often, the factors that divide fandom from outright loathing can be completely extramusical, yet they can still inspire frothing at the mouth/ ... More >>

Five Questions To Ask At Ben Westhoff's Dirty South Reading

​Tonight, Voice contributor and hip-hop sommelier Ben Westhoff will read from Dirty South, his look at the populist rise of rap music from the southern states, at Williamsburg's Book Thug Nation. The book focuses on the bigger names to have emerged from the south, with chapters based around Bi ... More >>

Ten Hip-Hop Covers Of Rap Songs

​Last week, the Detroit-based rapper and one-time J Dilla collaborator Elzhi released Elmatic. It's the second time a rapper has re-written and re-made Nas's hallowed Illmatic, with Fashawn attempting a similar feat last year. As a listening experience, Elmatic is less than convincing, leaving ... More >>

Live: Bun B Gets His Kicks At Good Units

via Freshnessmag​Bun B Good Units (Complex Foot Locker's Sneakerpedia Launch Party) Tuesday, May 17 Better than: Waiting outside in the rain (at least for the shoes' sake). Last night at Good Units, there were more cameras aimed at the floor than at the stage--which might have been fittin ... More >>

Excerpt: Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, And The Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop, Wherein Scarface Recalls His Mental-Health-Ward Days

​Also-beloved friend-of-SOTC Ben Westhoff's new book, Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop, will be available on May 1st from Chicago Review Press. This excerpt focuses on Southern pioneers Geto Boys and particularly beloved rapper Scarfa ... More >>

Live: The National Open, But Yo La Tengo Dominate During Their Final Hanukkah Night At Maxwell's

Georgia, Ira, and the Clean's Hamish Kilgour, leading a drummer summit. Pics by Liz Clayton, more below.​Yo La Tengo/The National Maxwell's Wednesday, December 8 Better than: The other seven nights, kinda. Nels Cline sitting in Tuesday was pretty sweet. Ditto Jeff Tweedy a few nights earl ... More >>

Live: Curren$y, Big K.R.I.T., And More Light Up Santos Party House

Curren$y (left) and K.R.I.T., models of menace and/or nonchalance. Photos by Nick, more below.​Curren$y/Big K.R.I.T./Smoke DZA/Mac Miller/Boaz/Etc. Santos Party House Tuesday, October 5 Better Than: Stealing your roommate's weed and watching Stella on DVD all night. Again. The weather in New ... More >>

The Ten Most Exploitative Posthumous Rap Projects

​Being a dead rap artist isn't much fun. Whether The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, or J Dilla, death has never seemed to do much to alleviate the constant pressure on artists to muster up new recordings to satisfy the bulging posthumous rap retail market. (In the hip-hop world, possessing a heart t ... More >>

Free Gucci, Fuck Diplo, and the History of "Free _____"

​Gucci Mane's new album, The State vs. Radric Davis is in stores today, but the insanely prolific, remarkably consistent Atlanta rapper has been in jail since November 12th. This is Gucci's second stint in jail for a parole violation this year. Both sentences stem from a 2005 incident in which ... More >>

The Diss-Track Family Tree

Who to insult, how, and why

Country-Rap: A Secret History

Picking Apart Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, Part 2

Bun B and Prodigy, On Their Own

Emotionally fraught solo nods get paranoid, triumphant

Preview: Bun B's New Album II Trill

Status Ain't Hood Interviews Bun B

The Grammy Awards: A Running Diary

Status Ain't Hood Interviews David Banner

The Year's Best Music Videos

Download: Pimp C, 1973-2007

Pimp C is Dead

Project Pat: Scarier Than Ever

Things I Learned Watching American Gangster

Swizz Beatz Has Lost His Mind

UGK's Underground Kingz

Overdue Southern comfort

DJ Quik Sells Out?

Jah Cure's True Reflections . . . A New Beginning

Reggae's cause célébre celebrates both his new record's release, and his own

Status Ain't Hood's Quarterly Report: The Summer's Best Singles

OutKast and UGK's "International Players Anthem": Song of the Year

Kanye West Loves Hipsters

When Will Young Buck Leave G-Unit?

A Not-Going-to-SXSW Playlist

Project Pat and Z-Ro: The Unsung Heroes of Southern Rap

Trae: Rap as Paralyzing Depression

Status Ain't Hood Interviews Three 6 Mafia and Project Pat

Things I Learned Watching the Official Smack DVD

Crown Royal

T.I. reigns, but leaves the best lines for his subjects

Scarface Stubbornly Refuses to Make an Actual Album

Jay-Z Brings Nas Onstage, Disses No One

Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, and Bun B Make Year's Most Disappointing Rap Song