Southern Rap

What You Know About Them Texas Boys? The Return of Screw York City

Back in April of '06 walking Texas rap encyclopedia Matt Sonzala embarked on a cultural exchange program with New York fashion-icon-in-the-making/DJ Roxy Cottontail. Houston hip-hop was having a moment: Mike Jones, Slim Thug, Lil Keke, Devin the Dude and more all burst out of the humid air in the Di ... More >>

Sorry, But Kanye Is the GOAT

Kanye West is the greatest hip-hop artist of all time. He's made the best albums and changed the game the most, and his music is the most likely to endure. One thing before we get going: This isn't one of those arguments meant to piss people off or "start a conversation." We really mean it. And, c ... More >>

O LET'S DO IT

Bow bow bow bow

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

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

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 >>

Nicki Minaj Is Probably Not Voting For Mitt Romney

After a year in which her rep as a legitimate rap artist has been dented by an album that split its time between dense rhymes and enormous, danceable beats, America has suddenly decided to take Nicki Minaj seriously. And all it took was her bigging up rich white dude Mitt Romney on a verse over G.O. ... More >>

Lil Jon

David Banner

Tyga

The American Music Awards Nominations: Hey, Did You Know Adele Sold A Lot Of Albums This Year?

Have you bought your copy yet? (Give it time.) ​You can have your Grammys and your Mercury Prizes and your Polaris Prizes and whatever other musical prizes honor things like "talent" and "artistry"—the most honest awards show in pop music, though, is undoubtedly the American Music Awards ... More >>

Chris Brown

Toxic Shock

Britney Spears and the artlessness of the chase

Who Will Be The Next Pop Star To Draw Inspiration From t.A.T.u.?

It probably shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise that the attention-seeking girl-kisser Katy Perry drew inspiration from the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u.; her recent creepy chart-topper "E.T." sounds as good as it does in large part because it's heavily inspired by the pair's still-dizzying 20 ... More >>

The Grits & Biscuits Party (And All Its Sweat) Moves Out To Williamsburg

Robert E. Holley​When asked if he had already picked out his set prior to the March installment of his Grits & Biscuits party at Southpaw, DJ Square Biz--a.k.a. Maurice Slade--feigned incredulity. It was 10:15 p.m. Young women in heels trickled onto the dance floor, bobbing their heads and two ... More >>

Bonnaroo 2011 Announces Lineup, Starring Eminem, Arcade Fire, Lil Wayne, The Black Keys, And Buffalo Springfield

Star-studded lineup videos: now a thing. Yes, the Tennessee mega-festival, now in its tenth (!) year, has announced its initial lineup, the usual melange of rappers, rockers, and jam-band monoliths, this year headlined by Eminem and Arcade Fire, only one of whom won the Album of the Year Grammy 48 ... More >>

Hear Indie Muppet Dom's Improbable Collaboration With Gucci Mane, "Living In America (Remix)"

​Because we are still amazed when successful rappers team up with flavor-of-the-month indie people. Because we always wonder what phone call made this happen. Because we always play fantasy football about exactly which party is benefitting most from this relationship. Because we always want to ... More >>

Top 25 Headlines Not As Weird As "Dave Sitek Joins Jane's Addiction"

Good luck learning all the chord changes in "Jane Says," dude​So TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek has joined Jane's Addiction, in some unspecified bassist/songwriter/possibly-non-touring-member capacity, which is super bizarre when you first hear about it, but is, upon reflection, not the stranges ... More >>

Nicki Minaj, Louie Vega, Talib Kweli, And Bollywood Disco Headline Your (Christmas!) Week In Nightlife

​The holidays tend to bring a mass exodus from the city, but not everyone is leaving. In fact, some of our favorite DJs (and rappers) have chosen to come for a visit, giving us a full week of dance parties and awesome shows. We recommend that you take a night off from your holiday daze, grab a ... More >>

Big Boi+Calvin Harris

Lil Wayne's Show In NYC Thursday Is Back On

​Verily, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj will be taping a Carson Daly NYE spot on Thursday evening -- the same show Wayne announced and then immediately retracted yesterday. In a radio interview, Wayne explained the confusion: Some since-admonished third party hijacked his personal Twitter account t ... More >>

Lil Wayne's Twitter Confirms, Then Quickly Denies, His Apparently-Not-Happening Show Here Thursday Night

Well, folks, there was a solid 20 minutes there when Lil Wayne had us all convinced he was doing a show here with Nicki Minaj on Thursday, but he's apparently fallen victim to some sort of Twitter hack -- a lot of that going around today.

The Hood Internet

Five Takeaways From The 2010 Grammy Nominations

Behold, the future of music.​The Grammy Awards are a bit of a punchline in music nerd circles, a place where, say, MGMT battles Hall & Oates for a trophy that will inevitably be won, and then dropped on the ground, by the more telegenic and industry-saving Taylor Swift. The Grammy voters hate ... More >>

Soulja Boy, Dimitri From Paris, And Mannie Fresh Headline Your Week In Nightlife

​A full range of emotions this week -- get emo tonight, go pantless on Saturday, giggle at the goofy songs of your youth on Tuesday. With Mannie Fresh, you might be able to do all three. In any event, here are your nightly nightlife picks for the next seven days:

The Five Best Things Lil B Raps Over on His Great New Mixtape, Red Flame

​If you've looked at the incredibly prolific, California-based rapper Lil B's twitter at any point over the past few days, you know that he's just released a new mixtape, Red Flame. B, of course, is heralding it as the greatest of all time. After a couple listens, this seems to be a bit of an ... More >>

Download Two New jj Songs, Featuring a Sample of The xx and a T.I. Cover

let them​Mysterious Swedish duo jj have released a new single entitled let them via Sincerely Yours, featuring two tracks in the group's signature airy style, complete with semi-cheeky hip-hop influence on the A-side, an interpolation of T.I.'s "Let Them Talk." The B-side, "I'm the One/Money o ... More >>

Lil Wayne Is Officially A Free Man

And like that, the rapper most loved by former and current United States presidents is finally out of jail, eight months after he went into Rikers on felony gun charges. "You guys waiting for that jackass?" a Rikers guard asked the Rolling Stone reporter that had staked out the jail this morning. ... More >>

Bun B Is Not Playing Saturday Afternoon's Rock Yard Show; Big K.R.I.T. And Curren$y Will Pick Up The Slack

​Per the folks at Jelly comes confirmation that deified Houston rapper Bun B (whose new Trill O.G. rates either five mics or a 5.0, depending) is not performing tomorrow afternoon at the Rock Yard, but the show will nonetheless go on:

Rick Ross May Have Just Responded to Young Jeezy (Who Also Put Out A Mixtape Today)

​Though Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy is playing it ultra cool regarding "Death Before Dishonor," the "B.M.F."-checking freestyle he released a couple days ago, it seems pretty clear the song was aimed at Rick Ross. (His denial, at MTV, is less than convincing: "That's for anybody. I got n---as i ... More >>

N.E.R.D.

New York Magazine's "Jukebox" Feature Returns To Mercilessly Antagonize Us Yet Again

This imaginary man has some thoughts on Big Boi.​Break out the good china, everybody: Our least favorite record-reviewing conceit has returned, wherein very probably apocryphal New Yorker stereotypes say incomprehensibly insipid things about the hot artists of the day. Are we all dying to hear ... More >>

More Free Outdoor Shows: Jelly NYC Is Also Throwing Six Saturday Line-Ups in Williamsburg

"Below is a video we made to celebrate and get pumped up!" says Jelly NYC. Ok. Hey, internet people who think confronting nature in Williamsburg means getting drunk outside. Another series of free outdoor shows were just announced five minutes before they're about to start. The organizers are Jel ... More >>

Download: Big Boi Mixtape For Dummies And The Rammellzee Tribute Elegy for a Gothic Futurist

​Between these, your BBQ playlist is covered: Big Boi's self-released offering (available here) is fairly self-explanatory and pretty stupendous; this blog-born Rammellzee mix, though, is equally essential for anyone looking to explore the dearly departed NYC hip-hop icon's back catalog beyond ... More >>

Why You Hate Drake, and Why You're Wrong About Hating Drake

​By now it's clear that Drake's Thank Me Later, which comes out today, is pretty much the most polarizing record in rap since Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreaks--more so, even, since Kanye was a well-established and loved artist making his fourth record, where Drake, at 23, is a relative newcomer ... More >>

Drake Fumbles Toward Superstardom

Hip-hop's putative savior revels in doubt, insecurity, and a broken heart

A People's History of Summer Jam 2010

Drake debuts, Trey Songz gyrates, and DJ Khaled wins at the hip-hop event of the year

Joell Ortiz vs. Gentrification

Of Brooklyn, yes, but also of the NYC hip-hop on which he still aims to make his name

Gucci Mane Is A Free Man

​Even as fellow famous incarcerated rapper Lil Wayne faces disciplinary action today at Rikers for violating prison rules regarding possession of unauthorized electronics, Atlanta's Gucci Mane strolled out the front door of Georgia's Fulton County Jail this morning, a free man. Outside the jai ... More >>

Breaking: Lil Wayne Caught With Unauthorized Electronics in His Jail Cell [Updated]

​Corrections sources are telling the Voice that rapper Lil Wayne was caught today at Rikers in possession of "unauthorized earphones and a charger" during a search. An investigation is underway to find the missing device (almost certainly an iPod or other kind of MP3 player) that goes with the ... More >>

Lil Wayne Goes to Jail Today, But At Least We Have This Young Money "Roger That" Video to Remember Him By

Here is the first of a reported nine videos Lil Wayne shot in front of various green screens before reporting to Rikers today. This time, they opted for a comic strip treatment--fitting for not just Wayne but Nicki Minaj, who is basically a walking comic book character anyway. A Rikers guard fille ... More >>

'A Night of Haitian Rara'

The Hood Internet

Wyclef Jean's The Carnival II and Pitbull's The Boatlift

Two big shots rock the boat people

Jurassic Park

Old-timers want attention, need better songs

Ancient Maneaters of the Future

The year's best-selling album made mass culture sound vapid; the year's hottest auteur made vapidity sound transcendent

We Major (in Sociology)

You've taken this class before, but Professor Jeezy still makes it worthwhile

Lose Control

Ms. Jackson works hard but still can't sound truly effortless

The New Mixtape

DVD magazines released straight to the street turn crime kingpins into hip-hop heroes

2003

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