UGK (Band)

Souls Of Mischief Reminisce as From '93 to Infinity Turns 20

It's been 20 years since Tajai introduced his counterparts Phesto, A Plus, and Opio (aka The Souls Of Mischief) one by one over the intro to "From 93 Till Infinity." Obviously, a lot of has changed since the days when Opio had dreads and Phesto was sporting that crisp Athletics' Starter jersey. But ... More >>

Bun B and Shea Serrano's New Rap Coloring Book Is (Not Really) For the Children

How Tipper Gore Helped the Geto Boys Popularize Southern Rap

The same year the Berlin wall fell and signaled the creeping halt of the cold war, hip-hop group the Geto Boys released their second album with a revamped and newly galvanized lineup. The album, Grip It! On That Other Level, took the urban virtues of rap music and honed it on a diet of ultra violenc ... More >>

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 >>

Pazz & Jop: The Confounding, Inexplicable Splendor of Rapper Future

Space is the place

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 >>

Michael Pisaro's Tombstones Brings Out the Dead

Tombstones, a collection of songs guitarist and composer Michael Pisaro describes as "an indeterminate, experimental piece for voice," has been a work-in-progress for the past six years. Nine of the 20 songs by the CalArts professor and leading figure of the Wandelweiser Group (an international grou ... More >>

El-P and Killer Mike, Survivors

The pair teams up and confound expectations

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 >>

Q&A: Big K.R.I.T. On Making People React To His Lyrics, Crate-Digging And Crafting Playstation Beats

​ It's been a big year or so for Big K.R.I.T. Shortly after signing with Def Jam last June, he was booed off the stage at the Highline Ballroom; later in 2010 the Mississipi-bred MC hit the road on the Smoker's Club Tour (with Curren$y and Mac Miller) and the Wake And Bake Tour (with Wiz Khali ... More >>

Q&A: Yeasayer's Chris Keating On USB-Stick Mixes, Bonding Over Weezer, And Why He Loves 'YMCA'

​ The past two years have been good to Brooklyn-based band Yeasayer. While they released their second album Odd Blood a little over a year ago, "Ambling Alp" and "O.N.E." shot them to stardom in the blogosphere and mainstream music circles in the fall of 2009. Their popularity was, in large pa ... More >>

Download: Blitz The Ambassador's Sun-Drenched "Best I Can"

​"It ain't where you from, it's where you at," intones Chuck D himself on the fourth album by rapper/producer Blitz The Ambassador. Blitz is originally from Ghana's capital city of Accra, and currently resides in Brooklyn, but the otherworldly rhythms and triple-speed rhymes of Native Sun (Emb ... More >>

Q&A: Yelawolf Talks Dubstep, Harmony Korine, and Trunk Muzik 0-60

Hannibal Matthews​Yelawolf began the year with the mixtape Trunk Muzik and he's wrapping up his 2010 with a major label EP, Trunk Muzik 0-60, out today. Between the internet release of his mixtape and the EP's arrival in stores, Yelawolf signed to Interscope records, toured with Wiz Khalifa, s ... 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 >>

Battle of the Beloved Memphis Rappers: Three 6 Mafia vs. Eightball & MJG

One group won an Oscar and hit L.A. The other did not. Both aim to stay fly.

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 >>

Girl Talk

Yes In My Backyard: Watch/Download Poison Pen's "BK's Fat Boy"

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing new and emerging MP3s from local talent. Poison Pen is the type of rapper that other rappers love--an indie hustler with a major-ready, street-hewn wit. The esteemed Bed Stuy rapper has been dropping 12"s and guest spots non-stop for over a de ... More >>

GRIME TIME

Dizzee Rascal continues to boggle minds

Bun B and Prodigy, On Their Own

Emotionally fraught solo nods get paranoid, triumphant

Track 18 Wins Again

Major Hip-Hop Records in Burying-Best-Tracks Shocker!

How to Rob, by M.I.A.

M.I.A. triumphantly knocks the hustle that's driving hip-hop's materialist malaise

UGK's Underground Kingz

Overdue Southern comfort

Track 18 Wins Again

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

Memphis Bleak

Up Jumps Da Meme