Will Hagle now reports to Creative Director Lou Avery Spring is a transitional season, one that promises summer is coming soon but constantly reminds you it’s still kinda winter. Two weeks ago I sat outside at Busch stadium in 80 degree weather, optimistic about the start of the spring and baseball seasons. I left with […]

Will Hagle got his back all chiseled This winter may never end. No one understands this more than Rhymesayers, whose Minneapolis headquarters crowned them King of the North long ago (because it’s now impossible to talk about either rap or winter without at least one gratuitous Game of Thrones reference). Grieves’ recently released Winter & […]

Will Hagle is Originoo Gunn Clappa #4 So It Goes begins with an asterisk. Just as Barry Bonds’ 756th home run ball sits in Cooperstown adorned with baseball’s equivalent of a scarlet letter, the Ratking LP needs to be prefaced. The stage is set perfectly with the spoken word intro that kicks off album opener […]

Will Hagle is sipping on a Lone Star. Ever since Big Bank Hank rapped about stealing Superman’s girl, comic book culture has been a close relative of hip hop culture. References to good guys, bad guys, DC and Marvel can be found in artist names and song titles or embedded within verses. Unless you’re late […]

Will Hagle is looking for his activator.  Reducing Bay Area rapper 100s to a shadow of his pimp rap ancestors would be reductive. The truth is that 100s is comprised of shards of several other artists from various musical backgrounds. He talks a Short-esque pimp game, sure, but he also hails from the same city as the Based God. […]

Will Hagle is amidst a search to find the stunt double in Rick Ross’ “Speedin’ video. The way CJ Fly sees it, being entwined in an international love triangle and rocking a suit at all hours is just a part of life. Aside from a few minor plot points, that’s essentially the story he attempts […]

Will Hagle purchased polyphonic ringtones without his mother’s permission.  Folk artists will sing about telephones and writing letters for eternity. Acoustic songs dedicated to distant lovers don’t sound quite as good if you explain that you just talked to him/her over Skype. Hip-hop typically prefers to remain in the immediate present. Most rappers don’t write letters. […]

Will Hagle is eating gazpacho with Ralph Macchio. Hip-hop rarely gets this luxurious. While tuxedo and mask-wearing artists like Jay and Ye often force-feed their excess, Spitta and Bronsolino casually discuss their Italian marble floors over delicate strings. Neither have the star power to assert dominance over the throne, but their laid-back braggadocio suggests that […]

Will Hagle’s Keurig game is air-tight. Upon first listen, you might think that Martin $ky is depriving us of something by not lending vocals to his latest Soundcloud original “You Know What To Do,” the very title of which can be viewed as a mocking reminder that “No We Don’t.”  Gone is the verse-chorus-verse guidance […]

Will Hagle blames Young Chop for getting “Guap” stuck in his head. Gangsta Gibbs. Young Chop On The Beat. Retrospectively the greatest, most unexpected soundtrack possible for the Mike Tyson v. Evander Holyfield fight. The build-up to the inevitable biting of the ear consists of standard Gibbs hook-and-verse brutalization. Violence on violence. Gibbs verbal pummeling […]