B. Michael Payne steps into the arena. It must feel weird being even a relatively old-school hip-hop head. Back in the late 90s and early 00s, you only knew Kanye West as a Roc-a-Fella producer with occasional placements on semi-underrated Jay-Z projects. The College Dropout leak and College Dropout album were game changers, but for […]

Slava Pastuk wishes you would try to play him something better. What exactly does DJ Khaled do? I think that’s a valid question that requires an explanation.  “Get money” isn’t an acceptable answer. Although his name has been attached to dozens of street anthems in the last five years, most of them prominently mentioning the […]

Tosten Burks is tost in the world. Posting this video because the song remains more interesting than anything Kanye’s done since. Maybe Watch the Throne and these recent G.O.O.D. Music album leaks have matched the gaudiness of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but none of it has been inspired or emotionally engaging enough to feel […]

Jonah Bromwich doesn’t like jean jackets with the sleeves cut. Let’s just be clear: a Kanye co-sign means little-to-nothing regarding Chief Keef’s ability as a rapper. Artists with the fabled Yeezy seal of approval include luminaries like GLC, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, Fonzworth Bentley and Mr. Hudson. So chill. I know that’s a futile request, […]

Evan Nabavian was invited to occupy Wall St with the Throne, but passed due to a prior engagement. Having a protege who’s one of the biggest artists in the world is good for your career, even if it means having to produce a Big Sean record. It’s no secret that No I.D. has crept into […]

Renato Pagnani writes his curses in Times New Roman. Watch the Throne is the product of two artists that have nothing left to do but buy more 16th-century Persian rugs and continue trying to acquire the very goblet that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Both Jay-Z and Kanye West are now part of […]

Abe Beame hacked the email of a culture writer from GQ to bring you this from September’s issue. Sean “Jay-Z” Carter: I remember it was like four o’clock in the morning. I was in Hawaii like a year ago and I get this wild text from Kanye, I still have it in my phone, hold […]

You have to like this. I mean, it has the corpse of Otis Redding propped up like Bernie and it has JAY-Z!!! and KANYE WEST!!! and you can’t even write any of these men’s names without three exclamation points and ALL CAPS. This is a contractual thing and I don’t want to risk getting sued […]

Follow Abe Beame down the rabbit hole……..(II)……. In the late 90s, prior to Napster and the slightly more meritocratic system of Internet rap, there was a type of album that would drop roughly once a quarter. A rapper you’d never heard of before would suddenly make his presence known in the Source and radio with […]

Stolen by The What (Jeff Weiss, Sach O, Doc Zeus, Zilla Rocca, Douglas Martin,  Matt Shea, Jonah Bromwich) Track 1: THE SUN KINGS (Versailles, Fly or Die) (Co-Produced by No I.D., Hurby “Luv Bug,” Azor, Bushwick Bill, Lou Adler, & Kanye West) On “Monster,” Kanye tantalized and teased us with his bold images of stuffing […]