Enter CASTLE. North Carolina-raised. Mello Music Group signed. Mission statement: I don’t give a fuck music for people who don’t give a fuck. Lest you think this is all ski-mask seriousness, his biography touts this resume of achievement: once killed the entire Marvel universe, made Chuck Norris say uncle, cut through hot knives with butter, […]

Max Bell’s destiny is reaching the keys.  Has-Lo’s debut LP In Case I Don’t Make It (below the jump) was one of the best albums of 2011. It’s a throwback that doesn’t feel derivative, overly nostalgic, or overly reverential. It’s something for modern hip-hop listeners and Philadelphians who’ve studied It Was Written and have entered the 36 […]

Catch Deen in Atlantic City, blowing nothing less than 50. I pride myself on listening to as much music as possible. If it’s on rap blog somewhere, I’ll probably listen to it. Time gets scarcer, but I think I make an honest effort to listen to as much new shit as possible while maintaining gainful […]

O.C.may never receive the proper dues he’s long deserved. The BK rapper, one-time Crooklyn Dodger and D.I.T.C. representative became an underground legend due to his carefully crafted verses and thoughtful storytelling. His 6th album “Trophies,” produced entirely by Detroit beatmaker Apollo Brown, dropped in May; it was his first solo album in six years and […]

Like Ka and Roc Marciano, there’s a patient painstakingly assembled quality to Has-Lo’s music. If you listen to it only once, you might even find it a bit boring. Has’ rarely modulates his voice, opting for a cool detachment, the lucid narrative eye triumphs over the bloodied combatant. It initially seems like aloofness, but upon […]

Detroit producer Apollo Brown has mastered the art of the sample, supplying soul-blessed bangers for underground royalty like Danny Brown, Has-Lo, Elzhi and Finale. “Trophies,” his collaboration with Brooklyn rhyme legend O.C. dropped at the top of the month. It’s his fourth back-to-front production effort for an emcee, following albums for NY’s Haasan Mackey, Detroit […]

Jonah Bromwich gets more props in stunts than Bruce Willis. DC Rapper yU’s new album The Earn is not about yU. It’s about Michael Willingham Jr. The braggadocious battle rapper that was has been replaced by a fully-realized portrait of a man. yU makes reference to his government name liberally on this album and there’s […]

Jonah Bromwich wrote his first draft of this on a smoked banana peel. It’s hard to avoid self-deprecation when you’re standing right beside incredible talent. While yU is probably the best rapper in Diamond District (and maybe even on Mello Music) the producing wizardry is usually situated in Oddisee, whose Rock Creek Park is the […]

Now ask Jonah Bromwich about DJ Kool. Washington DC has two nicknames. The first, as I was informed by my snide, street-smart-and-proud-of-it, seventh grade teacher, is “Chocolate City,” which refers, of course, to the fact that there are a lot of black people who live in DC. The second, which I only learned a couple […]

In an effort to engender enough good will for eternal devotion (no rapture), Mello Music Group are giving away yU’s stellar Before Taxes for free all week. Named the 32nd best album of last year by an obscure website, Aaron Matthews hailed it as “one of the strongest 90s hip hop albums of the aughties…built […]