With historical excitement, I’m proud to premiere the first two episodes of Funkee Phlavaz, the greatest video show that no one ever saw. To my knowledge, I am one of seven people who watched the 17 episodes that aired during its 93-94 run on KBEV, channel 6, a station that featured programming from the students […]

We’re now reaching the Legacy Act phase of hip hop’s age bracket, where men in their forties can trim their facial hair extra thin and comfortably tour off records from the pre-Giuliani days. Young forever. ’93 till infinity. Right now, a few models are emerging: remain current and fresh while performing decades of old hits […]

Alchemist is always moving several steps ahead. Whenever I interview him, there are least two future projects locked and loaded and ready for war. When I interviewed him for the Step Brothers album, the Chemist was already talking about his gospel record. He didn’t elaborate much and I didn’t ask specifics because sometimes you want […]

Brian Josephs will save his rioting for when Coke Boys 4 gets snubbed next year. You’re not about anything if you’re not saying something in hip-hop. It’s one of the only genres — with its beginnings as the “CNN of the ghetto,” the voice of the voiceless, and such — where artists have a perceived […]

I am writing this because I am averse to the mechanics of the web and it’s the best song to come out this week and because I wanted to throw fruitless slander at imaginary boogeymen. And I feel that if you run a website, you should write about the songs you like whenever you get […]

Harold Stallworth is like the hip-hop version of Nicky Tarantino. Roc Marciano’s guest features can be unremarkable. His style is a bit too esoteric to gel with D-list underground acts. Even most of his collaborations with like-minded up-and-comer Action Bronson have suffered from a somewhat reluctant chemistry, like haphazardly splicing scenes from The Mack and […]

Evan Nabavian is holding four aces. The lexicon of macks, dons, players, pimps, hustlers, and Gs gets an overhaul from Willie The Kid on “Let The Money Stay.” His neo-noir vignette is a string of salient details: lily white leather, pink panties, sauvignon blanc. Absent are minks, canes, and hard-toe gators. Rather, Willie’s rhymes assume […]

Max Bell Shynes on. Detroit-bred Quelle Chris has been making music for a long time. He has Bandcamp tracks – rap, rock, and otherwise – from nearly a decade ago. He worked with Roc Marciano and Danny Brown (see Shotgun & Sleek Rifle) before you knew they were going to be two of your favorite […]

This is written by the man branded MobbDeen, so you should already know. Here are a few universal truths: death, taxes and the Alchemist being responsible for one of my favorite rap releases of any given year. Since 2007, the Alchemist has been responsible for critical favorites such as Prodigy’s ‘Return of the Mac (aka, […]

Alchemist unleashing the hordes smoking girl scout cookie strains inside his Santa Monica Game of Thrones (copyright Disco Vietnam). This is a maxi-single stuffed with three kippah-slapping songs featuring Bam Bam Bronson, Gibbs, Domo Genesis, Blu, Despot, Roc Marciano, Hodgy Beats, and Mayhem Lauren. A resume that you can’t acquire on Linkedin. You know what […]