French Montana, Chinx Drugz, N.O.R.E., Earl, Troy Ave, Kevin Gates, Baraq, Peewee Longway, Calliope Var, Ray Vicks,

Slava P knows what happens when you say “Tony Yayo” three times in the mirror. Troy Ave is from New York. Even if he never mentioned this in any of his songs – which he does, often – you would be able to tell by dissecting the way he raps and identifying the individual components […]

Drew Millard’s interview game is hotter. His secret is avoiding air-conditioned rooms at all costs. Interviews are inherently odd. They’re the closest thing a music fan can get to discovering what a musician is “actually like.” It feels dirty not to put quotes around that phrase because the interview is often a performative conversation and […]

Craig Jenkins is the Yojimbo of this rap writing thing. The music writer’s constant quest to discover, process, and categorize new artists plays out like a taxonomist cataloging new species. As much as we love to witness the birth of a new mutation, we carry out the dead with similar zeal. I should know. I […]