Somehow or other, I recently found myself at the local library, where I stumbled across a book titled Def Jam, Inc. The author, Stacy Guerseva, did a great job of recalling the history from the early days of the label based in Rick Rubin‘s dorm through to the powerhouse that it would eventually become. Of…
Month: March 2010
Five Zealously Overrated (And Often Dead) Hip-Hop Artists
Here’s a guest drop from Phillip Mlynar, who was the Deputy Editor at Hip Hop Connection magazine before people stopped buying rap magazines. Talking about rappers whose fanatical fan worship bore no relation to their actual talent or recorded output used to be easy. Someone would say that 2 Pac was the greatest ever rapper….
Toney For Mayor?
Guess some Nas stans got a little butt-hurt over the last piece. Of course, they failed to read the part where I declared that “there’s no denying that Nas is one of the greatest MC’s of all-time” and shed tears over the fact that I didn’t list ‘If I Ruled The World’ as a ‘classic’….
How Can Nas Be Garbage?
“With the exception of G Rap, Nas has more dope songs then anyone from Queens and just as many as any other rapper in the world” – Johnny Hardcore Following this challenge of sorts by a guy who seems to have taken his screen name from a male pr0n star, let’s take a look at…
Meyhem’s Top Five Songs That Represent Queens
During the interview with Meyhem which I dropped yesterday, I asked him which three songs he’d play to someone who’d never heard hip-hop from Queens before. He gave me five…
Counter Strike Spotlight: Meyhem Lauren
You might know Meyhem from his work with J-Love, as he’s hosted the majority of his mixtapes and appeared on all of J’s street CD’s, and is also a member of The Outdoorsman crew. Not to mention his outstanding contribution to the Counter Strike tape (‘Animal Science’ feat. Roc Marciano) and numerous dope songs he’s…
Bartenders > Weed Holders
At the Raekwon show the other night, I witnessed the next generation of weed holding. Several members Ice Water were helping out The Chef on stage as you might expect, but it wasn’t long before one of the co-stars tired of vocal back-ups and abandoned his mic in favor of taking care of the drinks…
Roc Marciano – Marcberg Album Review
This is Critical Beatdown for 2010. While it doesn’t exactly share any similarities in terms of the beat science presented, Marcberg is a game-changer. Much like the impact of Ultramagnetic MC’s long-awaited debut, you’ve never really heard an album like this before. No guest producers, over-used hooks or any type of traditional song-structure for that…
Counter Strike Spotlight – Thorotracks Interview
Queens-bred production duo Thorotracks (Sam & Jay) have been putting it down as a crew since 2002, and have delivered dope beats for everyone from Sean Price to NYG’z, Casual to Killah Priest, Krumbsnatcha to Skyzoo. With two compilations under their belt (The Saga Begins and The Saga Continues) and the dope new mixtape from…
Product Placement
The artist formerly known as Tony Bones from The Home Office put together this ad for the Villain In Black‘s new range of Swap Meet Snacks, which got me thinking – what are some rap endorsements that need to happen? Tim Dog‘s Extra Beef Burgers? Lords of the Underground‘s Squidgy Set? Neek The Exotic‘s Exotic…
Video: GURU Schools The UK On Hip-Hop (1999)
An amusing clip of Keith E.E. in happier days, breaking down some hip-hop basics. As we’re constantly reminded, he’s having ‘fun’. Maybe it was the Stella’s?
Respect Due To The GURU
As you would have heard by now, Keith E.E. ‘The Guru’ is seriously ill following a heart-attack. While there has been a flood of support from his friends and fans, this sad news has also given fuel to trolling douche bags to take some cheap shots at the man. Don’t get it twisted, bent-up or…