After catching the spirited debate as to the GOAT Public Enemy album between Dallas Penn and Combat Jack, I was reminded that as amazing as those albums are, nothing holds a candle to the mighty Critical Beatdown. For years, I’ve flip-flopped between Criminal Minded and Critical Beatdown for the title of Greatest Rap Album Evah….
Category: Features
In-depth coverage
Silver Fox – The Unkut Interview
Sometimes there’s more to being a legendary rapper than classic records. You might have heard Silver Fox on one of the three 12” singles he released as part of the Fantasy Three, but his legacy runs a lot deeper than a mere mid-80’s footnote. Having established a reputation as formidable MC through battling at parties…
Cutty From The Wire’s 2008 Rap Round-Up
Dennis “Cutty” Wise (aka “Coach”) doesn’t take shorts. Whether he’s doing a 14-year stretch or working the heavy bag at his gym, this dude don’t eff around. That’s why he was the only possible contender to host Unkut’s 2008 Rap Round-Up. If you remember Bobitto‘s Blindfold Test column where he plays records and asks for…
The Unkut Guide To: J.V.C. Force
Pic courtesy Meaning of Dope. After forming meeting at high school out on Long Island, Curt Cazal, B Luv and AJ Rok (who was originally from Mt. Vernon) would spend three to four hours every day rehearsing their routines. It wasn’t until they were all in college that the J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E (Justified by Virtue of…
Forgotten Beefs – Stezo Vs. EPMD
This one is a bit different. This track wasn’t officially released until a couple of years back via Stones Throw, so whatever issues Stezo had with his former employers was long buried by the time anyone heard this. Here’s what Stezo’s producer Chris Lowe had to say about it when I spoke to him a…
The Day I Fell Off
Not me, obviously. But was there a particular incident or album that made you rip all your Word Up! posters off your wall and never listen to a particular rapper ever again? For some, it was Big Daddy Kane‘s Prince of Darkness LP. For others, it was KRS-One taking out PM Dawn (if you’re one…
A Salute To Party Arty (D.I.T.C.)
The Bronx lost another trooper yesterday with the passing of Party Arty (aka P-80) due to heart complications. A long-time D.I.T.C. affiliate, Party was one half of the Ghetto Dwellas crew with D-Flow, as well as being a close associate of Show & AG. His gruff, Cookie Monster delivery demonstrated in his early appearances evolved…
KET – The Unkut Interview
Stress went deeper than just the musical side of hip-hop and covered topics that others were afraid to touch, in addition to some creative coups such as the flexi-single of Blackstarr’s debut single and the Bobby Digital comic/CD combo. Founder and graffiti veteran KET breaks down the history of the mag and discusses his struggle…
Unkut Originals – Bob James Unkut
Artwork by Tony Bones Last week I threw together this compilation focusing on the best uses of Bob James’ ‘Nautilus’, which I consider to be the greatest break ever. Just to make shit official, I called upon Elliott Wilson (who’s currently preparing to launch his Rap Radar site on Jan. 20 of next year) to…
R.I.P. Swagger
The internets have decided – with a whopping 43% of the votes cast in the last week, the term ‘swagger’ has been cast into the wastelands of abandoned slang. While the Unkut Dot Com massive will be doing our part to stamp out use of this shitty terminology, we can’t do it alone. Next time…
Slang Burial
Based on highly-scientific research, our team of slang editorialists was able to compile the four most unpopular terms that have been nominated for dismissal. Now we face the difficult part – determining which ones to dead…and enforcing it! Hall of Fame: Dope Wack Ill Fresh [poll id=”28″]
Slang That Needs To Be Buried
When Rick Rubin broke north of Def Jam and started a new label in 1988, it was initially titled ‘Def American’, but when he saw the word ‘def’ in the dictionary five years later he decided that it was now “against the anti-establishment image that he was trying to project for the company” and proceeded…