W hen you think of Colorado, a few things instantly come to mind: high altitude, thin air, Kobe Bryant, and rehabilitation facilities. Hip-Hop music does not necessarily roll off the tongue. As it turns out, the city of Colorado Springs is the stomping ground of three MCs who would eventually come together to form The […]

I t appears coincidental that “Gillie” rhymes with “Philly.” However, the former Major Figgas front-man has represented for his hometown heavily over the last half-decade. Though he’s currently without a deal, and never achieved reputable sales, the street-savvy spitter believes he has a legion of fans over six-digits in the 215 area code alone. With […]

P rophets can come from the strangest of places. Perhaps the man asking you for spare change in front of the bodega has spoken unforgettable wisdom. Fiend is no panhandler, but his name and his image has been built upon being a man of the people, dirty and clean. Of all the former No Limit […]

N ew Orleans, Louisiana: a city hundreds of miles south of New York, has been referred to as the murder capitol of the nation. Yet, out of this violence emerged an influx of street entrepreneurs that made household names within No Limit and Cash Money Records. This culturally creative city, corrupted by Katrina’s chaos, has […]

F irst Degree Detective Derrick Parker, even with all of his clearances, could not keep himself from earning a bad rap in the eyes of the Hip-Hop community. Attending events, Parker knew rappers not for their singles, but for their criminal records. Since retired, the release of Parker’s DVD, Black and Blue: Legends of the […]

I t’s hard to find someone who thinks Shaq Diesel is the greatest rap album of all time. Even though the album went Platinum and Shaq is one of the NBA’s most popular players, his respect on the ball court never transferred over to the heart of most rap fans. NFL MVP Shaun Alexander is […]

G raffiti artists must be patient these days because law enforcement agencies are cracking down on the craft. Urban Van Goghs have to wait in the shadows until they have a chance to use city streets, buildings and trains as their canvas. The process is challenging but worthwhile once the artist’s creation is appreciated throughout […]

O n the approach of the Hip-Hop Political Convention in Chicago, the air is tense. While everybody waits to see the true impact of Hip-Hop’s political potential, one of its most decorated soldiers is on the move. Mr. Lif’s newly released Mo’ Mega is setting the underground on fire while the artist behind it considers […]

E ven in its rawest form, Hip-Hop has always been able to touch lives. Though some may not comprehend why middle-class suburbia has an affection for it, it is what it is. Anyone connected to Hip-Hop has wanted to use one of its elements to express their loyalty to it, by any means necessary. Case […]

When an artist sees his face on a fictious “missing milk carton,” it can elicit either disdain or motivation for that MC. For Rampage, it was a sign that the game was missing him, prompting his return with Have You Seen? on his own Deep Freeze Records this summer. The milk hasn’t spoiled yet. While […]

R ockness Monstah can be a hard man to keep tabs on. You would probably have an easier time locating your long lost Yo! MTV Raps trading cards or those exclusive Dunks you’ve been lusting over on eBay. Since the release of Heltah Skeltah’s sophomore effort, Magnum Force, Rock has been linked with DJ Lethal, […]

C rews, posses, clans, and cliques; the Hip-Hop landscape is littered with “supergroups” whose dreams of collective success became the CDs we now use as coasters. As the co-founder of Brooklyn’s own Boot Camp Clik, Buckshot is one of the few people to avoid such a fate. With over three million units sold independently, a […]

It’s no secret that the independent spirit is not only alive, but it’s quite fruitful in the South. That said, why is the best selling underground ATL artist rhyming about his car breaking down? Lil’ Weavah is cut from a cloth that has not been publicly seen in some time. Having sold over 20,000 units […]

A true-chain smoker will light one cigarette off of another, it prevents from having to use matches or a lighter. Perhaps that’s what Atlantic/Grand Hustle Records considered when they piggybacked Young Dro’s Best Thang Smokin’ off of TI’s highly successful album, King. After three years of making powerful appearances on albums from T.I., P$C, and […]

For more than 14 years, Daz Dillinger has known survival. Daz watched a Death Row dynasty being built from his early days as an MC while living off of Popeye’s Chicken. Five years later, he saw it all unravel even though he left with a Dogg Pound Gold solo album, Revenge, Retaliation, and Get Back. […]

“I’m the hottest thing out of Harlem,” says Cardan. The artist who has never released an album may be confusing some with that statement. After all, Cardan’s biggest buzz came from Harlem World in 1998, despite not being on the singles or in the videos. Still, the Uptown rapper has survived not only from feature […]

Alot of rappers and producer-types in the industry can be hard to talk to. You often have to pry their jaws open sometimes to get them to spill the beans for a hot exclusive. Normally, the higher up on the Hip-Hop food chain the artist is, the more difficult it is to get them to […]

W hen you feel like nobody can do it like you and your competition is minimal it’s only natural that you step up and claim a title. “Queen of South” is what she’s chosen to call herself and it doesn’t seem like anyone has objected…well at least not yet. Written off as a one-hit wonder […]

The “Game Theory” is defined as “An agent or person who is faced with a set of moves he can play and will form a strategy, to best respond to his environment.” Nobel Peace Prize-winning mathematician John Nash, the subject of the film A Beautiful Mind, developed this theory to calculate an actual formula to […]

T oday’s A&R not only eats off of the artists he signs, he can become a star in his own right. Jay-Z can shout out “Lenny S” as TI brings in DJ Drama to be the ears of Grand Hustle/Atlantic. However, in the formation of Hip-Hop as we know it, one of the most unmentioned […]