The Last Word: Kelly Rowland Takes an HIV/AIDS Test For Staying Alive, Justin Timberlake Reveals His OCD, and D’Angelo Is Back In the Studio

What’s cookin’ people? Five slow days gone and one fast weekend to go digesting crazy wildfires in California, Ralph Nader claiming that Barack Obama is “talking white” in order to attract voters and North Korea making good on its promise to open up about its nuclear program in an effort to get off the US […]

The Neo-Soul Family Tree

Neo-Soul, Neo-Soul. Where for arte thou, Neo-Soul? With all due respect to R&B/Soul’s subgenre, Neo-Soul never really left, but became an acceptable addition to the R&B family (sans title). Kedar Massenburg of Motown coined the term at a time when the delineation between watery Pop-R&B and real live Soul became foggy. Many multifaceted talents were […]

The Last Word: Bobby Brown’s Son “Un”Sexed Lindsay Lohan, Alicia Keys Considers Adoption, and J-Lo and Mary J Are Good Samaritans!

What’s the fuss, ladies and gents? We’ve made it through another five days, and the weekend is calling. This week proved to be filled with a mix of stuff like same sex- couples getting married in California after the state legalized same-sex marriages and Tiger Woods taking the rest of the year off winning the […]

Catch a Fire: How Reggae and Dancehall Scorched the US. Part Three: The late ’90s to today

1996 – Shaggy sold platinum and received a Grammy Award for Boombastic.1996 – The Fugees released the R&B/Hip-Hop/Reggae infused album, The Score, with hits including a cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” and Wyclef’s cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman Nuh Cry.” The album went on to sell more than 17 million copies.1996 – […]

The R Kelly Trial: A Play by Play Part Nine – The End of the Road

The views expressed in this Trial Update are not the views expressed by AllHipHop.com. This is purely for entertainment value. Today, after getting what was probably the most upsetting news I have received since finding out that Kelly Rowland had plans of re-releasing her album, I decided to play Amy Winehouse’s “Me and Mr. Jones” […]

The Last Word: One-Year Anniversary Awards Starring T-Pain, D’Angelo, Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, and more!

How are you? Another week, another 15 cents made, and we’re still around to tell the story about how Mother Nature is causing floods, hot weather and tornadoes around the country.Apple unveils a new iPhone, Big Brown disappoints a lot of people by coming in dead last at the Belmont Stakes and a CNN investigation […]

Catch a Fire: How Reggae and Dancehall Scorched the US. Part Two: The ’80s to mid ’90s

1980sThe 1980s signaled the birth of an additional musical era, and the slow demise of another. With the help of producer King Jammy and musicians Steely and Clevy, Dub made way for a faster, more aggressive tone with artists deejaying (and rapping) over drum machines instead of acoustic sets. In prior years, more sound selectors […]

Catch a Fire: How Reggae and Dancehall Scorched the US. Part One: The ’60s and ’70s

“What? An era in Reggae and Dancehall before Sean Paul and Sean Kingston? Nooo! I’ll never let go of my notion; I’ll never let go!”Many of you have had that one conversation with a youngling when you’ve tried to explain who DJ Kool Herc, Alton Ellis, Shabba Ranks, Supercat or even Shinehead were. Instead, as […]

The Last Word: Chris Brown to Play Elvis, Bobby Brown Talks About Jumping Usher, and Michael Jackson Is Too Scared to Perform on Idol!

What’s good, good folks? After a little more than week on the left coast, I’m back on the job. Many thanks to Kiko for subbing for me last week. R.I.P. to music pioneer, Bo Diddley, who left a priceless musical legacy. Shout out to Barack Obama, who continues to make history with a confirmed lock on […]

Get To Know: Matthew Santos, the Voice Behind Lupe Fiasco’s “Superstar”

Crossover potential usually comes in packages similar to Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani – go through a genre transformation, go through an audience expansion. Mathew Santos, on the other hand, went through no genre change and an audience expansion. “People want to draw that line for you, but I’m not having it,” says Santos when […]