Throughout his ten years in the game we have seen a couple of different sides of Victor Santiago. Before the deal he was a street dude on the block trying to get it. He would quickly switch his hustle to rap and adopt a moniker that would represent his then by any means necessary […]

Polow Da Don has been the talk of the urban community and every major Hip-Hop site and blog on the web, due to some audacious comments made in a recent interview with AllHipHop.com- comments that raised more than a few eyebrows.  With controversial topics such as race, gender, and religion, there is always opposition and […]

   Back in the day, the days when Hip-Hop was raw and untouched, the leading roles were designated to lyricists and DJs. Producers were part of the supporting cast. But as time has marched on, lyrics have been replaced by infectious hooks, outlandish dances and dominating beats; the stars of today’s show are the producers.  […]

    Three years ago, Russell “Block” Spencer, the CEO of Block Entertainment, came up with the idea of creating a rap group to help fill a void he felt was missing in rap music.        “I felt like the music at the time was watered down.  There wasn’t any trace of that gangsta sound,” says […]

AllHipHop.com: So coming into the release of The Reunion, I hear Tom Silverman, the owner of Tommy Boy, mistreats you…N.O.R.E.: It got beyond [mistreatment]. At the end of the day, when you a record label, you get funded by someone else. Very seldom people fund themselves.  So Penalty Records was a label that was fully […]

Polow Da Don may not have reached the pinnacle of success that some of his peers have, but the colorful producer is well on his way. Unless you have been living in a hole for the past two years, you have at some point jammed to the hard-hitting bass, heavy synths, unconventional horns and other […]

        Whether from Nas or Edan, MCs today constantly refer back to one criminally-slept lyricist from the Class of ’88 – Lakim Shabazz. The Newark, New Jersey MC could be described to his former Flavor Unit posse with exactly what Big Daddy Kane was to The Juice Crew. Shabazz was gifted, smooth, and insightful […]

One of the most important words to any up-and-coming producer is ‘placement.’ Getting a standout track on the album of a Billboard peaking rapper is as good as gets for sticking your foot in the door.   So Arnaz “The Nasty One” Smith knows he was blessed to land his staff producer job with Young […]

Video Editor/Videographer: Rich MartinezProducer: Steve Raze    Every so often, an artist drops the formalities and speaks freely. David Banner, who’s always been known for his candor, finds a way to even shock those who might know him best. As southern charm only gets one so far, Banner openly proclaims that his album is better than […]

Disputing the fact that the 90’s didn’t take Hip Hop to another level can’t be easily argued.  Labels were flooding the airwaves with a sound that proved the genre had not only evolved, but shifted.  Ruff Ryders Entertainment, founded by siblings Chivon, Dee, and Waah Dean, premiered their label in 1988.  While propelling the careers […]

    Growth and maturity go hand-in-hand. Although Talib Kweli has had plenty to say on records since his career began over a decade ago, he’s traditionally been tight-lipped in interview settings. Like other Hip-Hop greats such as Scarface and Dr. Dre, perhaps this only added to the Brooklyn MC’s mystique.        On a laid-back summer […]

    Los Angeles has always boasted a different brand of Hip-Hop. The city most infamously provided the spark, through N.W.A. that put gangsta rap in the limelight of not only Hip-Hop culture but the entire music industry as well. Since then, against the grain artists above and below ground have chiseled Hip-Hop into a sculpture […]

    Kamaal is in fact abstract. Not to the point where he’s engulfed by the multiple pre-requisites (and stigmas) attached to the duty of being an MC of substance. After all, he was a “vivrant vivarant” at one time and has a penchant for tequila shots and cursing. But the Renaissance Man known as Q-Tip […]

This is part two of the 10 Track Commandments. In part one we discussed things that pertained more to the business aspect of production. In part two we will focus more on the originality and how to create a name for yourself by making great tracks.           6.       Know When It […]

        There are several men using the name Tone Capone in Hip-Hop. One in particular has separated himself from the pack with a stack of accolades at radio, labels, and now online dating back to 1990.         Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Brentwood, Long Island, the college student wanted to […]

    Right now the Living Legends are being drowned out by Public Enemy. It’s not the group’s fault. A concert organizer decided to place the B Stage of the Rock the Bells tour just off to the right of the Randall’s Island concert venue; what looks to be a safe distance from the main stage. […]

    Whether MC Ren, Jarobi or T-Mo Goodie, most prolific rap groups have a member that doesn’t quite fit into the spotlight. After three acclaimed albums, one of which toted as a classic, Black Moon’s middle member has always been 5FT.         As Buckshot became the Timberland-clad executive of Duck Down Records, Evil Dee’s […]

Remember the days when you purchased a twelve inch single from a new artist, and you knew what to expect from the rest of their album? Remember when albums had a consistency to them, so you could drop the needle and just let the music play? Jason “MoSS” Connoy remembers those days and albums, and […]

    Tupac Shakur once rhymed that “Every move is a calculated step, to bring me closer to embrace an early death.” 50 Cent is a man full of calculated steps, but self-destruction aside, he appears too smart for an early death. That doesn’t mean he can’t go out in a blaze of glory as he […]

Jazze Pha is easily known as one of the hardest working people in the industry.  Born Phalon Alexander, the son of James Alexander, bass player of Otis Redding’s Bar-Kays, and accomplished vocalist Denise Williams, Jazze Pha has the genetic make-up of a musical genius. Still, the dynamic producer pulls his own weight in an industry […]