Brick Records has forged a reputation for building Boston’s independent Hip-Hop market. Having put out cult-followed records for MF Doom, D-Tension, and 7L & Esoteric, the presence goes beyond Beantown too. But after over a decade of grinding, Brick brought it back home with an unlikely newcomer, Raydar Ellis. Ellis, a Berklee School of Music […]

Aside from the obvious legal problems, any financial advisor can give you a laundry list of reasons why pimping and hustling are bad options for diversifying your portfolio. Yet, when faced with the prospect of finishing high-school and waiting for royalty checks to slowly trickle in, that’s exactly what Sky Balla did. The result was […]

Do your homework, Rudy Ray Moore is an icon. The singer turned comedian propelled himself into the spotlight with using four letter words way before Eddie Murphy. Most known for his leading role in the cult film Dolemite, Moore trademarked a rapping style of delivering classic lines such as “Dolemite is my name, and f**king […]

Hate or it or love it, snap music has consumed this country. When the percussion finger-snap sounds and the bassline drops, anyone who is near the dance floor is moved to join into the crowd’s cycle of leaning, rocking, and snapping their fingers. Although this sound was born in the impoverished community of Bankhead in […]

Some critics of Chingy would’ve never believed that the former St. Louis teen-star would be one day delivering a third album on a major label. Perhaps like Cassidy, Chingy has evolved from a rapper birthed in a bubblegum fanbase, driven to the battle, then returning to his Pop sensibilities. As “Pulling Me Back” became a […]

In 2003 when 50 Cent decided he needed to Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Dre wasn’t the only producer to lend his magic touch to the multi-platinum project. Fif’s second #1 single from the album, “21 Questions” introduced the hit-making production/remixing duo of Midi Mafia to the masses. Consisting of Kevin “Dirty Swift” Risto and […]

It reads like a rags-to-riches adventure loaded with hilarious rap beef, custom Lamborghinis, and international “pizzle.” G-Unit is all about the global and financial elevation of Hip-Hop culture. And DJ Whoo kid knows the key to success. The Queens-bred entrepreneur with Haitian roots has traveled the world with one of the most successful rap crews […]

Few MCs and producers can actually say that they came up “Hip-Hop.” We’re talking the true definition of the word. On the contrary, Agallah “The Don Bishop” assures AllHipHop.com that his roots run deep. By the age of 21, he was already considered a veteran in the game, having worked with such names as, DJ […]

AllHipHop.com: To walk around New York City on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 was a bizarre feeling. In my head all day, I had “When the Angels Sing.” Three years after you wrote it, how do you approach that song? Freddie Foxxx: When I made “When the Angels Sing”, I was trying to paint a […]

In 1986, Eric B. (Eric Barrier) arrived in Long Island from Queens, looking for the standout MC that the peninsula had to offer. As legend has it, Rakim and the legendary DJ made the historic link even though Barrier had his eyes on another young rapper named Freddie Foxxx. With the end of the decade, […]

As Def Jam was a building empire in the mid ‘80s, Russell Simmons would have been working the phones, handling important business for LL, EPMD, and Slick Rick. Perhaps along the way, Simmons heard of Too Short, a slow-talking rapper with pimpish lyrics, that was selling boxes of records from the trunk in East Oakland, […]

Let’s face it. The South is running Hip-Hop. Everybody should just say it out loud because it’s real. The East Coast has been dry for a long minute. The West Coast is limping along, and looking a bit unfocused. The South though, stays dirty. When Chamillionaire won the MTV Video Music Award for “Best Rap […]

Ed O.G. has made “Boston n***as don’t play” a catch-phrase for Beantown streets. While Bobby Brown continues to make magazine covers in his third decade, Hip-Hop in New England has never broken through the glass ceiling of sales and recognition. However, with a changing sound in the mainstream, many believe that Dre Robinson has what […]

When Oh No says, “Life in the Ox is like life out of the Ox,” on the “I’m Here” intro off The Disrupt album, he’s lying. There aren’t too many places the size of Oxnard, California that can claim to be the home of such forward-thinking talent as Oh No and brother Madlib, in addition […]

After being kicked off The Source’s board of directors earlier this year, magazine founders Dave Mays and Ray “Benzino” Scott seemingly disappeared from public view. When their bid to regain stake in The Source was rejected by the courts, the two were perceived as Hip-Hop journalism’s most notorious pariahs. The two may have been down, […]

A lasting career in the music business is not promised, even if you are lucky enough to be chosen out of 40,000 people to star in your own MTV reality show. E Ness learned this lesson, but luckily, he knew the rules of engagement. Having already experienced regional success before his MTV stint, Ness wasn’t […]

The Game is more familiar with beef than A.1. Steak Sauce. The rapper has had tense situations with 50 Cent, Joe Budden, Memphis Bleek, JT Tha Bigga Figga and others but suddenly he’s got a new, unlikely adversary in Ras Kass, one of the West Coast’s lyrical legends. The conflict stemmed from an apparent, albeit […]

G Funk crowned Dr. Dre. Crunk made a household name out of Lil’ Jon. The hardcore Hip-Hop movement resurrected DJ Premier. Whenever a subgenre blows up, there’s usually one producer that gets pointed to the most. While Rick Rock and Lil’ Jon are responsible in helping the Hyphy sound get recognized, the Bay Area native […]

Since 1992, DJ Shadow has been active in several facets of Hip-Hop. The Davis, California native has taught legions of turntable owners how to dig in the crates for rare grooves. Shadow also worked as a producer, spearheading the Solesides/Quannum movement, before collaborating with everybody from U.N.K.L.E. to Cage to Paris. Most notably, the Schoolhouse […]

Without question, Hip-Hop has let a lot of its stars pass as studio gangsters. Though many would argue that lyricism is in a drought, creativity tends to prevail over reality when it comes a successful rapper. For those getting skeptical about the line between fact and fiction, there are select rappers who undoubtedly seem to […]