Pumpkinhead: Back To ’95

With a name like Pumpkinhead, first-time listeners who are up on their horror flicks might expect the Brooklyn-bred emcee to be on some other-type hip-hop. But the 28-year-old isn’t some lyrical demon out for revenge, just an underrated rapper ready to set the underground on fire. “Ain’t no hardcore sh*t going on,” he says. “I’m […]

DJ Vlad: DJ Phenomenon

DJ Vlad has taken the mixtape world like the marvel character Galactus. But, he’s not just eating off the game, he’s putting food on the plate for others in the form of his sick Cds, which truly took the overcrowded genre to another level. Case study: Tupac: Rap Phenomenon II,” his stellar collaborative effort with […]

DJ Vlad The Butcher

Twista: Back For The First Time

In Webster’s Dictionary, a “kamikaze” is described as “an extremely reckless person who seems to court death.” If you listen to Twista spit his trademark voracious lyrics in his usual reckless, yet precise manner, you would know his career is nowhere near death. In fact, with the release of his long-awaited album, Kamikaze, scheduled to […]

9th Wonder: Changing The Game

Few people fully understand how 9th Wonder changed the game for producers. In 2003, he created one of the most fan-friendly trends, remixing entire albums. He took Nas’ God’s Son and revamped it into God’s Stepson. Since, a slew of others have followed suit, with largely favorable results. His work with his crew Little Brother […]

Fredro Starr: Ten Hut

10 years. Men’s will can shatter during a 10-year bid in jail. Technology has advanced in hulk-like leaps and bounds in the past 10 years. Onyx’s Fredro Starr has survived the tumultuous rigors of the hip-hop music industry for over 10 years. Whether he was altering the hip-hop landscape with his Onyx brothers Sticky and […]

Kay Slay: Stunt 101

Seated in the rear of parked RV on a wintry December afternoon, DJ Kay Slay is waiting. In fact, he’s been waiting for four hours. And with no communication between him and label reps inside the Brooklyn warehouse where he’s filming the lead video for his sophomore effort, The Streetsweeper, Vol. 2., Kay Slay begins […]

KRS-One: Word Perfect

We all know about KRS-One: The master, the teacher, the poet, the philosopher, the B-boy. But to what degree do we appreciate Kris? While he’s never been short on his zeal, Kris doesn’t ask much in return. How active are most MC’s approaching their twentieth year of making records? In KRS’ own words, “Why is […]