Artist: Lord JamarTitle: The 5% AlbumRating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Jessica Dufresne It’s a bold move on Lord Jamar’s part to make an album devoted to something as complex as the Five Percent movement, but not far-fetched. If you’re old enough to have witnessed Hip-Hop when it was in its teens, then you know that […]

Artist: Yung JocTitle: New Joc CityRating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Jesse Fairfax The South’s recent foothold on the prevailing sound of the culture continues bringing fresh faces to the game. Atlanta in particular has been a hotbed with so many acts putting their own spin on rap music from crunk, to pimping, to the more innovative […]

Artist: Field MobTitle: Light Poles And Pine TreesRating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: John Burnett It’s been a long time coming for Albany natives, Field Mob, Shawn Jay and Chevy P. With their debut album 613: Ashy to Classy dropping in 2000, these Southern boys let the world know that they were country as hell and […]

Artist: DJ KhaledTitle: Listennn…The AlbumRating: 4 StarsReviewed by: Jamiyl Samuels Once synonymous with Luther “Luke” Campbell and bass music, the state of Florida has stepped up in the past few years as a viable outlet for Hip-Hop. Like the recent emergence of Houston, and The Bay Area before them, Miami has become a hotbed of […]

Artist: Movie ReviewTitle: The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (Film)Rating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Edwardo Jackson After the Oscar-Felix odd couple of Walker and Tyrese sank what never should’ve been a franchise anyway with 2 Fast 2 Furious, imagine my bemused horror that Neal Moritz et. al were up for a third installment, albeit […]

Artist: NomadicTitle: Back To The BeatRating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Conan Milne It’s not uncommon for old school and new school Hip-Hop heads to disagree. Plenty of veteran fans lament, somewhat justifiably, over the current state of the genre, while newer listeners can find the praised material of more than a decade ago difficult to […]

Artist: Roc ‘C’Title: All Questions AnsweredRating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Max Herman Despite pushing 30, Ox City’s Roc ‘C’ is a rookie in this game, and he knows it. On the intro of his debut album, he shamelessly reiterates the many inquiries skeptics have been throwing his way like, “Who is Roc C?” and “How the […]

Artist: Busta RhymesTitle: The Big BangRating: 4 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Alvin “aqua” Blanco Busta Rhymes still has a passion for this rap music thing. While the majority of MCs of his vintage called it a career, or should have, years ago, the former Leaders of the New School lyricist has battled and conquered the adversity […]

Artist: DVD ReviewTitle: Just For Kicks (DVD)Rating: 4 StarsReviewed by: Sidik Fofana The first step of being a sneaker addict is admitting you have a problem. But, after watching the new documentary Just For Kicks (Image Entertainment), you might be unsure whether getting help is really the next move. Directors Lisa Leone and Thibaut de […]

Artist: Ice CubeTitle: Laugh Now, Cry LaterRating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Conan Milne No-one screams West Coast OG quite like Ice Cube, and “screams” seems is a pretty apt choice of words considering the rage that “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted” once delivered his ferocious lyrics with. Yet it has been some time since Cube was considered […]

Artist: RampageTitle: Have You Seen?Rating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Robert Longfellow Rampage has always been dependable for a good sixteen bars (check the “Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)”) but being the Lieutenant in Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad has also meant perpetually lurking in its shadows. Nearly a decade since his underrated 1997 sophomore act, Scouts Hono…By […]

Artist: E.S.G.Title: Screwed Up MovementRating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Brandon Edwards It seems like a long time coming for Texas’ “Everyday Street Gangsta” E.S.G., a living legend to many and stranger to most. It doesn’t get any thicker as far as hood credibility goes; the g’d up dboy stacked paper after being birthed in the trap, […]

Artist: T.I.Title: T.I. Reigns at The Apollo (Concert Review)Rating: 4 StarsReviewed by: Danielle Stolich “Before me, there was no such thing as the ‘King of the South’!,” declared a lively T.I. to a packed house at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theatre Thursday night (June 1). Hundreds of fans braved the stormy weather to see the self-proclaimed […]

Artist: The ProcussionsTitle: 5 Sparrows For 2 CentsRating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Angus Crawford Backpackers everywhere unite, because the prodigal label, Rawkus, has returned. The same label that helped launch the careers of Talib Kweli and Mos Def is back with the the Procussions and the release of their album 5 Sparrows For 2 Cents (Rawkus). […]

Artist: DJ Green Lantern/ DJ Kay SlayTitle: On My NY S**t (Mixtape)Rating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Dr. Zero When it comes to Hip-Hop, it is a no-brainer that New York is its capital. But, instead of fans reflecting on the legends that the boroughs have birthed, many focus on jealous artists that are unwilling to accept […]

Artist: Movie ReviewTitle: X-Men: The Last Stand (Film)Rating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Edwardo Jackson After some helpful backstory establishing the power of now-deceased mutant Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), X-Men: The Last Stand (20th Century Fox) throws us into the not-so-distant future where mutants – genetically abnormal humans with various superpowers and skills – are tolerated but […]

Artist: Cam’RonTitle: Killa SeasonRating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Martin A. Berrios Recently it seems that Cam’ron Giles’ name has been on the tip of everybody’s tongue (no h###). It’s kind of hard not to be considering all that’s happened with Harlem’s golden boy within the last calendar. Dude bounced from Def Jam, was shot during an […]

Artist: A-Pinks/DJ Whoo KidTitle: It’s Not A Rumor (Mixtape)Rating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Brandon Edwards The Empire State breeds envy. New York MC’s are in a weird situation at the moment, and with the Southern hemisphere enjoying much deserved success and mainstream airplay, up-and-coming east coast MC’s find it hard to fit into the rotation. […]

Artist: Bronze NazarethTitle: The Great MigrationRating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Paine When the RZA opted to play a more removed role from Wu-Tang Clan’s solo projects, there were several appointed heirs: Mathematics, 4th Disciple, and Bronze Nazareth. The last, a Michigan native, impressed RZA to the point of landing work on the Birth of the […]

Artist: Yo GottiTitle: Back 2 Da BasicsRating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Anthony Carr With the surging of Southern Hip-Hop’s influence within the last year or so, many artists from cities like Houston, Atlanta, and Memphis have been trying to gain even more national attention. North Memphis’ own Yo Gotti hopes to take advantage of the […]