Waist Deep (Film)

Artist: Movie ReviewTitle: Waist Deep (Film)Rating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Edwardo Jackson It’s summertime: the weather’s getting hotter, the skirts are getting shorter. So are attention spans and standards. If you’ve been waiting for a film that embraces all those big screen excesses that the summer months afford; time to wade in and get Waist […]

New Crack City (Mixtape)

Artist: Clinton Sparks/Busta RhymesTitle: New Crack City (Mixtape)Rating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: The Closer New Crack City introduces the Aftermath-powered Busta Rhymes to the streets. Gone are the hyperkinetic hijinx associated with Busta in the past. Instead there is a grittier, darker, more conventional music; a stark contrast from his earlier New World Order apocalyptic […]

The 5% Album

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 […]

New Joc City

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 […]

Back To The Beat

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 […]

The Big Bang

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 […]

Laugh Now, Cry Later

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 […]

Have You Seen?

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 […]

Screwed Up Movement

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, […]

X-Men: The Last Stand (Film)

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 […]

Killa Season

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 […]