As it did for so many folks I know, hip-hop changed my life. I don’t mean in the “It saved my life” way, but when I was introduced to hip-hop, I fell hook, line and sinker into the ocean and never came up for air.
Nigga, you? (In Nas’ “Ether” voice.)
I’m not Wale’s biggest fan, but the man can make a hit song. He has several of them. If you listened to the radio at all in 2011, you heard “Lotus Flower Bomb” multiple times a day. His verse on Waka Flocka Flame’s “No Hands”? Stellar. I still know it word for word. He’s got hit albums, hit songs and critically…
A horn riff. A thump of the bass. A tinkle of the keys followed by the “boom-bap” of the drums. These sounds are the hallmarks of legendary jazz label Blue Note Records, which was the first recording showcase of talents like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and many more who would go on to be jazz legends.
It’s no secret that Jermaine “J. Cole” Cole is one of the most polarizing artists in hip-hop. Possibly ever. He’s got a legion of fans who believe that Light-Skinned Jermaine is the second coming of rap Jesus, and that his super-relatable persona, plus his above-average lyrical content, makes him one of this…
Seriously, I didn’t even realize there was a Pulitzer Prize for music. Be that as it may, Kendrick “Kung Fu Kenny” Lamar Duckworth has gone ahead and big-leagued every rapper to ever do it by winning a Pulitzer Prize for music for his album Damn. I don’t even know what to do with this information aside from be proud…
After releasing two songs on Thursday, rapper Nicki Minaj reignited her feud with the current princess of rap, Cardi B, because—if we’re being honest—we kinda forgot about the black female Max Headroom of hip-hop once we met Cardi.
There are a few things that I have come to expect when going to an old-school hip-hop concert. Lots and lots of weed, drunk gentrifiers unironically wearing throwback Kangols and Adidas tracksuits, and most importantly—no matter what time is posted on the ticket—the show starting almost two hours late.
In a since-deleted post on Instagram, Azealia Banks, the poster child for self-destruction, launched another attack on hip-hop’s newest female superstar, Cardi B.
I read somewhere that Drake had a song releasing on Friday night. We all know Friday as Cardi B Invasion of Privacy day, so it almost seemed rude for Drake to drop a song, but it’s Drake. After he just gave away almost a milli in the video for “God’s Plan,” I’m willing to give Drake some grace (it still brings a thug…
I like Cardi B a lot. Who doesn’t? It’s almost impossible not to enjoy her brand of in-your-face in-your-faceism. She keeps it real, and that authenticity has endeared her to folks near and far. When “Bodak Yellow” dropped and broke records and wormholed its way into your subconscious—I actually can’t just say “moves”…
Lolita Shanté Gooden, aka Roxanne Shanté, is a hip-hip icon, a living legend, if you will. Netflix has released Roxanne Roxanne, a biopic that chronicles Shanté’s humble beginnings in Queens, N.Y., in the ’80s. Shanté was a solidified rap staple from the Queensbridge Houses. She could rap circles around anybody and…
Chanté Adams is living a dream—one she envisioned not too long ago as a 2016 graduate of the School of Drama at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Less than two years later, the young actress is enjoying the premiere of her first film, starring as female rap prodigy and pioneer Roxanne Shanté in…
On Friday, March 16, 2018, the good Lord saw fit to release music for the homies through his shepherd, Snoop Dogg. Pun intended. Because shepherd ... and dog. You get it? Right. Snoop Dogg, aka the artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, aka Snoop Lion, aka Calvin Broadus of Doggystyle, Murder Was the Case and…
Eleven years ago this month, I made the decision to get my first tattoo below my elbow—a piece covering my entire forearm that could never be hidden without clothing.
I was perusing the internet streets like I always do looking for what’s good in the hood when I came across an article from BuzzFeed that made me clutch my pearls, then touch my chest and say, “Why, I never!” The headline? “We Found the Girl Who Danced to Living Single’s Theme Song and Sis Looks Good as Hell.”
Every year, March 9 rolls around, and we celebrate through music and reflection the life of Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, aka Biggie, aka the only Christopher we acknowledge, who was gunned down in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997. The Brooklyn, N.Y., MC from Bed-Stuy is one of the…
On March 9, 1997, rapper Biggie Smalls, born Christopher Wallace, had his life taken way too early. He was 24 years old. He was gunned down after leaving an industry party in Los Angeles, six months after the death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Being from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and seeing how this entire New York…
On Monday—after recovering from their huge Oscars after-party organized in honor of Mary J. Blige at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles—Beyoncé and Jay-Z accidentally teased a joint tour. Bey’s Facebook and Ticketmaster pages revealed a concert date for a previously unannounced stadium stint: Monday, July 30, at…
When is Beyoncé not playing with our hearts? Early Monday, March 5, Queen B’s Facebook and Ticketmaster pages revealed a concert date for a previously unannounced tour featuring Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z: Monday, July 30, at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
