hip-hop
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Founding Member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 Arrested on Murder Charge
The Kidd Creole, one of the founding members of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (and not to be confused with singer Kid Creole), has been charged with stabbing a homeless man to death. According to NBC 4 New York, the pioneering rapper, born Nathaniel Glover, 57, was arrested and charged in midtown Manhattan on…
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Say What? In Defense of Mumble Rap
With the release of 4:44, Jay-Z seems to have single-handedly grown rap up. Despite the fact that hip-hop is damn near 40 years old, Jigga’s newest release has many arguing that hip-hop has finally reached its nonironic-dad-hat phase. I would argue that Jigga did this years before with his 2006 release, Kingdom Come, which was…
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2 Chainz Just Gave Me a Few More Reasons to Love Him
I have a confession: I secretly love 2 Chainz. OK, maybe it’s not so secretly, because my friends know that anytime he appears on a song, I am going to turn the volume up as loud as it can go on his parts, and I’m going to rap along at the top of my lungs.…
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Jay-Z’s 4:44 Is the 1st Grown-Ass Hip-Hop Album
I’m a grown-ass, 40-year-old dad, so there are certain things I cannot do. I will never again eat at Chuck E. Cheese unless I want to end up on an episode of To Catch a Predator, but I’m also not old enough to eat at the Golden Corral. I can’t spend $200 on Jordans or wear…
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All Eyez on Me Star Demetrius Shipp Jr. on Being Tupac, a Role He Seemed Destined to Play
To say that a Tupac biopic has been a long time coming is an understatement. Perhaps few know that as well as Demetrius Shipp Jr., the icon’s “blink twice” doppelgänger who was originally cast in the role in 2011 and waited through a handful of directors, including John Singleton and Carl Franklin, before Benny Boom,…
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Juice at 25: Director Ernest Dickerson Talks Tupac, Hip-Hop and the Film’s Enduring Legacy
Twenty-five years ago, longtime cinematographer Ernest Dickerson made a deep impression with his directorial debut, Juice, a hip-hop-era film noir revolving around four teenage boys growing up in Harlem at a time when crack and violence were first emerging as devastating norms for urban youths. Juice, released Jan. 17, 1992, introduced both Omar Epps (“Q”)…
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Snoop Dogg Is Still Gangbanging So Hopefully We Won't Have To Go Through That. I Guess.
Snoop Dogg/Snoop Doggy Dogg/Snoop Lion fan here. Snoop Dogg recently released an album. It is called Neva Left. There’s no reason that Snoop should release an album in 2017 where the opening lines of the album are “I gangbang to the fullest, a lot of niggas talk about it, but they really don’t do it,…
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Dear Miley Cyrus: Hip-Hop Culture Never Needed You and It Won’t Miss You
We often see celebrities evolve before our very eyes, for better or for worse, especially if we have been exposed to them since childhood. Beyoncé, for example, went from creating mainstream pop music to making music more reflective of black women’s lived experiences in her critically acclaimed Lemonade. Then there are celebrities like Miley Cyrus.…
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Let's All Remember The Time Bill O'Reilly Got His Ass Handed To Him By Cam'ron
As Bill O’Reilly’s televised reign of lies comes to an end, I cannot help but reflect upon the fact that, 14 years ago, he unwittingly set the stage for one of the greatest and Blackest moments in the history of cable news. The Set Up Cam’ron and Dame Dash were invited to be guests on The O’Reilly…
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10 Thoughts on Drake and His ‘Playlist,’ More Life
Disclaimer: I’m not sure I’m a Drake fan, but I’m not NOT a Drake fan, either. I listen to all the albums and have listened to Drake songs when washing dishes, changing diapers and eating brussels sprouts. I’m an informed listener, so I’m speaking on More Life as a music enthusiast and avid consumer who…