This week’s hip-hop track of the week is I Will Not Apologize from The Roots’ new album “Rising Down.” I Will Not Apologize features quotable verses from Black Thought, Porn & Dice Raw. Click below to listen:
And follow along with the lyrics after the break. (more…)
Hip-hop has always been political. It was founded as a genre that detailed the socioeconomic problems New York City youths encountered in the 1970s. But four years ago hip-hop stepped into the arena of electoral politics.
Sean “Diddy” Combs launched the Vote or Die campaign to encourage people to vote. Russell Simmons’s Hip-Hop Summit Action Network took an active role in registering voters. A Hip Hop Convention in New Jersey sought to create an agenda of issues important to the community. (more…)
The Roots “Rising Down” Album Review
Black Thought is in my opinion the best emcee in hip-hop. All those cats that say shit like “He’s not charismatic enough” or “He doesn’t have enough passion” don’t know what they’re talking about. Whatever characteristics you judge a rapper by – lyrics, flow, rhyme style, versatility, individuality – Thought has them all. However, this opinion and the expectations associated with it caused an initial disappointment with “Rising Down.” (more…)
Following the great success of their album “Fight With Tools” the Flobots got picked up by Universal - who created a new cartoon video for the single Handlebars off that album and posted it on YouTube here.
Unfortunately, greedy ass Universal has decided not to let anybody stream the new video. So I decided to put the old video up - which I feel does a better job reflecting the meaning behind the song that Universal doesn’t seem to have grasped.
This B. Dolan cat appears to have skills - and this Heart Failure track is off the hook! B. Dolan’s album, “The Failure” dropped yesterday on Strange Famous Records alongside Prolyphic & Reanimator’s “The Ugly Truth.” I already got a copy of P&R’s shit, but now I gotta pick this B. Dolan up too.
Cincinnati, OH - For years, teens and young adults from Over-the-Rhine and the West End have battled it out over turf lines, but one man’s dream of opening a neighborhood center where everyone could hang out together is helping blur the lines and bring some peace to the streets. The center is called “Elementz” and it sits at the corner of Central Avenue and Liberty Street in the West End.
21-year-old Frank Morris of Cumminsville is putting the finishing touches on his album. The rapper, who goes by “Young Nitty,” says Elementz is a place that’s taken him out of his element and taught him about respect, but not the kind you try to get on the street through violence. (more…)
In honor of today’s 70° weather in NYC, today’s underground hip-hop track of the week is Kats’ Summertime, off his recently released album “Katskills“. Click below to listen: