A Tribe Called Quest was without a doubt a staple of 90’s hip-hop. Few other groups can claim the influence and image that A Tribe brought to the game. Riding the wave of conscious rap and jazz instrumentals, the Queens-based rap group grew bigger with each album, and for good reason. They had articulate bars…
Ever since music has begun being distributed widely, there have been layers added on top to help guide listeners and label the intentions of the artist; things like titles, or spoken word. Album art undeniably has one of the most inseparable relationships between any two art mediums. While not every album cover has “meaning,” (and…
From Anthony Fantano to your local record shop employee, it seems there’s plenty of opinions on any and every piece of music out there. Naturally, as people discuss the art they take in, there are disagreements on what projects are of the highest quality. People even debate whether someone is able to give a valid…
“All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know 45, 44 (burned out), let it go Ye ain’t changin’ s*** for me, it’s set in stone.” While Kanye fans had been feverishly collecting leaks and putting together flight patterns to Wyoming like private investigators, the rap and pop world was patiently waiting on the release…
Not all years in hip-hop history are created equal. Some years are full of lackluster projects and tame headlines. Some are full of blockbuster albums and cultural changes. If you want an example of this, look no further than 1996. The first thing anyone notes about this year is the fateful death of Tupac, and…
Abstract Mindstate is a name you are probably unfamiliar with unless you were close to Chicago’s underground rap scene in the late ’90s and early 2000s. If you’re like me, you came across the curious rap duo by word of Kanye West, who announced their third album was in the works and being released under…
Hip hop icon Evidence has returned with his new album “Unlearning vol. 1” on Rhymesayers. The Venice Beach native takes on some of his most heartfelt topics yet with lyrical wit and precision that is unmatched in today’s scene. Evidence enrolls the help of Alchemist, Boldy James, and Conway the Machine on one of the…
Isaiah Rashad hit #40 on the Billboard charts with Cilvia Demo, his very first studio project in 2014. Only one year before, he had been picked up by Kendrick Lamar-led label Top Dawg. If you’ve heard this first record of his, you can understand why he caught on so quickly with hip-hop heads. The dusty,…
Early in 2020, grizzled Buffalo rapper Conway The Machine announced online that he was already planning his retirement after a handful of final releases, and La Maquina wasn’t one of them. Although it seemed premature, no one could blame him wanting to go out in what is unarguably his prime. It seems plans have changed,…
As the nation reopens through 2021, every industry is seeing things set in motion once again. The rap industry is no different, and suddenly we’re facing a deluge of new drops from all of our favorite underground hip hop artists. But no need to be overwhelmed, we’ve collected the best 5 albums so far this…
