The ABCs are the building blocks of the English language, but Turner Jackson’s ABC pays homage to the building blocks of his versatile, ever-changing style. The album begins with a short sample of new-school flow, something you might hear from Meek Mill or Drake. Most of the rest is a…
This Thursday, April 11, at the Funky Buddha, Turner Jackson is set to kick off a new monthly hip-hop open mike night called the Pit with DJ Dozen. The Pit, which is open to any and every rap artist who want a chance to rock the mic, will give ten…
The Midwest is the bastard child of the American rap scene at large — unsung and independent, with a massive chip on its shoulder. The most talented artists from the Midwest have succeeded each with their own unique style and flavor, regardless of what was making money elsewhere in the…
“This ain’t hookah. You hit this shit a few times, you might see the future,” Ab-Soul says of DMT in “Pineal Gland,” his dark, mystic ode to the drug. The same thing can be said of the MC’s rhymes; moments like this one induce chills as Ab-Soul seems to crack…
Once good friends with the A$AP crew, SpaceGhostPurrp is frequently credited with engineering the moody, atmospheric aesthetic that the group has capitalized on. Purrp relishes the darkness, and he manages to tell a lot about himself by revealing very little. His music is deeply introspective and bleakly isolationist, which further…
West Coast rap is sometimes disparaged by hip-hop purists for it’s perceived lack of lyricism and substance, but what it lacks in lyrical acrobatics and “message,” it more than makes up for in personality. Whether the aesthetic is raw and violent or chill and relaxed, the sentiment comes through just…
What contributes to a rapper’s underrated status? Is it the unwillingness to compromise? The inability to compromise? An early demise? Bad promotion? Possibly all of these things and more? Whatever the case, with these rappers, it’s certainly not for a lack of talent. We put together a list of the…
SAGE FRANCIS @ FOX THEATRE | THU, 4/18 When evaluating an artist like Sage Francis, the question inevitably arises: Should a musician be cherished for the values they hold and their loyalty to said values or their ability to make enjoyable and listenable music? If it’s the former, then Sage…
It took a long time for the South to be recognized as a major player in the hip-hop scene, and it still has a ways to go to be held in the same regard as the East and West coasts, but with the emergence of a new breed of countrified…
F@YWT$ (Fuck All Y’all. We the Shit) — what a name. The handle is strange enough to be different, bold enough to be controversial, and hip enough to appeal to the kids. The problem, however, is that what F@YWT$ the name is, F@YWT$ the group isn’t. The themes are tired,…
Last night, your Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls for their twelfth straight win — and the person who locked up the victory, by blocking an in-bounds pass with less than a second left, was none other than JaVale McGee, who is quickly becoming one of Denver’s (and the NBA’s)…
Last week, we took a look at the fifty worst rap lyrics of all time. Going through all the dreck and drivel to get to the crème de la crème of crappiness was tedious and rather exhausting. This week, we even things out by taking a look at the other…
We’ve finally arrived: The The best of the worst. The creme de la crap. The unholy of unholies. If you thought 50-11 were bad, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. These are the lyrics that can turn a good album sour, and make a bad album laughable. Included are quotes from…
We’ve almost reached the end of our countdown of rap’s most dreadful lyrics. Think you can stomach ten more? Good. Purely by coincidence, today’s selections feature some of hip-hop’s most memorable scientific and mathematical gaffes. And we’re not talking anything complicated, here; we mean basic math and elementary science. Included…
This week, we’ve presented the first two editions of our worst lyrics in hip-hop. Today, the parade of awfulness continues. These next ones are even worse than before, and we’re only halfway done. Be prepared for lines from Lil’ Wayne (again), Kanye West, Nicki Minaj and Pitbull. Keep reading for…
Okay, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. Yesterday, I ran down some of the lamest lines, the worst rap lyrics, from 50-41, and today we inch ever closer to the top of the bottom. Spoiler alert: Lil’ Wayne makes the cut (again), as does Jay-Z…
Listen, before I breakdown rap’s worst lyrics, you should know, I don’t hate Lil’ Wayne. No, really. I like him just fine. But even good rappers get caught slipping, as evidenced by the fact that Lil’ Wayne makes several appearances on this list. And while picking low-hanging fruit is the…
The hip-hop, as you know, doesn’t stop. It’s a new month, which means there’s another fresh batch of dope shows for you. And trust: March has plenty of freshness on tap, from revered elder statesmen like De La Soul, Naughty By Nature and GZA to newer cats like Tech N9ne,…
What can you say about Ras Kass? You either love him or hate him — or you have no idea who he is. His debut, Soul on Ice, is a certified classic in the West Coast hip-hop underground, anchored by the eight-minute revisionist epic “Nature of the Threat” and “Sonset,”…
Sometimes there are figures in music whose mysterious and inscrutable magnetism transcends the music they make. More than musicians, they become cultural figures whose every move is analyzed every which way in an effort to figure out what’s going on in that great gray matter, as Frank Ocean puts it…
Whoa, whoa… We just had a batch of killer local hip-hop to present last week. Are you telling me there’s already a whole new set of juicy cuts to be enjoyed? Yes. That’s exactly what we’re telling you. It can’t stop and it won’t stop. First, we have a new…
Even though it’s far from the best cut on this mixtape, the song most emblematic of Myke Charles on Flight Plan is “Angels & Demons.” As Charles says, he’s “tryin’ to keep it real, but also tryin’ to make a million.” And he could do it. He’s already doing half…
