Posted on 10/14/2008
As the nation prepares for the upcoming election, AM talk shows across the country are becoming fervent battlegrounds in the war for undecided voters. Your FM dial, however, is entrenched in a battle of its own: the battle for artists with substance over those with mere marketability. Now, with the most important election of our lives less than a month away, the state of commercial hip-hop may seem more frivolous...

Posted on 10/03/2008
Face it, your beats suck. No one wants to hear them. You should sell that MPC3000 you've got sitting in the corner gathering dust and erase that cracked copy of Fruity Loops your hard drive. If you doubt the good Doctor's advice take a few minutes and listen to some selections from Sea-town's finest, Jake One, and understand just how much work a real producer puts in to master their craft. Jake occupies that "real hip-hop"...

Posted on 09/25/2008
Who is Charles Hamilton? That's what I wanted to know when I was tasked with interviewing the ascending lyricist/producer. Ask him and he'll simply say "I'm just a musician," with a sly laugh.

Posted on 09/25/2008
TV on the Radio, like their name might suggest, is an awkward and quasi-oxymoronic set up of a band. Avant-garde and difficult to classify (other than lumping them into “alternative rock” or "indie rock"), yet possessive of an all-together addicting and powerful sound, the band does not look like your typical rock band gearing up to release their second album as Interscope-signees (and third overall). “There is no reason a...