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...

Posted on 09/19/2008
Has any other emerging artist in hip-hop had a rookie year as chockfull of material and schizophrenic artistic direction as Blu? While the LA-based rapper seemingly scored the most points with the underground hip-hop head demographic with his collaborative debut with producer Exile, Below the Heavens, he’s since been cranking out albums at an alarmingly rapid pace – his release with Ta'Raach as C.R.A.C., The Piece Talks hit stores months...

Posted on 08/08/2008
It’s very rare in this age of the public’s know-all, tell-all relationships with its celebrities to find someone that is unanimously liked. People might like what Oprah Winfrey represents, but they surely don’t all agree with her views or watch her show. Or any male star, be it a sports figure or businessman, gets credit for his community outreach or entrepreneurship, but is criticized for his womanizing. It’s hard to...