35 years ago, a teenager from Farmers Blvd. in Queens pulled Excalibur from The Rock and earned the title of The Prince Of Rap.
Young James Todd Smith — yes, the future LL Cool J — was so enamored with Rap music growing up that he’d play his favorite songs…
Decomposing an undisputed classic Rap LP that also happens to be the perfect Winter album…
When the Wu Tang Clan was formed in 1992, it was a direct result of the bad experiences both RZA (formerly Prince Rakeem) and GZA (formerly The Genius) accumulated while being signed to record label…
Erick Sermon, Parrish Smith and DJ Scratch get called up to the majors and release their first LP on Def Jam with their new protegé Redman in tow. The end result was one of the first classic Rap albums of 1991, the first being Main Source’s Breaking Atoms.
EPMD, the…
Rap’s self proclaimed “Teacher” was at a career crossroads after the release of “Self Destruction” and his successful album “Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop”. Where could he possibly go from here? How about the world of academia?
In February 1989, Jive/RCA released the Stop The Violence Movement’s “Self…
Summer 1977: The art of emceeing begins. Among the first triumvirate of greats — Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and Kool Moe Dee — the average age is just under 16 years old.
Summer 1986: The first golden era spins up, and with it a new triumvirate of greats in…
N.W.A.’s former front man left one of Rap’s most controversial groups at their peak to go solo without any production from Dr. Dre. He then headed to New York to find a new producer, resulting in one of the greatest debut albums in Rap history.
Mobb Deep’s sophomore LP serves as the breakthrough album for one of Rap’s all time great duos in the midst of a Golden Era
The now legendary duo Mobb Deep were originally known as the Poetical Prophets. They were both 16 year old Rap wunderkinds discovered by Matty C of…
30 years ago this holiday season, the animated film feature “Akira” became the catalyst that sparked the modern American anime subculture
The ambitious anime film “Akira” first opened in Japan on July 16, 1988. At the time its 1.1 billon Yen ($8.5 million USD in 1988) budget was the largest…
After the Jiggy Era took over the mainstream Rap world and commercial radio, the kind of Rap that once thrived on major labels was progressively forced underground like the Morlocks. …
Zev Love X of KMD ceased to exist after his brother Subroc died in a tragic accident shortly after their group was dropped from Elektra before their sophomore album could be released. …
