Tha Dogg Pound: A Minute to Pray…
It?s a few days before the scheduled execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. Snoop, Daz and Kurupt are in the middle of doing all they can to save a man many believe is innocent. An effort we now know wasn’t matched by those in power. Since his Pharrell single two years ago, Snoop Dogg has tried […]
Devin the Dude: Richard Pryor Tribute
Richard Pryor was America?s most provocative comedian of the twentieth century. He incorporated a totally different technique to his stand up performance, setting new standards from the minute he stepped out under the spot light. Not only was Richard Pryor infamous for his cutting-edge humor but because he overstepped boundaries with his ability to humorize […]
The Game Releases Statement on Beef
Mo Money, Mo Problems, To All My Fans… I know all of my fans are wondering what the f**k is going on with The Black Wall Street. Hear it from the horse’s mouth: I was forced to switch the domain of my former website theblackwallstreet.com to therealblackwallstreet.com due to the disrespect shown towards me from […]
Big Fase 100: Change of Heart
In The Documentary’s liner notes, The Game credits Big Fase 100 for “moldin’ me into the man I am today.” However, Fase, paternal blood brother of Game, says he’s through with Black Wall Street – a company he helped found. Fase charges that he and others in his tightly knit Compton community rallied behind The […]
1995: A Hip-Hop Excursion Ten Years Back
A plethora of albums and singles were released in 1995, a year of diverse sounds and rhymes. AllHipHop.com assembled some of those songs, albums and artists for older fans to recall an arguable better year than 2005 and younger fans can get acquainted with some Hip-Hop they weren’t exposed to as youth. For those that […]
1995: A Hip-Hop Retrospective
Ten years can change a lot in the course of history. 2005 marks the age of technological ease, political strife across the globe, and flossy mega-entertainers. Just ten years ago, in 1995, Hip-Hop culture and music was steadily evolving with the fast-moving times. In fact, it can be argued that, compared to now, Hip-Hop back […]
Queens Reigns Supreme: Part 3 Chapter 7
After his mother’s death, an eight-year-old Jackson moved to his grandmother’s house on 161st Street in South Jamaica, where he fell under the hustlers’ spell. “I looked up to them because they had everything that we was looking for,” Jackson told New York magazine “When you grow up without finances it starts to feel like […]
Voletta Wallace: Crusader For Justice
Voletta Wallace is a living Hip-Hop martyr, albeit one bent on bringing murderers to justice. Christopher Wallace, professionally known as The Notorious B.I.G., was brutally stripped of life almost a decade ago, forever wounding her soul. But there is hope for Ms. Wallace’s spirit to be mended. Healing may come as Ms. Wallace moves extremely […]
Teflon: Family First
Patience is most virtuous in Hip-Hop. Today’s rapper wants his recognition yesterday for what he promises he’ll do tomorrow. The result is rarely something that sticks to the ribs of the fans. Teflon, though his name is ironic, is lodged between the heart and the ribs of Hip-Hop. He has no intention of getting out. […]
DJ Premier: Cornerstone of Power
The iconic MC’s of the New York 1990’s had one rite of passage above all else – they had to get by DJ Premier to be great. Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z, Big L, Rakim, Jeru, O.C., G Rap, Kane and countless others all ended up in D&D Studios, building with the pride of Prairie View Texas. […]
Floyd Da Locsmif: WD40
“My pops was a DJ, so I was always around it,” Floyd begins, while explaining his whole inception into music. “I really became interested when I first heard The Sugar Hill Gang — I was like four or five.” Hailing from Fitzgerald, Georgia, Floyd grew up on the 1960s and 70s era Jazz, Soul, and […]
Ayatollah: Soul of Queens
At the arrival of Mos Def’s “Ms. Fat Booty”, Ayatollah’s deft reworking of an Aretha Franklin deep cut made him a sought-after producer. Rawkus may’ve been crucial to ‘Tollah’s arrival, but work followed with Ghostface, Rakim, and Smif-N’-Wessun, solidifying his staying power. The one-time Tragedy Khadafi DJ and student has risen to acclaimed ranks. Today […]
Needlz: Cue Burn
“A new producer’s on the rise? and you don’t want a problem with this guy.” No, really. The only thing slightly problematic nowadays is the overbearing corporate machine in the world of Hip-Hop music. One guy’s story combats this errie tradition. Needlz has a new sound and an old soul to break his own brand […]
S.A.S.: Change Clothes
England is notorious for its traditionalist values; change happens in the country eventually, but not as quickly as some would hope. The music industry is no different. One of England’s hottest exports this century has to be Pop Idol which translated state side as Fox’s####, American Idol. Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B has yet to be welcomed […]
Bleu Collar: Designfully Gangsta
In Los Angeles, a pair of 26-year-olds are making names for themselves by working hard and playing hard as they chase their Hip-Hop dreams. Reese One and Basik of the duo Bleu Collar have been on the grind for more than five years delivering rhymes filled with drunken party raps, mack-game boasts and threats to […]
Queens Reigns Supreme: Part 2, Chapter 7
Meanwhile, in Hollis, another storied street guy—Curtis Scoon—was seeking to trade his hustling past for a hip-hop future. Though he’d helped friend Freddie “Nickels” Moore recuperate from the Quad shooting at Moore’s 201st Street home in Hollis, Scoon still figured the music business to be safer than the streets. Indeed, by 1996 Scoon left the […]
Chino XL: Ain’t A Damn Thing Changed
While some youngsters may have seen him on Comedy Central’s Reno 911 and just laughed it up at the show’s slightly off centered humor, those who know Chino XL, know he’s no joke when it comes to the mic. When he was younger than Lil Bow Wow, Rick Rubin took what he saw as the […]
Queens Reigns Supreme: Part 1, Chapter 7
For all the street bluster that marked the Supreme Team’s reign in southeast Queens—the souped-up Mercedes armed with gun turrets and an oil slick, the matching jackets emblazoned with the crew’s logo, the packaging locations crowded with dozens of baggers who were forced to work in the nude so as not to walk off with […]
Lord Finesse & A.G. : Encore
The Diggin in the Crates crew has a legacy paved in Gold. Though some of the records reached Gold status, its the bronzed respect of Hip-Hop thats endured the groups name. While Lord Finesse has taken a hiatus from releasing albums and producing, Buckwild has placed tracks on Game’s, 50 Cents, and Black Robs albums. […]
Skillz: The Will of a Ghostwriter
Skillz stops suddenly mid-sentence, glancing out of the corner of his eye. Hes like, You ever heard of Big L? he finally says, breaking the silencealmost with a giddy curiosityfrom the other side of the table at Virgils BBQ in Times Square. Hes been eavesdropping intently on a fellow patrons conversation. Seconds later, hes turned […]