Hardcore Rap

Hard Truth Soldiers Tour Takes Over SF, Major American Cities

dead prezGenerally, when ASD receives a press release boasting about a show with "arguably the strongest lineup of socially-aware, hardcore hip-hop talent in recent memory," we just shrug it off as pure hyperbole (and yes, to paraphrase Harry Allen, we normally don't believe the hyperbole). But holy ... More >>

The Worst Lyrics of 2008: NCAA-Style Showdown

And now it's time for the "I love you like a fat kid loves cake" memorial Worst Lyrics of 2008, March Madness-style tournament, this year a terrifying mélange of appalling oral-sex requests, bargain-bin philosophies, grammatical atrocities, and cringe-inducing pillow talk. To elevate the drama, I p ... More >>

The Worst Lyrics of 2008

The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas Headline Annual Rock the Bells Festival

Dr. Pepper Promises Soda Pop For All...If Guns 'N Roses Get Their Shit Together

GZA: Going Back in Wu-Tang Time

RZA Leaves Wu-Tang Tour

Best Albums of 2007 — SF Weekly's David Downs

Wu-Tang Clan

8 Diagrams (Loud/SRC/Universal)

Talib Kweli To Justify ICER AIR Douche Fest

Led Zepp, Meg White and 50 Cent: The 'All Shook Down' Week in Review

Last Night: Mos Def at Mezzanine

New Coke

Clipse reinforces the power of powder

Bunny-hoppin' beats: Oxy Cottontail bounces clubbers onto the dance floor

Clipse

Hell Hath No Fury (Jive)

Coke Dreams

In Scarface, slinging yayo is the name of the game.

Thug life with Mobb Deep

Spray-On Soul

Getting Up is a flawed but fascinating ode to graffiti 's early years.

San Quinn

The Rock: Pressure Makes Diamonds

Hot Chip

Coming on Strong

Department of What the Fuck?

Beef, it's what's for dinner: Hip hop feuds we'd like to see

What the Fuck, 2005

The 10 most head-scratching, insulting, crass, craven, and weird musical moments of the year

Bum Rap

50 Cent wants to be an actor ... but he's not

Mixtape Shmixtape

Wherein we review Yay Area hip hop mixes of the day

ODB

A Son Unique

School of Life

Daara J takes hip hop back

BeatBox

Mu brings the techno stompdown to Rx; Mighty hosts a hip hop jammy-jam block party

Bang Thy Head Carefully

A survival guide for the summer's more vigorous music festivals

Louder Than Bombs

For MC Immortal Technique, planting the seeds of revolution ain't nothin' but a g-thang

Snoop Dogg

R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece

Prince Po

The Slickness

J-Zone

A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work

Wall Street Playaz

JT the Bigga Figga has turned years of street hustlin' experience into one of the most inspiring new local hip hop labels

Lloyd Banks

The Hunger for More

Best Sneering Sports Guy

Gary Radnich

Money, Power, Day Care

Andre Nickatina raps about being one of the Fillmore's hardest MCs, so what's he doing driving a Toyota?

Yukmouth

Godzilla

Freddie Foxxx/Bumpy Knuckles

Konexion

Scratch Attack

How a white punk from Ireland helped jump-start the Bay Area hip hop and turntablist scenes

Personality Crisis

As commercial hip hop radio becomes tired, turf wars flicker out, and the underground diversifies, does the Bay Area have its own identity anymore?

Wu-Tang Forever?

U-God comments on the state of the Wu nation after a tumultuous year for its members

New School Session

After big labels beat on its door for years, Lootpack found a home on a small San Francisco imprint and an original approach to modern hip hop

Stakes Is High

Bay Area hip-hop artists and the art of the hustle

Recordings

The Books of Rhyme Pages

From Michael Eric Dyson to Darius James, black writers struggle to define hip-hop culture

Recordings

Letters

Jazzoetry

The return of the legendary Last Poets

Samples

Samples