Hip-Hop and Rap

Cannibal Ox: Show Preview

The 10 Best Bay Area Rap Anthems of 2012

2012 was a fertile year for Bay Area rap, a time when the intellectual, the brazen, the sexed-up, and the chilled-out all took center stage at one point or another. There were songs that inspired dances, songs of Bay Area pride and protest, and more of that straight mack flow that still bumps around ... More >>

The 10 Best Bay Area Hip-Hop Records of 2012

It's been another big year in Bay Area hip-hop, with one huge collaboration album from two local greats and lots of strong releases from young local upstarts. So before the world ends, let's round up the 10 best Bay Area hip-hop/rap records (including albums, mixtapes, etc.) of 2012. Main Attrakion ... More >>

DJ ChaunceyCC on the Spooky Side of Hip-Hop, and Stopping with the Stupid Subgenres Already

East Coast-rasied hip-hop DJ-producer ChaunceyCC began his career in a very straightforward way: "I became a DJ pretty much out of the sheer fact that I can't rap, and everyone else I grew up around could." The observation paid off, as the selecter born Chauncey Johnson has since toured with indie r ... More >>

IamSu!: Show Preview

East Coast-rasied hip-hop DJ-producer ChaunceyCC began his career in a very straightforward way: "I became a DJ pretty much out of the sheer fact that I can't rap, and everyone else I grew up around could." The observation paid off, as the selecter born Chauncey Johnson has since toured with indie r ... More >>

2 Chainz's 10 Best Song-Stealing Guest Verses

Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz (aka Tauheed Epps, 35) is no one's sidekick. He sold out his first night as a solo artist at The Warfield on Dec. 15 (tickets are still available for the Dec. 16 show) and has a Gold-certified single ("No Lie" featuring Drake) and a Grammy nomination (Best Rap Album for Based ... More >>

Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors: A First Listen

Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors is the title. Why? Does Big Boi even have any enemies? Has anyone ever beefed with him...ever? Who is he referring to, disgruntled Idlewild ticket-buyers? Or is he increasingly in denial that Outkast -- his meal ticket artistically and commercially -- is over? It's ... More >>

T.I. Previews His New Album Trouble Man in San Francisco

When T.I. took a seat on a couch at S.F.'s Studio Trilogy last night to show guests the short film that accompanies his forthcoming album Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head (due Dec. 18), he had no idea that he was sitting underneath a photograph of Marvin Gaye, whose own album of the same name was part ... More >>

Latyrx: Show Preview

When T.I. took a seat on a couch at S.F.'s Studio Trilogy last night to show guests the short film that accompanies his forthcoming album Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head (due Dec. 18), he had no idea that he was sitting underneath a photograph of Marvin Gaye, whose own album of the same name was part ... More >>

E-40 and Too $hort: Their Top 10 Pre-History Collaborations

E-40 and Too $hort were both platinum-selling recording artists on Jive Records throughout the '90s and early '00s, but they were always discouraged by the label from collaborating together outside of $hort's appearance on 40's single "Rapper's Ball" in 1996. Now, 16 years later, the two Bay Area r ... More >>

Thizzler's Bay Area Freshmen 10 Cypher: Local Hip-Hop Tries To Get Its Game On

By RACHEL SWAN Bay Area Freshmen 10 Class of 2011 Star Cypher Rafael Casal, Richie Cunning, Mike-Dash-E, Show Banga, Young Bari, Damey, Young Gully, Lil Rae, Symba, Cousin Fix, Nikatine Da King, Shady Blaze, Erik Tha Jerk, Mistah FAB, Stevie Joe, Big Rich, Bailey Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 Brick & Mortar ... More >>

Fancy Feat

By RACHEL SWAN Bay Area Freshmen 10 Class of 2011 Star Cypher Rafael Casal, Richie Cunning, Mike-Dash-E, Show Banga, Young Bari, Damey, Young Gully, Lil Rae, Symba, Cousin Fix, Nikatine Da King, Shady Blaze, Erik Tha Jerk, Mistah FAB, Stevie Joe, Big Rich, Bailey Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 Brick & Mortar ... More >>

New Orleans Rapper Dee-1 on Meeting Lil Wayne and Playing Basketball with Master P

Back when he was in high school, New Orleans rapper Dee-1 was working at a local Circuit City store when Lil Wayne came in and ordered a TV. Dee ended up installing the goggle-box into Weezy's car. These days, Dee himself works closely with Mannie Fresh, the architect of the classic Cash Money sound ... More >>

Bay Area Rappers Remake 50 Cent's "How to Rob" With a Misogynist Twist

San Francisco-bred rapper Messy Marv and J-Diggs, president of Vallejo's embattled Thizz Entertainment, have just released "211 on a Industry Nigga," a remake of 50 Cent's 2002 debut single "How to Rob." Both call out specific rap and R&B stars -- many of the same names, in fact -- and detail how th ... More >>

G.O.O.D. Music's Cruel Summer: A First Listen

Kanye West has officially become the bad guy, people. He's rich, he's rude, he's entitled, he's a rock 'n' roll legend who's awaiting a legit artistic backlash any year now, and he's also a smart businessperson. After Taylor Swift-gate and record sales of his third Pazz & Jop-winning "masterpiece" f ... More >>

Premiere: Shady Blaze and Young Gully's Breezy, SMKA-Produced "Greatness"

Dropping in October, new mixtape Darkest Before Dawn will see a fresh line-up of Bay Area rappers hopping on tracks crafted by Atlanta production unit S.M.K.A. As a teaser for the project, which will include input from Roach Gigz, Mistah F.A.B., and DaVinci, All Shook Down is proud to present the pr ... More >>

Live Review, 8/25/12: The '80s Babies and Their New Faves Rule Rock The Bells

Rock The Bells Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012 Shoreline Amphitheatre Better than: Partying with your own demographic Rock The Bells is the only annual hip-hop festival to manage the difficult feat of attracting a truly diverse and multi-generational crowd. In its fifth year in the Bay Area (and ninth ove ... More >>

The RZA: Show Preview

Rock The Bells Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012 Shoreline Amphitheatre Better than: Partying with your own demographic Rock The Bells is the only annual hip-hop festival to manage the difficult feat of attracting a truly diverse and multi-generational crowd. In its fifth year in the Bay Area (and ninth ove ... More >>

Summer of the NPR Intern Shit Storms: What Austin Cooper's Public Enemy Essay Says About Taste

In many ways, pop culture in 2012 is more sophisticated than ever. Hit TV shows and movies boast plots that are more twisty-turny than was once allowed; the general public's understanding of what Joni Mitchell once called "the star-maker machinery" seems pretty thorough by now; and there seems less ... More >>

Hear Le1f's "Wut": A Hot Track From an NYC Rapper Who Is, Oh Yeah, Openly Gay

Being a black male who raps and is open about his sexuality is still a big, controversial deal in post-Frank Ocean 2012, if the headlines and blog comments surrounding New York rap breakout Le1f are any indication. But before we get into that whole ugly issue of rap's latent homophobia, let's deal w ... More >>

Premiere: Hip-Hop Crew 40Love Share "Tiki Tiki," Talk Working With Zion I's Zumbi and Their Crazy Animal Masks

The hip-hop troupe 40Love is currently in possession of the most famous animal masks in modern Bay Area music history. Having made their debut in the video for Wallpaper's "#Stupidfacedd," the plastic faces are now being sported by three-quarters of the group in promotional pictures for upcoming alb ... More >>

Pump It Like the Future: El-P and Killer Mike Bust Hip-Hop's Boundaries

The hip-hop troupe 40Love is currently in possession of the most famous animal masks in modern Bay Area music history. Having made their debut in the video for Wallpaper's "#Stupidfacedd," the plastic faces are now being sported by three-quarters of the group in promotional pictures for upcoming alb ... More >>

Del The Funky Homosapien on His Favorite Old-School Rappers, New Album Attractive Sin, and His Very First Live Show

It's a weekday afternoon, and Del the Funky Homosapien's mom has just left his house. She was passing through to pick up an iPod the rapper had bought for her -- but left empty-handed, as she wasn't confident about being able to use Apple's dinky little music player. "She's gonna come back in a coup ... More >>

Hood Internet: Show Preview

It's a weekday afternoon, and Del the Funky Homosapien's mom has just left his house. She was passing through to pick up an iPod the rapper had bought for her -- but left empty-handed, as she wasn't confident about being able to use Apple's dinky little music player. "She's gonna come back in a coup ... More >>

Before Hip-Hop Squares: Eight Links Between Rap Music and TV Game Shows

A game show that people have ever cared about -- even a little bit -- can go down, but it will never truly be out. Know the Dick Clark version of Pyramid that started in the 1970s and continued throughout the decade? No? Well, you've probably encountered the Bill Cullen version (also from the '70s), ... More >>

Rock the Bells 2012 Lineup: Deltron 3030, E-40, and Too $hort Rep the Bay

Deltron 3030 (the trio of Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and Kid Koala) and the powerhouse duo of E-40 and Too $hort are the local names representing the Bay Area at this year's hip-hop megafest Rock The Bells, which returns to Shoreline Amphitheatre this August 25-26. This year's lin ... More >>

Best of Coachella Weekend Two: Sunday, April 22

See also: Our complete Coachella coverage By the third day of Coachella's second weekend -- the sixth and final day of this year's festival -- folks had more or less learned to ignore the dust and the heat. Here are our intrepid writers' favorite things about the final hours of the 2012 event. F ... More >>

K.Flay's Smart-Aleck Rhymes Could be the Bay's Next Big Export

See also: Our complete Coachella coverage By the third day of Coachella's second weekend -- the sixth and final day of this year's festival -- folks had more or less learned to ignore the dust and the heat. Here are our intrepid writers' favorite things about the final hours of the 2012 event. F ... More >>

How To Not Piss Off Tyga at His S.F. Show

Los Angeles rapper Tyga's March 19 concert in Omaha, Nebraska didn't end well -- after the show, there was a shootout. The rapper told XXL that a local act was mad because Tyga wouldn't let the group open up for him on the spur of the moment, and that the locals started throwing debris on the stage ... More >>

A Smart Aleck with Rhymes

Meet K.Flay, the Stanford grad who might be the Bay's next big female rapper

Boot Camp Clik on Their Reunion, Working with 2Pac, and Duck Down Records

Brooklyn's Boot Camp Clik established its classic New York underground hip-hop credentials starting in 1992 with Black Moon's "Who Got Da Props?" and went on to rule the '90s underground rap scene with its signature raw and grimy sound. Comprised of Tek and Steele (also known as Smif-N-Wessun), Sean ... More >>

Roach Gigz's Producer CLoz Used to Sell Beats for $10

CLoz sold his first beat for $10. That less-than-whopping fee came about as the East Bay producer was clawing his way up into the local hip-hop scene. Since then, Cloz has steadily built up an impressive body of beats, most of them hooked around rousing synth lines and synapse-sizzling snares; he's ... More >>

Raekwon: Show Preview

CLoz sold his first beat for $10. That less-than-whopping fee came about as the East Bay producer was clawing his way up into the local hip-hop scene. Since then, Cloz has steadily built up an impressive body of beats, most of them hooked around rousing synth lines and synapse-sizzling snares; he's ... More >>

Kendrick Lamar: Show Preview

CLoz sold his first beat for $10. That less-than-whopping fee came about as the East Bay producer was clawing his way up into the local hip-hop scene. Since then, Cloz has steadily built up an impressive body of beats, most of them hooked around rousing synth lines and synapse-sizzling snares; he's ... More >>

Rhyme Master Run Amok

CLoz sold his first beat for $10. That less-than-whopping fee came about as the East Bay producer was clawing his way up into the local hip-hop scene. Since then, Cloz has steadily built up an impressive body of beats, most of them hooked around rousing synth lines and synapse-sizzling snares; he's ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Celebrate Four Years of Debaser With This Exclusive Boyz n the Hood-Themed Mix

Editor's note: Ahead of the four-year anniversary of beloved '90s party Debaser, we invited party DJs Jamie Jams and Stab Master Arson to make a mix of some of the songs we can expect to hear at Saturday's party. What follows is their mix and commentary. By JAMIE GUZZI Hip-hop historians note that ... More >>

Veteran Rappers: Do You Really Need to Continue Making New Records?

There was a time, back in the late '80s, when the legendary Bronx rapper KRS-One was a candidate for the title of Greatest Rapper of All Time. Twenty-five years later, though, the self-anointed Blastmaster's latest long-player, The B.D.P. Album, suggests that compulsory retirement from the recording ... More >>

V-Nasty Wants to Flip Her Rough Background into a Rap Career

There was a time, back in the late '80s, when the legendary Bronx rapper KRS-One was a candidate for the title of Greatest Rapper of All Time. Twenty-five years later, though, the self-anointed Blastmaster's latest long-player, The B.D.P. Album, suggests that compulsory retirement from the recording ... More >>

Instrumental Hip-Hop Sucks. Ban It Forever.

RJD2​ Instrumental hip-hop should be banned. It's the banal, meandering stepchild of hip-hop. It's a front-runner for the dubious honor of being the world's most snooze-inducing form of music. And, shockingly, there are still producers and fans who insist on validating it like it's anything bu ... More >>

Stretch Armstrong on the Demise of FM Radio and the Inanity of Celebrity DJs

One half of the Stretch and Bobbito Show on New York's WKCR through the '90s, DJ/producer Stretch Armstrong has played an essential part in the integration of hip-hop into mainstream radio. A fixture in the '90s hip-hop scene, he used media outlets such as mixtapes and radio programs to launch the c ... More >>

The Eight Most Memorable Pop Culture References on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

The rap game -- well, any game -- could use more people with the ambition of the RZA and the ability to make good on it. The man born Robert Diggs is more than an MC, a producer, and an actor. His resume also includes "DICTATOR" in big, bold letters: When the Wu-Tang Clan was just a bunch of young b ... More >>

Wu-Tang Clan: Show Preview

The rap game -- well, any game -- could use more people with the ambition of the RZA and the ability to make good on it. The man born Robert Diggs is more than an MC, a producer, and an actor. His resume also includes "DICTATOR" in big, bold letters: When the Wu-Tang Clan was just a bunch of young b ... More >>

Prince Paul's "Negroes on Ice" Wants the Rap World to Take a Joke

The rap game -- well, any game -- could use more people with the ambition of the RZA and the ability to make good on it. The man born Robert Diggs is more than an MC, a producer, and an actor. His resume also includes "DICTATOR" in big, bold letters: When the Wu-Tang Clan was just a bunch of young b ... More >>

Why Do People Hate Kreayshawn So Much?

​ This week, NYC rapper Azealia Banks called Kreayshawn a "dumb bitch." The outburst was prompted by Kreayshawn putting a link to Banks' "212" video on Twitter, via a porn website. We understand why a serious lady rapper would be offended by forcibly being associated with pornography, but obviousl ... More >>

Idle Warship: Show Preview

​ This week, NYC rapper Azealia Banks called Kreayshawn a "dumb bitch." The outburst was prompted by Kreayshawn putting a link to Banks' "212" video on Twitter, via a porn website. We understand why a serious lady rapper would be offended by forcibly being associated with pornography, but obviousl ... More >>

Trombone Shorty on New Orleans Attitude, Growing Up With Hip-Hop, and Covering Lil Wayne

Trombone Shorty plays Friday and Saturday at the Fillmore.​ "I've been hearing hip-hop music since I was born." So says Trombone Shorty, the brass-playing band leader who grew up in the Tremé district of New Orleans' 6th Ward and has already amassed a Grammy nomination for his debut jazz albu ... More >>

Freestyle Fellowship: Show Preview

Trombone Shorty plays Friday and Saturday at the Fillmore.​ "I've been hearing hip-hop music since I was born." So says Trombone Shorty, the brass-playing band leader who grew up in the Tremé district of New Orleans' 6th Ward and has already amassed a Grammy nomination for his debut jazz albu ... More >>

R.I.P. Rapper Special One, of Oakland Duo Conscious Daughters

Special One (left) and CMJ​Special One, a rapper in the East Oakland hip-hop duo the Conscious Daughters, passed away on Saturday. Initial reports say the woman born Karryl Smith was found dead at her apartment by her rhyming partner CMJ (Carla Green); according to Green, the cause of Smith's ... More >>

It Was All a Dream

Special One (left) and CMJ​Special One, a rapper in the East Oakland hip-hop duo the Conscious Daughters, passed away on Saturday. Initial reports say the woman born Karryl Smith was found dead at her apartment by her rhyming partner CMJ (Carla Green); according to Green, the cause of Smith's ... More >>