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Blogs
June 29, 2011
Can Rising Rapper J Cole Overcome Jay-Z's A&R Curse?
J Cole "Jay-Z is the reason I signed to RocNation. It's very hard to say no to the opportunity when Jay-Z is involved." That's J Cole, talking optimistically about his status as the first signing to Jay-Z's RocNation label venture with concert giant LiveNation. But with Cole's debut album now ... More >>
Blogs
June 20, 2011
Kreayshawn: Overnight Sensation, White Girl Tourist, New Rap Paradigm?
The rapper herself. During a five-day promotional stay in New York City earlier this month, a cab driver ran over Kreayshawn's foot. The unceremonious snub came after the Bay Area-raised rapper spent her time in NYC taking meetings, granting interviews, posing for photos, dealing with 100 deg ... More >>
Blogs
June 17, 2011
Before Lil B's I'm Gay: Five Great Hip-Hop Homages to Marvin Gaye
When it comes to creative career moves, the rapper Lil B usually blazes his own distinct and very often quirky path. But his decision to re-up the cover art of Marvin Gaye's I Want You album for his own I'm Gay project taps into hip-hop's long and lustrous admiration for the music of Marvin. ... More >>
Blogs
June 16, 2011
Hip-Hop Legend Grand Wizard Theodore on His Three Favorite DJs
Grand Wizard TheodoreFriday night, old school hip-hop legend Grand Wizard Theodore will team up with one-time De La Soul producer Prince Paul for a night of grand grooves laced with a playful dose of turntable trickery at 330 Ritch. The Bronx-born and based Theodore's pioneering contribution ... More >>
Blogs
June 7, 2011
Before Kreayshawn: 10 Underrated and/or Forgotten Female MCs
Kreashawn: Oakland's latest female rap sensation.Last week, around the fifth time someone sent me a link to Kreayshawn's "Gucci Gucci," I started having a feeling toward the diminutive rapper that was not entirely positive. This discomfort grew a few days later, when she reportedly signed a $ ... More >>
Music
June 1, 2011
J Boogie: Show Preview
Kreashawn: Oakland's latest female rap sensation.Last week, around the fifth time someone sent me a link to Kreayshawn's "Gucci Gucci," I started having a feeling toward the diminutive rapper that was not entirely positive. This discomfort grew a few days later, when she reportedly signed a $ ... More >>
Music
May 25, 2011
Mobb Deep's Prodigy Has More to Say Online Than in Rhyme
Kreashawn: Oakland's latest female rap sensation.Last week, around the fifth time someone sent me a link to Kreayshawn's "Gucci Gucci," I started having a feeling toward the diminutive rapper that was not entirely positive. This discomfort grew a few days later, when she reportedly signed a $ ... More >>
Blogs
May 25, 2011
The Top Five Utterly Embarrassing White Girl Rap Songs
Kreashawyn's "Gucci Gucci" is blowing up. The video to the song from the Bay Area-raised female rapper, which features cameos from members of Odd Future, is on track to top over a million YouTube views since its release last week. It's a high point in Kreashawyn's short career so far, as she attempt ... More >>
Blogs
May 12, 2011
The Top Five Rap Cameos on The Simpsons
Kid Rock!The squeaky-pitched funk of "Do The Bartman" might not come up often when rap nerds talk about hip-hop's golden era, but during The Simpsons' near 500-episode reign, the show has proved more than willing to spoof the rap world's biggest stars. So with the somewhat curious news that N ... More >>
Blogs
May 9, 2011
Friday Night: Diddy Dirty Money Holds Court for Three Hours, Brings Out Lil B at the Warfield
Richard HaickP. Diddy at the Warfield Friday night. Diddy Dirty Money Tour May 6, 2011 The Warfield Better than: Not getting to study the science of weave-ology on a Friday night. "I thought I told you that we won't stop!" Friday night at the Warfield, Sean "Diddy" Combs, the artist former ... More >>
Blogs
May 4, 2011
The Top Ten Hip-Hop Drinking Anthems
Hip-hop's reliance on marijuana as a creative conduit and lifestyle accessory is well documented. But beyond the genre's top tokers, there's also a bubbling batch of rappers who've rhymed about not so much getting a little tipsy as daily dalliances with the dark world of being black-out drunk ... More >>
Blogs
May 3, 2011
DJ Prince Aries Talks Bay Area Rap, Loving Too $hort, and Why Busta Rhymes Is a Jerk
Prince AriesPrince Aries has been a presence in the Bay Area's hip-hop scene for more than a decade now, holding down VJ duties on the Distortion 2 Static show, throwing local rap parties, and now releasing a mixtape that combines exclusive tracks from the Bay's bright new stars like DaVinci ... More >>
Blogs
April 21, 2011
DJ Neil Armstrong on Playing Stadiums with Jay-Z, and How Time Decides the Classics
Conquering the world. It was exactly decade ago that DJ Neil Armstrong's release Original changed mixtape culture. Telling a story with every song transition and lyric, he demonstrated how DJ mixes can rival artists' albums. Beginning his turntablist career in the early 90s under the directi ... More >>
Blogs
April 21, 2011
Point/Counterpoint: Is a Sober Lil Wayne a Good Thing?
But are you any good sober? Lil Wayne emerged from Rikers Island late last year. Now, owing to the terms of his probation, he must lay off drugs and liquor for three years or return to prison. And, by all accounts, he's kept kosher. And yet something doesn't quite sit right. For the man wh ... More >>
Music
April 20, 2011
Del the Funky Homosapien Recalls the Past, Skips Nostalgia
But are you any good sober? Lil Wayne emerged from Rikers Island late last year. Now, owing to the terms of his probation, he must lay off drugs and liquor for three years or return to prison. And, by all accounts, he's kept kosher. And yet something doesn't quite sit right. For the man wh ... More >>
Music
April 6, 2011
Killer Mike's Fury Blends Southern and Conscious Rap
But are you any good sober? Lil Wayne emerged from Rikers Island late last year. Now, owing to the terms of his probation, he must lay off drugs and liquor for three years or return to prison. And, by all accounts, he's kept kosher. And yet something doesn't quite sit right. For the man wh ... More >>
Blogs
April 4, 2011
Saturday Night: De La Soul Celebrates Saturdays, Old Age at Yoshi's
Tamara PalmerDe La Soul at Yoshi's.De La Soul April 2, 2011 @ Yoshi's SF Better than: Spending Saturday with people who do not have an awesome song called "(A Roller Skating Jam Named) Saturdays." De La Soul posted up at Yoshi's this past Friday and Saturday, performing two short sets eac ... More >>
Music
March 30, 2011
Where the Blog Love Ends: Lessons for Lil B and Odd Future
Tamara PalmerDe La Soul at Yoshi's.De La Soul April 2, 2011 @ Yoshi's SF Better than: Spending Saturday with people who do not have an awesome song called "(A Roller Skating Jam Named) Saturdays." De La Soul posted up at Yoshi's this past Friday and Saturday, performing two short sets eac ... More >>
Blogs
March 17, 2011
J Hova's Wackness: Five Unsportsmanlike Jay-Z Dis Songs
Oh, very matureIn positioning himself as the world's foremost financial investor who also sometimes still deigns to rap, it's understandable that Jay-Z has inspired a certain amount of jealousy along the way to the top. This week, a new book, Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corne ... More >>
Blogs
March 16, 2011
R.I.P. Nate Dogg, Hip-Hop's Greatest Purveyor of Hooks and Choruses (With Bonus Videos!)
Nate Dogg R.I.P. If you came of age between 1995 and 2005, it's hard to imagine you're unfamiliar with the late, great Nate Dogg (government name Nathaniel Hale), who passed away yesterday at the age of 41 after struggling with strokes suffered in 2007 and 2008. In his prime, he cornered the mar ... More >>
Music
March 9, 2011
Rocky's Swag: Roach Gigz Rides His Cocky Charm Toward Rap's Big Ring
Nate Dogg R.I.P. If you came of age between 1995 and 2005, it's hard to imagine you're unfamiliar with the late, great Nate Dogg (government name Nathaniel Hale), who passed away yesterday at the age of 41 after struggling with strokes suffered in 2007 and 2008. In his prime, he cornered the mar ... More >>
Music
March 9, 2011
Hudson Mohawke: Show Preview
Nate Dogg R.I.P. If you came of age between 1995 and 2005, it's hard to imagine you're unfamiliar with the late, great Nate Dogg (government name Nathaniel Hale), who passed away yesterday at the age of 41 after struggling with strokes suffered in 2007 and 2008. In his prime, he cornered the mar ... More >>
Blogs
March 9, 2011
Top 5 Rappers Who Are Obsessed With Phil Collins (And Will Be Sad That He's Retiring!)
Phil Collins, the Genesis drummer turned solo artist, has retired from making music. This is sad news for his army of worldwide fans, most of whom presumably have sizable classic rock collections. But it's also news that will devastate a demographic one might not automatically associate with songs ... More >>
Blogs
February 21, 2011
Former Record Exec Steve Stoute Trashes the Grammys in Full-Page NYT Ad -- And He's Got a Point
Gaga at the GrammysSteve Stoute, an industry executive famous in hip-hop circles for managing Nas and beefing with Diddy, isn't happy with the way the Grammys turned out last week. In fact, he's so mad that he took out a full page ad in the New York Times to air his grievances with the award show ... More >>
Blogs
February 7, 2011
Happy Birthday Deejay Jay Dee: Listen to a Full-Length Jazz Cover of 'Donuts'
Today would have been the 37th birthday of James Yancey, the Detroit producer better known as (a) Jay Dee, (b) J Dilla, and (c) the stylistic architect for an entire generation of hip-hop heads, member of Slum Village, occasional rhymer, maker of tracks for A Tribe Called Quest and Busta Rhymes, ... More >>
Music
January 26, 2011
Breezy at the Top: Trackademicks might be the next king of Bay Area hip-hop
Today would have been the 37th birthday of James Yancey, the Detroit producer better known as (a) Jay Dee, (b) J Dilla, and (c) the stylistic architect for an entire generation of hip-hop heads, member of Slum Village, occasional rhymer, maker of tracks for A Tribe Called Quest and Busta Rhymes, ... More >>
Blogs
January 14, 2011
The Top 5 Most Regrettable Rapper Tattoos
Rappers lead the world when it comes to ridiculous tattoos. But while it's easy to mock Lil Wayne getting the EPSN logo on his arm or Eve's decision to stamp cat paws on her breasts, sometimes rappers themselves have second thoughts about their ink art. So with Gucci Mane recently revealing a freshl ... More >>
Blogs
January 14, 2011
Turns Out Michael Chabon Is a Huge Hip-Hop Nerd
MIchael Chabon, wishing he was bangin' some Wu-TangIf you haven't been obsessively up to date with the world of Internet news, Bay Area author Michael Chabon has been guest editing the culture section of The Atlantic's culture blog this week. The nifty gig also revealed perhaps one of the lesser ... More >>
Music
January 12, 2011
Public Enemy: Show Preview
MIchael Chabon, wishing he was bangin' some Wu-TangIf you haven't been obsessively up to date with the world of Internet news, Bay Area author Michael Chabon has been guest editing the culture section of The Atlantic's culture blog this week. The nifty gig also revealed perhaps one of the lesser ... More >>
Blogs
January 7, 2011
Dear Famous Musicians, Stop Trying to Fleece Us With Your Overpriced 'Signature' Headphones
You trust this guy's opinion about headphones?It's CES time again, that once-a-year event when every consumer tech company that you have (and haven't) heard of flocks to Las Vegas to reveal this year's lineup of middling products they're sure will drive profit margins up. And, building on re ... More >>
News
January 5, 2011
Rapper DMX Tries to Overcome His Demons and Stage a Comeback
You trust this guy's opinion about headphones?It's CES time again, that once-a-year event when every consumer tech company that you have (and haven't) heard of flocks to Las Vegas to reveal this year's lineup of middling products they're sure will drive profit margins up. And, building on re ... More >>
Blogs
January 5, 2011
Honor Roll Crew's Josie Stingray Explains 'Josie,' Her New Single, and Her Sneaker Obsession
"Shoe game is crazy but still elegant/With my Jordan threes, boy, I'll stomp you like an elephant." So spits Honor Roll Crew member Josie Stingray on her new, free-to-download, Trackademicks-produced song, "Josie." One of the Bay's brightest and feistiest upcoming rappers, we got the self-co ... More >>
Blogs
December 17, 2010
Watch: The Pack's Young L Comes Down From Outer Space and Gets 'Conscious' -- for a Second
Young LIf you haven't been paying attention this year, The Pack's Young L has emerged a production tour-de-force, giving birth to some of the most original sounds this year. On his latest track, "Conscious Minds," the Berkeley native steps away from his usual, out-of-this world sounds and plays a ... More >>
Blogs
November 24, 2010
Afrika Bambaataa on the Origins of Hip-hop, the Perfect Beat, and His Most Treasured Record
Afrika BambaataaFor those who haven't heard of Afrika Bambaataa, the Godfather of hip-hop, his resume looks something like this: 1969-1971: Warlord, Black Spades, Bronx River Houses, Bronx NY. Responsibilities included: Tagging turf; crossing enemy lines to forge relationships with other gangs ... More >>
Music
November 10, 2010
Ghostface Killah talks about God on "The Apollo Kids"
Afrika BambaataaFor those who haven't heard of Afrika Bambaataa, the Godfather of hip-hop, his resume looks something like this: 1969-1971: Warlord, Black Spades, Bronx River Houses, Bronx NY. Responsibilities included: Tagging turf; crossing enemy lines to forge relationships with other gangs ... More >>
Music
October 20, 2010
Richmond rapper Erk Tha Jerk says melody is key to mainstream success
Afrika BambaataaFor those who haven't heard of Afrika Bambaataa, the Godfather of hip-hop, his resume looks something like this: 1969-1971: Warlord, Black Spades, Bronx River Houses, Bronx NY. Responsibilities included: Tagging turf; crossing enemy lines to forge relationships with other gangs ... More >>
Blogs
September 24, 2010
Who Needs Andre? Big Boi's Tour of Hits Gets Regency Bouncing
Big Boi The Knux Camp-Lo September 23, 2010 @ The Regency Ballroom Better than: Having no members of OutKast show up.The question is: Big Boi or Andre 3000? It's a fun question, at least -- and perhaps an impossible one, because even though both members of the h ... More >>
Music
September 8, 2010
Trey Songz: Show Preview
Big Boi The Knux Camp-Lo September 23, 2010 @ The Regency Ballroom Better than: Having no members of OutKast show up.The question is: Big Boi or Andre 3000? It's a fun question, at least -- and perhaps an impossible one, because even though both members of the h ... More >>
Music
September 1, 2010
KMEL's Summer Jam breaks hot local artists
Big Boi The Knux Camp-Lo September 23, 2010 @ The Regency Ballroom Better than: Having no members of OutKast show up.The question is: Big Boi or Andre 3000? It's a fun question, at least -- and perhaps an impossible one, because even though both members of the h ... More >>
Music
August 25, 2010
Freddie Gibbs shows gangsta rap's limitations
Big Boi The Knux Camp-Lo September 23, 2010 @ The Regency Ballroom Better than: Having no members of OutKast show up.The question is: Big Boi or Andre 3000? It's a fun question, at least -- and perhaps an impossible one, because even though both members of the h ... More >>
Blogs
August 19, 2010
Five Bay Area Hip-Hop Stars Who Should Be Really Stinkin' Rich
Is this what it takes?On Tuesday, Forbes published its list of hip-hop's 20 highest earners: Jay-Z at number one, naturally, with $63 million, and Senegalese crooner Akon edging out Lil Wayne by a milli -- Weezy's cash-accruing steez have been impressively unabated by his recent jail sentenc ... More >>
Music
August 18, 2010
Rock the Bells 2010: Classic performances of hip-hop albums
Is this what it takes?On Tuesday, Forbes published its list of hip-hop's 20 highest earners: Jay-Z at number one, naturally, with $63 million, and Senegalese crooner Akon edging out Lil Wayne by a milli -- Weezy's cash-accruing steez have been impressively unabated by his recent jail sentenc ... More >>
Blogs
August 18, 2010
In Print: Classic Hip-Hop Albums Performed Live, Wavves' Surf-Punk, and Rappers in the Shadow of Hyphy
The lineup for this year's Rock the Bells hip-hop festival has the likes of Snoop, Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim and even the Wu-Tang Clan all performing classic hip-hop albums in their entirety. In our print edition this week, Tamara Palmer takes a look back at each album's considerabl ... More >>
Blogs
August 6, 2010
What's With All The Misspelled Names in Hip-Hop?: An Examination
Chali 2naSo Chali 2na's coming to Yoshi's tonight. Dude may be the most likeable member of Jurassic 5, with his booming voice and salaam-to-that-ass demeanor, but he's also the one whose name mounts the most nihilistic assault on orthographic sensibility (distant second: Mark 7even). Not that th ... More >>
Blogs
August 5, 2010
Review and Download: Curtains' 'The Dissertaion (The Wu Thesis)'
The past month has been a pretty great one for rap. New Orleans weed aficionado and sometime Lil Wayne sidekick Curren$y released Pilot Talk, featuring a terrific single, "The Day," where Jay Electronica waxes "young, black, intelligent, elegant, blasé," and Mos Def sounds like his jaw is still ... More >>
Music
August 4, 2010
MC El-P talks about new music and the demise of Def Jux
The past month has been a pretty great one for rap. New Orleans weed aficionado and sometime Lil Wayne sidekick Curren$y released Pilot Talk, featuring a terrific single, "The Day," where Jay Electronica waxes "young, black, intelligent, elegant, blasé," and Mos Def sounds like his jaw is still ... More >>
Blogs
July 29, 2010
A Night of J Dilla Featuring ISM and the Fan-Tas-Tics at Madrone Art Bar
Hiroshi OkunA Night of J Dillafeaturing ISM and The Fan-tas-tics @ Madrone Art Bar July 28, 2010 Better than: A night of Steve Milla.James Yancey, a.k.a. Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla, is somewhere between 2Pac and Pimp C in the running for the title of hip-hop's hardest-working dead guy. His death of ... More >>
Blogs
July 23, 2010
Oakland Faders' DJ Platurn on Why Song Requests Suck and the Rise of Bottle Service Hip-Hop
www.sfstation.comHave you ever wondered just how much it pisses off a DJ when you request your favorite guilty pleasures all night? What actually happened to the hyphy movement? What sets Drake out from all the rest? DJ Platurn of the Oakland Faders gave us his candid thoughts on these topics and ... More >>
Blogs
July 22, 2010
Exclusive: '90s R&B Mini-Mix by Debaser's Jamie Jams
Chris BrennanJamie JamsOne thing I've always greatly respected about Jamie Jams and the other fellas that run the 'SF Weekly Best of 2010' Debaser club is their unending wealth of knowledge about the music they love. Obviously, they know their way around '90s alt-rock hits, but it's a pleasant su ... More >>
Music
June 30, 2010
Town Techno
League510's high-energy, synth-fueled hip-hop.
More >>

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