Rap Radar

As Macklemore and Ryan Lewis continue to dominate the charts, the Seattle duo make their Billboard cover debut. Hi haters. Cop The Heist here.

As previously reported, the head nigga in charge is set to release is second memoir, H.N.I.C. And for the book’s jacket, he rehashes his patriotic flick. God Bless America. The book is due out July 16th.

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For all the teeny boppers, Nicki puts on her tutu and strikes a pose on the June/July issue of Teen Vogue. Peep a portion of her cover interview below and her spread after the jump.

On social media: “I used to read the bad things people said about me.  Then I asked myself, ‘Why am I reading that when I have millions of people saying great things?’ You cannot give negativity power. I tell teens, if you’re having a problem, there’s nothing wrong with deleting your social media. If people keep taunting you and you keep reading it, it’s poison.”

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What an unlikely pair. FADER plasters Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt and Academy Award winner, Juicy J on the covers of their annual Photo issue. Read it here or cop there. On newsstands May 7th. Juicy’s Stay Trippy drops July 2nd.

Ahoy readers! On deck in his summer wear, A$AP rocks the boat in May’s issue Gentlemen’s Quarterly. Peep the interview and shoot above and the rest of the spread after the jump.

“I wanted to model when I was younger,” he says. “I was always into clothes and shit.” It’s a fact that’s constantly reinforced by his lyrics (Drop-crotch Jeremy Scott pants, bitch it’s Hammer time) and by menswear blogs that practically worship him. “I’m the man on those things,” Rocky gloats. “I don’t really look at them. Well, I guess I do, but only when I’m looking at myself. I inspire me.”

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King Kendrick and the crew. On sale April 30. Cop it, ya bish.

RESPECT.

“TIME’s most influential was impressive’, specially since I wasn’t in the artist section…”

Hov’s back with builders and titans. As one of seven covers, Gloria’s Warrior rubs elbows with the 99 most influential people on Earth. You can check out his feature written by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg here. Y’all gon’ read today.

With locking in last year’s top rap and R&B albums, K-Dot and Miguel point the fingers on VIBE‘s upcoming “Big List” issue. Peep the excerpt below and their individual covers after the jump.

You’re both carrying the torch as the leaders of the new generation. How do you define musical genius?
KENDRICK: Somebody that don’t really have any boundaries, that’s not confined to the traditional structure of a song or traditional sounds. When you listen to “Adorn,” it feels like he’s not even trying to structure a radio joint. He just felt the music, felt the instrumentation and wrote the track.
MIGUEL: Good looks, bro. My favorite artists always took whatever they loved out of music and made it their own. It was their take on it. Kendrick is one of those people where I can hear Ice Cube’s first two albums’ influence. I get the street edge, but then I hear like the poetic player, smoothness, creativity and smart street savvy of Andre on Aquemini. That juxtaposition is what I hear in Kendrick, but it’s his own take. If you listen to my shit, you’re gonna hear Prince, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin or a little bit of the Beatles. That’s where I’m pulling from.

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XXL gives us a behind the scenes look of how their freshman cover came about. The footage also features a few interviews from the class and a first look at their upcoming cyphers.

Let the controversy begin once again. XXL has unveiled this year’s freshman class (Chief Keef as the 11th man) and the annual issue’s front cover. Who’s long over-due? Who’s missing? Who shouldn’t be there?