It’s been a long time coming, but after 14 years Raekwon returned to the main stage with, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. For starters, The Chef curbs our appetites with “House Of Flying Daggers”, “New Wu” and “Surgical Gloves”. He breaks bread with Beanie Sigel on “Have Mercy” and toasts to the fallen on “Ason Jones.” You rappers got fat while Rae starved. It’s his turn. Again. Before: RR’s ’09 Best Albums: #3 Kid Cudi Man On The Moon

Here’s a longer version of the big leak from yesterday that got the suits at Sony salty. Bonet’s ex told MTV it was an unfinished session but fuck it, it already sounds better than a lot of shit on the radio. Plus it’s MJ, bitches. R.I.P. King. Props: Hottest Ishh UPDATE: Apparently, this is a loop but still worth a listen until the Federalis take it down.

I’m sure Moss will delete this soon. SMH. Sidebar: rapradar.com gets 8 billion views a day. Paul R. is so proud! UPDATE: With the heat on, Bow is denying he was referring to Kweli and Tek but the tweets that are linked say otherwise.

Months before Jigga stuck his foot up Auto-Tune’s ass, T-Pain helped ’cause the self destruction of Busta’s Back On My BS project with this terrible pairing. “Hustler’s Anthem ’09”? What was ’08’s? I couldn’t imagine a drug dealer ever actually bumpin’ this in his car system. And I can’t believe Ty Fyffe produced it, I usually like his stuff. Anyway, there’s just nothing memorable or substantial here as Trevor attempts to sprinkle some thug motivation and Faheem’s “la la la’s” […]

You rappers kill me with your self-inflicted mixtape release dates that you can’t meet. We got deadlines at RR and you know what we meet ’em. 5 pm, we crown Best Album of ’09. 5:30, Worst Single. See it’s not so hard. Ha. Heads Up: The calm faceless guy

The sometimes rap purist inside me pretty much ignored the Kid Cudi CD after a few first listens. It’s so emo, you have to almost be in the mood for it. Then I started to peep the praise from some fellow critical colleagues that I respect and they were right. Man On The Moon should be sellin’ enough to keep Drake up at night. But even though it isn’t is no reflection on how good it is. Yeah like the […]

That’s right I co-sign Radric’s CD despite the outcries but I can’t stand behind this one. Hopefully, 2010 will bring us less record label-endorsed, cookie-cutter collabos like this one. Everytime I play the State album, I skip by this one. Plain and simple, it feels and sounds pretentious. Big established R&B star with rising rap act equals surefire smash. Right? Nope. Oil and water. Polow Da Don’s track is okay but I can’t take serious lines like “Gucci on Elimidate” […]

Rapper, actor, screenwriter, producer, (you still with me?) Ice Cube takes a trip down memory lane with PP2GTV and analyzes some of his past work. Cube also talks about the pros and cons of being independent and gives advice to upcoming artists in the game. Take notes from a true OG. Spotted: eskay

Head over to DeAndre’s L.A. pad for his latest video. Drool over the Rosa Acosta and Tammy Torres cameos and be amused by the Khaled cell phone watch promo at the end. I guess this shoot was where the engagement rumors started from. Spotted: YK2

The Clipse are one of the most fawned groups in hip-hop—and for good reason. Last month, Malice and Pusha showcased their wit on their third helping, Til The Casket Drops. Once again, The Thorntons recreated magic with The Neptunes on tracks like “Door Man”, “Counseling”, and “Popular Demand”. For good measure, DJ Khalil dug in his bag of tricks and made “Kinda Like A Big Deal” just that. Good job guys, keep thuggin’ til the casket dips. Before: RR’s 09 […]