The 18th Letter is obviously a first ballot Hall of Famer but his latest is a disservice to his legacy. #1 Rakim The Seventh Seal #2 Bow Wow New Jack City II #3 Triple C’s Custom Cars & Cycles #4 Fat Joe J.O.S.E. 2 #5 Lil Wayne Rebirth

Sorry Sean. But you won’t let this song die. Move on, Black man, move on. #1 Dirty Money “Angels” #2 Ron Browz “Jumping Out The Window” #3 Busta Rhymes x T-Pain “Hustler’s Anthem ’09” #4 Gucci Mane x Usher “Spotlight” #5 New Boyz “You’re A Jerk” #6 Birdman x Jay Sean “Written On Her” #7 Game “Big Money” #8 T.I. x Mary J. Blige “Remember Me” #9 Robin Thicke x Nicki Minaj “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy” #10 Jadakiss x OJ […]

And the winner is Hov… Finding it hard to keep up with our lists? OK, you’re right. Here’s comes some full recaps of this week’s festivities just so you can go argue with your friends over the weekend. Shit, traffic’s up. Turn that naysayer talk down. You don’t like our choices. Make some better ones. Y’all a bunch of suckers for these shits. #1 Jay-Z Blueprint 3 #2 Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II #3 Kid Cudi Man On […]

What more can I say to you? You heard it all. Hov already told you it’s his “album” of the year. (At least before BP3 dropped. Ha.) Okay, you love to hear the story again and again so here goes. Aubrey Graham was a child actor who became a rap star with the right music at the right time. The masses made “Best I Ever Had” and “Successful” hits before anyone got Drizzy’s name on the dotted line. But it […]

The Grammy Committee will disagree, but The-Dream’s Love vs. Money was the best Rhythm and Blues album of 2009. On his sophomore disc, Dream lived up to his Radio Killa alias with “Rockin That Shit” and then showed no mercy by “Walkin’ On The Moon” with Kanye West. Next, Mr. Nash showcased his slow groove majestry on “Put It Down” and “Sweat It Out”. But it’s on the dramatic “Fancy” where Dream truly proves his excellence. For a steady six […]

The Grammy Committee will disagree, but The-Dream

Don’t front you know Ed got you open this past year, coining one of hip-hop’s strongest new catchphrases. It’s a daily operation of today’s stars doin’ dumb shit and now two words sum up our collective feelings: C’mon son. Here’s a salute to the dubious ones who kept us chitter-chattering about them in the last year of the past decade. Watch the video and then get your vote on here.

Before coming off Roc Nation’s bench, J.Cole runs practice drills on, The Warm Up. From the opening whistle, Cole declares he was ready for the big leagues on “Grown Simba” and proves he can handle his own over daunting tracks (“Dead Presidents II”). Elsewhere, he gives direction to black girls lost on “Light’s Please” while looking for the perfect match on “Dreams”. Then, over a calm horns, Cole lets hope float on “I Get Up” and “Dollar & A Dream […]

Ri Ri’s next single is her potty mouth track, “Rude Boy” and she bares everything minus the boots and hat for the single cover. YK2 Sidebar: This is not Ri-Ri’s new boy toy rude boy.

You gotta hand it to Alicia. Unlike pretty much every other artist on the planet, she doesn’t oversaturate herself to stay hot. She does it the old school way. Takes a significant hiatus in between albums and comes back with nothing but her finest material. The single choices have been rock-solid so far. “Doesn’t Mean Anything” is dandy. “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart” is thrilling. And while I appreciate her trying to make a Beyonce collabo work (“Put It […]

You gotta hand it to Alicia. Unlike pretty much every other artist on the planet, she doesn’t oversaturate herself to stay hot. She does it the old school way. Takes a significant hiatus in between albums and comes back with nothing but her finest material. The single choices have been rock-solid so far. “Doesn’t Mean Anything” is dandy. “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart” is thrilling. And while I appreciate her trying to make a Beyonce collabo work (“Put It […]

How bout a old school break? Been meaning to put this up but as you can see it’s been a pretty busy week. Anyways, a couple of days ago on his SwiftFM channel, Q-Tip shared an early Brand Nubian demo recorded about 20 years ago. As you’ll hear the content was probably a lil too strong for some and didn’t make their classic All For One. Ironically, Grand Puba would take plenty of his rhymes here and make a song […]

Jeezy and DJ Folk hugged the block last summer with Trappin’ Aint Dead. A hustler at heart, Da Snowman stashed the Recession leftover “Done It” and helped Lil Boosie get on his feet with “Better Believe It”. Back on the strip, Jeez clocks his paper with “My Money” then squanders it on “Dead Or Alive”. Of course, all work and no play makes Jeezy a dull boy. Sitting in the director’s chair, he and U.S.D.A. make the “Biggest Movie Ever”. […]

Keyshia Cole gives an update regarding her upcoming project and relationship with estranged family. To all my friends and fans – It’s time that I clear the air. It’s not a secret that I haven’t been in contact with my mother Frankie, and my sisters Neffe and Elite and I never wanted to air out our differences to the public. While I won’t go into detail here I find it necessary to let you guys know I decided to stop […]

With the close of the summer, Trey Songz kept the game warm last year with his third album, Ready. He immediately sets the mood with “Panty Droppa” and soon after, disturbs the peace with “Neighbors Know My Name”. Eventually, Trey trades in his player card and searches for Ms. Right on “I Need A Girl”, but it isn’t long until he’s back to his old ways on “I Invented Sex”. Currently anchored by the intoxicating single “Say Aah”, Ready comes […]

With the close of the summer, Trey Songz kept the game warm last year with his third album, Ready. He immediately sets the mood with

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.913849&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fcms.springboard.gorillanation.com%2Fxml_feeds_advanced%2Findex%2F9%2F3%2F111537%2F%26width%3D601%26height%3D405%26pid%3Dhh006%26allowscriptaccess%3D] “You on a MTV list/ I put ya brains all over ya MTV cribs/ Whoever wrote that/ Double X-L this/ I double excel” Ghost kicks a quick 16 for HHDX‘s latest installment of 16 Bars. Lock in. Previously: DJ Green Lantern x Styles P “Send A Kite”

East Coast lyricism meets Dirty South grit on Pill’s debut mixtape, 4180: The Prescription. Along with DJ Burn One, the Atlanta native caused a raucous with his trap anthem, “Trap Goin Ham”.  But Pill wasn’t confined to just the block. He globetrotted on “Dreamin” and walked a thousand miles in his “Trap Boots”. Unfortunately old habits die hard, and on “Blow” he flips Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” into another dope boy ode. Get geeked. Before: RR’s ’09 Best Mixtapes: #5 Lil […]

Both weathering the storm, if Chris Brown’s music was good Rihanna’s was even better. While Chris pretty much avoided the hot topic on his CD, Ri-Ri went all the way there from the cover art to the cussin’ like a sailor to the creepy “Cold Case Love”. “Wait Your Turn” and “Russian Roulette” may have been too dark pop for plenty of people’s tastes but there’s no denying the Jeezy collabo “Hard,” which still sounds as good to me as […]

Both weathering the storm, if Chris Brown’s music was good Rihanna’s was even better. While Chris pretty much avoided the hot topic on his CD, Ri-Ri went all the way there from the cover art to the cussin’ like a sailor to the creepy “Cold Case Love”. “Wait Your Turn” and “Russian Roulette” may have been too dark pop for plenty of people’s tastes but there’s no denying the Jeezy collabo “Hard,” which still sounds as good to me as […]