A little before noon Eastern Standard time on April 11, 2010, Wiz Khalifa turned it up a notch. After dropping seven mixtapes and two albums, he finally made a real splash with Kush & Orange Juice. Backed by whimsical production, Kush & Orange showcases Wiz’s growth as an artist and songwriter. He brings listeners into his hazy world with cuts like, “Mesmorized”, “In The Cut” and “Up”.  Meanwhile, his papers burn bright on joints like “The Statement” and “Never Been”. […]

After disappointing fans and critics alike with Here I Stand, Ush reinvigorated everyone’s interest last spring, with his sixth album, Raymond v. Raymond. Unlike its predecessor, Usher got back to what he does best: Make hits. He boasted about his divorce (“Papers”) and newly found bachelor status (“Hey Daddy”.)  We’ll forgive you for that terrible Plies verse. With the assistance of Nicki Minaj he turned good girls bad (“Lil Freak”) but kept some at arm’s reach with “There Goes My […]

Remember dubbing your favorite song on the radio? No? Well, here’s the trailer for a new mini documentary directed by Jonathan Mannion. The full clip drops on January 19th on TDK’s homebase.

It’s still amazing that two songs from a mixtape made such a splash that they had to be included on an artist’s album. The streets spoke loudly and Rozay’s Teflon Don wouldn’t have been complete without “MC Hammer” and “BMF”. You talk about a one-two Lex Luger-produced punch. Simply put, this prequel brought Ross to the forefront of this rap shit. This signaled the end of the Officer jokes. Hardbody collabos with Yo Gotti (“Gotti Family”) and Kool G Rap […]

Janelle Monae is R&B’s dark horse. Although she’s backed by Big Boi and Diddy, she’s mostly remembered for her all black get up. Hopefully, ArchAndroid changes that perception. Janelle introduced the masses to her release last May with the oh-so funky, “Tightrope”. The video wasn’t bad either. She then kept the momentum going with righteous drum patterns on “Cold War”. But there’s life after two singles. The party continues on “Locked Inside” and she takes psychedelic trips on cuts like “Dance […]

DJ Drama promised me in the ATL that it’d be worth the wait and he and Loso delivered. TINC 2 annihilates the pair’s first mixtape and helped bring Fab’s career to another level. Although he often gets overlooked, John Jackson has stood next to Hov as the most consistent voice in East Coast hip-hop for over a decade. Yup, time flies. But this tape brought Sport back to his mixtape roots. Riding the theme of the project til the casket […]

Please don’t go. On Monday, Jazmine Sullivan announced that she was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the game. That would suck, especially after the release of Love Me Back this past November. Jazmine’s dulcet octaves register high throughout the LP. She leads off with her first single “Holding You Down” and immediately flips the script with “10 Seconds”. Her versatility doesn’t stop there. She displays the art of story telling on “Redemption” and puts a twist to a […]

Truth be told when this mixtape dropped last New Year’s day, it was the last thing on my mind. It took me two months and a plane ride to Austin to finally connect to the fresh new sound of an Alabama MC. First things first: Yelawolf is white. If you don’t know, now you do. Who gives a middle finger? He can flat-out rap his ass off as the titilating title track attests. The riotous rookie also proved he could […]

The soulful saga continued last March when Erykah Badu released the second installment of her New Amerykah series. In a decidedly new direction from her previous more political effort, this album focuses more on emotions and relationships and many tunes are anchored by familar samples. Thankfully, Badu cleverly builds off the original material and enhances it. “Turn Me Away” twists the Sylvia Striplin joint behind Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s big “Get Money” hit and a Eddie Kendricks classic provides the bounce behind […]

Some things never change. And once again, Freddie Gibbs returns to the Double R’s top 10. This time, courtesy of last year’s sleeper, Str8 Killa, No Filla. Freddie kicks things off with his own unapologetic national anthem “Fuck The World” and then, a few tracks down, “Reps 2 to Tha Fullest” with Jay Rock . In terms of lyrical content, Fred’s strength is woven within his baritone flow. He shows his range on “Do Wrong” with Pill, personalizes Mikbone’s seminal […]