While preparing the proposal for our new Rodney King book project, I was asked how I felt about his recently announced engagement to Cynthia Kelly. I don’t know Cynthia very well, having spent only one evening with her, but she impressed me as an upbeat, happy person who is excited about becoming an important part […]
Welcome to overrated/underrated folks, where each week I will rant on one overrated thing and one underrated thing. This is pretty straight forward, no pretense here. So let’s just get right into it, beginning with this week’s topic, mixtapes versus albums. OVERRATED: MIXTAPES I love free music. Wait, let me correct that. I love free […]
John Legend & The Roots‘collaborative album Wake Up, which you can stream in it’s entirety here, hasn’t even hit stores yet – it will be released on September 21 – but they’ve already commissioned a follow-up project. They have hooked up with popular DJ J. Period for Wake Up! Radio, a mixtape that . The […]
This new song from T.I., Mary J. Blige and Kid Rock is on the positive and uplifting side. Titled ‘Care‘ it’s definitely a feel good song reminding people that ‘the least they can do is care’. ‘Care’ which is laden with the sound of guitars and harmonica, has a classic rock feel to it and […]
The brand new Kanye West song, ‘Devil In A New Dress’ has already inspired other MC’s to hop on the Bink! produced beat, but no one has done it better than J. Cole. Those unfamiliar with J. Cole’s career as a producer should know the rapper has a knack for creating beats just like the […]
Very few artists would say their success happened overnight. It may have just taken one song for them to blow up, but it’s likely that they had been working towards that moment for years. Many emcees start of in their teens – freestyling, battling, writing whenever they can, hustling, trying to make their dream come […]
Jazmine Sullivan wows us again with her silky-rich alto vocals on her latest single Holding You Down. We wondered what Jazmine had been up to and we are thrilled to see her back to work and that she has teamed up to make magic again with rapper, producer Missy Elliot. Holding You Down is the […]
J. Cole‘s debut album is one of the most anticipated of the year, and tracks like the newly leaked ‘Blow Up’ are exactly why. In this ‘song for [the] haters,’ Cole is goes in, spitting lines like ‘She say where your bread at?/And what your whip like?/You ain’t got one or the other well brother […]
It’s only one verse — a reference track originally slated to appear on Bun B’s album, Trill OG — but what J. Cole does in his brief bars is pretty hot. Not to mention the smooth instrumental the North Carolinian rapper spits over is produced by him too. Once J. Cole’s verse is over, let […]
The buzz around J. Cole’s debut album is tame compared to the releases of other artists, but with songs like this new one entitled ‘Premeditated Murder’, that should all change very quickly. Produced by his own hands and ears, J. Cole’s ‘Premeditated Murder’ is an eery introspective force of braggadacio about the pressure of succeeding […]
Jazmine Sullivan is back with a banger! Two years after the release of her stunning debut album Fearless, which spawned the hits ‘Need U Bad,’ ‘Bust Your Windows,’ and ‘Lions, Tigers & Bears,’ the Philldelphia native is back with her new single ‘Holding U Down (Going In Circles).’ The track, produced by Missy Elliott and […]
Russell Simmons, Mary J. Blige, her husband, Kendu, and her new artist, Starshell all watched Prince Harry fall off of his horse in a game of polo. The match was in the first half of the 3rd Annual Veuve Polo Classic, a benefit to raise money to help children affected by AIDS in an African […]
