The Wu-Tang Clan seemed to come out of nowhere when they released their first independent single, "Protect Ya Neck." To the industry's surprise, it sold over 10,000 copies and enabled this conceptually innovative crew to land a deal with RCA. ...

In early 2011, Universal's Icon series took on the heaviest hitters from Clarence Avant's Tabu label: Alexander O'Neal, the S.O.S. Band, and Cherrelle, all of whom benefitted from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' hit-making touch. These discs effectively replaced each ...

Simply look at the cover and it's hard to figure out if Travis Barker (drummer for blink-182 and a rap-rock producer with punk rock style) and Yelawolf (rapid-fire rapper, signed to Eminem's label) have formed a band or a project ...

The Wu-Tang saga continues. Raekwon "The Chef" is already an irreplacable part of rap music's largest breed, the Wu-Tang Clan, but his debut proves him also capable of standing on his own two feet. On ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX..., ...

"Rosa Parks" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. Additional personnel includes: Erykah Badu, Jamhr "Backbone" Williams, Frederick "Cool Breeze" Bell, Joi Gillian, Pat "Sleepy" Brown (vocals); T-Mo, Big Gipp, Cee-Lo, Raekwon, ...

Being a "love 'em or hate 'em" group, it was about time the prolific and conceptual Insane Clown Posse got around to a "love 'em or hate 'em" album, and while this rap-rock battle cry called The Mighty Death Pop ...

Photographers: Darien Smith; Marvin Adams.

Kansas City rapper Aaron Yates, otherwise known as Tech N9ne, emerges with an ambitious debut full of conceptual structure, vivid depiction of harsh urban realities, and innovative vocal delivery. Nominally, the album is structured in three sections, depicting heaven, purgatory, ...

"Because I Got High" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Contains the hidden track "Because I Got High," with alternate lyrics, which follows "The American Dream." Straight out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi comes Afroman, (AKA Joseph Foreman), ...

Recording information: 1st And 15th Studios; Record Plant; Right Track Studios, NY. Photographer: Mireya Acierto. Personnel: Lupe Fiasco (rap vocals); Jill Scott (vocals); Gemini, Jay-Z (rap vocals). Audio Mixers: Craig Bauer; James Auwarter; Bojan Dugich; Patrick Viala.

A forgotten man in the rise of West Coast rap, Tone-Loc was effectively cut off from his hometown scene in Los Angeles by his unexpected pop success. Paced by the singles "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina" -- both co-written ...

Arriving just a few months after Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp, Public Enemy's The Evil Empire of Everything is a decidedly different album than their other 2012 album. It's leaner and harder, stripped down to ...

After a trip to Jamaica, Snoop Dogg returned as Snoop Lion, a reformed reggae singer/dancehall rapper who had seen the Rastafarian light. Violence was now something to fight against, and while Biblical, vegetarian, and other bits of Ital living can ...

Track Listing: I'm Your Enemy; Who Shot 2Pac; Narco Corridos; Out to Get Me; Fuck Lil G; Talk About Me; Roll with a Strap; Alkahol; Boom Boom Killa; If You Don't Know; I Don't Give a Fuck; Gun Smoke; Make Em Clap; Midnite; Psycho; Forget Your Boyfriend; Crush On You;

Track Listing: Blinded By the Sun; Broken; White Trash Beautiful; Sleepin' Alone; Warning; Angel; This Kind of Lonely; Soul Music; Godwanna; Lonely Road; Sad Girl; Ticking Away; Pain; 2 Pieces of Drama; Maybe;

Don't mistake the presence of Jay-Z and Beyoncé on Alicia Keys' fourth album as evidence that the singer/songwriter is burrowing into modern R&B -- take it instead as evidence of the rarefied company Keys keeps, her status as a superstar ...

The long wait for Sean Price's solo effort Mic Tyson was due to the birth of the rapper's son, but career-wise, plenty happened between this one and 2007's Jesus Price Supastar. His membership in Random Axe, along with Black Milk ...

Tyrese sweeps his extracurricular involvements aside and re-commits himself to his singing career, as he addresses his fans on the back of this disc, his first since 2006's Alter Ego: ".rest assured, that my first and only love is music." ...

BIGGER AND DEFFER was the album which took LL from up-and-coming artist to the mantle of both pop star and rap legend. The title track, the album' s opening mission statement was only one of BIGGER AND DEFFER's memorable hits--"I ...

T.I.'s delivery is fluid and drawn out, and his rhymes tackle subjects typical to the gangsta rap milieu. The musical approach on KING isn't much different from the rapper's previous releases, but it's nonetheless better, with tighter rhymes, more assured ...

After many twists and turns, the Game finally dropped the highly anticipated THE DOCUMENTARY as the first major hip-hop release of 2005, and it's quite an opening salvo. On the Kanye West-produced "Dreams," he displays a dizzying intellect, subtly working ...

The Nas and Damian Marley collaboration Distant Relatives came together as a way to earn money for schools in Africa, but before any corny "charity album" misconceptions get in the way, know that this is one purposeful monster and a ...

Yelawolf is a white rapper from Alabama with a delivery somewhat similar to styles Eminem has employed in the past: fast delivery, lyrics displaying a mordant wit, and a tendency to wallow in images of poverty rather than glorifying mindless ...

Out of a seemingly endless array of hip hop albums, every now and again something fresh and powerful rises to the top of the pile. Hailing from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Long Island City (home to Marley Marl among ...

Eminem's RELAPSE, a double album released after five years of recorded silence, a record featuring Dr. Dre behind the boards for the first time since 2000, faced no shortage of the relentless pressure of expectations. A narrative of survival after ...