It’s been twenty years since The Notorious B.I.G. dropped his seminal debut album. “Ready To Die” was a hit, making the burly emcee from Bedford-Stuyvesant the most visible New York rapper of his era and establishing Bad Boy Entertainment as the new powerhouse label in hip-hop.
Thirty years ago Prince released what has arguably become his quintessential LP, the immaculate soundtrack album, Purple Rain. Dropped in the summer of 1984, The
A.J. Calloway and Spike Lee chat about how impactful Lee’s seminal 1989 film “Do the Right Thing” was on race relations in New York City
Hip-hop star Slick Rick celebrated 25 years since his debut album, “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick” was released by running through his classics at B.B. King’s
It was 20 years ago today that Nas released his seminal debut album, Illlmatic. It wasn’t the huge crossover hit that, say, The Chronic or Doggystyle had been in the previous years. And it didn’t quite re-ignite the East Coast’s hardcore aesthetic, either; acts like Redman, Onyx, Das EFX, Black Moon had started doing that as early as 1992. But what Illmatic did was introduce the world to a thoughtful and gifted rhyme-writer from the Queensbridge Projects, and in doing so, it returned the traditional New York City emcee to hip-hop prominence.
Singer/actress Brandy made an appearance on her old pal Queen Latifah’s talk show this week, and the Queen had a surprise for her guest. During Brandy’s interview, Latifah invited out fellow hip-hop stars MC Lyte and Yo Yo, who appeared on the smash 1994 remix for Brandy’s breakout hit “I Wanna Be Down.”
Brooklyn still has love for the late, great Notorious B.I.G. and the Bed Stuy community paid tribute on the 17th anniversary of his death
One of the most original and innovative debut albums in hip-hop history, the masterpiece from the Long Island, NY-based trio of De La Soul was a world-changing album that offered proof that hip-hop was not just machismo and aggression. At a time when hip-hop’s more “gangsta” and “political” strains were at the height of visibility, these three oddballs from the suburbs fired a shot for hip-hop nerds everywhere.
2014 marks the 25th anniversary of De La Soul’s classic debut album 3 Feet High and Rising. In celebration of their two-and-a-half decades of groundbreaking, innovative hip-hop, the trio of Posdnous, Maseo and Dave are releasing their entire catalog for free download today (February 14th.) The downloads will be available on De La Soul’s official website.
Kanye West’s critically-acclaimed debut album The College Dropout turned ten years old this week, and numerous media and entertainment outlets looked back on the rapper’s first project with fond memories. As for West himself, he tweeted extensively about what his first album means to him and shared his perspective on the last decade of his career.
Baby Boomers across America are giddy this week, as numerous events and appearances are planning in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. But, with all of the nostalgia and tributes, there is a factor that is being ignored as it pertains to the Beatles and their legacy.
Ten years since the awkward, quasi-suburban kid with the sweaters, bookbag and a major inferiority complex bum-rushed the rap game. Kanye West dropped his debut album, The College Dropout, on February 10th, 2004. The album, from an artist that no one thought would work as an artist, became a monster hit–the first of many for West.
In 1989, Kane was riding the critical acclaim from his lauded debut album Long Live the Kane, and hit singles like “Ain’t No Half-Steppin’.” But in an exclusive interview, he reveals just how bittersweet the success of his first album turned out to be
If you like hip-hop with lyrics that make you think, then SubT is the place you need to be on a Tuesday night. Sounds by
Coming almost exactly one year after Dr. Dre’s smash solo debut, The Chronic, Snoop’s first album arrived at a unique moment in rap history.
“Player’s Ball” changed the hip-hop landscape like only a handful of singles had before. In the same way that Run-D.M.C.’s “It’s Like That” announced the end of hip-hop’s first wave and the start of a new, more aggressive brand of rap; and in the same way that Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” put G-Funk and Death Row Records at the forefront of hip-hop visibility, “Player’s Ball” was the opening shot from a city that would soon become the center of hip-hop in the new millennium.
It’s hard to find MJ songs that haven’t been absorbed and dissected by legions of fans and critics.
Wu-Tang will be releasing their first album in five years in July.
One of the top voices of our generation, Toni Braxton helped to celebrate the 50th anniversary of historical radio station WVON. Braxton performed some of
2003 was a transitional year; and now that a full decade has passed, we decided to take a look back at some of that year’s most significant rap albums.
