Reviews

At an event put together by Ent Legends in collaboration with Ace of Spades, ScHoolboy Q‘s first Sacramento show finally rolled around Sunday, February 10. I arrived at the venue at approximately 7:40 p.m. as a heap of concertgoers attentively stood outside in the frosty weather, waiting to step foot into the toasty venue to enjoy the show. He [...]

Photo by Mariama Rafetna BarrelhouseBKLYN brought out GBE/Def Jam recording artist Lil Reese Thursday night for their #LocalsONLYIII installment at Santos Party House. Cheer$ Club’s Vinny Cha$e, The Underachievers and Asaad also joined for additional performances. The venue was packed out, with a slew of special guests including A-Trak and Juelz Santana. BarrelhouseBKLYN and Red [...]

Nostaliga was in the air last night on Varick Street, where one of our favorite ATLiens held a show for the release of his new album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. Big Boi warmed up the audience with some OutKast trinkets, performing cuts like “Rosa Parks,” “So Fresh and So Clean,” “Ms. Jackson,” and “Aquemini” with [...]

If you’re familiar with Kendrick Lamar’s catalog (I mean really familiar), Section.80 in itself is a huge digression from his earlier work (see my review here). From his majestic production to finely tuned concepts, the opus was a benchmark in the career of the young Compton MC. Fast forward a year later and we’re on [...]

Not too many people can cover the late great pop king Michael Jackson and escape shrewd disappointment. With that said, even if you’re not familiar with the Toronto crooner, the opening track sets a hopeful premise for The Weeknd’s third mixtape Echoes of Silence. Known for his dark, morbid masterpieces, The Weeknd takes a different [...]

All ears are tuned to Mary J. Blige this week, with the delivery of a sequel to her classic, 1994 sophomore album My Life. The pressure of creating a follow-up to a triple platinum LP is unfathomable, but not impossible, for someone who has long been crowed the queen of hip-hop soul. On My Life [...]

In 2011, few have contributed more to Hip-Hop than Drake. The Toronto spitter not only dropped some memorable guest verses throughout the year (“I’m On One,” “Round of Applause,” “Tony Montana”), but basically took over Twitter for a day with the summer release of his track “Marvin’s Room.” In addition, he also helped introduce to [...]

We could easily talk about Donald Glover. He’s a writer for 30 Rock, a main character on the comedy community, part of the comedy troupe Derrick Comedy, etc. It’s more than obvious that the man is a burgeoning star. I’d much rather focus on his rap career though, which looks like it’s growing just as [...]

It’s finally here–the long awaited nation wide tour that is Watch The Throne. Perhaps over-hyped, definitely exhausting, but most importantly memorable. I won’t pretend the show was some sort of God-sent phenomenon–let’s be real, a concert is a concert regardless who’s performing. I can say that it was a great show, and I would have [...]

Impatience rippled through a rowdy audience in North Carolina on Sunday night (October 30) before a smiling Jay-Z stepped out onto the dimly lit stage, clothed in all-black-everything. After performing two shows in Atlanta on the previous nights, The Throne had migrated further north. As Jay bobbed his head to Kanye West’s opening verse on [...]