Hip Hop and Rap

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Billboard's Rap Songs chart

The Big Hurt: Who charted?
In the immortal words of O.D.B., "Rappenin' is what's happenin'."
By DAVID THORPE | July 05, 2010

The Fameless crew spice up the underground
Halfway through my interview with the Allston-based alt-hop collective Fameless Fam about their upcoming showcase at Wonder Bar this Tuesday, Will from the posse's glitch-minded duo Time Crisis mentions that he went to high school in Pittsburgh with rising rap sensation Wiz Khalifa.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 02, 2010

Kings of Queens

Why Mobb Deep are still the fittest
When it comes to legendary hip-hop duos, Southerners salute UGK and OutKast, whereas nostalgic heads anoint EPMD, and eclectic contrarians endorse Organized Konfusion.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 26, 2010

Taio Cruz | Rokstarr

Mercury (2010)
When Taio Cruz sings, "I can't live without you," in "Take Me Back," pop-song conventions tell us he's referring to a lover.
By MIKAEL WOOD | June 24, 2010

Dubb Sicks | Lifestyles Of The Sick And Fameless

Backyard Recordings (2010)
Dubb Sicks makes no secret of his white-trash roots.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 24, 2010

Coming soon, unfortunately

Music you don't want
Despite last month's record sales (the lowest since anyone's been keeping track), some artists still don't get the picture: nobody wants music anymore .
By DAVID THORPE | June 15, 2010

'Fun guy rap'

Long overdue Romen Rok debut worth the wait? Absolutely !
I emailed Edgewood-bred lyricist Romen Rok last week following the release of his highly-anticipated full-length platter Absolutely ! and asked just how he would describe his brand of hip-hop to the casual listener: “Fun guy rap” was the response.
By CHRIS CONTI | June 16, 2010

Vinnie Paz | Season of the Assassin + Reef the Lost Cauze vs. Guns-N-Butter | Fight Music

Enemy Soil (2010)
We all needed a break from Jedi Mind Tricks — you, me, gay-rights activists, and even Stoupe and Vinnie Paz.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 16, 2010

Rest in Beats, T Banga

Let the tributes begin
This past Sunday, the Bean rap scene lost one of its most enthusiastic supporters and most hard-working executive producers.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 10, 2010

Steady business

Poorly Drawn People's Reason and Falside remain in motion
"Poorly Drawn People has some new members, and a new way of doing biz."
By CHRIS CONTI | June 02, 2010

Mr. Incongeniality

Bomshot makes a better MC than neighbor
The night before this interview, Bomshot pulled what might go down as the most boneheaded stunt in Boston hip-hop history when, in the middle of a crowded Slaine and Ill Bill show at Harpers Ferry, he attempted to cheap-shot the former from behind.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 26, 2010

The Big Hurt: Reed goes to the dogs

Plus Weezy debudded, Ant derided, Michaels bandanna’d
More evidence of the sickening barbarity of America’s penal institutions: Lil Wayne is being hassled because officers found headphones and the charger for an MP3 player in his cell.
By DAVID THORPE | May 25, 2010

Homeboy Sandman | The Good Sun

High Water Music (2010)
If you’re not listening to Homeboy Sandman, you may be missing the most stylistically agile MC ever to spit. And if you don’t cop his official debut, then you’re depriving yourself of an album that’s worthy of more superlatives than could possibly fit in this or any other review space.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 26, 2010

The Big Hurt: Shill crazy

The week in corporate sponsorships
You know, I might stop following real music journalism altogether. Press releases are so much better. Just when I start thinking it’s a slow week in silly pop news, I check the PR wire — a/k/a the bottom of the barrel — and dig up two of the greatest items I’ve ever seen .
By DAVID THORPE | May 21, 2010

Slideshow: History of Guru and Gang Starr

A collection of videos, photos, music and more from our archives
Here is our salute – in photo, audio, video, and writing – to a Roxbury legend and the vast Gang Starr legacy he left behind.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 24, 2010

Various Artists | A Boston State Of Mind Volume 2

Commonwealth (2010)
Every night, when I get home from reporting facts, I poison the Internet with innuendo on a Boston-based hip-hop blog called jumptheturnstyle.com.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 19, 2010

Hearing voices

Dave Tompkins chases the Vocoder in his book How To Wreck a Nice Beach
Don’t be fooled by its textbook appearance — How To Wreck a Nice Beach (Melville House/Stop Smiling) is hardly a dry anthropological study of “The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop,” as the subtitle suggests.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 14, 2010

Dese | Dese Be With You

Cursed Out (2010)
Before Sam Adams, sleazy Boston co-eds relied on the Camp to get their panties moist.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 17, 2010

Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest 2010

For Unity Fest, the show must go on (for real this time)
An optimist would say that, despite some serious disappointments, last year’s Third Annual Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest demonstrated just how peaceful the Bean rap scene really is.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 12, 2010

Li(f)e story

Sage Francis gets by with a lot of help from his friends
Should nothing change over the next couple of months, July will mark one year since Providence’s Sage Francis — who comes to the Middle East this Wednesday — has written or recorded a single verse.
By REYAN ALI | May 07, 2010

Hustle and flow

Let us tell you about M-Dot — before he does
M-Dot is live on Brookline Ave, chopping it up with nurses, businessmen, and co-eds.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 27, 2010

The Big Hurt: The week in death

RIP Chilton, Guru, and editorial tact
Back in January, I predicted that, because of medical advances and the prospect of universal health care, no musicians would die in this decade. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way.
By DAVID THORPE | April 27, 2010

Rip Shop | The Authenticity

Drama House (2010)
Rip Shop should be one of the first names you mention when recalling Boston’s early-2000s underground rap renaissance.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 27, 2010

Review: Spose at Post Road Tavern

Music Seen
Spose, live at the Post Road Tavern, Ogunquit, April 21
By BRIDGET M. BURNS | April 28, 2010

Guru death mystery

Rapper’s final days mired in controversy
As mysterious as Guru was in his later years, the Roxbury-bred rap-and-jazz legend may soon prove to be more so in death.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 21, 2010

Legends of Bucktown

Sean Price and the second coming of Duck Down
Despite his notorious blunt-scented halitosis, Sean Price feels terrific these days.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 13, 2010

Label makers

Ruste Juxx and Marco Polo talk Duck Down
To keep tabs on how Duck Down maintains its hardcore tradition despite also expanding with MTV-friendly acts like Kidz in the Hall, you need look no farther than Ruste Juxx and Marco Polo.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 13, 2010

Crossword: ''Repeat offenders''

It's just overkill
It's just overkill
By MATT JONES | April 15, 2010

Kid vicious

Juiceboxxx cares not for your nerdcore
It’s not easy being a rapper from Wisconsin. Just ask 23-year-old hip-hop lifer Juiceboxxx.
By LEOR GALIL | April 08, 2010

At the Minimal

Mike Clouds has a beat-infused Message for you
Since 2007’s Blown Speaker Project an album full of MCs, Mike Clouds’s solo work has consisted exclusively of instrumentals, the latest being this month’s Minimal Message, a 10-track ranging from the new-agey to the electronica to more traditional boom-bip hip-hop.
By SAM PFEIFLE | April 07, 2010