Reviews

With a markedly cohesive feel courtesy of it’s dreamy production, LE$’s newest mixtape may be the most complete project the Houston rapper has put out to date. E36 arrived earlier this week with smooth, feel good records that are about as car-stereo ready as you can get. Finding a ...

Kid Ink has proven through numerous mixtapes that he's a viable rapper coming out of the West Coast scene. Since carrying the torch for Los Angeles alongside Hopsin on the 2012 XXL Freshman cover, Ink's transitioned from an indie success story (Up & Away sold 20,000 units in it's first week on stands) to a major label prospect with major commercial potential. His first single "Bad Ass&quo

The acronym of Luda’s latest mixtape, #IDGAF, sums up the release pretty accurately. From the beginning of the tape, it’s apparent that Ludacris indeed does not give a fuck, particularly when it comes to making any changes to his club-anthem approach to making music of late. Earlier Lu...

On first listen, Travi$ Scott's long-awaited advent project plays out like a high-octane scene from the 1982 cult film, Blade Runner. There are raging, futuristic synths, bombastic bass lines, and they’re all layered under this mysterious, trippy ambience. Upon furt...

What French Montana has always lacked in technical ability, he’s made up for with personality. French is a stone cold charmer; a Waka Flocka Flame with less energy in many ways. Like Waka, his approach to music is similar to that of a high school football jock who decides he can do anything—act in plays, do well academically, and invevitably, rap— so he does it all in an earnest and sincere way. E

It’s been a year since the release of Mykki Blanco’s breakout video, “Join My Militia (Nas Gave Me A Perm).” Since then, he’s been on both North American and European tours, covered The Village Voice and has arguably been the only artist to shake the “queer rap” tag. When he previewed his newly released EP, Bett...

Gucci Mane’s overwhelming onslaught of music of late has been a lot to keep up with, even for the most diehard of fans. 2013 has already seen five mixtapes from Big Guwop, and while this level of output is nothing new for him, his music has certainly taken a turn into slightly different territory. Trap...

Since XXL premiered Big Baby Gandhi's new EP earlier this week, everyone on the Internet's been cyber-yelling that Gandhi's — who famously quit rap in January to go back to school and get his degree — back. But, to be clear, the Queens-bred Bangladeshi rhymer is not back, he just put out a new project (which is only new because it's new to listeners). With that said, his "new" EP w... Re

While T.I.’s certainly no novice to the world of rapper-run-labels, first co-founding Grand Hustle Records in 2003, last week’s G.D.O.D. marked the first group project from T.I.’s Hustle Gang (the moniker chosen to represent the collective of Grand hustle signees). Boasting a well-...

When asked earlier this year about the concept of his upcoming album, Queensbridge MC Havoc simply replied, “This is about being me.” At the time, the response was taken as a declaration of severance from his longtime partner in music, Prodigy, who Havoc got in an ugly public spat with in 2012.  Supposedl...

Just over a year ago, Chance the Rapper released his debut mixtape #10Day, a project inspired by a suspension from school in his senior year. It showcased a promising young man with raw talent and sharp instincts. Now, after much hype, Chance returns with his sophomore effort Acid Rap, a complicated, comprehensive journey into the curious mind of an artist starting to come into their own... Read M

It’s been a long time coming for Los. After the release of his The Crown Ain’t Safe mixtape, suitors came from far and wide to sign the DMV flamespitter. Interestingly enough, Los ended up returning to Bad Boy Records in 2012, the label he was previously signed to that failed to utilize his lyrical skillset and cut him lose in 2008. Whether he’...