New World

 •  XXL Magazine  •  by XXL Staff  •  48 Comments

On June 10 of this year, Hummingbyrd, the mind behind a blog called Model Minority (modelminority.blogspot.com), asked, “What if Rakim had the Internet?” Among the answers she provided to her own question, Hummingbyrd stated that if Rakim had the Internet ...

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January/February 2007

 •  XXL Magazine  •  by XXL Staff  •  37 Comments

Cover Stories "THE UNDENIABLE" He got rapper of the year one time in a row (so far). How can YOUNG JEEZY keep his winning streak going? Motivation. Inspiration. Perspiration. Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh! "LET IT GO" He made up with Jay-Z and signed to Def Jam. Now ...

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Baltimore’s little miracles

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  149 Comments

Warning: If you're like Rey and your premium cable got shut off earlier this year for non-payment, you might want to pass on this post. I'll be discussing issues and events that take place in the fourth season of HBO's ...

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Lil’ Wayne vs. Jay-Z

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  477 Comments

"I'm not feeling it. All the hype, all the ass kissing, I'm not feeling it you know? It's like, this is supposed to be the best rapper alive, and we're getting this warmed over garbage." —Lil' Bow Wow (or was it?) Well, ...

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A soul and kosher coalition

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  154 Comments

A few weeks ago, when I saw that weird anti-semitism PSA featuring Russell Simmons and, of course, Jay-Z, I knew something was up. I just wasn't sure what. To be sure, combating anti-semitism is a perfectly worthwhile cause. At the risk ...

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Build or destroy?

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  92 Comments

The cat’s out of the bag, folks. On the off chance that you don’t already know, let me just get this out there: I’m a lover, not a hater. Make no mistake, I don’t love anybody in the music world ...

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Clipse catch a brick

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  180 Comments

"A fucking DISASTER! According to hitsdailydouble, Jay-Z sold 133,146 records last week, a whopping drop of 81%. In other words, ALL BETS ARE OFF!" —Bob Lefsetz, music industry legend Again it's Wednesday, so you know what that means. Time for yet another ...

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Young Jeezy
The Undeniable

 •  XXL Magazine  •  by XXL Staff  •  171 Comments

They call it Sprawl City, and with good reason. As big as it is and with as much land as it consumes in its ever-outward push—it’s the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the country, though its official city limits hold fewer ...

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