XXL Mag

If anyone has been through the industry wringer, it's Joell Ortiz. In the middle of the last decade, during hip-hop's ringtone dynasty era, the Brooklyn MC made a name for himself as a gritty, animated realist. He signed to Aftermath when the reverberations of Get Rich or Die Trying were still ringing throughout the industry, then released the independent album The Brick: Bodega Chronicles, which

Right Wing media's public crusade against hip-hop continues. Following Kendrick Lamar's powerful performance at the 2015 BET Awards, Geraldo Rivera hopped on Fox News to blast Lamar's stage time, which featured the rapper rhyming on top of a vandalized cop car ...

Trey Songz is a controlled substance and should be doled out very carefully. His turn on J.R.'s "Best Friend" is predictably on-brand, the perfect chemical balance of sleaze and sincerity, honesty and innuendo, pineapple and vodka. Fresh off of tour with Songz and Chris Brown, the upstart from St...

The Game's legal woes continue. One day after leaving the courthouse for punching an off-duty cop during a pickup basketball game, the rapper is back in the headlines for a 2013 Instagram post that is costing him a reported $200,000. According to a report from Billboard, The Game was ordered to pay his former nanny Karen Monroe over $200 racks following an Instagram rant (in full below) that accus

If you've been in or near the resort complexes on tropical islands in the Caribbean or South Pacific, you know that just about anything can be bought. We're not talking goods or services, but experiences--swim with the dolphins, cook with the locals, help birth baby sea turtles, buy a villa and dodge your student loans...

King Los drops "90s Interlude," a sultry new single featuring Omarion. Produced by Da Internz, this song is an ode to what was arguably the best era in hip-hop. King Los slows his rhymes up on his latest track, rapping about the connection he feels with a special lady...

Directed by Travis Satten (@travissatten) Produced by ApK (@weareapk) XXL's 2015 Freshman Class was revealed Wed., June 3. All this month we’ve been providing you with a behind-the-scenes look at the selection process, the photo shoot and the work it takes to pull it all together. Last week...

One of the more intriguing artists on the underground, RetcH drops Finesse The World, the follow up to 2013's acclaimed Polo Sporting Goods. With no features, RetcH offers 12 new songs and brings grimy street tales that will have listeners ready to throw on their finest 'Lo pieces and commit felonies ...

What do you do when your movie franchise about male strippers loses both Matthew McConaughey and Steven Soderbergh? Well, you cast Donald Glover and have him cover Bruno Mars songs on the soundtrack. At least, that's what the producers of Magic Mike XXL did: For the sequel to the Soderbergh-directed, Channing Tatum-starring surprise hit from 2012, Iron Horse Entertainment was forced to retool its

Tonight, an all new episode of Sisterhood of Hip Hop will be airing on Oxygen. XXL's got an exclusive clip of tonight's episode featuring Nyemiah Supreme, Siya and Irv Gotti. In the video, while in the midst of putting the finishing touches on her album, Nyemiah works through her troubles with the assistance of Irv and Siya. The s...

Check out all our coverage of the 2015 XXL Freshman Class Right Here

There's a reason why Alex Trebek has had such a long career on television. For one, the guy is pretty comical. During a recent episode of Jeopardy!, a line from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was featured as one of the answers. Rather than r...