XXL Mag

After congress failed to reach a compromise on the budget last night, the U.S. federal government officially was shut down at midnight on October 1. The GOP-controlled House Of Representatives continued to demand changes in Obamacare, seeking to defund the new healthcare initiative as the price of funding standard federal activities which the Democratically-controlled Senate sees as a non-starter

Cam'ron is finally set to drop his upcoming mixtape, Ghetto Heaven Vol. 1, tonight at 7 p.m. The mixtape was originally schedule to drop on July 4 but was pushed back. Hours before Killa Cam takes over the Internet tonight, he releases the tracklist for his new project...

Phonte is a noted fan of Breaking Bad, and often takes to Twitter to unload his opinions on both that show and others. Last night, he began comparing rappers to different television shows, with entertaining results and some spot-on parallels; Jay Z as The Wire, Nas as Breaking Bad and Rakim as The Sopranos being the holy trinity that he identifies. Check the twe...

The Kid Daytona’s upcoming album Savoir Faire is set to release on October 29. The Bronx native drops off one more leak called “Damier Suitcases” from the project and it features Raekwon. Over a soulful backdrop, the two NY MCs wax poetic about their high-end lifestyles and traveling around the world. While it’s a typ...

In the November 2013 issue of famed publication Vanity Fair, Jay Z will be gracing the upcoming cover of the magazine. In the magazine's cover story written by Lisa Robinson, Hov opens up about selling drugs, his daughter's musical tastes his candid thoughts on Obama winning the election and responds to Forbes recent estimation of his $500 million dollar financial worth...

Explaining that he was less conscious about his image when he first started in the hip-hop game, B.o.B says that with his new album he will indeed unveil all of himself. Though at first he was not too concerned about which records he appeared on, the rapper now wants to stray away from the pop genre and return to his hip-hop roots...

Top Dawg Entertainment is definitely a record label on the rise, with a roster that includes Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and up-and-coming songtress, SZA. Next up is 21-year-old Chattanooga, Tennessee spitter Isaiah Rashad who recently signed on the dotted line with the burgeoning imprint...

This year’s biggest hip-hop releases—from Drake’s Nothing Was The Same to Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail—were driven by a desire to capitalize on today’s social media-centered zeitgeist. This is a necessary tactic when you’re trying to make a case as a central voice in media and pop culture, and both those albums succeeded in their goals to varying degrees. What makes the quietly anticipated Event

A day after finally dropping their luxury-dipped video for "Versace," Migos teams back up with Rich The Kid for the second installment of their mixtape series, Streets On Lock 2. The tape, 14 tracks long bookended by a quick intro/outro, features production from Zaytoven, MurdaBeatz, MPC Cartel, StackBoyTwan, Knucklehead and Mercy, while PeeWee LongWay, Chill Will, Yakki Diviosi and Jose

Iggy Azelea is on the cover of Paper magazine's October issue. The 2012 XXL Freshman class member has been making waves in hip-hop recently, putting out her hit single "Work," signing to Island Def Jam in April and gearing up for her upcoming major-label debut LP, The New Classic. The 23-y...

Photography By: Lucas Farrar (@MrFarFetched) Last night (September 30) marked a big moment for Danny Brown. The Detroit MC’s debut album, Old, isn’t releasing until October 8, but fans have the opportunity to stream it in full on Spotify. Danny held...

The Black Album is highly regarded as one of Jay Z’s best works and coveted largely because of its production value. One of the projects most random pairings is the DJ Quik produced, “Justify My Thug.” Hov’s Life+Times recently chopped it up with the Cali rapper/beat maker for their Decoded segment and got him to break down his involvement with the song. According to Quik, he ...