XXL Mag

Last night, the movers and shakers in the hip-hop industry descended upon Atlanta for the taping of the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards. As usual, much interest was placed on the always entertaining cyphers. Could the segment top years past? Will there be a newcomer to come along and turn heads...

Putting together Big Sean's Hall of Fame was no simple process, but, after numerous false starts the LP was released in late August. Today, the Detroit rapper unveils a 23-minute documentary which chronicles the making of his second LP starting 269 days before the project's release...

Statik Selektah's June album Extended Play featured some hidden gems. Today, the producer chooses "Gz, Pimps, Hustlers" featuring Wais P for the video release.

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's uber-popular line of headphones and electronic devices just got another boost with a $500 million investment from The Carlyle Group, reports The New York Times. Beats announced the half a billion dollar boost in capital from the top private equity firm on Friday (September 27)...

Despite reports that Drake was on pace to sell over 600,000 copies of his new album, Nothing Was The Same, hip-hop was dominated by another fashionable rapper, Kanye West, this week. Kanye's interview with Zane Lowe of the BBC was the talk of the hip-hop world this week as the instantly quotable interview spawned endless lists, memes and parodies of the four-part installment. By ...

Directed by David Stunts, Killa Kyleon goes straight to work on a visual for his “Pound Cake” freestyle. The H-Town native hits the instrumental with some aggressive, yet intricate bars. You can find more of his raw flow on Lean On Me, which is available now on LiveMixtapes....

It’s no surprise that “Bound 2” is a fan favorite off Kanye West’s Yeezus. R&B legend Charlie Wilson has worked with West at some capacity and made iconic appearances on Watch The Throne and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, respectively. After hearing the news...

Rock The Bells’ cancellation in both Washington D.C. and New York was a devastating loss for hip-hop fans on the East Coast. Chang Weisberg, who is the owner of Guerilla Union and the RTB founder, says he is a “lost for words” and felt he’s “let down so many people.” There have been reports tha...

N.O.R.E. has had a solid career as a solo artist and as a member of the Queens duo Capone-N-Noreaga, including putting out the critically acclaimed debuts, The War Report and N.O.R.E. That career will soon come to an end according to the Leflak City native...

Nicki Minaj is getting to the money. The head Barb recently appeared on The Ellen Show and debuted the ad for her new fragrance Minajesty. In the David LaChapelle directed clip, Nicki runs through the forest before finding her "queendom...

So much went down in hip-hop on Twitter this week, it's hard to decide where to begin. With Kanye West unleashing an epic rant at Jimmy Kimmel, Drake releasing the video for "Hold On We're Going Home", and Lil Wayne happy to have made it to his 31st birthday; the social network had a mixed vibe from rap culture this go round...

Apple has reportedly hired Ben Shaffer who was the Director of the Innovation Kitchen which is Nike's research and product development lab. Apple is looking to build wearable technology and feel as though Shaffer is the guy to help them execute...