Whether you like it or not, hip-hop is prime fodder for reality TV. From rapper-versus-rapper competitions to melodramatic relationship exposés, the inherent drama of the rap world offers a goldmine of opportunities for television producers. With the most recent success of the Love And Hip-Hop series, producers have even less of a reason to avoid turning the cameras on rappers’ real lives.

XXL has decided to explore hip-hop’s history with the television subgenre. From the good, to the bad, to the down-right morally repugnant, here are 17 rappers who found fame and fortune with reality TV.

The post 17 Rappers Who Became Reality TV Stars appeared first on XXL.

May is coming to a close, and that means that most schools around the country will be out for summer. With that in mind, XXL decided to dig into the archives and look back at some of our favorite rappers when they were still in school. Now, here’s a collection of 35 yearbook photos from some of hip-hop’s biggest acts.

The post 35 Yearbook Photos Of Rappers appeared first on XXL.

At one point in time, hip-hop music wasn’t the major musical force that it is today; it was a fad relegated to the South Bronx, where DJs cut between drum breaks for a young crop of dancers to spin on their head to in the park. Flash forward 40 years, and hip-hop has become one of the most recognized forms of popular music. With that expansion, the genre’s gained millions of new fans from all walks of life.

Now, XXL has decided to investigate some of hip-hop’s most surprising devotees. From A-list actors to all-star athletes, it’s a testament to how big hip-hop has become.

The post Bigger Than Hip-Hop: 22 Unexpected Celebrity Hip-Hop Heads appeared first on XXL.

The NBA playoffs are in full-swing, and with only four series left, it’s coming down to the final moment to determine which team’s the league champion. But the NBA playoffs aren’t only good watching high intensity basketball; they’re also prime events at which to see your favorite rapper (if you’re into that kinda thing).

Now, XXL has put together a gallery of 28 photographs of rappers hanging out courtside at basketball games.

The post Kings Of Courtside: 28 Pictures Of Rappers At NBA Games appeared first on XXL.

This Sunday, the staffers at XXL will be celebrating Mother’s Day and honoring the beautiful women who brought us into this world, and we suggest you do the same. To commemorate the day, we compiled a list of gifts our favorite rappers are getting for their moms, in case you last-minute shoppers need some ideas.

On a music note, this past week was an eventful one. On Thursday, we published an exclusive interview with Vic Mensa, the former lead singer of the now-broken-up Kids These Days. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis made Billboard history when their new single “Can’t Hold Us” hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, forcing us to take a look back at some other independent success stories. And Chance The Rapper has continued to dominate our office’s airwaves, so if you haven’t checked out his new mixtape yet, do so.

In our weekly column called In The Cut, the diversely-opinionated XXL staff celebrates another lively week in hip-hop and picks some of their favorite releases from the past week. Some are songs, some are videos, all are incredible in their own way. Until next week—stay trendy, rap fans.

The post In The Cut: The-Dream & eXquire Made XXL’s Top Songs Of The Week appeared first on XXL.

On 2005′s “Old School Rules” by Danger Doom, Talib Kweli raps that, “I might be buggin but it seem to me/That cartoons be realer than reality TV.” While we could easily enumerate a number of reasons why Kweli’s lyric is a bold hyperbole to make – namely because they’re cartoons – it definitely speaks to hip-hop’s longstanding history with the animated arts. Whether it’s Kid ‘n Play’s short-lived animated series or the Gorillaz actually being animated, hip-hop has been all over the map when it comes to cartoons.  Now, XXL has put together a list of 23 hilarious hip-hop moments in televised cartoon history.

The post From Freaknik To Fishsticks: 23 Hilarious Hip-Hop Moments In Cartoons appeared first on XXL.

Yesterday, Snoop Dogg threw fans for a loop when he confirmed that his pimp persona was less of a rap get-up and more of a full-blown side hustle. And Snoop wasn’t a simp of a pimp, either; according to the D-O-G-G, he was working with an exclusive celebrity clientele base throughout. While we’re not 100% convinced that Snoop is telling the total truth – no real pimp ever said “It was never about the money” – it definitely explains a lot about his late ’90s, early 2000′s attire. Now, let’s take a look back at Snoop’s most pimptastic moments.

The post Big Pimpin’: 20 Pics Of Snoop Dogg Looking Like A Pimp appeared first on XXL.

Snoop Dogg, a.k.a. Snoop Lion, has made enough songs about pimping to convince his fans that he might have been one. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, the West Coast rapper shares his past days as a pimp, confirming at one point he was living that life.

“I did a Playboy tour, and I had a bus follow me with ten bitches on it. I could fire a bitch, fuck a bitch, get a new ho: It was my program. City to city, titty to titty, hotel room to hotel room, athlete to athlete, entertainer to entertainer.”

But that’s not all. Snoop claims that professional athletes would indulge in his services. “If I’m in a city where where the Denver Broncos or the Nuggets play, I get a couple of they players to come hang out, pick and choose, and whichever one you like comes with a number. A lot of athletes bought pussy from me.”

While most pimps would make a large profits off their clientele, Snoop was nice enough to let his girls keep the money. “I’d act like I’d take the money from the bitch, but I’d let her have it. It was never about the money; it was about the fascination of being a pimp . . . As a kid I dreamed of being a pimp, I dreamed of having cars and clothes and bitches to match. I said, ‘Fuck it – I’m finna do it.’”

Read the rest of the article over at Rolling Stone, where he reveals how his wife Shante Broadus stuck with him throughout it all.

And just cause (Yeah b*tch I got my Now and Later gators on/I’m bout to show you how my pimp hand is way strong):

The post Snoop Dogg Opens Up About His Pimping Past: “It Was My Program” appeared first on XXL.

Yesterday, the world of music was rocked when news broke that Rihanna and Chris Brown had finally called it quits. It was surely a tragic day for the dozens – and that’s a generous estimate – of people out there that genuinely care. But the news got XXL‘s staff thinking – isn’t this something we really should’ve seen coming? We’ve all heard the rumors of love triangles between Drake, RiRi and Chris, but we suspect that Drizzy’s not the only one. That being said, here’s 21 photos of Rihanna with Breezy’s rap game peers.

The post 21 Pictures Of Rihanna With Rappers appeared first on XXL.

Rappers have a strange relationship with the cinematic arts. While a few truly talented MCs have parlayed their musical fame into successful and rewarding cinematic careers, a greater number of others have dived head-first into the world of film and royally bombed. Artists like Vanilla Ice, Busta Rhymes, Run-DMC and dozens of others all jumped at the chance to act, and all failed miserably. But that doesn’t mean every rapper who acted didn’t deliver. Now, XXL has compiled a list of 22 film performances from rappers that are worth watching.

The post Who’s Got The Juice: 22 Rappers Who Can Actually Act appeared first on XXL.

There’s a lot of things fans are accustomed to seeing their favorite MCs featuring in their pictures and videos – fancy cars, gold chains, beautiful women – the list goes on ad infinitum. However, there is one thing that most wouldn’t expect to see in a flick with a successful rapper: a puppet. Believe it or not, many hip-hop icons have deep history with puppetry. Eminem beefed with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Kanye West almost had a TV comedy with puppets, and Masta Ace even had a Biz Markie puppet for a video. Now, XXL has assembled a list of 27 pictures of rappers chilling with their puppet friends.

The post 27 Pictures Of Rappers With Puppets appeared first on XXL.

Throughout my day with Mac Miller, Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous—for better or worse, the movie that makes anyone want to become a music writer—comes up in conversation a lot, especially the last scene. In the scene, Russell Hammond, lead singer of Stillwater—a band that main character William Miller is commissioned to write a Rolling Stone cover story on—approaches Miller cautiously and alone, and says the famous line, “Just make us look cool, man.” It’s heartbreaking, because by this point the main character has seen so much of the band and who they are as individuals, and more importantly, who they aren’t, and Hammond pleads with him to ignore the rest and just make them look cool. Mac jokes that most journalists (including past writers at XXL) often miss the mark when writing a story about him, picking quotes and placing them in convenient places to tell an incomplete story, but all he really wants is to look cool. It’s not that he feels misunderstood in the artsy “You’ll never understand me” way; he just feels uncomfortable about always being labeled as something. So, I ask him, if he had the chance to write his own feature story about himself, what would it be about? He thinks about this throughout the day. 

It’s a quarter to 5, and Mac Miller and I are idling in a holding area in the underbelly of New York’s Beacon Theatre, waiting for his chauffeur to pull up and take us back to Mac’s hotel in the Meatpacking District. He just finished getting onstage at an event called MTV Up Front, during which the stars of various MTV shows like Catfish, Teen Wolf and The Show With Vinny awkwardly present their shows to potential ad buyers. The whole thing feels like some old-world ritualistic event where aging farmers offer their fertile daughters to willing suitors.

Mac is here because his (actually hilarious) MTV2 show, Mac Miller And The Most Dope Family, has recently been renewed for a second season, which is exciting news, but Mac’s exhausted. Earlier, Mac was backstage, anxiously pacing around a room filled with “talent” and MTV execs for close to an hour, memorizing his three or four lines. A member of Mac’s management team, Artie Pitt—who’s also the VP of Rostrum Records, the boutique label that first signed Mac—and friend Q (Quentin Chandler, co-head of Mac’s Most Dope brand) tried in vain to calm him down, but he finally looked over at me and explained, “My brain is just in crisis mode right now.” The reason being that he spent the past four days without sleep in a last-ditch effort to finalize his sophomore LP, Watching Movies With The Sound Off. The work paid off, and he’s turned the album in to be mixed and mastered, but dude is on-edge.

When Artie tried to tell Mac his nerves were all in his head, Mac jokingly lashed out, “You can’t tell me how I feel! Why are you telling me it’s all in my head? Everything is in my head.” The MTV starlets looked uneasy, huddled in a corner of the room, looking down so as to not be involved in the argument, even if it wasn’t real. When Mac mentioned that he was making the girls uncomfortable because they don’t know who he is, Artie looked over at them and dropped the incredible famous rapper line: “Do you know who he is?” In a mix of laughter and exhalation, the mood lightened, but Mac still feels really out of place at events like this, admitting, “The reason I don’t like to do this stuff is because I don’t really get what it’s all about.” But, he knows that as an independent rapper with a major TV show, there are certain things he has to do.

Back in Beacon Theatre’s underbelly, we’re still waiting for the chauffeur when we suddenly hear chants and screams as an oversized, blacked-out Mercedes van pulls up to the venue. When its doors open, the entire Upper West Side block we’re standing on is engulfed in a cloud of weed smoke, giving everyone from security guards to the tween girls yelling for attention a contact high. It’s Snoop Lion. As he exits the van, he glides—literally, he doesn’t walk, he glides—through the handlers and moves toward Mac. The two shake hands and catch up, getting along like old friends, which is really strange to watch considering their 20-year age difference. They must be kindred spirits.

Snoop is apparently a surprise guest at Up Front and mentions to Mac that he’d love to be on Most Dope Family‘s second season, which starts shooting in L.A. in August. Snoop then asks Mac what he’s up to tonight, to which Mac ashamedly responds, “I think I might just rest. And I’m never that dude, but…” You can tell he’s tired, but you can also tell by the way he lets his voice trail off that he might get into some fun tonight. Snoop persists and tells him that he’s headed to The Box—an exclusive burlesque/performance art space in the Lower East Side—later, around 2 in the morning. While Mac’s never been, Snoop tells him it’s one of his favorite attractions in New York City and that he’s been six or seven times. He explains, “There’s some nice pieces in there, but there’s some weird shit in there, too. It’s more weird than anything, but we the type of motherfuckers that like that shit. The homies may trip, but you definitely gotta go look at it.” Mac, still unsure, asks, “Is the shit that goes down in there…illegal?” Snoop knowingly laughs, then says, “You can do anything. It’s like a porno movie… there’s transvestites, hermaphrodites, everything. You just gotta have an open mind.” As he starts to walk away, Snoop mentions, “I got that shit, too. That California shit” and winks at us. If Mac was considering heading to The Box before Snoop said that, this definitely wins him over.

And just like that, Snoop glides away and heads back to his van, but not before dapping and taking pictures with the screaming fans waiting to get a glimpse of Mac. When we finally exit, Mac runs by the fans with a barrage of high-fives, like a basketball player running onto his home court as he’s introduced, but leaves most of them gasping and yelling for more. As we get into the SUV and drive off, we hear screams like “We love you and you won’t even take a picture?!”, “Really, Mac?”, and “Are you fucking serious?” There are a lot of boos, too. Mac is kind of upset with Snoop for showing him up—”Why’d he have to do that? He fucked it up for everybody!” but Q tries to justify Snoop’s friendliness, arguing, “That’s why you can’t tease ‘em! A nigga like Snoop, who’s done this shit for years, he knows all you gotta do is hop in the picture real quick and breeze through that shit.” Mac’s learning, but he’s still bitter. “If Snoop wouldn’t have done that, to keep it real, I would’ve been on top.” He might be right, but I’m pretty sure it’s a hard fact—similar to facts like the Earth is round and JFK was assassinated—that you can’t compete with Snoop when it comes to charming fans, even if they’re your fans to begin with.

As we patiently sit in traffic and slowly make our way downtown, Hot 97′s DJ Enuff tweets about Mac’s trippy new video for “SDS,” starting his tweet with, “Jewish indie superstar Mac Miller…” Mac carefully tries to piece together a joke about the tweet and eventually wonders, “Like, what if every time they tweeted something they called out someone’s race or ethnicity, like, ‘Black football player…’” Everyone laughs. “It’s so funny, that was the whole thing, like ‘The Jewish kid is good at business. What a surprise.’” As he thinks back on the ways that fans have tried to come at him in the past—including a rabid follower who yelled “I’m Jewish, too!”—Mac becomes incredulous with the fact that people, mostly kids (why weren’t they in school?), stood outside for so long to spot a celebrity. “Why? Like, who’s there that’s really that interesting?” Artie quickly responds, “You,” but it takes Mac a second to remember that he’s a mainstream celebrity now. Looking at him—a 21-year-old red/brown-haired kid with a tiny bit of a beer belly and full sleeve tattoos on both arms (as well as the knuckle tats that read “MOST DOPE” in old English)—it can be easy to forget.

Continue reading…

The post Kids Just Want To Look Cool: My Day With Mac Miller appeared first on XXL.

This week found hip-hop more or less absent from the top ten spots on the Billboard Top 100 chart – however, Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience and Kid Cudi’s Indicud held steady at #3 and #7, respectively. Debuting on the charts this week is will.i.am’s #Power, which broke through at #9 with nearly 30,000 units sold, and Snoop Dogg’s Reincarnated, which landed at#17 with little over 20,000 in sales.

Check out the top 50 entries on the Billboard Top 100 this week below.

1. Michael Buble – To Be Love – 203,115
2. Fantasia – Side Effects of You – 87,435
3. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience – 75,525
4. Phoenix – Bankrupt! – 48,947
5. Fall Out Boy – Save Rock and Roll – 39,659
6. Blake Shelton – Based on a True Story – 35,430
7. Kid Cudi – Indicud – 31,951
8. P!nk – Truth About Love – 29,491
9. will.i.am – #Power – 29,446
10. Rob Zombie – Venomous Rat Regeneration Vender – 28,359
11. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – The Heist – 27,878
12. Lil Wayne – I Am Not A Human Being II – 25,175
13. Bruno Mars – Unorthodox Jukebox – 24,568
14. The Band Perry – Pioneer – 23,243
15. Imagine Dragons – Night Visions – 21,423
16. Georgia Florida Line – Here’s to the Good Times – 20,906
17. Snoop Lion – Reincarnated – 20,385
18. Mumford and Sons – Babel – 17,322
19. Brad Paisley – Wheelhouse – 16,264
20. Tate Stevens – Tate Stevens – 16,188
21. Fun. – Some Nights – 15,386
22. Rihanna – Unapologetic – 15,081
23. Lumineers – Lumineers – 4,686
24. Luke Bryan – Spring Break…Here to Party – 14,314
25. Steve Martin and Eddie Brickell – Love Has Come For You – 14,094
26. Adele - 21 – 13,275
27. Paramore – Paramore – 13,231
28. Taylor Swift – Red – 12,372
29. Eric Church – Caught in the Act – 12,320
30. Tyga – Hotel California – 11,571
31. Pitch Perfect – Sountrack – 10,223
32. Jason Aldean – Night Train – 10,209
33. Eric Church – Chief – 10,108
34. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito – 9,765
35. Maroon 5 – Overexposed – 9,520
36. Now That’s What I Call Music 45 – v/a – 9,338
37. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city – 9,280
38. Luke Bryan – Tailgates and Tanlines – 9,222
39. The Neighbourhood – I Love You – 9,110
40. Little Big Town – Tornado – 9,085
41. Alan Jackson – Precious Memories, Vol. II – 8,950
42. George Jones – 16 Biggest Hits – 8,874
43. Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls – 8,761
44. Phillip Phillips – World From the Other Side of the Moon – 8,482
45. Kelly Clarkson – Greatest Hits – Chapter 1 – 8,287
46. Tim McGraw – Two Lanes of Freedom – 8,162
47. Carrie Underwood – Blown Away – 8,002
48. Volbeat – Outlaw Gentleman and Shady Ladies – 7,605
49. Depeche Mode – Delta Machine – 7,205
50. Hunter Hayes – Hunter Hayes – 7,183

The post Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake Stay In The Top Ten On Sales Charts appeared first on XXL.

The post Always Reppin’: Photos of Rappers Throwing Signs appeared first on XXL.

It looks even the strong arm of the law is unable to keep Snoop Dogg from enjoying that puff-puff pass.

In a recent interview 92.3 Now, the L.B.C. all-star said that police did not shut down his 4-20 smoke-out party as previously reported. He noted that while police did show up with the intention of shutting the event down, he explained to the police chief in charge that the event was sanctioned and legal in accordance with California’s medical marijuana laws. Snoop even joked that he saved the officers some blunts for when they were off the clock.

“The Police tried to shut the party down,” he said. “Then once I got there we had a conversation with the police and they allowed the party to continue, because it was a holiday; It was an international holiday – 4/20. My partner pulled [the police chief] to the side. He was a great, great chief and he was willing to understand. We just trying to party chief. We doing a millon other things, we just trying to smoke and have a good time. And the chief was like, ‘Save me a couple of blizys and I’ll let y’all have your party.’”

He added, “We all had our license and everybody was legit and the police went on by their way. We had a great time. It continued on until the break of dawn.”

[via 92.3 Now]

The post Snoop Dogg Denies Police Bust At 4-20 Party appeared first on XXL.

After weeks of controversy surrounding Rick Ross’ date rape lyric on Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O.,” Snoop Dogg comes to the Miami rapper’s defense.

In a recent interview with MTV’s “RapFix Live,” Uncle Snoop spoke on Ross’ incendiary lyrics and subsequent loss of his Reebok sponsorship, saying that artists should have the right to free expression. He also added that Reebok shouldn’t have hired Rozay if it wasn’t willing to back him up.

“We as rappers we have a freedom of speech and our dialect shouldn’t be taken so out of context,” he said. “He has the right to speak on whatever he wants to speak on and that’s his perspective. Me personally, as a rapper, I don’t have no regrets about what I say, so I wouldn’t give a damn about endorsement deals or none of that. If y’all cut me loose than y’all weren’t meant to be with me — that’s what I say.”

He continued, “When you’re buying Snoop Dogg you’re buying all that that come with it; when you’re buying Rozay, you’re buying all that come with it. You know what his lifestyle is about, you know what his music is about, so you have to engulf all of that. If you’re not willing to take all that on, then step out of the way and stop playing and acting like he’s bringing harm to your company.”

[via MTV]

The post Snoop Dogg Defends Rick Ross’ “Freedom Of Speech” appeared first on XXL.

This week fins Snoop Lion releasing his long-awaited debut reggae album Reincarnated, which sports features from Drake, T.I., Miley Cyrus and a host of others. At the same time, Mitchy Slick drops his newest album Feet Match the Paint, while Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa commemorating 4-20 with the release of Live In Concert. On the singles front, Mac Miller released his Flying Lotus-produced single “S.D.S.” off his upcoming sophomore release Watching Movies with the Sound Off.

New Album Releases

Snoop Lion – Reincarnated
Curren$y & Wiz Khalifa – Live in Concert
Mitchy Slick – Feet Match The Paint

New Singles Releases

Mac Miller – “S.D.S.”
Snoop Lion feat. T.I. – “No Regrets”
King Los feat. Diddy and Ludacris – “Disappointed”

The post Recap: New Releases & Album Sales, Ending 4/17/2013 appeared first on XXL.

On his latest Drake-assisted single “No Guns Allowed,” Snoop Lion voiced his support for increased gun control in the United States. Now, with Congress putting a halt on the proposition to intensify background checks for buying firearms, the LBC all-star has a special message for Congress.

Snoop told Congress to “get off your ass” with regards to passing increased measures for gun control. He explained that after the tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the government needs to do something to curb gun violence in America.

“Politicians, you all got to pay attention, man – this world that we live in, it’s so easy to get your hands on a gun,” he said. “You’ve got to put some restrictions or ramifications on it. I can go outside right now and buy a gun. Easy. Just like that. You all should really think about it before it hits home, before it hits one of your family members or it hits you or affects someone personally that you know.”

He continued, “Those kids that lost their lives in Connecticut, those kids that keep losing their lives, innocent people who keep losing their lives; we have to speak up for them. We have to do something. We have to make a change. If we don’t do nothing, it’s going to hit us. If I can say it and I can mean it — Goddammit, get off your ass and make it happen.”

[via BET]

The post Snoop Dogg Tells Congress “Get Off Your A**” With Gun Control appeared first on XXL.

The DPG’s are back working on a new LP which should be dropping later on in 2013. Here, Daz and Kurupt link up with Snoop Dogg for the League of Starz produced single, “U Don’t Know Me.” Act like you know.

The post Tha Dogg Pound ft Snoop Dogg “U Don’t Know Me Like That” appeared first on XXL.

Snoop Dogg had a huge party yesterday (April 20) to celebrate the cannabis holiday, but unfortunately the shindig was shut down by the cops before Mr. Lion even arrived, according to a report by TMZ. The party, dubbed Snoop Lion 4/20 Festival, was set up in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills. But, once neighbors saw all the cars, heard the loud music and got a whiff of what was going on, the police were called in. The festivities were shut down, with the man of the hour showing up just as people were being told to go home. According to the report, Snoop was cooperative and no arrests were made. What a buzz kill.

The post Snoop Dogg’s 4/20 Celebration In Hollywood Hills Shut Down By Police appeared first on XXL.