Reviews

Meek Mill has come a long way from Flamers. The Philadelphia rhyme-slinger has grown tremendously in the last years, developing from a local North Philly artist to a major player in one of hip-hops hottest labels, Maybach Music Group. Since the Flamers series, to Mr...

Danny Brown Battles His Demons On The Powerful And Haunting 'Old'

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

Artist: Jay Z Reviewer: Wale Rating: Different Time Period Anniversary: 15-year Jay Z? Greatest to ever do it—hands down. No debate. If you debate you’re really just mad. You got some kinda inner joint, but he knows it though. I think th...

Artist: OutKast Reviewer: B.o.B Rating: XXL Anniversary: 10-year Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of XXL Magazine. I was like 14 or 15 when that album came out, and I used to listen to that every day and ride the bus with my duffel bags full of snacks and shit to sell. I'd ...

Since grabbing the attention of many opening for A$AP Rocky at his first headlining show in NYC two years ago, the Flatbush Zombies have cemented themselves as leaders in the Beast Coast movement. The BK flame spitters shook the blogs with D...

The intersection between rap and R&B has evolved in the last few years, allowing many artists to venture out and expand one talent into multiple talents. This cross pollination has birthed artists that can sing and dance, rap and sing, dance and rap and so much more...

Maybach Music Group’s Self Made Vol. 3 is a heat check for Rick Ross’ label. The climate of hip-hop has been subtly shifting in the last year, with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore becoming giant stars on a commercial level. Where does...

The first thing to know about the new 2 Chainz album is that the opening song is called "Fork." The second thing to know is that you probably already know what it sounds like. The beats are typically menacing and orchestral, the hooks are unbelievably catchy, and the verses swing back and forth between laugh-out-loud ridiculous and shake-your-head ridiculous...

There was a time in the late aughts when the thought of Lil Wayne being out of the larger hip-hop conversation for even a short period of time seemed near impossible, but it happened. Lil Wayne wasn’t nominated for any major MTV Video Music Awards or BET Awards this year, and he’s been receding from the spotlight for a bit. These deve...

In an industry where men are often the dominate figures, female lyricist Rapsody has clearly figured out how to shine through in the rap game. The North Carolina native has been signed with 9th Wonder’s A Wonderful World Music Group since 2008 but has made sure not to allow the legend’s reputation overshadow her potential. Putting ou...

Big Sean is in a different zone. Just a few years ago, Sean was working his way up to becoming the ambassador for his city with a number of mixtapes that caught fire, namely 2010’s Finally Famous Vol 3: Big and 2012's Detroit. In a successful attempt at finding a larger audience, Sean’s delivered plenty of potential crossover tracks such as “High Rise,” “Memories” and “Mula.” While those became hu