XXL Mag

Nipsey Hu$$le's been awful busy of late, breaking down the barriers of what, exactly, an independent artist can achieve with a mixtape. Quickly following his Crenshaw project—which he sold for $100 as part of his Proud2Pay campaign—Nipsey will be dropping his debut album Victory Lap soon, which he says is ready to see the streets. "Victory Lap...

Yesterday, Lil Durk fans were expecting the young rapper to release his Fuckery mixtape. However, Def Jam had different plans. The record label reportedly postponed the Chiraq soldier’s Signed To The Streets follow up project.  The teenage rapper revealed the announcement via his Twitter account. DEFJAM t...

Lyor Cohen had a very interesting article in the New York Times where he shared light on how he spends his Sundays. Cohen, age 54, shares his Sunday rituals using football analogies to describe each part of his day. Here's what we learned ...

Vlad TV recently sat down with Chicago MC Twista to delve into the violence that continues to plague his home city today. According to the above segment, the Choppa style rapper feels that today's surge in social media use leads to heightened egos within the youth, which subsequently contributes to Chi-town's ongoing street brutality...

Hustle Hard Karen Civil started as a blogger. Now she's a power player. Words Jeff Weiss Images Dove Shore Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the December/January 2014 issue of XXL Magazine. At 29 years old, Oprah Winfrey left a local talk show in Baltimore to take over a low-rated morning TV program called AM Chicago. The ...

Alex Wiley has been mostly underground since dropping his Club Wiley mixtape this past June, choosing instead to focus on shooting videos from the project, including his visual trilogy of "Own Lane," "The Woods" and "Suck It (Revolution)." Bu...

Notable rapper MC Serch from the Hip-hop group 3rd Bass makes his debut on daytime TV in Serch. “The daytime show will be the perfect balance to that of Maury and Dr. Phil. There’s this giant chasm in the middle for somebody who can just talk to people about themselves on their own level.” Prior ...

Child stars are all the rage in today's viral culture, thanks to the Internet. Often times, the star studded influence of a certain celeb helps a parent's home video or a kid's living room routine take off before a global audience. Making waves in the World Wide Web today is a video clip of Jay Z letting one 12-year-old garner celebrity status by rapping Hov's "Clique" verse during his M

In recent history, hip-hop hasn’t heard a lot from DMX due to the Ruff Ryder experiencing his fair share of legal troubles and personal hardships. In a rare sit-down interview with European blog 359hiphop.com, The Dog finally had a chance to bark out in defense of his recent legal troubles, addressing his arrests and numerous holding cell encounters. X still g...

FLüD presents another outstanding collection for its Holiday '13 capsule. Featuring a line-up of classic timepieces from their sophisticated and prominent Jax to the stunning Richwood. There are a variety of colored bands with each watch that way you can make time more personable with more options available. Fro...

2014 is upon us, and with it many promises and predictions from rappers and producers alike. While last year may have been the year that most of the heavyweights weighed in—Drake, Jay Z, Kanye West, Eminem—this year the hip-hop world seems, if possible, even more excited to see what's coming up. Will Rick ...

Justin Bieber strings along none other than Mr. Solo Dolo himself into the studio. After sharing via Instagram a photo of the two posted up in front of the console –– Justin gazing deeply into the camera, while Cudder flips the bird –– fans are left only to speculate about the kind of dopeness these two are cooking up. Stay tuned. 'Til th...