issue 156

Coming Of Age The past two years have been a roller coaster ride for Joey Bada$$. Now with his debut LP finally on the way, the Brooklyn MC plans to take his Pro Era movement to the next level. Words Dan Rys Images Jason Goodrich Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the October/November 2014 issue of XXL Magazine...

Crossing The Boundary Co-signs from The Game and Yelawolf are making English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran hip-hop’s new go-to collaborator. Words Dan Rys Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the October/November 2014 issue of XXL Magazine...

Tattoo My Name Tatted Up Holly is a work of art Words Sean Malcolm Images Andrew Link Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the October/November 2014 issue of XXL Magazine. "Instagram made my career... Hallelujah!" laughs Stephanie Marrero on the singular reason for her meteoric rise in the social media landscape under her moniker, Tatted Up Holly...

I'm A Boss As Lil Wayne's manager, Chief Operations Officer of Young Money Entertainment and co-CEO of The Blueprint Group, Cortez Bryant is one of the most important figures in hip-hop. Words Jeff Weiss Images Jeremy Danger Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the October/November 2014 issue of XXL Magazine...

Crew Love They made history selling millions of records as hip-hop’s most successful crew and then broke up. Now six years later, the G-Unit brothers are back together and ready to take over hip-hop again. Compiled by Vanessa Satten, Eric Diep and Miranda Johnson Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the October/November 2014 issue of XXL Magazine...

Kidd Kidd The New Member Interview by Eric Diep Most new rappers would probably look at New Orleans rhyme slinger Kidd Kidd as lucky. Sure he missed out on The Unit’s hey day and didn’t ink with G-Unit Records until the crew was already broken up, but still, the history and power of the brand will always be respected purely for what they accomplished...

The first wave of G-Unit that broke over the hip-hop landscape from 2002 until 2008 was one of the biggest movements in hip-hop history, as 50 Cent, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo led a charge to the top of the charts and sold millions of albums along the way...

Tony Yayo The Easy Going Guy Interview by Eric Diep The emotional side of Tony Yayo might’ve been the real catalyst for the G-Unit reunion. On Feb. 19, 2014, Yayo, the last to fall out with 50, made several comments to fans on Instagram about the state of G-Unit including: “to much stress I flew the world already dropped an album time to try new things and the unit not together fuck it... Read Mor

Lloyd Banks The Quiet One Interview by Miranda Johnson He might be the quiet one but there’s a lot going on in Lloyd Banks’ head. That’s usually the case with the lyrically dexterous MC who stood out in G-Unit partly because of his aloofness...

Lloyd Banks was always the softer spoken member of G-Unit, but he was also the most quick-witted, earning the Punch Line King title early on in his career. But when G-Unit disbanded, he largely took a step back from the music scene, slowly trying to forge his own way without 50 Cent's guiding hand...

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the October/November 2014 issue of XXL Magazine. All numbers updated as of Oct. 14. Related: Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” Video Breaks VEVO Record YouTube Now Offers Realtime Stats For Videos YouTube Is Blocking Indie Music Labels Who Don’t Agree With Their New Licensing Terms Subscribe To The XXL YouTube Page

Young Buck The Wild Child Interview by Vanessa Satten If any of the G-Unit members had it rough over the last six years, it’s Young Buck. The first to fall out with 50, Buck had been the most vocal against 50 after the breakup. But his own unfortunate luck took precedence over beef with Fif...