Hip Hop and Rap

Latest Articles

Billboard's Rap Songs chart

In the immortal words of O.D.B., "Rappenin' is what's happenin'."
The Big Hurt: Who charted?
By DAVID THORPE | July 02, 2010

Halfway through my interview with the Allston-based alt-hop collective Fameless Fam about their upcoming showcase at Wonder Bar this Tuesday, Will from the posse's glitch-minded duo Time Crisis mentions that he went to high school in Pittsburgh with risi
The Fameless crew spice up the underground
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 02, 2010

Kings of Queens

When it comes to legendary hip-hop duos, Southerners salute UGK and OutKast, whereas nostalgic heads anoint EPMD, and eclectic contrarians endorse Organized Konfusion.
Why Mobb Deep are still the fittest
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 25, 2010

Taio Cruz | Rokstarr

When Taio Cruz sings, "I can't live without you," in "Take Me Back," pop-song conventions tell us he's referring to a lover.
Mercury (2010)
By MIKAEL WOOD | June 25, 2010

Dubb Sicks | Lifestyles Of The Sick And Fameless

Dubb Sicks makes no secret of his white-trash roots.
Backyard Recordings (2010)
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 25, 2010

Coming soon, unfortunately

Despite last month's record sales (the lowest since anyone's been keeping track), some artists still don't get the picture: nobody wants music anymore .
Music you don't want
By DAVID THORPE | June 18, 2010

'Fun guy rap'

I emailed Edgewood-bred lyricist Romen Rok last week following the release of his highly-anticipated full-length platter Absolutely ! and asked just how he would describe his brand of hip-hop to the casual listener: “Fun guy rap” was the response.
Long overdue Romen Rok debut worth the wait? Absolutely !
By CHRIS CONTI | June 18, 2010

Vinnie Paz | Season of the Assassin + Reef the Lost Cauze vs. Guns-N-Butter | Fight Music

We all needed a break from Jedi Mind Tricks — you, me, gay-rights activists, and even Stoupe and Vinnie Paz.
Enemy Soil (2010)
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 18, 2010

Rest in Beats, T Banga

This past Sunday, the Bean rap scene lost one of its most enthusiastic supporters and most hard-working executive producers.
Let the tributes begin
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 11, 2010

Steady business

"Poorly Drawn People has some new members, and a new way of doing biz."
Poorly Drawn People's Reason and Falside remain in motion
By CHRIS CONTI | June 04, 2010

Mr. Incongeniality

The night before this interview, Bomshot pulled what might go down as the most boneheaded stunt in Boston hip-hop history when, in the middle of a crowded Slaine and Ill Bill show at Harpers Ferry, he attempted to cheap-shot the former from behind.
Bomshot makes a better MC than neighbor
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 28, 2010

The Big Hurt: Reed goes to the dogs

More evidence of the sickening barbarity of America’s penal institutions: Lil Wayne is being hassled because officers found headphones and the charger for an MP3 player in his cell.
Plus Weezy debudded, Ant derided, Michaels bandanna’d
By DAVID THORPE | May 28, 2010

Homeboy Sandman | The Good Sun

If you’re not listening to Homeboy Sandman, you may be missing the most stylistically agile MC ever to spit. And if you don’t cop his official debut, then you’re depriving yourself of an album that’s worthy of more superlatives than could possibly fit i
Asylum (2010)
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 28, 2010

The Big Hurt: Shill crazy

You know, I might stop following real music journalism altogether. Press releases are so much better. Just when I start thinking it’s a slow week in silly pop news, I check the PR wire — a/k/a the bottom of the barrel — and dig up two of the greatest ite
The week in corporate sponsorships
By DAVID THORPE | May 21, 2010

Slideshow: History of Guru and Gang Starr

Here is our salute – in photo, audio, video, and writing – to a Roxbury legend and the vast Gang Starr legacy he left behind.
A collection of videos, photos, music and more from our archives
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 21, 2010

Various Artists | A Boston State Of Mind Volume 2

Every night, when I get home from reporting facts, I poison the Internet with innuendo on a Boston-based hip-hop blog called jumptheturnstyle.com.
Commonwealth (2010)
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 21, 2010

Hearing voices

Don’t be fooled by its textbook appearance — How To Wreck a Nice Beach (Melville House/Stop Smiling) is hardly a dry anthropological study of “The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop,” as the subtitle suggests.
Dave Tompkins chases the Vocoder
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 14, 2010

Dese | Dese Be With You

Before Sam Adams, sleazy Boston co-eds relied on the Camp to get their panties moist.
Cursed Out (2010)
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 14, 2010

Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest 2010

An optimist would say that, despite some serious disappointments, last year’s Third Annual Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest demonstrated just how peaceful the Bean rap scene really is.
For Unity Fest, the show must go on (for real this time)
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 14, 2010

Li(f)e story

Should nothing change over the next couple of months, July will mark one year since Providence’s Sage Francis — who comes to the Middle East this Wednesday — has written or recorded a single verse.
Sage Francis gets by with a lot of help from his friends
By REYAN ALI | May 07, 2010

Hustle and flow

M-Dot is live on Brookline Ave, chopping it up with nurses, businessmen, and co-eds.
Let us tell you about M-Dot — before he does
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 30, 2010

The Big Hurt: The week in death

Back in January, I predicted that, because of medical advances and the prospect of universal health care, no musicians would die in this decade. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way.
RIP Chilton, Guru, and editorial tact
By DAVID THORPE | April 30, 2010

Rip Shop | The Authenticity

Rip Shop should be one of the first names you mention when recalling Boston’s early-2000s underground rap renaissance.
Drama House (2010)
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 30, 2010

Review: Spose at Post Road Tavern

Spose, live at the Post Road Tavern, Ogunquit, April 21
Music Seen
By BRIDGET M. BURNS | April 30, 2010

Guru death mystery

As mysterious as Guru was in his later years, the Roxbury-bred rap-and-jazz legend may soon prove to be more so in death.
Rapper’s final days mired in controversy
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 23, 2010

Legends of Bucktown

Despite his notorious blunt-scented halitosis, Sean Price feels terrific these days.
Sean Price and the second coming of Duck Down
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 16, 2010

Label makers

To keep tabs on how Duck Down maintains its hardcore tradition despite also expanding with MTV-friendly acts like Kidz in the Hall, you need look no farther than Ruste Juxx and Marco Polo.
Ruste Juxx and Marco Polo talk Duck Down
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 16, 2010

Crossword: ''Repeat offenders''

It's just overkill
It's just overkill
By MATT JONES | April 16, 2010

Kid vicious

It’s not easy being a rapper from Wisconsin. Just ask 23-year-old hip-hop lifer Juiceboxxx.
Juiceboxxx cares not for your nerdcore
By LEOR GALIL | April 09, 2010

At the Minimal

Since 2007’s Blown Speaker Project an album full of MCs, Mike Clouds’s solo work has consisted exclusively of instrumentals, the latest being this month’s Minimal Message, a 10-track ranging from the new-agey to the electronica to more traditional boom-b
Mike Clouds has a beat-infused Message for you
By SAM PFEIFLE | April 09, 2010

Friends' Activity

Popular