hip-hop

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Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. Pure, Shameless, Awesome

(Newser) - The Black Eyed Peas' new album, The E.N.D., isn’t of much consequence, but that’s just as well. Reviewers generally appreciate the party-hardy attitude.
  • “Ever true to their defining characteristic, the Peas have no shame,” Ann Powers writes in the Los Angeles Times. “Fergie
...

Hip-Hop Busts Out in China
 Hip-Hop Busts Out in China 
Jun 2, 2009 1:30 PM CDT

Hip-Hop Busts Out in China

Youths find freedom through rap

(Newser) - You might not expect to hear freestyle rapping in Mandarin, but that sound is growing in China as youths grab hold of the outlet hip-hop offers, Time reports. “This music is free and creative. We can say what we want,” says one rapper. “There are no restrictions....

Common Hails Triumph of Actual Style Over Bling

(Newser) - The world of hip-hop style is forsaking gaudy bling for refinement, to the delight of trendsetting rapper-actor Common. “It’s great that is gone,” he tells the Los Angeles Times of the pendant-and-Cristal days. “That really didn't exemplify style. It was just like, ‘I have the...

Free Cool Kids Album Worth It, Barely
 Free Cool Kids 
 Album Worth It, Barely 
MUSIC REVIEW
May 28, 2009 12:29 PM CDT

Free Cool Kids Album Worth It, Barely

There's still hope for full-length debut

(Newser) - The Cool Kids aren’t as cool as they once were—but “even when they’re on autopilot, their icy flatness has style,” writes Tom Breihan for Pitchfork. Gone Fishing, the internet phenoms’ recently released bundle of free downloadable music, “should be a major event in the...

Jay-Z Close to Sony Deal— or Maybe Warner

Conflicting reports leave it unclear where former Def Jam artist will move

(Newser) - Following his departure from Def Jam, Jay-Z is close to making a deal with a new label—the question is, which one? Sources tell Billboard a deal with Sony’s Epic Records “is 95% complete,” while the New York Daily News reports a deal with Warner Music Group/Atlantic...

Producer Kanye: New Jay-Z Album 'Anti-Auto-Tune'

(Newser) - Kanye West says Jay-Z’s new album, Blueprint 3, will not feature the Auto-Tune effects West himself has relied on in the past, MTV reports. “We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album,” said...

Meet Prince Zimboo, Borat's Hip-Hop Brother

African musician is a mystery, gaining in popularity

(Newser) - An up-and-coming player in the genre of “hipster world music,” Prince Zimboo Abakunamabooba is an African hip-hopper with 999 wives—or is he? Zimboo, who has been performing “deliriously funny music” since at least 2007, “is something like the African Borat,” writes Jonah Weiner for...

Strapped Rappers Don Bogus Bling

They still talk the talk, but their stones are now cubic zirconia clones

(Newser) - Tough times in the hip-hop industry have taken the ka-ching out of bling, the Wall Street Journal reports. Record sales and concert attendance are falling, and jewelers say that more and more of the flashy pendants and chains favored by rappers trying to keep up appearances now contain lower-quality stones,...

Fans Cheer TI at 'Bye Bash' Before Prison

48 hours before prison, Atlanta rapper sells out arena

(Newser) - TI returned to his native Atlanta to play a sold out "Goodbye Bash" last night, just two days before he reports to a federal prison for a weapons conviction. Many of his fans expressed support for the convicted rapper, whom they described as a role model, reports the Atlanta ...

Jay-Z Leaves Def Jam
 Jay-Z 
 Leaves 
 Def Jam 
May 21, 2009 3:53 PM CDT

Jay-Z Leaves Def Jam

(Newser) - Jay-Z confirmed to RapRadar today that he has left Def Jam Records after more than a decade. The news follows an unconfirmed report on HitsDailyDouble that the rapper bought out his contract for $5 million. Jay-Z, 39, owed Def Jam one more album, but he was eager to move on...

Ciara Lost on Fantasy Ride
 Ciara Lost on Fantasy Ride 
MUSIC REVIEW
May 21, 2009 1:33 PM CDT

Ciara Lost on Fantasy Ride

(Newser) - Ciara's tiny voice can't survive in the spaces her producers leave on her new album, Fantasy Ride, but the disc does provide a few fascinating diversions. Some critical opinions:
  • "That's what you get with Fantasy Ride," Tom Breihan writes on Pitchfork. "A few brilliant left turns that
...

Dolla's Shooting 'Sparked by Strip Club Brawl'

Sources believe Atlanta dispute followed rapper to LA

(Newser) - Dolla's shooting in a Los Angeles mall yesterday may have been the result of a fight at a strip club in the rapper's hometown of Atlanta the week before, police sources tell the Los Angeles Times. Accused killer Aubrey Louis Berry, an events promoter, had a row with the 21-year-old...

Busta's Back, in Fine Form
 Busta's Back, 
 in Fine Form 
opinion
May 19, 2009 6:29 PM CDT

Busta's Back, in Fine Form

(Newser) - Busta Rhymes is back with his first album in three years, and if his record release party last night is any indication, he's barely missed a beat, writes Jayson Rodriguez in Rolling Stone. Rhymes—whose Back On My B.S. is out today—"has long been recognized as one...

Dolla Shooting Suspect Held on $1M Bail

Cops questioning 2 persons of interest in rapper's LA slaying

(Newser) - Los Angeles police have charged 23-year-old Aubrey Louis Berry with the murder of Roderick Anthony Burton II, better known as up-and-coming rapper Dolla, E! reports. Berry is being held on $1 million bail. Police have questioned two other persons of interest as well, a man and a woman, but neither...

Rapper Dolla Shot Dead at LA Mall

Man arrested at airport after Atlanta-based star gunned down

(Newser) - Up-and-coming Atlanta-based rapper Dolla was shot dead in the parking garage of LA's Beverly Center mall yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports. The 21-year-old musician, shot in the head, had arrived in the city earlier that day. A suspect fled the scene in a silver Mercedes and was later arrested,...

Soul 2 Sole Scans 30 Years of Sneaker Culture

From hip-hop to basketball, these have become more than just shoes to many

(Newser) - David Park, a student at Parsons School of Design, packs 30 years of sneakers and sneaker culture into a stop-action video created for his thesis project, Hype Beast reports. New York in the 1970s is the opener, as Run DMC’s “My Adidas” plays over images of breakdancing kids....

On Relapse, Eminem Still Nasty, Still Genius

(Newser) - Eminem’s new album, Relapse, is as crude as you might expect, but his unflinching examination of his drug addiction has floored some critics. Overall, people love it or hate it.
  • "The power of Relapse comes from Em aiming his beat-downs at his truest target, himself," Rob Sheffield
...

Hills' Pratt on Rap Bona Fides: 'I'm the White Jay-Z'

(Newser) - The Hills’ Spencer Pratt has designs on the rap genre, MTV reports. “I’ve always known that I secretly am the hottest rapper in the game,” said the exceedingly white reality star, who plans to record an album on the heels of his single, I’m a Celebrity....

Old School? New School? Kids Rap to Better Grades

(Newser) - A novel afterschool program, developed in Chicago and Cleveland and just now hitting Denver, uses rap music to make kids better students, the Post reports. “They learn about similes, different poetic devices,” the program’s founder said. They “learn to rap a Shakespearean piece.” One decidedly...

SpongeBob, Rap Don't Mix in Ad, Parents Tell Burger King

Many find mix of SpongeBob Squarepants and 'booty rap' uncomfortable

(Newser) - Burger King is under fire from parents for a new TV ad in which SpongeBob Squarepants, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and rap music video antics combine for an uncomfortable mix of adult and child entertainment, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The spot mixes cartoon clips with shots of “the King,” and...

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