T.I. 'Fuck Da City Up' Mixtape - Free Download

The 'Fuck Da City Up' mixtape has just dropped, 19 tracks featuring the likes of Young Jeezy, Meek Mill, Dr.Dre, Too Short and many more - Listen or download it for free right here! 

10 Things that Shook Hip Hop in the last decade

Image Credit

By KNL

The last decade has seen a massive shake up for the world of hip hop. In this article KNL looks at how the culture has transformed and what monumental occurrences have changed the way we as fans, and the rest of the world, see hip hop. Deep KNL, deep...(editor's note)

1. Hip Hop Hits the Web - Main Dominator: 50 Cent

This has brewed throughout the decade and is now reaching heights which are quiet frankly – silly. We’re all for hip hop sites and places where we can view and listen to the latest stuff but one has to wonder how far is too far. The last decade has seen hip hop transform itself from more than just music into promotional blogs, videos, articles and websites set up just to promote specific albums. The lateral rise of Twitter, Facebook and MySpace was good news for Stans across the world as they could now synchronise their sleeping, eating and toilet patterns with their favourite rapper.

Furthermore the internet is aptly linked to our other topic, Beef. The internet has made beefing so easy and remote that it has transformed from a lyrical war or words, into a matter of online humiliation and finger pointing. 50 Cent has actively used ‘Thisis50.com’ to destroy many of his rivals, and whilst it’s funny as hell, one has gotta ask why they’re not destroying careers lyrically like they used to.

Finally, Youtube has been a saving grace, providing us all with a way to upload our own or leaked material (I’m not condoning this…!) oh of course not KNL (editor's note) and has also allowed artist’s epic fails to be readily available to millions – who remembers that dude from Pretty Ricky dancing in his underwear?!

2. Beef – Main Dominator: 50 Cent

Since 2000 we have seen more beef than a Maccie Ds in an obese town – off the top of my head, these are just some of the highlights I can remember...

Jay-Z vs Nas

50 Cent vs Ja Rule

Dr Dre vs Jermaine Dupri

Eminem vs Canibus

LL Cool J vs Canibus

Benzino vs Eminem

DMX vs Ja Rule

Kurupt vs Daz

Lil Wayne vs Gillie da Kid

T.I vs Lil Flip

T.I vs Ludacris

T.I vs Alfamega

50 Cent vs Nas

50 Cent vs Fat Joe

50 Cent vs Jadakiss

50 Cent vs Sheek Louch & Styles P

50 Cent vs Cassidy

50 Cent vs Rick Ross

50 Cent vs Jay-Z

50 Cent vs Lil Kim

50 Cent vs The Game

50 Cent vs EVERYONE

Goddamnit – now let us remember that out of these beefs probably 2 or 3 of them actually resulted in hot tracks. The most high profile battles were probably between 50 Cent and Ja Rule, Jay-Z and Nas and Eminem vs Canibus & Benzino. However the rest of this stuff was either a war of words, a war of blank threats and punches and in the case of the last 10 50 Cent beefs – just straight up clowning. I like Fiddy, but this section belongs to him too.

3. Return of the Remix – Main Dominator: Lil Wayne

Damn just about every Radio friendly song that hit our airwaves required some sort of remix to re-release the buzz and capture everyone’s imagination. Whether it was the frenzy created around Touch It or A Millie – or the crazy re-styles of Usher’s Confessions, everybody seemed to want to jump on the remix bandwagon. However the main prize has to go to Lil Wayne, who made it a personal mission to jump on as many tracks as possible – it got to the point where over the last 2 years it was impossible not to hear him remix something!

4. Death of the Super Label – Only Dominator: Aftermath

So it turns out the 90s was the time where Def Jam, Bad Boy, Rocafella and Deathrow to name a few were doing well and providing real music power houses. The last decade however has seen a decline – unfortunately there is probably only one label that lives up to the Music Powerhouse and that’s Dr. Dre’s Aftermath studios, but don’t forget it’s only because they have 3 multi-platinum, now legendary artists.

However, remember the days of a video where you saw more famous cats popping Crystal in a club or by the pool than you thought necessary? They’re gone. No more Lox in shiny suits behind Diddy, no more Dogg Pound, Kurupt, Daz etc. lounging in the club behind Snoop…it looks like merchandising is the way to go. Sad times.

5. ‘So it’s ok to wear white boy clothes now?’ – Main Dominator: Kanye West

People rejoice, for now you can wear a pink Ralph Lauren Polo shirt and not be questioned about your sexuality. You can wear the tightest jeans, with the tightest shirt, and a little red bowtie and no one will question your credibility as an artist. Ever since the arrival of our beloved College Graduate and 10,000 Louis bags later, Mr West has introduced classy attire to an undeniable number of artists who now follow his style.

With the rise of the ‘hipster’ fans it seems mature and sexy is the new way to go. But is this hip hop opening its' doors and becoming more tolerant of the outside world or is it that money and extravagance has taken the main stage in our once gritty genre? I don’t know about you – but the increase in bow ties and suits seems to be directly correlated with a decline of that hard ish...

Part 2 to come, stay tuned people

Rap's Dynamic Duos - Part 2

Image Credit


By KNL

Eric B and Rakim

It's been a long time...Rakim to me is one of the very best, if not a contender for the top spot and not least because of his viscious wordplay and effortless flow. It's more to do with the fact that this guy was gangster without actively promoting it; he didn't have to get tough on the mic because the music took care of it for him...and thus he was able to gather a wider variety of fans than say Mobb Deep, because you could respect him for his skills as well as his gangster. With Eric B alongside, it meant Ra had someone who fully understood what sounded nice when he was on the mic. As a result, this Duo were able to craft some of the most incredible hip-hop anthems; it's a shame they had to part ways...but nevertheless, we can never forget.

GangStarr

Rakim sounded awesome when laced over Premo beats. Someone who sounded even better though was Guru, of whom with Dj Premier formed the formidable GangStarr. Even after 20 something years in the game, Guru can kick it with many of today's top MCs....with an almost effortless flow and a way of spitting aggressive rhymes without having to raise his voice, Guru's flow melts like butter on a hot Premo track. It is often the dream of many hip hop fans to have their favourite producer hook up with a dope MC; GangStarr is one of the very finest examples. Their catalog of incredible albums and sizzling tracks mean GangStarr are firmly forged into hip hop history.

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

Following on from pairing a dope producer with a sick MC comes a slightly different pair. Snoop Dogg is not really an MC as such, and neither is Dre...but this pair had something that most of the other duos on this list could only dream about - hit making chemistry which refuses to die. When Snoop Dogg signed up to Death Row in the 90s, Dr. Dre took him under his wing and (cleverly) promoted Snoop through himself and then Executive Produced one of the finest albums of all time, Snoop's 'Doggy Style'. What followed was a string of hits and an incredible catalog of platinum selling albums from the pair. Dre used Snoop's hype on The Chronic and Snoop took advantage of Dre's stellar production on Doggy Style, a few years down the line Dre returned with Chronic 2001 of which once again was heavily graced by Snoop...will Detox be the same? I'm pretty sure we can count on it, with Dre and Snoop both helping each other blow up throughout their careers...I reckon we're all itching to see if that same chemistry still exists. Pay homage.

Dr. Dre and Eminem

Snoop helped propel Dre's Chronic. Em did much the same (if not more) with Chronic 2001. And then surprise surprise, Dre graced Eminem's following LPs with Executive Production credits and guest spots to add that 'legend' status. And why not? Team up arguably the best producer alongside arguably the best rapper and what do you have? A dream come true for any fan of good music...Dre's versatility meant Em could switch the mood of his rhymes depending on the instrumental he'd been handed...and whilst Premo beats (no matter how dope) seem to suit a set tone or mood' Dre's ability to experiment meant Eminem now features an incredible catalog of LPs which vary in terms of moods so much you'd swear they came from a different artist. When these two paired up on the mic, they managed to provide a father-son type chemistry which is still unmatched by many of their imitators - Guilty Conscious, My Name Is, Forgot About Dre....must I go on?!

Part 3 on its' way...