Kendrick Lamar Wins Best Rap Album

 

Kendrick Lamar has won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album with Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The rapper took home the award over fellow nominees Pusha T (It’s Almost Dry), Jack Harlow (Come Home the Kids Miss You), Future (I Never Liked You), and DJ Khaled (God Did). Cardi B presented the Grammy Award to Kendrick Lamar.

Who's Album Was Better? Jay-Z - The Blueprint or Nas - Stillmatic

 

The Jay-Z vs. Nas beef was a gladiatorial battle between two rap titans. For almost a decade, two of rap's most decorated emcees went at each other's throat.

At one point, they even took a poll about the beef, with 58% of listeners saying they preferred “Ether” to “Supa Ugly”. The consensus seemed to point to Nas as the winner. “Ether” has since become an emblematic diss track, with rappers reinterpreting it for their beef purposes.

Jay Z and Nas' feud was sparked over a Memphis Bleek lyric in 2000's 'My Mind Right', causing the rapper to respond to both Bleek and Jay Z on future mixtape tracks. The feud escalated further when Jay Z called Nas "lame" on 2001's 'The Takeover', prompting Nas to take aim at Jay on 'Ether'. The beef continued in this wild manner until they ended it publicly at the 'I Declare War' concert in Philadelphia in 2005.

#Stream New #Album by Rayne Storm "Audiocity" @RayneStormMusic

 

Harlem NY's own Rayne Storm released his new eclectic rap album "Audiocity" on 2/22/22. The new project is set to compete against other major releases on the same date from Boosie Badass, Lil Durk and of course, Kanye West. The 19-track album features a generation bending cast of artists including Kxng Crooked, Jarren Benton, Sticky Fingaz, DMC, Canibus, Cappadonna, Killah Priest, Swifty McVay, Big Twins, DecadeZ, Dizzy $padez, Kony Brooks, Loudpack Dash, Kazzy Raxx, Soulebrity, HËS, Kxng Chxno & KingFsorrow. Production is handled by Temper Music, Legion Beats, Jupitxr, Kelly Grinz, Anno Domini and Rayne Storm himself. 

Why Nelly And KRS-One Rap Beef Happened

In 2002, Nelly was one of hip-hop's biggest stars. His 2000 breakout debut, Country Grammar, sold nine million records.

Old school boom-bap rap pioneer, KRS-One, who had earned a reputation not just for his community-conscious lyrics but for never shying away from a lyrical showdown, called Nelly out.

KRS— who by that time had already proclaimed himself to be a keeper of classic hip-hop— voiced his discontent with Nelly on the track "Clear Em Out" from the compilation The Difference.

The song was aimed at pop-rap, and given his success as hip-hop's reigning top-seller at the time. Nelly took offense. He'd just dropped the track "#1" from the Training Day soundtrack, where he was defending his right to reign on top of the charts.

"He had to defend himself. He's like, 'My career probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for KRS-One,' that's what Nelly is on. My man got tired of critics and made a song '#1.' He wasn't specifically talking about nobody, but if the shoe fits, wear it."

KRS claimed he even sent an email to Nelly's camp, explaining there was no beef and he wasn't interested in getting into it with the St. Louis star. Nelly didn't get the memo, however, and in response, recorded a verse on the Freeway's "Roc the Mic" remix, on which he called out the veteran rhymer, letter by letter.

KRS responded by calling for an actual boycott of Nelly's album, Nellyville, which was scheduled to drop that June 2002, dramatically declaring himself a "sovereign power" in the process. Nelly challenged a sovereign power.

Needless to say, the whole boycott thing didn't exactly pan out the way KRS had hoped. June 25, 2002, rolled around, Nelly dropped Nellyville, and the entire world danced to the album's monster hit, "Hot in Herre." Nellyville ended up selling over 6 million albums and it stands as the 14th best-selling rap album of all time.

What Happened To Lil Jon And Crunk Music?

Was Lil Jon the last of "Crunk Music?" This was a time in rap music that had a big and short impact on the community.

The Atlanta-based rap group that would become Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz was originally formed in 1997. Lil Jon was the lead vocalist for the group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz from 1997 to 2004.

The group signed to Atlanta’s Mirror Image Records, and in 1997, released their first album, distributed by Ichiban Records. A couple years later, Lil Jon & his Boyz started BME Recordings, and released their sophomore album.

Not long after, Bryan Leach heard from his street teams that Lil Jon was an artist to watch. He went to a show, and was immediately impressed. Comparing Lil Jon’s stage presence to the Beastie Boys, Leach immediately tried to sign the group to TVT Records. He succeeded, and in 2001 released Put Yo Hood Up.

What Happened To Lil Flip?

Texas had a big impact on the music scene in the mid 2000's and Lil Flip was a big part of the movement. Lil’ Flip these days is perhaps most well known for his feud with fellow rapper T.I.

Flip started rapping for Suckafree Records out of Houston, Texas, when he was 18, in 1999. He released his first album, The Leprechaun, the next year. Eventually selling more than 200,000 copies, it featured the hit single “I Can Do Dat.”

The single, “The Way We Ball,” helped propel Lil’ Flip into the national spotlight. The rapper was also able to work with Yung Wun, Ludacris, and Three 6 Mafia that year. This gave him the clout necessary to create U Gotta Feel Me, a double-disc album released in 2004, distributed by Sony Urban Music.

Lil Flip went on to start his own record label, which he named Clover G Records, after Cloverland, Lil’ Flip’s home neighborhood in Houston.

While T.I. was incarcerated for parole violations, Lil’ Flip used the opportunity to object to T.I. calling himself “King of the South.” The heavily publicized feud led to T.I. going to Cloverland, to expose Lil’ Flip as a fraud. When T.I. arrived in the neighborhood with his crew, Lil’ Flip approached him with his respective crew.

Mac Miller Gets Grammy Nominations For First Time

Supporters of the rapper on Twitter have also sounded off on the good news. "Let’s not forget that @MacMiller got recognized. @RecordingAcad got it right. #MacMiller #grammynoms," one fan tweeted.

Drake Ties Jay-Z For Most No.1 Albums

 

Rap superstar Drake has broken many records, including surpassing The Beatles, and has reached a new milestone. Now, the “6 God” has tied with Jay-Z for the most No.1 albums on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B charts.

Champagne Papi is neck and neck with the legendary rap and business mogul Jay-Z for most No.1 albums on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B charts after dropping his collaboration album Her Loss with 21 Savage.

Mia X - The Untold Story

 

Mia X, is an American rapper, songwriter and actress. She was the first female emcee to get a contract with rapper and entertainment magnate, Master P on his successful record label No Limit Records. She has been called the Mother of Southern Gangsta Rap. She is known for collaborations with several No Limit Records artists, including Master P and Silkk the Shocker on the seminal albums, Ice Cream Man, Ghetto D and Charge It 2 Da Game.

Evolution Of Diss Tracks - King Of New York

 

Competition has always played a big role in hip hop. Battle rhymes, diss songs, trying to outshine someone on his own song, it’s all in the spirit of competition.

But in the mid-90s, the competition in New York was especially heavy. Let’s think about the rappers were coming up at that time – you had Nas and Big both releasing landmark debuts in ’94, Mobb Deep damn bringing all of Queensbridge wherever they went, Raekwon with The Purple Tape and the rest of Wu-Tang by his side. Most of the rappers on our greatest of all time list came on the ’90s East Coast.

Did Benny The Butcher Bring Real Rap Back

 

Every since rapper Nas did the album Hip Hop Is Dead that's when you saw hip hop/rap became more dumbed down than ever with more lack of commercial raps on the media or on radio stations, at the time real rap was unheard of unless if you was really a hip hop head that was looking for rap on mixtapes or searching on YouTube. In 2010 an empire of hip hop has begun and that's with Griselda Records with artists like Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher.

When you hear songs like Legend, Forever Ft Lil Wayne and Big Sean, Roy Jones Ft Dark Lo,

and Crown For Kings Ft Black Thought.

Wu-Tang Clan Sells Album for $2 Million

 

With a history of harnessing their own dynamic and fostering their own language, it was only a matter of time before they rocked the industry with futuristic thinking once again. This time in the form of a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album that made it into the hands of a future felon for a whopping $2 million.

When news came out about a single copy album being dropped by none other than Wu-Tang Clan, fans were chomping at the bits to hear the exclusive content. The rap group has made an influential name for themselves in the music industry over the past 30 years, with songs like “Protect Ya Neck,” “C.R.E.A.M,” “Gold,” and many more.

Wu-Tang Clan dropped their single copy album on March 26th, 2014. According to an interview with Forbes that was reported by Scluzay, the exclusive release of their album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin came in response to “music [being] economically and experientially devalued in a world of superficial streaming and data consumption.”

38 Spesh & Kool G Rap "Upstate 2 Queens" (Prod. By: 38 Spesh)

This is the first single off of 38 Spesh & Kool G rap album Titled "Son Of G Rap" . "Son Of G Rap" has Production from Dj premier, Alchemist, Pete Rock, Showbiz, & Daringer. With features from Cormega, Ransom, Vado, N.O.R.E, Benny the Butcher, AZ, & Anthony Halmilton. "Son Of G Rap" is scheduled to be released 6/8/2018!

Nas or Eminem

 

Celebrity Match Up is back with another topic for all you hip hop lovers. This time, we would like to know who would you place as your top artist out of Nas or Eminem. Most fans of there music would say they would love to see the two together on a track someday while others may argue.

Before we get into the discussion, lets do a little background check on the two.

Lil Boosie Changes His Rap Name

Boosie Badazz was always a nickname that the rapper trotted out; his 2006 solo album, which included the banger “Zoom,” was titled Bad Azz, its followup three years later was called Superbad: The Return Of Boosie Bad Azz and his record label imprint is known as Bad Azz Entertainment. But the official name change puts him in the categories of the Jeezy’s and the Bow Wow’s of the rap world who had previously given up the no-longer-age-appropriate “Young” and “Lil” qualifiers in their rap names.

Lil Boosie is out of prison after more than five years behind bars, and now he’s got a new rap name to go along with all that newfound freedom. On two of his most recent appearances—”Beez Like” off Jeezy’s Seen It All and “Jet Fuel” from T.I.’s “Paperwork”—the Baton Rouge MC has been credited in the liner notes as Boosie Badazz rather than his original name Lil Boosie. Today a rep for the rapper confirmed that the liner notes weren’t an accident, and that they reflected an official name change for him.

Since Boosie was released from prison this past March he’s dropped a slew of featured verses, but his long-awaited comeback album, Touch Down 2 Cause Hell, has been pushed back repeatedly since its initial July release date. Currently, there’s no projected date for the LP to hit the streets, but his standout feature on Tip’s Paperwork will hit shelves when the album officially drops tomorrow.

Gansta Marcus Talks "419 To The 662" Album

 

'419 To The 662' was a album I put together during my travel across the Midwest. The initiative for the album was the connect my family and friends from multiple places through music.

The whole album was a hit. Every artist had the opportunity to express themselves. This was my first album release so I wanted to make it stand out. I put time, miles, and dedication into creating this for the world.

This is not your ordinary rap music and I am not your ordinary Gangster. I took young men that was living without a vision and gave them something to remember for the rest of there lives.

If your ready to take your music to the next level, then join us for a music experience you won't forget!

Choose your preferred music service

Follow on Twitter @ganstamarcus

Pick up the album in all your favorite stores and streaming channels. Be sure to follow and add to your playlist.

Drake Wins 2 Grammys

Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and Drake have picked up some rap category trophies at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. Drake adds 2 more Grammys to his collection, with "Hotline Bling" winning Best Rap Song and Best Rap / Sung Collaboration (although it seems like he was singing throughout the entire song).

Rock Mecca - Ironworld Mixtape

Queens, New York emcee Rock Mecca presents "Ironworld," his new album out now. The album is produced by Jake Palumbo, who has also collaborated with Ras Kass, Masta Ace and El Da Sensei.

Will Tha Carter V Drop This Year

The release date for Lil Wayne‘s twelfth studio album Tha Carter V has been a decision held in hostage for nearly six years. The Cash Money chief and musical father to Wayne, Birdman has recently expressed a high level of assurance that the lengthily postponed album will drop this year, 2018.

Nas Top 5 Music Videos

Nas

Nas, a legend, a boss, a kingpin in this music industry. You want to talk new York music, you want to talk real music, you want to talk Nas. The Wrap-Up Magazine has looked at what videos are being posted and came up with the Top 5 music videos of Nas.