Subject: Hip-Hop and Rap

• Gig Alert: Mr. Lif Tonight at The Loft

  Hibbard NashMr. Lif questions your thoughts of not seeing his show tonight.School's not ending for most districts until Thursday, but those wanting to get an early start to their summer concert plans can do so this evening at The Loft as heralded wordsmith Mr. Lif (a.k.a. Jeffrey Haynes) brings his politically conscious hip-hop to town in support of his recently released effort, I Heard It Today.Using veteran producers such as Edan and J-Zone, as well as newcomers such as Willie Evans Jr., Batsa

  June 1, 2009

• Billboard Runs A Ruthless Records Retrospective, Calls The D.O.C.'s "No One Can Do It Better" One Of The Label's Seminal Hits

  August 8, 2008

• Rubberband Man Would Probably Advise You To Use A Rubber, Man

  August 22, 2008

• The Rap Up: Save Some Boobs This Weekend!

  August 22, 2008

• The Scratch Pad: Prince William Talks Post-Rap And The Dallas Dance Scene

  August 29, 2008

• The Rap Up: Rage Almighty's Force For Change

  September 5, 2008

• Last Night: Del tha Funky Homosapien at the Granada Theater

  September 26, 2008

• Last Night: Method Man And Redman At House Of Blues

  Method Man and Redman House of Blues November 16, 2008 Better than: Smoking out at home and watching How High--not that I've done that or anything... The return of Method Man and Redman to Dallas came at a bittersweet cost for some concertgoers. In particular, my entourage, who sent me back and forth between the House of Blues restaurant and the concert hall to see if anyone had taken the stage yet, as everyone was glued to the Cowboys game. Things were scheduled to get off the ground aro

  November 17, 2008

• Top Ten Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008

  A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience--these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008? In an age when many year-end lists should be subtitled "Ten More Albums You've Never Heard of and Will Never, Ever Hear," plenty. Technology has made the world smaller, and in response, we've found smaller and smaller worlds to inhabit. Thin

  December 19, 2008

• Today in Music News: KRS-One's Still Anti-Violence, Kurt Cobain's Still Worth It, Stereogum's Got The Goods And Wayne Coyne's Feeling The Spirit...

  Your top national music stories for Wednesday, December 24, 2008: Remember back in '89 when no one knew we were in the midst of Hip-Hop's "golden age" and KRS-One schooled us on why non-violence is good with the ditty "Self Destruction?" Well, now the young pups of today can have their own version: KRS-One, along with David Banner, Talib Kweli, The Game, 50 Cent and others have recorded "Self Destruction 2009." See? It's not just Natalie Maines, Eddie Vedder and Steve Earle who are p

  December 24, 2008

• Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

  You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished by a Midwestern black man, and gender barriers were hurdled by an Arkansan and an Alaskan.Democracy has a few awesome new dance moves rolling into the Obama presidency, and it'll be a feast f

  December 26, 2008

• Is New Amerykah Pt. 1 The 'Token Urban Album' Of '08?

  Speaking of Erykah Badu: Much like we're doing in this upcoming week's paper, Stereogum today asked some of its favorite artists of '08 to name some of their favorite artists, albums, songs, etc. of 2008, and right at the top of the list, Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes names New Amerykah Pt. 1 as one of his tops in the year that was. Yep, that's yet another namedrop for Badu, who's having herself a fine end-of-year when it comes to being on lists and whatnot. But down in the comments of that

  December 29, 2008

• Distant Gig Alert: KRS-One To Perform In Dallas, And This Time It's Official

  Minc Lounge in Exposition Park is following up on its Halloween Kool Herc performance by bringing another old-school hip hop icon to Dallas. KRS-One will perform at minc Thursday, January 22, along with Channel Live, according to Vigilante Music Group's Greg Barrett. The January 22 show is not the first time KRS-One was supposed to perform at minc. Earlier this year, Vigilante peppered the Internet with bulletins about a December 5 appearance that eventually fell through. But Barrett is certain

  December 30, 2008

• Today In Music News: 50 Cent Mocks Kanye, Daft Punk Loves Obama

  Your daily dose of national hip-hop news for Wednesday, January 21, 2009... Hip-hop beefs are nothing new--they've been around for years. But it seems that 50 Cent has now taken to creating controversies as his promotional tool. He still seems to think that Kanye West is his adversary for some reason, and recently mocked the producer/rapper/singer in concert at his show in Albany. Is that desperation I detect Fitty? It's so 2007. Hey, did you hear anything about a new President yes

  January 21, 2009

• Last Night: Play-N-Skillz Grammy Party At Plush

  Play-N-Skillz, Big Tuck, Slim Thug, Pitbull, Paul Wall, Too $hort, morePlushWednesday, February 4, 2009Better than: Parking a filthy, body-damaged Scion Xb in a metered spot and walking two blocks to avoid using the valet service, all the while contemplating how out of place you are anywhere near a red carpet. Download: This slideshow with pictures by Travis Ferguson and myself.Travis FergusonAs we noted yesterday, Play-N-Skillz celebrated their Grammy nomination last night into this morning wi

  February 4, 2009

• Last Night: T.I. at Nokia Theatre

  T.I.Nokia TheatreMarch 11, 2009 Better than: Watching T.I.'s Road To Redemption on MTV, which is no Rock of Love, that's for sure. During one of his (too) many monologues to a crowded--but not nearly sold out--Nokia Theatre last night, T.I. thanked God for allowing him to reach the heights he has as a rapper. But, really, at this performance, the soon-to-be-incarcerated (on weapons charges) superstar should've thanked Big Chief. Because, were it not for the budding Dalla

  March 12, 2009

• What It Was Like: Big Boi, P.O.S., Psychedelic Horseshit, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

  Jesse HugheyBig Boi rocks Austin Music Hall Thursday night.Act: Big BoiPlace: Austin Music HallWhat it was like: Awesome. The set of the night. And yet the most frustrating. Big Boi did a couple of solo jams from his upcoming Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Otherwise the set was nearly all Oukast gems going all the way back to Southernplayalisticadillacmuzic. "Rosa Parks," leading into a remixed "So Fresh, So Clean." By the time he got to "Mrs. Jackson," the absence of Andre 3000

  March 20, 2009

• Jim Jones

  Pray IV Reign (Diplomat/Columbia)

  April 9, 2009

• Baton Rouge Rapper Young Bleed Makes a Home in Dallas

  March 19, 2009

• Dr. Dooom vs. Dr. Octagon Friday, March 6, at The Loft

  Friday,March 6, at The Loft

  March 5, 2009

• Dem Souhernfolkz's Incredible Message

  February 12, 2009

• Notorious B.I.G. Made B.L.A.N.D.

  January 15, 2009

• Ludacris

  Theater of the Mind (DTP/Def Jam)

  January 1, 2009

• Lil Wil and Play (of Play-N-Skillz) Share Their Favorites of 2008

  January 1, 2009

• E-40

  The Ball Street Journal (Reprise/BME)

  December 18, 2008

• Common

  Universal Mind Control(Geffen)

  December 11, 2008

• Dallas Hip-Hop: Swagger Like Us

  November 27, 2008

• Q-Tip, The Cool Kids

  Wednesday, November 19, at the House of Blues

  November 13, 2008

• MURS, Kidz in the Hall, Rapper Big Pooh, Isaiah

  Wednesday, November 19, at Hailey's in Denton

  November 13, 2008

• Devin the Dude, Coughee Brothaz, Bavu Blakes

  Thursday, October 16, at Granada Theater

  October 16, 2008

• T.I.

  Paper Trail (Atlantic)

  October 16, 2008

• Introducing Estelle, Britpop's Latest Crossover

  With "American boy" leading her excellent American debut, Estelle is the latest British star to make a go at the States

  October 9, 2008

• Dem Southernfolkz

  The Message (Self-released)

  September 25, 2008

• Seeing a Ghost

  Yeah, Grandmaster Flash graced the ones and twos at Ghostbar this weekend. But who cares? The people there didn't seem to.

  September 18, 2008

• Grandmaster Flash

  Friday, September 12, at Ghostbar

  September 11, 2008

• Liquid's Assets

  The GZA's touring the country, performing Liquid Swords in its entirety. You bet your ass you should care.

  August 28, 2008

• Symbolyc One

  Strange Fruit Project Presents: S1 Music Box (Spilt Milk)

  August 28, 2008

• The Cool Kids, Flosstradamus, The Party

  Thursday, August 21, at Granada Theater

  August 21, 2008

• G-Unit

  T.O.S.: Terminate on Sight (G-Unit)

  August 7, 2008

• Asher Roth

  Asleep in the Bread Aisle (SchoolBoy/SRC/Universal Motown)

  April 30, 2009

• Wu-Tang Clan

  July 9, 2009

• De La Soul

  July 30, 2009

• Weekend Roundup: De La Soul, 100 Monkeys, Mark Zeus, Toby Keith

  De La Soul at House of Blues on Friday, July 31Rather than worry about being pretentious hip hop superstars, De La Soul stayed true to what real hip-hop looks and sounds like on Friday night. With 20 years of contribution to the scene, De La Soul lives up to their standard as "quintessential hip hop." If you missed the show and like what you hear, they have a new album out with Nike: Are You In?

  August 3, 2009

• Method Man vs. Redman: Tale of The Tape

  August 6, 2009

• Last Night: Method Man & Redman With Ghostface Killah At House Of Blues

  Method Man & Redman With Ghostface KillahHouse of BluesSaturday, August 8, 2009Better than: Watching How High sober.Benjamin LewisWithout a photo pass, this is the closest we got with the camera. Pretty sign, though, huh?​From Ghostface's rant about how "the rap game in New York is fucked up" and how nothing on the radio these days inspires him to the cheers that greeted Method and Red every time one of them said something like "We're getting back to the '90s," this was an unabashed nostal

  August 9, 2009

• The Five Most Interesting Things You Didn't Know About Soulja Boy

  August 20, 2009

• Rob Viktum Serves Up A New, Tasty Drink

  August 27, 2009

• Jay-Z

  September 10, 2009

• Enroll in the Rap Institute of Acting Today!

  October 8, 2009

• Watch: Play-N-Skillz -- "Xxpensive"

  Dallas natives and brothers Juan and Oscar Salinas, who combine to form Play-N-Skillz, have won a couple Grammy awards. And, in case you forgot as much, they're happy to remind you a couple times in the above video.Of course, that's not the sole purpose of its creation (though, certainly, it appears to be, at least in part). Rather, the above video for the duo's new song "Xxpensive" was posted yesterday to Youtube to promote the brothers' new mixtape, The Recession Proof, which will see its rel

  October 23, 2009