D’Angelo. Erykah Badu. Brown Sugar. Baduizm.

I know, I know. If you’re anything like me, you can probably feel your insides melting right about now, sending a euphoric wave of soul sweeping through your body all the way to your fingertips. After all, this is neo-soul at its finest. The impossibly smooth blend of jazz and soul. The kiss of hip-hop sensibilities that grace the raw – yet rich – production. These albums made even the hardest hip-hop heads drops their b-boy posturing, if only for a moment. These albums have also yet to be duplicated in terms of overall sound and composition.

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As the news came out last week that Dr. Dre’s long-awaited album Detox was pushed back yet again, this time to 2011, hip-hop fans, myself included, experienced a few emotions.  The weary, brave-hearted Detox apologists said, “Oh well, we can wait. We’ve waited this long, it will be worth it.  Everyone who has worked on it said it’s going to change the game!”  The smug, arrogant brand of hip-hop lover who never really listens to Dr. Dre anyway looked down their collective noses through their oversized non-prescription glasses and said, “Ha! We knew it would never come out! And even if it does, it’s going to suck anyway!”

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Editor’s Note: Normally, I would have tackled writing this story myself after an interview with the artist. But JC Poppe sent over this completed article that required so few edits that I decided to just run with it. It’s a moving story on how he created his acclaimed Sleep Therapy album amongst both beauty and chaos.

It was slightly after dinner that we would all receive the shock of our lives. My wife suddenly went completely white from a lack of oxygen. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She was suffering from the effects of having a pulmonary embolism. It was a blood clot from her hip, which was bothering her for a few days. The clot broke off and traveled through her heart into her lungs, making it nearly impossible for the oxygen and blood to properly flow through her body.

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Editor’s Note: Normally, I would have tackled writing this story myself after an interview with the artist. But JC Poppe sent over this completed article that required so few edits that I decided to just run with it. It’s a moving story on how he created his acclaimed Sleep Therapy album amongst both beauty and chaos.

I am an independent hip-hop artist that is relatively unknown within the genre. Since Nov. 1, 2008, I have been a refugee from my home, the Milwaukee metro area, a place that I greatly miss. I have also gone through the processes of putting together my very first album, becoming a father for the first time, and dealing with my wife having a medical catastrophe. I’m not sure that this is the most exciting story in the world, but it’s something that I feel is worth telling.

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1. The Roots - How I Got Over

Tentative Release Date:  Spring/2010

Producers/Collaborators: Phonte (of Little Brother), Blu, Cody Chesnutt

What We Know: The Roots are set to release their ninth studio album How I Got Over. The album title comes from a Mahalia Jackson gospel song of the same name. The band has described the new LP as upbeat, funky with political influences. The title track was first premiered on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in June 2009. According to ?uestlove, Phonte recorded three to five tracks for the album. Here’s hoping the live version of “How I Got Over” makes the final cut it because its clearly superior to the studio version. Read the rest of this entry »

In light of the recent turmoil at KevinNottingham.com regarding the site’s former editor-in-chief Sean Deez and the blow-up over him charging indie artists for a review, which ultimately led to his unceremonious departure from the site, this practice is an issue that is begging to be addressed in the world of hip-hop blogs.  While Sean Deez wasn’t the only one doing it, he’s certainly the one being aired out for it, which raises a number of questions: Why are bloggers making a big deal out of this?  Is there a right way to pull off getting paid to write reviews?  Hell, even a cui bono? kind of question might be necessary. The purpose of this column is not to point accusatory fingers, but rather, to offer possible solutions.

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1- Blitz The Ambassador – Stereotype (Amazon)

“It would be great if albums like this became the prototype for future Hip Hop releases in taste, quality, and execution.” – Kkon-El

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Hip-hop has been around for nearly thirty years now. However, its still feels very young at its core. Whiles many emcees have graduated to have success some are just college dropouts with no plan for what’s next. In a genre of music that has no set rules it also seems to be void of maturity in the process. The idea of hip-hop and “growing up” feels like something of an oxymoron when you look at the current music landscape and its future. Very few emcees are willing to take that music past frivolous beefs/feuding, actually becoming successful as artists and making music that doesn’t compromise who they are. In hip-hop for some reason that feels unrealistic? Music is supposed to inspire, how come we ain’t getting no higher? © Lauryn Hill

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I’m really anticipating the new Clipse album dropping next month. After that we should have De La Soul, Reflection Eternal and The Roots all dropping in early 2010. Maybe its just me, but it seems like we have less groups in hip-hop right now that can have actual success in the underground and mainstream arena. This is a glaring trend in comparison to the last two decades. When I think of great groups like The Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest, the focus was less on who was the best emcee and more about how great the music was. Read the rest of this entry »