It would be a shame for Rihanna to completely omit the simple million dollar question “How are you?” On record, there hasn’t been a retort or even an index finger wave directed at Chris. She’s at a crossroads where she can choose to saturate Top 25 lists with lively, up-tempo pop jams, or taking her life and splatter it against a sonic canvas for the world to see. Personally, I hope she chooses the latter.
“Yo Kanye, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Zach Galifinakis has one of the best videos for “Can’t Tell Me Nothin” of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” In a story so strange it could only be true, Kanye West let Zach Galifianakis, who most people probably know as the fat crazy dude from “The Hangover,” make an alternative version of his “Can’t Tell Me Nothin” video. The result is his version a video set on Zach’s Appalachian farms and featuring chainsaws, cows, clog dancers, and, well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
Inspired by rapper Mos Def and one of New York City’s livest boroughs, Brooklyn, UNDRCRWN’s Cut & Sew collection is described as “polished and mature,” but with a touch of “collegiate” style. Speaking on his latest endeavor with UNDRCRWN Mos Def explained that “ I’m loving what [UNDRCRWN] is doing. Loving how they show creativity…and style with their line and I’m really inspired by how they put their garments together.” See more to check out the latest from UNDRCRWN and Mos Def…
Judging from radio and TV you’d think every rapper and singer lives in Atlanta, New York, Miami or Chicago, but believe it or not, there a thousands of artists in other cities making great music. That’s why RefinedHype is giving artists from less-well-known locales the chance to rep their city on the national stage. Today we kick off our “My City” series with Trazz, a Buffalo, New York native whose hyper-electronic blend of hip-hop and R&B has been building some serious buzz. While Buffalo is probably known to most Americans as “the city T.O. plays in,” Traxx lets us know there’s far more to the upstate New York city than just cold weather; like for instance “Loganberry Juice.”
XV’s “Everbody’s Nobody” mixtape has been killing speakers for a couple months now, but we finally got the video to his heavily hyped track “Fall Out the Sky” today. In my review of “Everybody’s Nobody” for DJBooth.net I said that “XV may be the best rapper you’ve never heard of,” but if he keeps putting out videos like this it’s hard to believe he’ll be unheard of for long.
I get sent a lot of music, and sadly most of it isn’t very good. (And by “very good” I mean “makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.”) So I’m always a little surprised when I get a track from a rapper I’ve never heard of and it turns out to be pretty damn good. That’s exactly what happened with Masta Menace, a Pennsylvania based rapper, and his lyrically dynamic track “Talk to theaBeat.” You can download the track inside and be one of the first to say, “Yo, there’s this new underground rapper I heard…”
Consequence, the lyrically driven and Kanye-affiliated Chi-town rapper, is back with a new video that’s a little more focused on, um, well, asses than his usual work. Featuring Kanye West and John Legend and directed by Hype Williams, “Whatever U Want” is the single that just might push Consequence into the mainstream. See more…
The New York City medical examiner’s office has officially ruled that DJ AM’s death was “accidental.” The official cause of death is “acute intoxication” coming from a fatal mix of prescription drugs and cocaine. In the literal sense, there was almost nothing accidental about Adam Goldstein’s death. Perhaps DJ AM didn’t mean to overdose - who ever does? - but ingesting massive amounts of OxyContin, Benadryl and crack is far from an accident. It’s a deliberately slow suicide.
As I worked on my review of Mariah Carey’s new album “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” for DJBooth.net, one thing kept coming up again and again. No, not, “Is it just me, or do Mariah’s breasts look particularly large on this album cover?” (Although they do.) No, I kept coming back to her lead single “Obsessed” and thinking, “Could Mariah be one of the first battle rappers/pop singers?” As improbable as it might seem, Mariah Carey, a woman whose symbol is a butterfly and married the world’s least threatening rapper Nick Cannon, might just be one of the only people to ever defeat Eminem in a battle.
Some rappers are just better. Over the beat from Drake’s “Fear,” Amiyj lays down cinematic verses that immediately establish him as one of the game’s best storytellers: “I’m trapped in between two worlds, how could you know me?/ When i can barely get in touch with myself/ I don’t know if I’m a killer or/ I’m a drug dealer or / if I should shoot a nigga to protect my wealth.” There’s nothing more I can say that Amijy doesn’t say better himself on the track. “Fear Freestyle” is a RefinedHype.com exclusive. Click to see more on Amiyj and download.
Public Enemy said it best: don’t believe the hype. Urban music and culture has found a home online, but with the explosion of new content appearing online everyday, it’s become difficult to separate what’s real with what’s just hype.
RefinedHype gathers everything that’s new in urban culture and refines it for a discriminating audience. From exclusive new music to the latest in entertainment, fashion, events and more, we give you the high quality content you demand.
