Before I get into the very strong new Styles P/Curren$y EP, I should make something clear: The best mixtape I've heard in the past week isn't this one; it's Consignment: Favor For A Favor, the epic…   Read Story »

The Oakland-based, perma-stoned Green Ova rap crew doesn't much care whether you're listening or not, or at least that's the impression I get. The crew, anchored by the duo Main Attrakionz, had a…   Read Story »

There was a moment in the middle of the last decade where just about every mainstream rap song took place in the club. That moment is over, but it'll never end for Alabama bulldozer Jackie Chain.…   Read Story »

As a human being, Gucci Mane is a mess. Back when he was on his hot streak about three years ago, that was part of his charm. Like fellow Southern-rap face-tat aficionado Lil Wayne before him, Gucci…   Read Story »

Alley Boy doesn't always make the best decisions. He once videotaped himself beating up a rival rapper, then posted that video on the internet. He let Young Dro jump on his song "Tall" and absolutely…   Read Story »

Last year, the Seattle rapper Nacho Picasso had something of a coming-out party when he released his For The Glory mixtape, a cloudy-eyed and bloody-minded celebration of boundless drug appetites and…   Read Story »

In the hours after Rick Ross dropped his Rich Forever mixtape on Friday afternoon, my Twitter timeline could talk about nothing else. And it wasn't just that self-selecting sample, either. "#RUH,"…   Read Story »

The release calendar for actual albums slows to a crawl in late December and early January, but the mixtapes never stop. If anything, they come even faster, for reasons I can't begin to puzzle out.…   Read Story »

ASAP Rocky gets a lot of credit for being a New York rapper who's figured out how to play with Southern rap sonics, but in a way, his fellow New Yorker French Montana has him beat. The Moroccan-born…   Read Story »

About a year ago, I went to the first of the big Eminem/Jay-Z stadium shows in Detroit, and I was surprised when 50 Cent emerged onstage for a few songs. I shouldn't have been surprised, considering…   Read Story »