Despite his modest talents, I've long had a soft-spot for The Game and his stubborn adherence to the increasingly antiquated conventions of '90s gangsta rap. At a time when even 50 Cent, once viewed as the possible savior of West Coast gangsta rap, has fo

I'll have a more thoughtful review of the show in next week's Shepherd, but I can't resist the opportunity to beam a little bit about last night's Nas/Talib Kweli show. I'm often jaded about local rap concerts—I'm always turned off by the inordinate numbe

After a day's delay, DJ Drama finally posted the latest Lil Wayne mixtape, Dedication 3, on his Web site this afternoon. It's streaming for free now, and will also be available for download once some (significant) technical errors are worked out. (2dopebo

Pollstar and the group's own tour information may report otherwise, but Yo Majesty will not be performing at the Turner Hall Ballroom next Tuesday. I'm guessing I'm not breaking a lot of hearts with that announcement. Though the hip-hop duo ha

There's a great moment on Joe Budden's new album—actually, there are a lot of great moments on Joe Budden's new album, this one just struck me as particularly novel—where on the penultimate track Budden prays for understanding. You don't need to be a Ja R

The thrill of the Internet's all-you-can-eat buffet of mixtapes wears off soon after discovery, when most mixes quickly begin to bleed together into one big, undistinguished ball, but the latest 2 Hungry Bros mix, My Crew's All Thinner, stands out-it's on

“Kid Cudi is a no show,” a stagehand announced at exactly 1 a.m., the scheduled start time for Kid Cudi’s set. Within moments the houselights brightened and the crowd realized he wasn’t joking. Disillusioned and grumbling, they made a mass exodus toward the exit. The first revelers had just left when none other but Kid Cudi walked in through the venue’s front door in brisk stride, waving the crowd back toward the stage. It was like a scene from a movie; the rapper’s fashionably late entrance couldn’t have been better timed. “Sorry I’m late,” Cudi apologized as he hopped over a bar and onto the stage, his DJ racing to set up his equipment. “I had a Peter Parker Spider Man 2 moment. You know how Spider Man didn’t want to be Spider Man no more? I was feeling that way.” It was an odd explanation for being four minutes tardy if there ever was one. It’s going to be a long, miserable life for the laid-back rapper if he’s already questioning a career in music

It was only a half a decade ago that keeping up with the latest Milwaukee mixtapes would have required regular trips to the Milwaukee Mall or Teutonia Ave, but these days most any mix worth hearing ends up online for free—and, to be sure, the city's

­It seems only fitting that I dedicate my annual Memorial Day Mix entirely to Baltimore club music, since Baltimore's house-derived strain of rap music has been on the cusp of national notoriety for months now. If you're not familiar with Baltimore club,

Allow me to join the chorus of bloggers largely calling out Jay-Z for his pandering new single "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)." It's discouraging that Jay-Z would hone in on a lightning rod as tired as Auto-Tune; does this mean we can expect The Blueprint 3