Category: Hip-Hop

2015 Grammy Recap

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“Music’s Biggest Night” happened last night, and thankfully this year, no one is ready to protest in the streets over this year’s rap winners.

The biggest winners in the rap genre were Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. K Dot can finally be called a Grammy winner (even though we’re all in agreement that he was hardcore snubbed last year) with his wins for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “i.” Best Rap Album went to Em for Marshall Mathers LP 2, and he also won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “The Monster” along with Rihanna. Jay-Z also had a win for Best R&B Song (and Best R&B Performance) for his duet with Beyonce, both of whom are no strangers to the Grammy stage.

Now let’s talk about the elephant. The Kendrick win is a win for everyone in the hip-hop community, but in order to know that that even happened, you’d have to do your own research. Why? Because no rap awards were presented at this year’s Grammys.

Really? It’s 2015, and the Grammys included Pop, Country, R&B, and Rock, but the award for “The Monster” which according to Billboard was the number 16 song for all of 2014 was not even televised. Maybe the hip-hop community might’ve settled for a presentation of Best Urban Contemporary Album (winner: Pharrell Williams for Girl), which includes Frank Ocean in its list of past winners. But that wasn’t presented either.

There isn’t enough time to present every winner, but if they needed to cut one of last night’s TWENTY-THREE performances to showcase a rap award, then that’s what they should’ve done. Back in ’89 when the Grammys thought hip-hop was just a trend, the award to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince for Best Rap Performance was not televised. Now 26 years later, it’s undeniable that hip-hop is a global phenomenon. So why doesn’t this top genre get its moment to shine alongside the others? By the way, in 1989 the rap nominees were unified enough to boycott the Grammys until they got their moment. Could that be possible today? It’s something to consider.

See the full list of Grammy winners here.

Cashmere Cat & DJ Mustard – Ice Rink

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Cashmere Cat is one of most innovative Electronic artists in recent years. With his dope remixes and incredible original work, he’s on his way up the latter. With that being said, who better to collaborate with than Hip Hop’s most active and critically acclaimed producer, DJ Mustard? On their new single “Ice Rink”, Cashmere starts off with an ambient sample and faster than you can say “Mustard on the beat”, DJ Mustard changes the pace with his signature down tempo drums. This is the first of many collabs from the two producers, so be on the lookout for some new material. We’ve had Cashmere come through Texas with us before, and we cannot wait to get him back to Dallas on April 2 later this semester. Get your tickets and listen to “Ice Rink” below.

JMSN with Rochelle Jordan and Dpat in Houston (Photos)

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Over the past two nights, we have had the honor of hosting JMSN, one of the most unique artists making music today, and the two artists opening for him for our Austin and Houston shows, Rochelle Jordan and Dpat. All three artists absolutely killed it at Warehouse Live and The Parish in H-Town and ATX, respectively. Check out the rest of the shots below.

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Photo credits: Justin Hashaw

ScHoolboy Q Says His New Album is Coming Soon

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TDE rapper ScHoolboy Q has increased his popularity in the last year, thanks to his hot tracks like “Studio” and “Man Of The Year”. He has been featured with lots of rappers and even pop artists, skyrocketing him up the charts. While we wait to see if Oxymoron will win a grammy, Q takes to twitter ,after a small hiatus from tweeting, to let his fans know his next album is on the way. Are you looking foward to it? Let us know below.

Danny Brown – Fresh Off The Boat (Theme)

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Social media erupted when Danny Brown made it known that he was working on a children’s book, and now one of his tracks in going to be a theme song on ABC’s newest sitcom. Danny Brown makes his debut as a theme song writer with the ABC show, Fresh Off The Boat. The sitcom is about an asian immigrant family trying to assimilate to living in America, and the hilarious trouble they get in. Danny’s eccentric flow matches the energy of the premise of Fresh Off The Boat, so this is a surprisingly a good fit for the Detroit-rapper. You can listen to the theme below.