Playlist of the Week: Listen to “Brooklyn in the ’90s” on Apple Music
These classic tracks will bring you back to a time when Jamaican sounds were blending with hip-hop in New York's outer boroughs.
Toppa Top 10: Ten Rap Songs That Shout Out Shabba
Words by Jesse Serwer and Raine Martin—
It seems that Shabba Ranks' name is buzzing in the hip-hop world once again. Kanye West called himself "the new Shabba" on his new, highly dancehall-influenced... Read More...
Toppa Top 9: Kardinal Offishall on the Greatest Jamaican MCs
Words by Kardinal Offishall, as told to Jesse Serwer—
With Jamaica 50 on the horizon and our Trini rappers Toppa Top 10 still stirring debate, we've been thinking about how best to large up Jamaica's gre... Read More...
Throwback Thursdays: Skadanks, “Everybody African”
Words by DJ Gravy—
Back when New York was a dangerous and cutting edge city, before the homogenization, and when reggae and its byproduct, hip hop, were still getting aquainted, a group of bright kids wh... Read More...
Toppa Top 10: Ten Trini Rappers Besides Nicki Minaj
Words by Jesse Serwer and Rishi Bonneville—
Without a doubt, Saint James, Trinidad native Nicki Minaj is the most influential and accomplished Caribbean-born rapper to come along in many years. But Nic... Read More...
Boogie Down The Chimney: KRS-One, Mad Lion + Shinehead Inna “Holiday Gift Style”
Words by Jesse Serwer
You might have heard that KRS-One is about to drop a new album, Just Like That, produced entirely by a resurgent Mad Lion at the top of next year. Knowing that doesn't make their ne... Read More...
Throwback Thursdays: DJ Autograph on Spragga Benz’s “Good Day”
Words by DJ Autograph
Growing up in Jamaica, one of the things I always found particularly fascinating was the way that dancehall artists had to cater to their diverse fan base. A well-rounded deejay’s a... Read More...
Double Trouble: Watch KRS-One’s Video for the Mad Lion-Produced “Aztechnical”
Words by Jesse Serwer
In the early '90s, KRS-ONE introduced us to Mad Lion, producing his classic "Take It Easy" and bringing the gruff deejay into the fold of Boogie Down Productions. The pair would con... Read More...
Toppa Top 10: Caribbean Hip-Hop Pioneers
Words by Jesse Serwer
If you're familiar with the story of how hip-hop came to be, you've surely come across the detail that the man responsible for starting the whole thing in motion, Clive "DJ Kool... Read More...
Run Tune: Exclusive interview with DJ Child
Words by DJ Theory
DJ Child is the hardest-working man in the reggae biz that you've never heard of--if you rely on mainstream channels for your music discovery, that is. As the mind behind Oakland-based... Read More...
Toppa Top 10: Rapper/Deejay Collabos
By Jesse Serwer
With Nas and Damian Marley's Distant Relatives set to drop on Tuesday, it only seems right at this moment to look back at all of the important reggae artist/rapper summits that have com... Read More...
Toppa Top 10: Reggae Samples In Rap Songs
Words by Jesse Serwer
Hip-hop's been borrowing from reggae since Jamaican-born Kool Herc updated the soundsystem throwdown for his new home in the Bronx. But the reggae references, both sonic and other... Read More...