RapFix › Uncategorized

Tony Yayo In 'SWAT 2: Firefight' Exclusive Clip

Posted 2/11/11 2:09 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By D.L. Chandler

50 Cent isn't the only member of G-Unit to invade Hollywood. Longtime ally Tony Yayo takes on Tinsel town as well in an upcoming flick. Read More...

Tags , ,

Black History Month: The Hip Hop Trailblazers

Posted 2/11/11 9:52 am EST by in Uncategorized

By D.L. Chandler

As RapFix continues its Black History Month coverage, we've decided to profile three pioneering legends of hip hop. These trailblazers belong in the annals of black music history.

The Creator

DJ Kool Herc (born Clive Campbell)

The Kingston, Jamaica, native is widely credited as the creator and "father of hip-hop" and the claim is well supported by historians of the genre. While he never grew to prominence as a recording artist or as part of the machine, Herc's contribution to the basic framework of hip-hop music lasts to this day. The DJ borrowed heavily from his homeland's dancehall tradition of "sound systems" and the art of "toasting" which meant to simply talk boastfully over a record a DJ would play. Herc incorporated that party style of DJ'ing into his own sets when he began to spin in and around New York City in the early '70s. Herc's most notable contribution is the introduction of the term "breakbeat" and the later terms "break boys" and "break girls" - which later became shortened to "b-boys" and "b-girls". When Herc played a party, his focus on the record he would spin would be the break or instrumental segment, which would be the favorite section of the dancers in attendance. Read More...

Tags , , , , , ,

J Dilla's Legacy Remembered

Posted 2/10/11 7:21 pm EST by in Interviews, Music News, RapFix Influentials, Uncategorized

by Paul Cantor

Today marks five years since J Dilla’s passing from an incurable blood disease. The man born James Dewitt Yancey (commonly credited as Jay Dee, although now almost universally known as Dilla) is revered for changing the sonic landscape of hip-hop in the mid-90s and early 80s. Musically, the Detroit-bred producer mined jazz, funk and soul records for his sample sources, and was known for his off-beat drum programming, where kicks and snares arrived either early or late in the pattern, and created a lazy laid-back feel. Before Dilla, that sound, which is so common throughout music today, not just hip-hop, didn’t exist. In the late 90s Dilla was the bridge between underground rap with neo-soul, and though he never won the Grammy for it (producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis received it instead), Janet Jackson’s “Got Till It’s Gone” was perhaps his biggest coming out party.

Here we take a trip down memory lane and list some of Dilla’s finest musical contributions, in no particular order, because they’re all great in their own way. Rest assured, there are way too many to list. Read More...

Tags , , , , , , , , ,

Birdman Responds To Jay-Z's 'Baby Money' Rap

Posted 2/10/11 6:26 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By D.L. Chandler

It seems like the Jay-Z vs. Cash Money/Young Money beef may be gaining some actual traction as Bryan “Birdman” Williams publicly responded via Twitter to Jay-Z’s supposed jab at the New Orleans label and crew. Read More...

Tags , , ,

50 Cent Is Back, New Movie Photos Leak

Posted 2/10/11 12:18 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By D.L. Chandler

It's official. 50 Cent is back.

The Queens native was a guest last night (February 9) on the late night talk show Conan with host Conan O'Brien. The dapper rapper was both charismatic and entertaining, with the crowd warming up to his well-timed jokes and recanting of some of his antics on Twitter - including making over a $1000 shoveling snow in New York City with the help of some kids the rapper posted pictures of via his Twitter account. Read More...

Tags ,

Will Eminem Perform At Lollapalooza?

Posted 2/9/11 5:12 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By D.L. Chandler

The 2011 Lollapalooza music festival’s official lineup won’t be made available to the public until the month of April, but it is rumored that hip hop’s biggest act Eminem is slated to perform at the hyped event this August in Chicago’s Grant Park. Read More...

Tags , ,

Nicki Minaj Is The Latest In A Long Line Of Female MCs To Attack The Charts

Posted 2/9/11 4:24 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By Erika Ramirez

Clap for her!

Nicki Minaj has much to celebrate. Barbie’s Pink Friday will finally hit the #1 slot on the Billboard charts. Next week Nicki Minaj’s first studio album, Pink Friday, will climb to the #2 slot on the Billboard 200 chart after moving 45,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The 18% increase in sales also pushes Pink Friday over the 1 million mark — selling a total of 1,035,000 copies total since it was released on Nov. 22nd. Read More...

Tags , , ,

Rap Critics Remember Big Pun On His Anniversary

Posted 2/7/11 3:36 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By Erika Ramirez

Today (February 7th) marks the eleven year anniversary of rapper Big Punisher’s passing. Puerto Rican rapper, Christopher Rios, left us with a plethora of hits to remember him by and raised the stakes with his lyricism and perseverance. Coming from the South Bronx, New York, Big Pun was one of the most prolific Latino rappers in history and the first solo Latino rapper to go platinum, attaining a Grammy before his passing in 2000. From hits such as club-anthem, “Still Not a Player,” off Capital Punishment to significant guest appearances alongside Jennifer Lopez, Noreaga and the Beatnuts, Pun sparked inspiration throughout the Latin community and the rap game as a whole.

In memory of the late great we turned to a few rap critics for their thoughts on Big Pun, from the most memorable moment in his career to the first thing that comes up when Pun’s name is mentioned. Read More...

Tags , , ,

Snoop Dogg Cruises To Victory In Snoop Bowl IX

Posted 2/6/11 7:03 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By D.L. Chandler

On Super Bowl XLV weekend, former player and current NFL analyst Deion “Prime Time” Sanders faced up against hip hop legend and part-time kid football coach Snoop Dogg in Snoop’s 9th annual Snoop Bowl in Dallas, TX in a battle of coaching wits this past Saturday (January 5).

Sponsored by Kinect for XBOX 360, the game featured Snoop’s All Stars youth football team from California against Sander’s TRUTH team comprised of kids from all over the nation. Although Sanders, who was just elected by officials today to enter the NFL’s Hall of Fame in Canton, is the supposed football expert, his team didn’t fare as well as Snoop Dogg’s young tikes won the game 57-12. Read More...

Tags , ,

Scarface Jailed, Facing Federal Charges

Posted 2/3/11 8:24 pm EST by in Uncategorized

By Alvin Blanco

Houston rapper Scarface (Brad Jordan) has been in jail since October 13, 2010 over failure to pay child support. XXLmag.com has confirmed that the veteran rapper is being held in Montgomery County Jail in Conroe, Texas without bail. Face is facing charges in four separate child support cases as well as currently undisclosed federal charges.

The unknown federal charges will raise the eyebrows of hip-hop conspiracy theorists. The snitch tag has been leveled on Scarface persistently by rapper Lil Troy, who even released a DVD dedicated to the topic. However, Scarface has always vehemently denied the rival rapper’s claims in numerous interviews. Read More...

Tags

12345678910

About

RapFix is MTV News’ hub for breaking hip-hop stories, features, exclusive behind-the-scenes content and everything in between. The conversation begins on the blog and continues on our weekly show “RapFix Live,” hosted by Sway Calloway.

Follow us on Twitter:
@MTVRapFix

Like us on Facebook:
Facebook.com/RapFix

Watch full episodes of “RapFix Live”:
RapFixLive.MTV.com

Managing Editor
Nadeska Alexis

SPONSORS
AD:
©2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.