50 Cent Fails With Self Destruct

Sure, her life wasn't all hard, but don't write her off as a rapper

(NEWSER) - “Even in a ‘post-race’ world, street sells,” writes Amy Granzin for Pitchfork. That would explain why some looked at Speech Debelle—the once-homeless UK rapper turned Mercury Prize nominee and "hip-hop's next big thing"—and spun “a tiny bit of flash into blinding bling.” The truth is, Debelle had a middle-class, “girl-next-door” upbringing—but don’t write her off. Her debut, Speech Therapy, is “fine, fresh, serious (yet never dour),” and it “speaks for itself.” More»

Rap's up-and-coming name follows in the footsteps of Kanye West, Andre 3000

(NEWSER) - The premise of Kanye West protégé Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of the Day is that he’s “not on the same planet as other rappers. The truth is that he’s not in the same genre,” writes Julian Benbow for the Boston Globe. The debut album “is a lot of things. It’s spacey, adventurous, and ridiculously intriguing if only because it’s so different. But it’s not rap”—more like “experimental and emotional hip-hop.” Elsewhere: More»

Lyrics, though awkward, manage not to be petulant

(NEWSER) - Somehow, rapper Drake recorded an album concerned mostly with “the stresses and travails of fame, even if he recorded the damn thing when he wasn’t famous in any meaningful way”—and then became famous thanks to said album, writes Tom Breihan for Pitchfork. Though he’s “not a great rapper,” Drake’s So Far Gone “still scans as one of the most compulsively listenable mixtapes of a great year for mixtapes.” More»

'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ' is also the rapper's best effort yet

(NEWSER) - Kanye West is officially back: "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the best album of 2010 and the best album of West's career," asserts Jonah Weiner on Slate . The rapper, always unable to keep quiet about things he finds unjust, has "managed to channel his sense of injustice into his music more fully and thrillingly than ever before. It's a seething and sad album, full of tales of transgression, betrayal, repudiation, and bitter vindication. It's also wild fun to listen to." More»

Looking to break into the biz? Use one of these pseudonyms.

(NEWSER) - With Diddy constantly changing his rap name, you might think all the good ones have already been used. But no: There are an awful lot of awesome pseudonyms still left, and Jesse Gissen lists his favorites on XXL :

• Sirius Black: “This bad ass dude from the Harry Potter series is known for practicing black magic, breaking out of prison and being able to turn into a werewolf. Seriously, it doesn’t get any better than this.”