rap music

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Unclaimed Hardcore Rap Names

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
...

My New Vid's Not Satanic: Jay-Z

Rapper, director deny On To The Next One contains occult images

(Newser) - With the conspiracy-theory corners of the Internet gnawing through the idea that Jay-Z’s latest video, for the single On To The Next One, is chock-full of Satanic imagery and the symbols of Freemasonry, the rapper and the vid’s director are laughing it all off. “That’s crazy...

Kanye West Is the Next Maya Angelou
 Kanye West Is the 
 Next Maya Angelou 

OR SO HE SAYS

Kanye West Is the Next Maya Angelou

He's back in studio, comparing himself to legends

(Newser) - Famously egotistical rapper Kanye West is back in the studio—and comparing himself to Kobe Bryant and Maya Angelou in a typical-for-him, all-caps blog post . Unlike many rappers, he promises he won’t get worse with age, because “true poets get better,” he writes. There’s just one...

Diddy Weds Kim Porter ... Or Does He?
 Diddy Weds Kim Porter ... Or 
 Does He? 
what a tweet

Diddy Weds Kim Porter ... Or Does He?

Mogul backs off after early-morning tweet announcement

(Newser) - The tweet was misspelled but easy to understand: "Juat married," Sean "Diddy" Combs announced to his Twitter followers at 3:30 this morning. Within 2 hours, the entertainer had changed his tune to "No I didn't get married !!!!! Pls stop asking!!!" But St. Bart's has...

Grand Hip-Hop Museum May Rise in the Bronx

If it flies, it will have subway cars to tag and Chuck D seminars

(Newser) - A prospective hip-hop museum in the Bronx will feature MTA subway cars free for the tagging, a Microsoft-designed music video wall, a hip-hop hall of fame, and political action seminars designed by the likes of Chuck D and KRS-One—if its founder can scare up $150 million to $250 million....

50 Cent Fails With Self Destruct
 50 Cent 
 Fails With 
 Self Destruct
 
MUSIC REVIEW

50 Cent Fails With Self Destruct

Rapper can't quite nail a return to his glory days on new album

(Newser) - 50 Cent, once at the forefront of rap music, returns with Before I Self Destruct—but his fourth solo effort isn’t impressing the critics. “Though packed with tough beats, dense production and 50's most ferocious delivery in years, the gloats about shootings, drugs and bloody 'hoods feel about...

Vladimir Putin, Rap Advocate?
 Vladimir Putin, Rap Advocate? 
HE LOVES THE HIP-HOP

Vladimir Putin, Rap Advocate?

Russian prime minister just plain awkward at music awards show

(Newser) - While it would have been infinitely more entertaining had Vladimir Putin actually tried to freestyle, his appearance at a music awards show this weekend still made newspapers titter. Putin, who first stood around looking awkward while his “youth disguised” security mingled with the dancing crowd, handed out an award...

Craziest Rap Concert Demands
 Craziest Rap 
 Concert Demands 
peel me a grape

Craziest Rap Concert Demands

From condoms and KFC to Cuban cigars and Hennessy

(Newser) - Drawing on the Smoking Gun ’s collection of concert riders, Sam Greenspan of 11points.com offers a list of the 11 craziest demands made by rappers:
  • DMX: Three boxes of condoms and a gallon of Hennessy—that’s anywhere from $300 to $800 worth of cognac.
  • Public Enemy: Kosher
...

New Site Decodes Rap Lyrics

Rap Genius breaks down Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, and more

(Newser) - Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ song “Empire State of Mind” is everywhere, even at the World Series. But do you know what the lyrics mean? If not, Rap Genius (formerly Rap Exegesis) can clue you in the way it educated Nick Antosca of the Huffington Post. Some of the explanations...

Ledger-Directed Rap Video Debuts

 Ledger-Directed 
 Rap Video 
 Debuts 
WATCH IT

Ledger-Directed Rap Video Debuts

Actor worked with Australian singer, a childhood friend

(Newser) - A music video, one of a few directed by Heath Ledger for little-known artists he liked, made its online debut yesterday. Australian rapper N'fa Forster-Jones, a childhood friend of the late actor's, posted the video along with a behind-the-scenes look at the project, the AP reports. "Every day I...

Jay-Z Cleans Up 'Empire' for World Series

Rapper will keep his language PG while performing for Yanks

(Newser) - The lyrics to Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" are sometimes as raw as New York, but it looks like the rapper will clean things up when he performs his city anthem at the World Series. A source close to the rapper says Jay-Z won't utter curses or other raunchy...

Lil Wayne Pleads to Gun Charge

Rapper could serve a year over 2007 incident

(Newser) - Grammy-winning rapper Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession today and expects to receive a one-year jail sentence. He previously had pleaded not guilty to illegal gun possession charges that carried at least 3 1/2 years in prison upon conviction. Police said a gun was found on his tour...

Recession Finds Place in Rap's Latest Hits

Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne among those referencing sour economy

(Newser) - The ugly economy is making more than a cameo in today’s hottest rap music, with Young Jeezy taking the cake by naming his latest album The Recession. Rap’s often been a barometer of such huge swings, Sara Libby writes, noting the impact last year of Barack Obama’s...

Public Enemy Hooks Up With 'Crowdfunding' Site

Hip-hop innovators will raise $250K through Dutch site Sellaband

(Newser) - Hip-hoppers Public Enemy, one of the first groups to release on mp3, is entering the brave new world of crowdfunding. The group has partnered with Dutch site SellABand to raise the $250,000 necessary to record a new album entirely through $25 donations from fans. The payout? Donors—or “...

'Jewmaican' Amy Tries to Rap
 'Jewmaican' Amy Tries to Rap 
WATCH IT

'Jewmaican' Amy Tries to Rap

Troubled singer tries her hand at a new hobby—and she has a faith healer, too

(Newser) - TMZ has stumbled upon a video of Amy Winehouse rapping with former backup singer Zalon. Many of the lyrics—with the exception of the notable line where she calls herself “Jewmaican”—are unintelligible, but listen for yourself at left. In other Winehouse news, she’s flying a faith...

'Obama Effect' Cleaning Up Rap

Common says hip-hop turning more positive

(Newser) - Thanks to President Obama, today’s rap focuses less on drugs, bling, and violence, and the “conscious rapper” is on the rise—at least according to Common. “I don't find as much gangsta talk,” the rapper/actor tells CNN. “You see the whole chain-shining-and-rim era is gone....

Horrorcore Rap Killings Shock Sleepy Va. Town

Questions abound about music's role in family's slaughter

(Newser) - Farmville is a sleepy Virginia town of 7,000, hardly the kind of place you’d expect a Californian “horrorcore” rapper to brutally bludgeon four people to death, Yet that's exactly what 20-year-old Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III, aka “Syko Sam,” is suspected of doing. “I...

British R&B Star Climbs US Charts

Jay Sean finds a home on Lil Wayne's Cash Money label

(Newser) - “It doesn't matter if we're from a little place called Hounslow,” Jay Sean tells the BBC. “If you have some good music, you can make it anywhere.” That’s how the British R&B singer found himself collaborating with Lil Wayne, and climbing to No. 2...

What Jay-Z and Glenn Beck Have in Common

Rap and right-wing talk radio are more similar than you might think

(Newser) - After listening to hours of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin on the radio while driving the Nebraska countryside, a peculiar thought occurred to David Segal: conservative talk-show hosts are surprisingly similar to gangsta rappers, he writes for the New York Times. Consider the parallels:
  • Huge egos. Both groups
...

Rapper Who Posted Murder Lyrics Busted in 4 Killings

'I hate everybody,' says aspiring horrorcore singer 'Syko Sam'

(Newser) - An aspiring California "horrorcore" rapper who posted songs about killing on his MySpace page is being held as a suspect in the murder of four people, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, 20, was arrested as he awaited a flight back home from Virginia, where the...

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