The NBA wasn't the only thing to come back on Christmas. Also that day, DMV rapper KingPen Slim, whose Beam Up mixtape series has made him a formidable presence in the region, dropped his Pass the Roc mixtape, on which he rhymes original verses over various Roc-A-Fella beats.
"Lucifer In A New Suit" finds Slim battle-rapping over [...]
Is “Otis” a terrible song?
I thought so. It’s a lazy, looped beat that is trampled on by weak punch-lines, and is just about impossible to consume. But three songs into Thursday night’s Monsters of Rap summit, the track felt central to whatever cultural unifiers linger in the middle class’ societal fabric. An extended intro turned [...]
Obligatory Shit About Yeezy and Hova: Were you at the Verizon Center last night? I wasn't. But WaPo's Chris Richards was, and I'm sure there will be plenty more write-ups before the day is through. So, you know, envy.
This Guy: Huffington Post DC blogger Ben E. Kessler is back with another silly missive about the [...]
Tonight's big show is Jay-Z and Kanye West at the Verizon Center. They're touring in support of Watch the Throne, their collaborative album from earlier this year, about which WCP contributer Ramon Ramirez was not totally jazzed:
Watch the Throne is often noisy, gutless, and absurd: like every time a limping Jay-Z grabs the mic and raps about [...]
The last time we heard an X.O. solo recording—the celebratory One.One.Ten, released on Jan. 1 of last year—the Northwest D.C. native seemed comfortable with his place among the region's hip-hop elite.
One year later, X.O. sounds restless on Monumental II, a 17-track mixtape of familiar soul samples, reflective anecdotes, and aggressive lyricism released today. Monumental II is the [...]
The last time Wale released a summer mixtape to hype a fall album, he had a Lady Gaga cameo. Nowadays he's just grateful for his Twitter fans: The Eleven One Eleven Theory dropped after he clocked his millionth follower. The new mixtape may have crashed HulkShare yesterday, but it's fair to say Wale can't claim the same level of anticipation [...]
Fake Brits Got Swagger: So, Watch the Throne, the grandiose collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye West, is kind of weaksauce. But perhaps equally startling? Over at Click Track, Chris Richards and David Malitz take note of the fact that instead of Hov or Ye, the album's opening track "No Church in the Wild" begins with "a [...]
It’s difficult to approach Watch the Throne—the collaborative super-friends blockbuster from Kanye West and Jay-Z—while keeping the vitriol in check. This is Brett Favre stunting the development and progress of his home team by not stepping aside and letting Aaron Rodgers forge style and identity. Through its corner-office reign, the pair has kept a vice [...]
Don't Do Me Like That: On the one hand, you've got to sympathize with artists like Tom Petty, whose music has been borrowed by the campaigns of George W. Bush and now Michelle Bachmann. He's asked Bachmann not to use "American Girl," but because her campaign has been playing it at public events, he likely [...]
D.C., you need a little love right now, and ooh yeah, Far Out vs. Hot Dang can give it to you. That's right, yeah, just a little to the left, a little to the right. Cold side, hot side. Mmm. Don't forget to check the Twitpiece. Aw yeah, it's like that. Now let's get somethin' [...]
