Art, Deep Cover Recent Rhymesayers signee and the star of album covers such as Death of a Frequent Flier and Bio: Chemistry I and II, special guest writer Psalm One breaks down the album art of ladies that rock the mic. These days…
Art, Deep Cover Looking back on the brief life of Christopher Wallace—a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G., Big Poppa, The Black Frank White—it’s difficult not to see a prophecy of doom in his album titles and art. Despite rapping about the good life,…
Art, Deep Cover Hip-hop was created off the heels of the Black Nationalist regime and the Civil Rights Movement as a lifestyle of self expression. It gave inner city youth a voice that would have otherwise remained unheard. Over the past 30 years,…
Art, Deep Cover It doesn’t matter how many Casio beats Southern hip-hop throws at us, rap music is, and will always be about sampling. And since sampling is the rap way-of-life, it’s only natural to extend it from another artist’s album to another…
Art, Deep Cover For those of you out there that think 50 Cent invented hip-hop, it’s time to recognize. Before “rap music,†the four main elements of hip-hop were DJing, Bboying, Graffiti and Emceeing. Although these elements do still get represented globally, seldom…
Art, Deep Cover Every rapper fancies themself a super-hero, or in some cases, a villain. Ask Jean Grae, DJ Clark Kent, Tony Starks or MF Doom. They’ve got the fancy cars, the cool names, and the never-ending adventures running through their careers. How…
Art, Deep Cover There was a time when pop wasn’t hip-hop and hip-hop most definitely was not pop. If you can remember that far back, then you’re likely familiar with the Native Tongues. Though there were plenty of Afrocentric bandwagon-jumpers, the Native Tongues,…
Art, Deep Cover Shortly after the death of the Notorious B.I.G., the crown for King of New York was up for grabs. Both Nas and Jay-Z felt it was rightfully theirs, which led to one of the most respected and infamous beefs in…
Art, Deep Cover Consisting of nine NY natives, the Wu-Tang Clan is arguably one of the most influential rap groups and possibly one of the best in hip-hop history. Wu-Tang constituents are well renowned for their use of imagery and graphic metaphors throughout…
Art, Deep Cover There is always somebody or someone that comes up second best or is a serious component of a bigger success. Michael Jordan would be nothing without Scottie Pippen, D-Wade would be nothing with Shaq, and Andre 3000 would be nothing…
