Rick Ross

Prof: If I can justify it and be smart enough, I can say anything

Minneapolis rap troublemaker Prof has pushed all our buttons for over a decade now. A mixture of party-starters, gross-out tales, and personal exploration fills the three volumes of his Kaiser Von Powderhorn mixtape series, his King Gampo album, the Recession Music collaboration with St. Paul Slim, ... More >>

Off the deep end with Prof

The Powderhorn rapper proves there's more to him than partying

Meek Mill

Get Cryphy 5th Anniversary at First Avenue, 2/8/13

Get Cryphy 5th AnniversaryWith Slug, Brother Ali, MaLLy, Lizzo, Haphduzn, Sophia Eris, St. Paul Slim, Rapper Hooks, Lazerbeak, Big Dylan, Ander Other and moreFirst Avenue, MinneapolisFriday, February 8, 2013The Get Cryphy crew capped off another solid anniversary show on Friday, ringing in five year ... More >>

Get Cryphy turns five

The DJ crew that taught local hip-hop heads to love club bangers celebrates half a decade

Bruce Springsteen's evangelical nation baptized me in St. Paul

By Justin BakerI have spent almost a decade goofing on my former boss and his Bruce Springsteen superfandom. As my adult music appreciation has grown, the issue has become amplified, and I've unfairly been branded a youth hipster and a full-blown cynic.So began my ex-employer's quest to engineer ... More >>

Brother Ali in His Own Words

Opening up about everything from new album Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color to politics and religion

Prof brags incessantly with Yelawolf on "New Kid"

See Also:First Listen: Prof, 'King Gampo' (Free Download)Prof channels his inner Timberlake in "Need Your Love" videoRibald local rapper Prof is sounding more like Rick Ross every day. No, he hasn't added that "woof" noise Rozay makes on the reg, but he's got the gift of amusing hyperbole on a fresh ... More >>

Mariah Carey's "Triumphant" sums up the 2012 post-Olympics hangover

Like Christmas, if expectations are set too high for any event or experience, disappointment is pretty much inevitable. Wait long enough for something to arrive, and when that something is over, the absence will sting like a salted wound.The 2012 London Olympics have come and gone, and the aftertast ... More >>

Soundset battled extreme weather at Canterbury Park, 5/27/12

By Reed Fischer and Ian TraasSoundsetWith Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, Astronautalis, Big K.R.I.T., and moreCanterbury Park Festival Field, ShakopeeSunday, May 27, 2012Related:Soundset 2012 evacuated amid tornado watchSoundset photos 2012Up until about 7:20 p.m., the fift ... More >>

MaLLy at 7th Street Entry, 5/18/12

MaLLy's The Last Great... CD Release Party With Tribe the Big Cats, 925ve and Jimmy2Times. 7th St Entry, MinneapolisFriday, May 18, 2012It was one of those downtown nights. Rick Ross was a couple blocks away backing up a Brinks truck; Mayer Hawthorne was in the next room with the crowd packed to ... More >>

Rick Ross at Epic Nightclub, 5/18/12

Rick RossEpic Nightclub, MinneapolisFriday, May 18, 2012Since his undeniable hit "Hustlin'" in 2006, Miami's Rick Ross has banked on the legend of his namesake by crafting a string of street anthems touting his wealth and ability to move drugs in large quantities. While the subject matter has certai ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Van Halen, Rick Ross, the Cranberries, and more

Rick Ross

Get Cryphy celebrates 4 years of hard bangers and packed dance floors

​Sometimes being fashionably late can totally backfire. It was a typical Friday night in downtown Minneapolis. The line to First Avenue's Record Room was already flirting with 7th Street in length, and the party was already rocking inside. The music was pumping so hard the stars were about to jum ... More >>

Up in the air: How Minneapolis became a flyover city for major rap artists

​It was 1998, the Smokin Grooves Tour was in its second year, and a group of friends and I were geeked out about going to the show. Public Enemy, Gang Starr, Wyclef Jean, Cypress Hill and others were booked, but everyone was waiting and most excited for Busta Rhymes, known for his killer live show ... More >>

5 worst rap songs of 2011

​Is it safe to say the hip-hop's current era of triumphantism is officially over? Does anyone really troll R&B/rap stations expecting to be challenged in any way? The answer to the first question is a resounding yes; the answer to the second is a booming no. There's no way around the fact that ... More >>

5ingles

Rick Ross health scares, a big change in the Sonic Youth dynamic: A look at the week that was

​Hey! Yo! What's up? The Week That Was is back. Sure, we've been away for a good long while, but too much crazy shit's gone down this week. Enjoy!

Lil Wayne at the Xcel Energy Center, 8/10/11

Photos by Erik Hess​Lil WayneAugust 10, 2011Xcel Center, St. PaulLil Wayne is in a hurry to make up for lost time. Coming off a career-interrupting prison stint, the self-proclaimed best rapper alive picked up where he left off, resuming the rigorous road schedule that made him one of the top gros ... More >>

Vikings cut Bryant McKinnie for being chronic fat-ass [UPDATE]

You'll be missed, Big Mac, especially by the bartenders and strippers.​Bryant McKinnie, a big man with big appetites -- of all kinds -- was cut this afternoon by the Vikings for being too damn big. McKinnie had sort of fought a losing battle against his weight for years, and basically given up rec ... More >>

Sorry 4 the Wait: Lil Wayne's free download mixtape reviewed track-by-track

Sorry 4 the bad album artwork.​Lil Wayne dropped his latest mixtape Wednesday as an apology to fans for the delays to Carter IV, which now won't be seen until the end of August.The album features Weezy freestyling over a number of tracks, including Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," and you can't beat ... More >>

Lil Wayne, Keri Hilson, Far East Movement, Rick Ross and Lloyd coming to Xcel August 9

​It seems like pretty much every pop star on the Top 40 charts is planning to make their way to the Twin Cities this summer to play one of our two arenas, and this new date comprises a handful of high-profile stars: Lil Wayne will steer his tour toward St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on August 9 wit ... More >>

R. Kelly's top 5 most ridiculous lyrics

​If somehow you're not familiar with R&B superstar R. Kelly, here's the basic rundown: 1) He has one of the most beautiful tenors in all of pop music, and 2) He's a sex addict. Probably. At the very least, Kelly has an unabashed fascination with erotic encounters of the freakiest variety, and ... More >>

Diddy Dirty Money with Lloyd and Tyga at Epic, 4/13/11

Photos by Erik Hess​Diddy Dirty Money with Lloyd and TygaApril 13, 2011Epic NightclubFor this write-up, I could have skated by making jokes about how Diddy changed his name three times during the show or whatever -- but I'm a journalist dammit, not Jay Leno.  I came to check out the Dirty Mon ... More >>

Bryant McKinnie runs up $100,000 bar tab in Hollywood

Impressive bar stats.​Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie turned a lot of heads in a swank Hollywood nightclub the other night, reportedly running up a $100,000 bar tab during the NBA All-Star "Kick Off Party." According to TMZ, McKinnie's tastes ran to high-end champagne at MyHouse during the pa ... More >>

The Week That Was: Mixtapes galore, Lil Wayne's in a tizzy, and Elton John's a daddy

​I know, I know: I missed a couple weeks there, didn't I? Settling into a new year is always an awkward proposition for me - the date change, transitioning into a whole new set of releases, the January blahs. I'm over all that shit now, though, so let's kick off 2011 with a (belated) bang, shall w ... More >>

Kanye West and Jay-Z debut 'H.A.M.'

by Matt Bardins​If a day is a week in internet time, then we've been waiting on "H.A.M." for nearly two months now (announced last week), or two and a half years since Kanye and Jay-Z announced that they would be releasing a collaborative album (back in August). Our long national interwebby dayma ... More >>

YouTube Killed the Parody Star: 2010's Worst Parodies

​The year of someone's Lord two-thousand some-odd was monumental in many ways, a zeitgeist perfectly embodied by emerging artists like Ke$ha and Far East Movement. But where there's smoke there's fire or maybe burning incense and a ritual of popular exorcism. You may be thinking "that makes perfec ... More >>

Yo Gotti

Eight G.O.O.D. reasons to buy 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' today

​Finally! After tons of build-up, Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is out in stores today. Here are eight reasons you should buy it immediately.

Kanye West's top three recent leaks

​In case you've been living inside of a Louis Vuitton handbag, Kanye West is kind of back. In a big way. As in, making himself totally unavoidable. Everywhere you turn, there he is again: popping up as an animated character on The Cleveland Show, closing out the Video Music Awards in the most bomb ... More >>

Kanye West calls in Bon Iver: Hawaii 5-OMG

image by: Matt Bardins​"I called [Vernon] and we ended up becoming like really good friends, playing basketball together everyday, and going into the back studio and just record his parts," West told Rolling Stone. "He's similar to me, like where he just does shit just so people would be like, ... More >>

5ingles

MP3: Sole's 'Everyday I'm Hustlin'' (plus his favorite books?)

Sole hollers at us with a new MP3 and, oddly, a list of his favorite books.

Rick Ross

Bob Dylan album debuts at #1 in the US and UK

For only the fifth time in his career, Dylan tops the charts with his latest album.

Gimme News Weekly Wrap-Up: Feb. 20-26

Blitzen Trapper FAIL, Element closes, Atmosphere announce tour & news on next week's new releases

Aw Naw Hell Naw: 50 Cent vs. Rick Ross

This week we take a look at 2009's most entertaining yet most inconsequential rap beef, 50 Cent vs. "Officer" Ricky Ross the Boss...

The Top 10 Most Preposterous Rap Songs of 2008

Copperpot: WYLA

The US government and the Compton-Contra connection.