Tupac Shakur

MaLLy lives up to his potential on new album

The Last Great… positions him as rising rap star

Twin Cities rap mixtape roundup, Vol. 12

Well, there it is: A full year of mixtapes. Ninety-six artists covered, six hours of local music. I've tried to showcase the Minnesota rap scene for what it is in all its forms and represent all the different pockets as best I can.View the previous 11 mixtapes here. I'll be hosting an anniversary sh ... More >>

Best of Coachella 2012: Sunday, April 22

See also: Our complete Coachella coverage By the third day of Coachella's second weekend -- the sixth and final day of this year's festival -- folks had more or less learned to ignore the dust and the heat. Here are our intrepid writers' favorite things about the final hours of the 2012 event.

Best of Coachella 2012: Saturday, April 21

See also: Our complete Coachella coverage Saturday at Coachella meant tributes, tributes, tributes. From Levon Helms to Biggie, everyone got a shout-out. In between all that, some nasty partying and a little recreational drug use. Read our highly-trained writers as they tell you the the best things ... More >>

Dessa, Tupac, the Roots, and the rap misogyny problem

​The mere announcement that Doomtree rapper/poet/writer Dessa is giving a lecture/performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum this evening has already stirred up a bunch of debate regarding her qualifications to give the talk. "Mic Lines: Art, Ethics, and their Contested Connections," is expected t ... More >>

Hip-Hop Valentines: The 14 most romantic rap songs

​Valentines Day is here and you need some help to win over the heart of that sexy B-girl or B-boy?We know hip-hop doesn't have the best history romancing the opposite sex, "bitches better having my money" and "skeeting on walls" doesn't really set the mood.But don't worry, we have you covered. So ... More >>

Dr. Dre: An abridged history in honor of Dre Day

​Dre Day, our annual bluntsmoked, brass monkeyed, and ingeniously tended get-down in honor of the one and only, was started by the local design firm Burlesque of North America nine years ago Saturday, when those multi-disciplinarians were banded around Life Sucks Die Magazine. And for all the ridi ... More >>

13 most fascinating hip-hop album covers of all time

Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Riccardo Tesci's art for their freshly announced single "H.A.M." seems a love-it-or-hate-it type situation. Rotts, nautical stars (remember high school, when the seniors started to get tattoos?), scopa crowns, and platinum does not a consensus make, apparently. All up in that ... More >>

The Week That Was: Jacko posthumous, Girl Talk is back, spectre of Cher somehow inescapable

​We adjusted the clocks. We became a little leerier about dropping by UPS and Fed-Ex locations. We got a little more excited about Jay-Z's Decoded. We got all indignant about Wal-Mart playing "Little Drummer Boy" over the PA system. We bundled up, shivered. This is the first week of November, as r ... More >>

The best sci-fi music videos ever

Like a puppy​Jeremy Messersmith's recently released video for his song "Tatooine" is a fucking adorable little construction paper synopsis of the Star Wars OT (original trilogy, hello?) set to a sparse guitar and piano whisper of a song.And, since we're total nerds, we're taking the occasion to re ... More >>

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Wish Bone talks about hitting the Mainroom tonight

​Bone is returning, semi-triumphantly (they've had a tough decade, after all) to the Mainroom tonight with the "original lineup" in tow -- not including Bizzy, the high-pitched attack dog of the Lord, who has been a solo artist since 1998...sort of. Gimme Noise and three other journalists from aro ... More >>

SXSW Aftermath: Sleigh Bells, Man or Astro Man, Liars, and finding a quiet moment in the madness

A freelancer's diary from the SXSW music festival, with notes on how to stay sane amidst the persistent chaos.

Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers

A freelancer's diary from the SXSW music festival, with notes on how to stay sane amidst the persistent chaos.

Julian Lage Group

A freelancer's diary from the SXSW music festival, with notes on how to stay sane amidst the persistent chaos.

Play it again: Top 10 Reissues of 2008

Dub Trio blazing their way to the Varsity Theater

They've formed a band that traffics in the twin pillars of stoner music, reggae and metal. Get to know Dub Trio t ... More >>

Somali students hear anti-violence message

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

DU Nation founder Lars Larson lists Top 10 gangster tracks

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

Field notes from the RNC protests

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

Otis Redding gets blue, tops this week's pop culture picks

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

Young Jeezy

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

Breakfast of Champions 3/27: License to Ill

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

Tupac lives! was killed by Diddy?

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

UGK: UGK (Underground Kingz)

After a wave of shootings has taken the lives of several Somali men, local Somali students listened to a message of non-violence Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.

Naughty By Nature

First Avenue, August 19, 2007

5/11 Morning Communiqué

First Avenue, August 19, 2007

Hot Sossy

Brian Sostek and Megan McClellan's fiery tribute to old Hollywood

One Nation, Invisible

The untold story of local hip hop: 1981 to 1996

Signifying Rappers

'Biggie and Tupac' charts the hits on a notorious heavy and an urban guerrilla

Straight Outta Academe

A hip-hop exhibit bridges the gap between the dis and the dissertation

Go Ahead, Punk, Make My Day

Is Slug's hip hop the yawp of a new blank generation?

Rhyme out of joint

Rising rap star Slug is a master at putting words in order. Now why won't his life fall into place?

Rap In Peace

With new tracks exhumed from the vaults, Biggie and Tupac add to their corpses' corpora

Ain't I an MC?

Ruff Ryder Eve strikes a blow for hip-hop sisters; Solé merely comes to blows with them

Krime doesn't pay

Ruff Ryder Eve strikes a blow for hip-hop sisters; Solé merely comes to blows with them

The Game of Eightball

Ruff Ryder Eve strikes a blow for hip-hop sisters; Solé merely comes to blows with them

Ronin Ro: Have Gun Will Travel

Ruff Ryder Eve strikes a blow for hip-hop sisters; Solé merely comes to blows with them

Rhyme After Time

Business is Chilling: LL Cool J and EPMD.

Master P: Ghetto D

Business is Chilling: LL Cool J and EPMD.

Tupac Shakur

Business is Chilling: LL Cool J and EPMD.

MAGAZINES: I.F. Magazine

Business is Chilling: LL Cool J and EPMD.

Puffy's Money?

No Way Out: Is bean-counter-turned-chart-topper Sean "Puffy" Combs tragically fated to success?

Bad Elements

My Posse Don't Do Homework: Samuel L. Jackson in 187.

The Notorious B.I.G.

Life After Death

Artists Of The Year

Life After Death

HOMETOWN TRANCE

Life After Death

Dead On Arrival

Tupac's posthumous Makaveli, along with new releases by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, take gangsta rap to different ends

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST

Tupac's posthumous Makaveli, along with new releases by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, take gangsta rap to different ends

To Believe or Not to Believe

Tupac's posthumous Makaveli, along with new releases by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, take gangsta rap to different ends

Thug Life & Times

Tupac Shakur gets out of jail and makes half a masterpiece.