Action Bronson is a giant white dude from Queens who raps mainly about food. Seriously, “an hour later eat a burger with my drug dealer /and add the butter to the fudge to make the fudge realer.” His breakout mixtape is full of the same lighthearted, soul-sampled, New York shit-talk that the Northeast has been missing lately. There’s no grim gun-talk, or arrests, or social justice - just retro-rap with a sense of humor. His breakout mixtape Dr. Lecter is a product of a bunch of no-name producers and features, but it remains one of the brightest moment’s of last year’s mixtape glut. more ›

This was not a reunion tour. Raekwon dropped a mixtape at the beginning of the year, Ghostface has put out two records in two years, RZA just produced a highlight track on the blockbuster Watch The Throne, and against all odds, How High 2 might actually come out this year. The Wu-Tang Clan has been astoundingly resilient to the effects of time and planning. Decades later they earnestly seem like they haven’t gotten tired of each other; not even Elephant 6 could claim such persistent acclimation. “The Rebirth Continues” read the massive W banner behind the stage at Emo’s East - if there ever was a rap collective that didn’t need to advertise a rebirth, it’s the Wu. more ›

Scarface is a guy that often gets left out of the conversation when we talk about long-term greatness. Coming up in the south-side of Houston - a location he mentions in basically every verse he’s ever laid to tape - he’s always rapped earnestly and directly about not selling out, his former poverty-stricken peers, and, of course, transcending it all. The Geto Boys haven’t existed in proper form since the late ‘90s, but he’s delivered a string of solo records - all steadfastly successful and critically tasteful. Given his personality he probably likes being southern rap’s cool, independent uncle - rarely does a pop career exist for upwards of three decades and categorically refuse to cater to anyone but its own muse. more ›

DMX played something of an under the radar show at The Mansion on Friday. Grind Life Films caught an altercation happening in the crowd between songs, after which DMX, wearing a Longhorns jersey says "I ain't going no motherfuckin' where" and then breaks into "Get It On The Floor." more ›

Minneapolis artist Astronautalis, a.k.a. Charles Andrew Bothwell, has rightfully garnered comparisons to Beck for his ability to blend together elements of hip-hop, indie rock, and electronic music. more ›

• Check out this White Denim video where they are playing the “prom.” Hello, yummy cheesiness!
• It’s a rap about Whole Foods. Yes, “It’s Getting Real In the Whole Foods Parking Lot.”
• The Austin Public Library (and the Austin Film Society) are screening some movies for FREE!

Beck has taken the Black Nasty project to all sorts of weird places during the past ten years or so, including touring with Bonnie "Prince" Billy. more ›

Since the early 2000's, the Midwest has been a goldmine for quality hip-hop largely thanks to the Rhymesayers label, home to respected acts like Atmosphere and Brother Ali. Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. is another weapon in the label's deep repertoire. Both as a solo artist and a member of the Doomtree rap collective, he has steadily joined the ranks of those Midwest MCs with immense talent and vision. more ›

We can all agree that Austin is a magical place, a margarita glass filled to the brim with music, art, food, kooky events, and civic pride. Simply walk out your front door and within minutes you've been invited to a party, handed a Lone Star tallboy, and struck up conversation with someone pleasingly attractive while a great band plays in the background. We're spoiled, really. more ›

With an ambling beat, Auto-Tuned vocals, and lyrics that celebrate parties over platforms, Eston Bond just created the best song ever written about South by Southwest Interactive. more ›

Tuesday’s show at Austin Music Hall has been listed as both “David Banner and Bun-B” and “David Banner, Bun-B and Z-Ro.” That’s how bonkers this show will be – Z-Ro, one of the most celebrated rappers in the state, gets low billing. After him, though, who goes next and who closes? It would be hard goings for any artist to follow Bun in Texas, where any show is a homecoming, at least as far as what you hear. As one half of UGK, his first handful of albums are classic in a way that might not be attainable any more; UGK brazenly rejected the status quo for what you could do in a rap song, and simultaneously crafted some of most vibrant and enthralling hip-hop ever. It seems every fan of Bun has at least one album they remember playing on cassette until the thing broke. Rappers today can get better, but it seems hard to fathom that they can ever be as foundational as Bun. Still, David Banner is rap’s best bid to get on one of those VH1 shows like “Craziest Concert Moments 12.” more ›

Most know Ladybug Mecca, Butterfly and Doodlebug thanks to their 1993 release Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), the album that delivered their first hit, "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)." more ›

Tuesday's Method Man & Redman show, originally booked at Stubb's, has been moved to Emo's outdoors. Previously purchased tickets will be honored. You can still buy tickets here or at Emo's day of show. more ›

Angry, insular, and propelled by a stripped down Neptunes beat, “Virginia” is the only song on Clipse’s 2002 debut that approached the ferocity and grit of their hit “Grindin’.” Like pretty much all of their songs, “Virginia” is about drugs and posturing on the surface, but between the lines (no pun intended), Clipse depict struggles of class, race, and lifestyle. “Virginia” never topped any charts, but has long been the foundation of Clipse’s live show. This might hold true for the group’s Sunday set, or it very well could not. Rarely is a rap show as potentially telling. more ›

When Z-Trip released Uneasy Listening along with DJ P in 1999, a “blend” was still very much Stephanie Mills over “Impeach The President” - that is to say: DJs mixed acapellas and beats from rap, r+b, soul, and funk records at will. It was, and still is, a defining trait of a great hip-hop DJ. What Z-Trip brought to the table, though, was Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By” over Pat Benatar's “Love is a Battlefield.” more ›

Wu Tang's GZA performed his classic Liquid Swords last night at Emo's to a frenzied, thankful crowd. Austinist contributing photographer Nash Cook was there to capture the evening. more ›

Z-Ro and Trae’s It Is What It Is contains none of the signifiers – marquee collaborations, cross-overs, shouted intros by popular DJs - that we come to expect from modern rap albums of a certain stature. Save one Nitti beat, the album’s producers would be tough to place for those who don’t obsess over Mr. Lee’s drum sounds. Imagine watching Monday Night Football next week without Joe Theisman, Suzy Kolber, the intro clips, the crowd noise, the dozens of camera angles, the replays, and the in-game graphics. You’d see a purer, though potentially less enthralling spectacle that depended on a matchup strong enough to carry you along without ESPN’s glossy signposts. Here recording as ABN (Assholes By Nature), Houston’s Z-Ro and Trae have always been outlaws of sorts, even while occasionally finding success within the rap mainstream. more ›

GZA, aka The Genius, aka Gary Grice has released another record, his sixth, Pro Tools, and he’s definitely still flexing his intellectual muscle, as he’s known to do in his rhymes. Anyone with even at least a rusty working knowledge of Wu-Tang should remember this MC and hopefully even his most-praised solo release, Liquid Swords, which is kind of legendary in many hip hop circles. more ›

Language Room fans rejoice: their new handmade EP is available at shows (next gig is Sept. 13 @ Red Eyed Fly), and they're heading into the studio soon to start work on a full-length, to be produced by Blue October's Matt Novesky. more ›

The smell of weed hung in the air like a promise on the sweltering Saturday night at the Backyard as fans prepared their minds for the Doggfather, Snoop Dee-oh-double-Gee. Fresh off a run in with Dallas area police that resulted in the arrest of two passengers on his tour bus, Snoop Dogg performed with 311 and Fiction Plane as part of the Unity Tour 2008 at the Backyard. Taking the stage to the melodramatic strains of Verdi's "Requiem" with a T.O. jersey (blue, of course) and gripping a jewel encrusted mic, Snoop proceeded to bang out a set of classics including such party fav's as "Gin and Juice", "Nuthin' but a G Thang", and "Murder was the Case". With the disclaimer that he wasn't an R&B singer he also performed tracks off his latest album "Ego Trippin'", including the YouTube favorite "Sensual Seduction". more ›

We’ve always thought of Houston’s Devin The Dude in the same mode as DJ Quik, probably because we first heard him back in high school in California and the specific register of his nasally drawl, set against a Dre beat, reminded us a lot of Quik, who was killing it on local radio at the time. Though they’re pretty drastically different figures, Devin, like Quik, keys off of whatever-party-is-happening-at-that-exact-moment, and fleshes it out from there. more ›

AustinSurreal’s Matt Sonzala continues his '08 rolling rap show with two big gigs over the next seven days. Despite the bevy of contacts he brings with him from Houston, Sonzala balances between the gimme shows (Bun-B a day after II Trill dropped) and freewheeling, throwing his clout behind acts that wouldn’t normally come to or draw a crowd in Austin, like the Palestinian rappers who played here in May. The first show – Saturday night at the Whiskey bar – is more the latter. Ice Mike is far from a household name in rap, but the New Orleans bounce sound that he helped to cement some 15 years ago has resonated in the mainstream since, from that platinum late 90’s Cash Money sound to the Baton Rouge scene that is just now hitting nationally. Largely, though, N.O. bounce remains a strictly regional sound, as no big names ever resurrected it to the same degree as Baltimore club. more ›

Back in October of last year, Nas announced at a concert in New York that the titled of his upcoming album (originally slated for release in February '08) was "Nigger." Since that time, the release date has been pushed back, the title has changed, and various members of the black community as well as his label have had plenty to say. more ›

Trae’s impeccable (and free!) Diary of the Truth mixtape opens with an Avril Lavigne sample, layered over some simple kick-cymbal action without any hint of irony: “I wake up in the morning, put on my face / The one that's gonna get me through another day / Doesn't really matter how I feel inside / 'Cause life is like a game sometimes.” Over the top, singer L-Boogie lilts in and out with chants like “Wake-up shorty.” Those who already know Trae will find the sample both amusing and extremely fitting. Improve the cadence a bit and you could easily slide those lyrics into one of the Houston rapper’s raspy verses. Effectively, this already happened countless times, because Avril’s lyrics approximate Trae’s own mantra. more ›

I pulled into the Valero on North Lamar this weekend and the other two cars filling up were both playing Tha Carter III. One driver – a guy in his forties wearing Dockers and a button-down – waited by the pump to “Mrs. Officer”, while the other - my age in a raised black truck - blasted “A Milli.” I was listening to “La La.” It’s one thing to know that an album sold a million copies in its first week – it’s something else to hear it. And that one instance was icing on a long week of “A Milli” in West Campus and “Mr. Carter” on 6th, not to mention the long spring of “Lollipop” everywhere. There are songs you hear with this sort of inescapability – “Hustlin’”, “We Takin’ Over”, “Ridin’ Dirty.” But for an album to do it is rare, unless you’re Jay-Z or Kanye West. Or, now, Lil’ Wayne. more ›

“I Can’t Go To Sleep,” off Wu-Tang Clan’s The W, is one of RZA’s least-produced songs, technically speaking. He simply loops the intro to Issac Hayes’s “Walk On By” a few times, making no attempt to mask the sample with a snare or keyboard stab of his own. Yet it is one of his best, the sort of production that they’ll play at his Kennedy Center Honors someday. The song works because of the success of the whole formula – the yearning sample, Ghostface’s extended opening verse, Hayes’s own guest-spot on the bridge, and then RZA’s closing remarks. The bare sample plays perfectly against Ghost and RZA’s choked-up pleas – another layer would be too heavy, and RZA no doubt knew this. Always more of a collagist than a pure creator of sound (like Dr. Dre or Timbaland), RZA’s understanding that A + the snare from B + Inspectah Deck = classic is what carried the Wu to prominence in the 90’s. His grasp of tone and sequence and balance is also why he is slowly and successfully transitioning out of beats 24/7 and into movie scores and acting and directing. more ›

I tried my best to avoid the leaks of II Trill, mostly because I knew I would buy it. If there's one rapper that deserves my 18 bucks at Cheap-O, it's Bun-B; and not just because he's been through hard times no man should have to know or because I feel like my cash in his pocket doesn't just = weed. No, I say that because I feel compelled to not steal his shit. I like and respect all sorts of rappers, but would I care if Jeezy came over to watch some Gossip Girl and a burned copy of The Inspiration was on my dresser? No. But if Bun came over for some C-Span and found "3_damn_im_cold_ft_lilweezy.mp3", I would be WAY embarrassed. more ›

In January, Mohammed Al-Farra traveled from Gaza to Park City, Utah, to help promote Slingshot Hip-Hop, a film about him and a number of other artists in the young but strong Palestinian rap scene. The other members of his group, called the Palestinian Rapperz or PR for short, were unable to leave Gaza to join him, and after Sundance, Al-Farra was - and still is - unable to return to Gaza because of the closed borders. Instead, he currently resides in the Dallas area. If Al-Farra’s story is any indication, his show tonight with fellow Palestinian group DAM has the sort of context, history, and implications that you won’t see for quite some time, rap show or otherwise. But you shouldn’t go to Scoot Inn tonight just because of the world these artists live in or Israel’s fast-approaching 60-year anniversary or Al-Farra’s forced status as an ex-pat. You should go because DAM and PR choose to respond to all of this through rap. more ›

Last summer, T-Pain made it very profitable/cool to sing like a robot. Ever since, everybody seems to be trying their hand at it, or rather, using some sort of vocal modulation/autotune to emulate a sound that is both infectious and patently insincere. Lil’ Wayne’s hit single “Lollipop” is the most recent and notable instance of T-Pain’s influence, and it’s also the most dramatic deconstruction of that sound to date. T-Pain makes Windex’d, pristine pop music, songs you can check your hair in or snort drugs off of or, most importantly, cut into little squares and stick on a Styrofoam sphere to be hung in the middle of a dance floor. The vocal fx, the pedestrian lyrics, the chintzy beats - it’s all low-to-no risk, simple, easy, breezy, beautiful, Christie Brinkley. more ›

So my original guarantee - that every big rapper in the state would come to SXSW again - kind of didn’t pan out, though our city’s finest will be out in force (more on that later). Still, sans Lil’ Keke, Matt Sonzala’s rap line-up for the official events is particularly strong, bolstered by a handful of legends and all sorts of regional stars. Here are my picks from the official showcases in no particular order (except that Bun is first): Bun B (Houston) Mike Jones will be telling his great grandkids about Bun’s first Houston show after Pimp C’s death. Bun will pay tribute again tonight at Fuze (or, to be more exact, early morning on Thursday). You’re probably already planning on going. more ›