Lupe Fiasco is an internationally-acclaimed rapper and producer born out of Chicago Illinois. His career began at age eighteen, when a younger Wasalu Muhammad Jaco took to the basement recording scene, eventually rapping for a group called Da Pak. Atlantic Records soon got a hold of him, and in 2006, Lupe Fiasco blasted off to the charts with his debut album&nbsp;Food and Liquor.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Lupe&#39;s premier record narrates the stories of Chi-town, draped in beauty, but dripping with grime. Like iconic artists like Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli, Fiasco gained recognition for pioneering the conscious Hip-hop movement, dishing out cutting-edge rhymes and rhythms to rally the masses against social maladies.

Stark realism became a constant with Fiasco&#39;s style as he progressed through the industry, following up the conscious movement with&nbsp;Lupe Fiasco&#39;s The Cool,&nbsp;as well as his critically-acclaimed&nbsp;Lasers, which debuted at #1 off the US&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;200. While nominated Best Rap Album, the record featured the ground-breaking track, &ldquo;The Show Goes On&rdquo;, which was also nominated as Best Rap Song at the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Accredited for providing his unique, intellectual and highly-influential brand of Hip-hop, Fiasco rejects the misogyny he sees abundant in modern music, as he explains with his song &ldquo;Hurt Me Soul&rdquo;. Interestingly, Fiasco also disagrees to the idea cencorship in music, esteeming it a vital tool in essence of the movement: &ldquo;If we&#39;re going to [censor things] that are offensive, then we are going to have to blind and deafen everyone. Come on man, let&#39;s focus on education and literacy and poverty.&rdquo;

While among modern Hip-hop&#39;s most prominent advocate figures, Fiasco is also a storyteller at heart, tracing all the way back to his childhood background in theater arts. Critics have also noted his vivid imagination, which shamelessly steps outside the box on frequent songs, such as &ldquo;Gotta Eat&rdquo; which addresses such issues as poor nutrition and drug hustling, narrated through the perspective of a cheeseburger.

At present day, Fiasco continues the conscious Hip-hop movement through numerous facets, adding business and philanthropy to his palette. Nevertheless, Lupe Fiasco is one of Hip-hop&#39;s most iconic modern artists, extending its movement against social issues through the art of music.

By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com

Lupe Fiasco is an internationally-acclaimed rapper and producer born out of Chicago Illinois. His career began at age eighteen, when a younger Wasalu Muhammad Jaco took to the basement recording scene, eventually rapping for a group called Da Pak. Atlantic Records soon got a hold of him, and in 2006...

Spotlight Artist: Lupe Fiasco

Today marks the 34th&nbsp;birthday of the one and only Cash Money Kid, Lil Wayne!

Wayne began his career as early as age nine, when Cash Money Records adopted him into the family in 1991, making him the label&#39;s youngest member. Gaining acclaim as a member of southern Hip hop group, Hot Boys, Wayne&#39;s first certified-platinum came through their hit-album&nbsp;Guerilla Warfare.

Cash Money&#39;s flagship artist would also showcase his talents as a solo artist, and in 1999, Wayne&#39;s solo debut,&nbsp;The Block Is Hot, would also accomplish RIAA platinum, followed by later solo records,&nbsp;Lights Out&nbsp;in 2000, and&nbsp;500 Degreez&nbsp;in 2002&mdash;both of which earning gold status.

Beyond his prior three records, Wayne began his&nbsp;Tha Carter&nbsp;series albums, with its third installment ranking his most successful project to date.&nbsp;Tha Carter III&nbsp;sold over one million copies in the US upon its first week, and eventually scored in the Grammies, winning Best Rap Album, featuring hit singles such as &ldquo;Lollipop&rdquo;, &ldquo;A Milli&rdquo;, and &ldquo;Got Money&rdquo;.

Taking on a creative dive, Wayne pursued a rock-Hop album, and 2010, released&nbsp;Rebirth,&nbsp;ranking RIAA gold despite receiving mixed responses. Wayne&#39;s&nbsp;Tha Carter IV, came out in 2011, and upon its first week, sold 964,000 copies nationwide.

While fans await the frequently-delayed fifth installment to&nbsp;The Carter&nbsp;series, Lil Wayne&#39;s very decorated catalog and work ethic stand next to none. On September 27th, 2012, Wayne officially outscored Elvis Presley as the male with most entries on the&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;Hot 100 chart, counting 109 songs. Aside from this, the Cash Money Kid has sold well over 100 million records across the globe, acclaiming him &ldquo;one of the best-selling artists of all time&rdquo;.

This year, not too long ago, Lil Wayne bid farewell to Birdman himself and Cash Money Records, which was shortly followed by his latest single &ldquo;Grateful&rdquo;, a song reflecting on Wayne&#39;s season of &ldquo;feeling defeated&rdquo; leading to his decision to make a change.

Although rumored for his rostering among Drake&#39;s OVO label, Weezy remains a very prominent figure and perhaps the most productive artist the business has ever seen. And regardless of&nbsp;Tha Carter V&nbsp;or what banner Weezy chooses to raise, Lil Wayne is undoubtedly considered among Hip-hop&#39;s greatest.

Happy Birthday, Lil Wayne!

By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com

Today marks the 34th&nbsp;birthday of the one and only Cash Money Kid, Lil Wayne!

Wayne began his career as early as age nine, when Cash Money Records adopted him into the family in 1991, making him the label&#39;s youngest member. Gaining acclaim as a member of southern Hip hop group, Hot Boys,...

Weezy Turns 34!

A Tribe Called Quest&#39;s &quot;Can I Kick It&quot; was released almost twenty-five years ago, but the classic hip hop track has been infused with new life thanks to Rhythm Scholar, the DJ with an eclectic taste in music and the incredible ability to inject funk into any track.

Building on his reputation for taking great songs and somehow making them even better, Rhythm Scholar has infused the classic Quest track with an added dose of smooth funk and personality. &quot;Can I Kick It&quot; was originally recorded in the late 80&#39;s when most of A Tribe Called Quest were still teenagers, and his since gone on to become a beloved hip hop classic. It&#39;s been covered and referenced by a number of other musicians, including Jay Z, Sage Francis, Drake, MF Doom, and Public Enemy&#39;s Chuck D.

You can find more of Rhythm Scholar&#39;s remixes at his official website, where he&#39;s remixed everybody from De La Soul and Eric B &amp; Rakim to The Beatles to Tears For Fears. 
 
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com


<center><iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/284742950&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true"></iframe><center>

A Tribe Called Quest&#39;s &quot;Can I Kick It&quot; was released almost twenty-five years ago, but the classic hip hop track has been infused with new life thanks to Rhythm Scholar, the DJ with an eclectic taste in music and the incredible ability to inject funk into any track.

Building on his r...

A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It" is back with a Rhythm Scholar remix

Today signifies thirteen years since the memorable premier date of Brooklyn-based trio, Digable Planets.&nbsp;Donning the Pendulum brand banner, Ishmael &ldquo;Butterfly&rdquo; Butler, Mary Ann &ldquo;Ladybug&rdquo; Mecca, and Craig &ldquo;Doodlebug&rdquo; Irving, introduced their brand of alternative Hip-hop, through their iconic debut album,&nbsp;Reachin&#39; (A New Refute of Time and Space).

The album catered to a progressive, lighthearted ambience, painted through Butterfly&#39;s interesting sample palette, which included artists such as Kool &amp; the Gang, James Brown, and Herbie Hancock.

Floating through the record&#39;s jazzy vibe, the group&#39;s clever lyricism transition to numerous subjects such as women&#39;s rights reflected through &ldquo;La Femme Fetal&rdquo;, as well as their vivid depiction of New York streets with the album&#39;s second track, &ldquo;Pacifics&rdquo;. Set atop a sublimely funky sample of Lonne Liston Smith&#39;s &ldquo;Devika&rdquo;, the track was reviewed as &ldquo;one of the most concretely rooted statements of New York street life ever penned in rap music&rdquo;:

&ldquo;The hoods is on my block and the brothers at the court/ The baseball hats is on and the projects is calm/ Dreamtime&#39;s extended (and highly recommended)/ But early birds like me&#39;s up checkin out the scene/ Just come dig the essence while the decadence is hidden/ When people act like people, the theory is pigeon/&nbsp;On Sunday&#39;s&nbsp;early hours, the city sprouts its flowers/ So get with the rhythms while you getting with the planets.&rdquo;

Their single &ldquo;Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)&rdquo;, became the album&#39;s flagship hit, peaking at #15 on&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;magazine&#39;s single chart, and #67 off the UK Singles Chart. In the year that followed, the song accomplished RIAA certified gold, and imminently earned Grammy-award bragging rights as Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Be sure to invest some throwback sound-tripping today with Digable Planets&#39; memorable debut record,&nbsp;Reachin&#39; (A New Refute of Time and Space).

<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://musicmp3.ru/artist_digable-planets__album_reachin-a-new-refutation-of-time-and-space.html%23.V-rE1jKZOCU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1475090671604000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHl9Sk0MTVFwQdQKEspUzkkpl2cmg" href="https://musicmp3.ru/artist_digable-planets__album_reachin-a-new-refutation-of-time-and-space.html#.V-rE1jKZOCU" target="_blank">https://musicmp3.ru/artist_digable-planets__album_reachin-a-new-refutation-of-time-and-space.html#.V-rE1jKZOCU</a>

By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com

Today signifies thirteen years since the memorable premier date of Brooklyn-based trio, Digable Planets.&nbsp;Donning the Pendulum brand banner, Ishmael &ldquo;Butterfly&rdquo; Butler, Mary Ann &ldquo;Ladybug&rdquo; Mecca, and Craig &ldquo;Doodlebug&rdquo; Irving, introduced their brand of alternati...

Digable Planets “Reachin” Thirteen Years Since Debut

Kid Cudi has announced the track list for his upcoming seventh studio album, which will feature a number of the most talented artists in hip hop.

The upcoming album, entitled&nbsp;Passion, Pain, and Demon Slaying&nbsp;will be divided into four separate narrative acts.&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/KidCudi/status/780450328844075008?ref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1475084471093000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG68gVp1LCD96DTA1oNqYVhfUok_w" href="https://twitter.com/KidCudi/status/780450328844075008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">Cudi posted the tracklist to his Twitter account,</a>&nbsp;revealing that the album will have tracks that feature Pharrell, Andre 3000 (credited under the name Andre Benjamin,) Willow Smith, and Houston based hip hop artist Travis Scott. The album will also feature Travis Barker of Blink 182 fame on the drums.

Earlier this year, Cudi revealed that the album would be long enough to warrant a double-disc release and encouraged fans to pick up a physical copy of the album rather than streaming or purchasing a digital download.

This will be Kid Cudi&#39;s first album since 2015&#39;s&nbsp;Speedin&#39; Bullet 2 Heaven, which saw the rapper attempt a completely new style of music with a new, grungey, alt-rock inspired sound. The album was poorly received by critics and fans alike, and according to Cudi, the new album&#39;s title&nbsp;Passion, Pain, and Demon Slaying&nbsp;refers to how he dealt with his previous album&#39;s negative reception and his ensuing feelings of depression and rejection.&nbsp; 
 
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

Kid Cudi has announced the track list for his upcoming seventh studio album, which will feature a number of the most talented artists in hip hop.

The upcoming album, entitled&nbsp;Passion, Pain, and Demon Slaying&nbsp;will be divided into four separate narrative acts.&nbsp;Cudi posted the trackli...

Kid Cudi's new album gets a track list featuring Pharrell, Andre 3000, more

MC Skill ThaPreacha, the voice of Nigerian hip hop, just finished work on his next album, &quot;Diary of a Supernatural,&quot; and he&#39;s marking the occasion with a new, Nas-inspired freestyle &quot;DOAS Album Done.&quot;

MC Skill ThaPreacha&#39;s latest freestyle features the instrumental from DJ Khaled&#39;s &quot;Nas Album Done&quot; combined with an original rap from ThePreacha, who delivers some incredibly powerful, politically charged bars inspired by hip hop legend Nas.

The track gives listeners an idea of what to expect from the Nigerian emcee&#39;s upcoming 8th studio album, &quot;Diary of a Supernatural,&quot; which MC Skill says is now complete, with a release date to be announced sometime soon.

Besides his new album, ThaPreacha will also be releasing new songs via his YouTube channel as part of his &quot;Beats and Rhymes&quot; series.&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DE-g7pWxWQNw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1475013208424000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHI241pf7sngNTd5G4Xs6OsnwNy2w" href="http://www.rapstation.com/videos/165/mcskill-thapreacha-beats-and-rhymes-episode-1" target="_blank">The first episode is available to watch here.</a> 
 
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

<center><iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/284670737&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></center>

MC Skill ThaPreacha, the voice of Nigerian hip hop, just finished work on his next album, &quot;Diary of a Supernatural,&quot; and he&#39;s marking the occasion with a new, Nas-inspired freestyle &quot;DOAS Album Done.&quot;

MC Skill ThaPreacha&#39;s latest freestyle features the instrumental fro...

Spotlight Artist: Lupe Fiasco

Weezy Turns 34!

A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It" is back with a Rhythm Scholar remix

Digable Planets “Reachin” Thirteen Years Since Debut

Kid Cudi's new album gets a track list featuring Pharrell, Andre 3000, more

MC Skill ThaPreacha channels Nas on "DOAS Album Done"

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