On this day sixteen years ago, Hip-hop received Kanye West&#39;s&nbsp;My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, marking the fifth installment to his already critically-acclaimed laundry list of magnum opus work and potential classics.

The album debuted at #1 on the US&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;200 and released four massive hits &ldquo;Power&rdquo;, &ldquo;Monster&rdquo;, and &ldquo;Runaway&rdquo;, and the international hit &ldquo;All OF The Lights&rdquo;. Three years following its initial release, West attained RIAA Platinum, accounting over one million copies sold nationwide.

Apart from these, critics nominated it &ldquo;Best Record of 2010&rdquo; through numerous polls and year-end lists, citing it a &ldquo;glorious culmination&rdquo; of West&#39;s previous four albums, specifically described as &ldquo;the luxurious soul of 2004&#39;s&nbsp;The College Dropout, the symphonic pom of&nbsp;Late Registration, the gloss of 2007&#39;s&nbsp;Graduation, and the emotionally exhausted electro of 2008&#39;s&nbsp;808s &amp; Heartbreak&rdquo; as written on&nbsp;Entertainment Weekly.

In terms of the record&#39;s essence, West anchors upon introspective lyrics depicting a man reflecting on a life fueled by hedonism and fame, not excluding the particular burdens entailing said lifestyle. West also makes clever use of these themes mashing them with uncanny principles hidden underneath the lines, an evident feature even on the album&#39;s opening track &ldquo;Dark Fantasy&rdquo;, when West sings &ldquo;The plan was to drink until the pain over/ But what&#39;s worse, the pain or the hangover?&rdquo;

The maximal, rock-sampled song &ldquo;Hell of a Life&rdquo;, features West storytelling matrimony to a porn star, weaving in lines like, &ldquo;no more drugs for me, p&mdash;sy and religion is all I need&rdquo;, ironically coming off as a &ldquo;noble pursuit&rdquo;, as described by critic Ryan Dombal&#39;s review, &ldquo;The song blurs the line between fantasy and reality, sex and romance, love and religion, until no lines exist at all. It&#39;s a zonked nirvana with demons underneath; a fragile state that can&#39;t help but break apart on the very next song.&rdquo;

This uncanny and yet strangely justifying upon an initial play-through. With brilliant lyrics anchored upon tremendous passion bleeding through each line, it comes as no surprise West&#39;s fifth album was such a hit.

By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com

On this day sixteen years ago, Hip-hop received Kanye West&#39;s&nbsp;My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, marking the fifth installment to his already critically-acclaimed laundry list of magnum opus work and potential classics.

The album debuted at #1 on the US&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;200 and release...

On This Day, West Introduced “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”

November 21&mdash;Various online hosts report Kanye West being admitted in a Los Angeles Hospital earlier today.

According to the reports, the incident took place while West was lodging at personal trainer Harley Pasternak&#39;s household, with further allegations of the GOOD Music boss &ldquo;acting erratically&rdquo;. When paramedics and the local police arrived, reports indicate West was hesitant upon medical admission but eventually complied and was handcuffed to a gurney whilst being transported to the hospital.

While other online sources appear in disarray regarding the event, NBC recently reported that West is &ldquo;under observation,&rdquo; and that the admission intends to &ldquo;protect his own health and safety.&rdquo; While further information is still a matter of speculation, NBC reassures no criminal activity was involved.

West&#39;s admission proceeded after a 17-minute &ldquo;Kanye Rant&rdquo; that occurred during his&nbsp;Friday&nbsp;night stop at Sacramento which ended with Yeezy dropping the mic and canceling the performance after vocalizing numerous complaints which include (not in its entirety) current issues with Jay Z and Beyonce. West canceled the rest of the tour earlier today. Apart from this, online reports link back to his recent pro-Trump on-stage monologues.

Needless to say, it is expected that a flood of media comments and responses will arise. Regardless, perhaps it is safe (and highly suggested) that we all conclude that after managing a massive, nationwide tour, anchoring a prominent clothing line, writing/producing new music everyday, managing a record label, as well as upholding responsibility as a father, and not to mention going through unfortunate events such as the recent incident in France, and now having to deal with an astonishing amount of criticism regarding his political speech&mdash;Just perhaps then, we can all assume that Kanye West is simply exhausted.

Amidst a growing number of opposition targeted at West, several have also took to Twitter in hopes of uplifting the situation. &ldquo;No matter how you feel about [Kanye West] please keep him lifted in prayer&rdquo;, posted comedian Rickey Smiley, resonant to actor Marlon Wayans&#39; post:

&ldquo;I know @kanyewest has said some off putting s&mdash;t lately but I pray for him his well being and his health. Get well bro. Always love,&rdquo; following with another tweet, &ldquo;And I hope u all pray for [him] too. He&#39;s not just an artist but he&#39;s a father, a son, a husband and above [all,] human. Get well soon.&rdquo;

By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com

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November 21&mdash;Various online hosts report Kanye West being admitted in a Los Angeles Hospital earlier today.

According to the reports, the incident took place while West was lodging at personal trainer Harley Pasternak&#39;s household, with further allegations of the GOOD Music boss &ldquo;ac...

As Far As We Know About Kanye West's Recent Hospital Admissions

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart&#39;s dinner party and lifestyle show&nbsp;Martha &amp; Snoop&rsquo;s Dinner Party&nbsp;is (inexplicably,) a success, and the show has reportedly been renewed for another season.

Martha &amp; Snoop&rsquo;s Dinner Party&nbsp;premiered earlier this Fall, and while only three episodes of the show have aired so far, the show is apparently successful enough for VH1 to renew the series for another season.

The show features the Long Beach rapper teaming up with the East Hampton&#39;s most famous ex-convict to host a series of high-end dinner parties for celebrity guests. The first season has so far seen the unlikely duo host parties for Seth Rogen, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, 50 Cent, and more. The show has been a surprise success for network VH1, with over 3 million viewers tuning in for each dinner party.

The next episode will feature Snoop and Martha sharing their Thanksgiving dinner with guest 2 Chainz. Describing the importance of the holiday,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/snoop-dogg-gives-thanksgiving-blessing-on-martha-snoop-w451759" target="_blank">Snoop says in a preview for the episode</a>&nbsp;&quot;&quot;Thanksgiving is a time we all gather together to eat a bird that once had a whole lot of feathers.&quot;

By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart&#39;s dinner party and lifestyle show&nbsp;Martha &amp; Snoop&rsquo;s Dinner Party&nbsp;is (inexplicably,) a success, and the show has reportedly been renewed for another season.

Martha &amp; Snoop&rsquo;s Dinner Party&nbsp;premiered earlier this Fall, and while only...

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart's TV show renewed for a 2nd season

Yesterday was the birthday of the late, great Phife Dawg and fans have honored the fallen hip hop legend by helping the latest and final A Tribe Called Quest album,&nbsp;We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, the number one album in America.

According to Billboard,&nbsp;We Got It Here... Thank You 4 Your Service&nbsp;sold approximately 135,000 copies in its first week, earning it the top spot on Billboard&#39;s Top 200 chart. This is ATCQ&#39;s first #1 album&nbsp;in twenty years, with their last #1 debut being 1996&#39;s critically acclaimed&nbsp;Beats, Rhymes, and Life.

The album was recorded before Phife Dawg&#39;s sudden and unexpected passing earlier this year. Earlier this week, a street sign in Phife Dawg&#39;s home neighborhood of Queens, New York was dedicated to the rapper with a ceremony that was attended by family and friends. Phife Dawg&#39;s final solo album is scheduled to be released sometime next year.

We Got It Here... Thank You 4 Your Service&#39;s&nbsp;commercial success has matched its critical acclaim, as the album has received almost near unanimous praise from professional critics since its release. While the album is most definitely a success in ever definition of the word, the remaining members of ATCQ have said that the process of finishing the album without Phife Dawg was an emotionally taxing one.&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so hard for me to sit in there and hear his voice,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/arts/music/a-tribe-called-quest-new-album-interview.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Q-Tip told The New York Times earlier this month</a>. &ldquo;Sometimes I just have to like take a break and walk away. It gets heavy. It doesn&rsquo;t necessarily get sad, it just gets heavy. I literally feel the energy from him when I hear his voice.&rdquo;

By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

Yesterday was the birthday of the late, great Phife Dawg and fans have honored the fallen hip hop legend by helping the latest and final A Tribe Called Quest album,&nbsp;We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, the number one album in America.

According to Billboard,&nbsp;We Got It Here.....

A Tribe Called Quest's last album is the #1 album in America

The historically themed hip hop musical &quot;Hamilton&quot; became the center of a political firestorm earlier this week when President-elect Donald Trump and his future VP Mike Pence claimed they were disrespected by the show&#39;s cast during a performance of the hit show.

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Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who made the statement that so thoroughly offended the future President of the United States of America, appeared on CBS News this morning to defend himself. &quot;There&#39;s nothing to apologize for,&quot; he said proudly.&nbsp;&ldquo;The producers, the creators and the cast, we recognize that Hamilton is an inherently American story told by the definition of the American community. We are men and women of different colors creeds and orientations.&rdquo;

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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJiKwhqltpY" target="_blank">Watch the Hamilton star&#39;s interview here.</a>

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Just in case you missed it, this was the statement said at the end of the show that set Trump off:&nbsp;&ldquo;We, sir &mdash; we &mdash; are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights... We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us,&rdquo; Dixon said on behalf of the entire Hamilton cast and crew.

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Trump responded, as usual, by with a series of angry tweets, declaring that&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/799974635274194947?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">the theater needed to be a &quot;safe space&quot; for people like him</a>. Trump&#39;s followers responded by threatening to boycott the musical. Somehow, I doubt that a musical starring a largely minority cast will lose any business by angering the President who ran a campaign based on racist rhetoric and has a Vice President who is openly homophobic, but nevertheless, Trump&#39;s supporters have managed to keep the hashtag &quot;#BoycottHamilton&quot; trending on Twitter for most of the weekend.

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Many Conservative pundits have responded to the Hamilton controversy by equating criticism of Trump with being unpatriotic. The proper response to their call to silence would be this quote from Republican president Theodore Roosevelt, on the importance of always questioning the President&#39;s character and actions:&nbsp;&quot;The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.&quot;

By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

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&nbsp;<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJiKwhqltpY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>

The historically themed hip hop musical &quot;Hamilton&quot; became the center of a political firestorm earlier this week when President-elect Donald Trump and his future VP Mike Pence claimed they were disrespected by the show&#39;s cast during a performance of the hit show.

&nbsp;

Brandon Vi...

Hamilton star refuses to apologize to Trump & Pence

November 19--This day in Hip-hop celebrates twenty years of Foxy Brown&#39;s debut record&nbsp;Ill Na Na.

Upon being discovered by production team Trackmasters and appearing on multiple singles with Case, LL Cool J, and Jay-Z, a solo record from the Brooklyn rap diva proved both inevitable and highly-anticipated, thus, Def Jam released Foxy Brown&#39;s memorable debut, which sold well over 100,000 copies nationwide in its first week.

Synonymous for her impressive resume of collaborative performances, the album marked a myriad of guest appearances from artists like Blackstreet, Havoc, Method Man, Kid Capri, and Jay-Z, all of which only complimented Brown&#39;s braggadocio themes anchored upon fashion, flirtation, and mainstream media.

The album reaped much commercial success, debuting at #7 on the US&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;200 and #2 off the Top R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, while fans and critics alike alluded much recognition towards the record&#39;s three critically-acclaimed singles, &ldquo;Get Me Home&rdquo; and &ldquo;I&#39;ll Be&rdquo;, as well as &ldquo;Big Bad Momma&rdquo; with the eventually being added onto the album&#39;s UK reissue.

\Brown&#39;s raw rhymes seemingly flow effortlessly as evident on &ldquo;I&#39;ll Be&rdquo; with Jay-Z, &ldquo;Nasty girl don&#39;t pass me the world/ I push to be not the backseat girl/ Don&#39;t deep throat the C-note she float/ Murder she wrote, and keeps the heat close/ Firm n&mdash;ga, we &#39;posed to be the illest on three coasts.&rdquo;

The song signified Brown&#39;s highest chart-ranking single, climbing onto #7 on the&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;Hot 100, and even making #52 inducted onto&nbsp;VH1&#39;s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip-hop. Three months following its debut,&nbsp;Ill Na Na&nbsp;attained RIAA Platinum, accounting over one million copies sold within the US.

By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com

November 19--This day in Hip-hop celebrates twenty years of Foxy Brown&#39;s debut record&nbsp;Ill Na Na.

Upon being discovered by production team Trackmasters and appearing on multiple singles with Case, LL Cool J, and Jay-Z, a solo record from the Brooklyn rap diva proved both inevitable and hi...

On This Day, West Introduced “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”

As Far As We Know About Kanye West's Recent Hospital Admissions

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart's TV show renewed for a 2nd season

A Tribe Called Quest's last album is the #1 album in America

Hamilton star refuses to apologize to Trump & Pence

Throwback: Foxy Brown Debuts with "Ill Na Na"

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