• [Exclusive] Doughboy Talks 'Break Da Knob' Success, Mike Brown & Changing Sound

    Rap star Doughboy stood out against his rapping opponents in St. Louis when he premiered his music video "Break Da Knob" on Sean "Diddy'" Comb's Revolt TV network. Now, with buzz surrounding the "Turn It Up" song and his video receiving nearly 13,000 views on YouTube, Doughboy is proving that he is contender getting ready to snatch the number one spot. In an exclusive interview with MusicTimes, the rap star breaks down the definition of "Break Da Knob," his distinct sound versus St. Louis rappers, Mike Brown and making a difference in his community with his The Speak Out Against Violence Essay Contest.

  • D'Angelo 'SNL' Performance: R&B Legend Honors Mike Brown, Eric Garner [WATCH]

    Fans have waited on a new D'Angelo album for more than a decade, and he finally returned to the mainstream with "Black Messiah" at the end of 2014. Despite the lengthy wait, several reports indicated that he rushed the album out in order to provide as swift a response as possible in the aftermath of the "Black Lives Matter" protests spurred by the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. During the second song of his Saturday Night Live performance this weekend, the R&B legend rocked a hoodie in memory of Trayvon Martin while his band The Vanguard sported shirts reading "I CAN'T BREATHE" and "BLACK LIVES MATTER."

  • Kendrick Lamar Drops Guest Verse on Jonathan Emile's 'Heaven Help Dem' [LISTEN]

    Canadian rapper Jonathan Emile has shared a politically charged new track titled "Heaven Help Dem," featuring a guest appearance by Kendrick Lamar, which you can check out below. The track finds Emile and Lamar rapping about the overwhelming violence against black men in the United States, with Lamar opening his verse with recollections of his own horrifying experiences: "The average black man only live to 25/Pac died at 25/How many kids you know dead at 20? 5?/ Nah, that's light/I know 10 that's crumblin' in coffins." It's powerful stuff, accompanied by a video featuring images of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and many others.

  • Ferguson Protests Led D'Angelo to Push Up 'Black Messiah' Release

    Earlier this week, neo-soul pioneer D'Angelo surprised the music world by suddenly releasing his new album "Black Messiah," his first new album since his 2000 classic "Voodoo," with almost no warning whatsoever. Despite its absurdly long gestation period, however, "The New York Times" reports that the album's release was somehow still rushed, as D'Angelo's label RCA had originally planned to drop it sometime in early 2015. But following the volatile situation in Ferguson, Missouri, and the grand-jury decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown, D'Angelo decided to push up the album's release to Dec. 15. According to D'Angelo's manager Kevin Liles, D'Angelo had called him up in distress last month following the Ferguson grand-jury decision. "He said, 'Do you believe this? Do you believe it?'" Liles recalls. "And then we just sat there in silence. That is when I knew he wanted to say something." With the famously delayed album put on the fast track for release, D'Angelo and RCA pulled "many all-nighters" to finish the album, which included everything from the artwork and tracklist to the music itself.

  • Michael Brown, Eric Garner: 10 Tribute Songs From T.I., Alicia Keys, J. Cole, And More

    Following the grand jury decisions regarding the police-related deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY, plenty of musicians have expressed their outrage and calls for peace and unity by releasing songs inspired by these incidents. Here are 10 songs inspired by the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

  • Run The Jewels Shares Trippy Music Video For "Oh My Darling (Don't Cry)" [WATCH]

    El-P and Killer Mike continue their reign of terror with the release of the new Run The Jewels music video, "Oh My Darling (Don't Cry)," which you can check out here. The Timothy Saccenti-directed clip finds the duo rapping while standing back to back in a dark room with some flashing red and green lights. There are some occasional shots of naked women every once in a while, so this clip is a bit NSFW.

  • B.o.B. Drops Ferguson-Inspired Mixtape 'New Black' [LISTEN]

    The grand jury ruling in Ferguson, Missouri this past week has inspired a lot of political discourse in the hip-hop community, and yesterday, Nov. 27, Atlanta rapper B.o.B. expressed his frustrations with a surprise eight-track mixtape titled New Black, which you can check out below. The tape is the 26-year-old rapper's second of 2014, following No Genre 2 from back in July.

  • De La Soul Share Political New Track "The People" Featuring Chuck D Of Public Enemy [LISTEN]

    At some point in 2015, legendary hip-hop group De La Soul will be releasing a new studio album, their first since 2012's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present...First Serve and their first with all three original members since 2004's The Grind Date. In anticipation of this album, the New York trio has shared a powerful new track titled "The People," featuring none other than Public Enemy's Chuck D, which you can check out below.

  • Rick Ross Calls Lack of Indictment In Mike Brown Case A "Travesty," Other Hip-Hop Artists React Via Social Media

    As the world questions the lack of an indictment of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson who shot and killed unarmed teen Mike Brown, rapper Rick Ross and many other members of the hip-hop community have come forward to express their disapproval in the justice system. During a recent interview, Ross called the move a "travesty" while other artists took to social media to share their reactions.
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