Directly following their 2021 album Rainbow Child, celebrated R&B duo LION BABE returned earlier this year with “Harder,” continuing to cement themselves as tastemakers within a wide range of genres. Featuring a guest performance from iconic rapper Busta Rhymes, as well as co-production from acclaimed DJ and producer Mike Nasty, “Harder” is driven by infectious vocals, irresistible grooves and funky chords—the perfect backbone for Shermanology’s remix treatment. The Dutch duo have been active since 2009, building a strong reputation for producing club anthems, like their collab with FISHER, “It’s A Killa.” Shermanology’s genre-bending style nicely complements “Harder,” turning it into an immersive house gem while maintaining the original’s sultry aesthetic. While Rhymes’ and LION...
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Nunez/BET / Getty Looks like Busta Rhymes has got something brewing in his dungeon and he has no problem roaring about it. On Sunday (June 6), the Hip-Hop legend took to his Instagram page to tease a collaboration with not only Pharrell, but his original partner in crime, Chad Hugo, who jointly are known as The Neptunes. You probably knew that if you’re here. Sharing a picture with all three of them posing up a storm, Busta captioned the pic with a message of excitement. “Guess who’s back at it? 👀👀👀The Dragon 🐉 & The Neptune’s@pharrell @chadhugo Oh Shit!! 😳😳😳😳” Given the trio’s history of making hits (“Pass The Courvoisier II” & “Light Your Ass On Fire”) and Busta’s recent...
Back in February, Phife Dawg’s estate released a new version of “Nutshell PART 2,” a song that was originally released in 2016 that featured none other than Busta Rhymes and Redman. The track hails from Forever, the upcoming posthumous album from Phife. A video came along with that release, and now there’s an even longer director’s cut of the clip available. In it, a meeting that starts off at a label with an HR rep who can’t get the rappers’ names [and features some special guests, like Peter Rosenberg] right before moving to a diner and, well, you can see it all below. [embedded content] “It was the last day I got to hang with Phife,” Peter Rosenberg says of the video. “So grateful that he thought of me and would include me in anything, but even more grateful I got to kick it w...
Source: Harlem + Bespoke / H+B In Hip-Hop music and culture, the terms “Peace, God,” “Word Is Bond,” and “Cipher,” among others, all pepper the language of the participants and proponents within the culture. While the phrases and terms have flair, the sayings originated just as Hip-Hop was forming as a known entity. The Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE), also referred to as the Five Percent Nation of Islam, is the source of those and other popular phrases. The Nation of Gods and Earths developed a connection with Hip-Hop culture that stretches far beyond the sharing of lingo. Labeled as the “Rastafarianism of Hip-Hop” because of the similarity to many Reggae artists embracing Rasta faith, several Hip-Hop artists have claimed ties to NGE culture. Perhaps the most notable NGE Hip-Hop artist is...
SPIN launched in the peak MTV era, when an innovative — or even just salacious — music video could make or break an artist. Thirty five years later, YouTube is an obligatory part of any promotional push, but no one’s counting on a mind-blowing clip to sell a record. (The views do often matter — just not always the creativity.) A sizable chunk of the best videos came out during the ‘90s alternative bloom, when directors like Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Hype Williams experimented with the style and substance of this malleable medium. But the format hasn’t died with MTV: artists like Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Miley Cyrus all made this list for a reason — and it wasn’t to meet a decade quota. Here are the top 35 from the last 35. Ready or not, here we go again. – Ryan Reed 3...
Source: Al Pereira / Getty Busta Rhymes defies the idea that Hip-Hop music is a young person’s game, especially proving he’s got plenty left in the tank with his latest studio album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God. In a new interview, the great Bussa Bus shared that he’s sitting on 300 beats from the late J Dilla among other revelations while sharing details of his 30-year and still ongoing career. Sitting down with Cheo Hodari Coker for GQ, the 48-year-old rapper and entertainer went through a range of topics that included his dramatic weight loss, his connection to Q-Tip, and of course the depths of ELE 2. However, the admission that he’s holding on to 300 J Dilla beats caught the attention of most readers. From GQ: “Strap Yourself Down” is also interesting because you have a...
Source: Jared Siskin / Getty Busta Rhymes could very easily rest on the heels of his past success, having cemented himself as one of the greats of not only his era but of all time, arguably. However, there’s plenty more left in the tank if the rapper’s latest set Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God stands as an effective marker. The long-promised ELE2 has been lauded as a classic by those privileged to have heard earlier iterations of the body of work but the 10th studio album from the New York star never materialized until the end of October. The moments of promotion and anticipation leading up to ELE2‘s release gave off the air of this being an “event” album, a rare thing in Hip-Hop at a time when there are seemingly a string of lauded releases each week only to be forgotten by th...