Eminem's "Kamikaze" provides fans and haters alike with ample fodder for their respective causes. “Every CD critics gave it a 3, Then three years later they go back and re-rate it Then called The Slim Shady LP the greatest The Marshall Mathers was a classic The Eminem Show was fantastic But Encore just didn't have the caliber to match it I guess enough time just ain't passed yet A couple more years, that shit'll be Illmatic" - Eminem, “Careful What You Wish For" Eminem has never played nice with critics. A simple journey through his discography provides ample proof. In truth, Em has toyed with rappers and pop stars alike, making short work of them across a variety of storied diss tracks. “The Sauce.” “Nail In The Coffin.” “Quitter.” “The Warning.” “Can-i-Bitch.” All share a similar pattern, in which Eminem embodies an apex predator of his choosing. Few dare go against him, and those that do throw stones have come to expect a boulder in ...

Drake was polite, methodical, and very Canadian during his "Aubrey & The Three Amigos" tour stop last night. Drake returned to Canada last night. (One of the) crowning glories of the Great White North, the actor-turned-rapper-turned-generally-super-famous-person, brought his tour, “Aubrey & The Three Amigos,” for the first of a two-night stint in Montreal on a warm Tuesday evening. The tour already visited Canada at its outset, with back-to-back shows in Drake’s native Toronto, followed by more back-to-back-to-back shows in New York. If we’ve learned one thing from this, it’s that literally where ever Drake goes, he can sell out back-to-back. While tour dates were delayed and rescheduled multiple times, the shows are now running smoothly in each city, whatever production kinks initially hindering the schedule seem to be fully resolved, at least judging from last night’s event. ---- Everyone loves Drake. A Drake show, which filled an arena of 20,000 people las...

"Room 25" firmly establishes Noname as one of the best rappers alive. A little over a year ago, I saw Noname absolutely kill her set at a summer music festival. Her band was tight, presence charming, and reception surprisingly warm from an audience who didn't seem all that familiar with her. Later that day, Nas performed. As most of the crowd rapped along to "NY State of Mind," I began to overhear a particularly enthusiastic recitation of the hook directly behind me. I turned around, and was face-to-face with Noname and her entire four-piece band, acting like regular-ass people at a festival, dancing and signing and smiling. This wasn't the first artist I'd seen leave the comfort of backstage to mingle with the common folk at a festival— two that stand out off top are Danny Brown walking around and dapping up anyone that approached him, and John C. Reilly watching an indie rock set from a distance— but rather the first who could've passed for your...

6LACK's dullen powers strike harder this time around. I'll begin by saying, I do see a method to his madness; 6LACK is mastering the lexical changes of his voice. The message he leaves behind is interminable. The biggest issue with East Atlanta Love Letter isn't really a problem of subject material, but what lies outside its bracketology. A far more expressive world exists outside the imagined boundaries of 6LACK's sophomore album, much to his detriment. The repetitive strain of 6LACK's "reactionary logic" wears thin as a musical idea; it’s a classic scenario that persists within the specter of "Alt-R&B." A well-meaning individual like 6LACK could very well spend the rest of eternity chasing static energy for no definable reason. Suddenly he'll realize that the clamless shell he picked up on the beachfront does not actually consist of "love." On East Atlanta Love Letter, the frenetic chase almost becomes too difficult to ...

After a turbulent 2017, the historically independent Young Dolph signs his first partnership with Empire Distribution and delivers his fourth studio album. Young Dolph has scoffed at many lucrative record deals throughout his decade-long career, choosing instead to self-release mixtapes and albums under his own label, Paper Route Empire. With the proposed offers nearly doubling in the wake of his highly-publicized beef with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti - one that has resulted in multiple attempts on Dolph’s life - even his most staunch supporters began to accept that the aging rapper would soon bow out of the good indie fight. And yet, “Fuck the 22 million!” was the prominent rallying cry leading up to the release of Dolph’s fourth studio album, Role Model. In lieu of the staggering offers being thrown his way, it seems as if Dolph ultimately settled on a partnership with Empire Distribution, one that allows him greater access to resources while still maintaining his hard-fought...

Upon escaping Purgatory, Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter V" is enjoying the simple pleasures of Earth. Upon releasing 4:44, stalwart veteran Jay-Z provided a blueprint for his peers. It’s not uncommon to hear the album cited as a benchmark in modern discourse; it’s almost as if everybody wants hip-hop’s elder states-people to follow the Jigga Man’s example. For some, anything less than forty minutes of concise self-analysis is unacceptable. Wrongs must be righted, childhood haunts revisited. Recent releases from Kanye West, Eminem, and Nas found themselves on the receiving end of a motherly type of scorn: why can’t you be more like Jay-Z? Yet we can discern plenty about the aforementioned three through their previously released music. Lil Wayne, in keeping with his "Martian" persona, has largely remained enigmatic. Songs like “I Feel Like Dying” and “Shoot Me Down” toyed with Weezy’s inner anguish to varying degrees. Yet Wayne always seems to brush off deeper analy...

Focusing on both his own personal tragedies as well as those facing the Black community at large, Reason has delivered a body of work that entertains while also examining his vulnerabilities. Reason’s official debut as a member of TDE, There You Have It, is a soulful and tight-knit introduction of the Del Amo rapper to a worldwide audience. Perhaps best known for his powerful verse on the Kendrick Lamar curated Black Panther soundtrack, Reason has quietly been working very hard, most recently in support Jay Rock on the 30-city Big Redemption Tour. Although this is his first full release with TDE, older fans will likely recognize that this isn’t a new project; it's actually a remixed and remastered version of his 2017 mixtape of the same name. In addition to some tweaked sonics and updated cover art, the new release is three tracks shorter than the original. In a recent interview with Ambrosia For Heads Reason said that the re-release was a strategic move by label head Anthony ...

Gunna & Lil Baby are both young rappers currently running the ATL scene, but who took the crown on their first collaborative album, "Drip Harder"? For our latest digital cover story, we got the chance to visit Gunna and Lil Baby on the set for their "Drip Too Hard" music video shoot. This lead single for Drip Harder is a tightly-wound showcase of both their talents; Baby's hook is an infectious earworrm tailor-made for the Billboard charts while Gunna's verse is a surprisingly lyrical showcase of his oft-understated wordplay. The song peaked at an impressive #25 on the Hot 100. Their chemistry on set seemed to reflect this fervent demand for their music as they orchestrated their own fashion show of sorts, one that not only showcased the models at hand, but their own unique drip. From the outfits that dominated the genre's formative years to N.W.A., Outkast, The Lox and The Diplomats, pitting close collaborators against each other has always bee...

There's more to Sheck Wes than his energy, but there needs to be more to "Mudboy" than intriguing styles and backstory. Sheck Wes recently found himself at the center of a debate that seem to periodically pop up in hip hop. In the second half of 2018, the young Harlem native's breakout single "Mo Bamba" has been the song that divides most rap fans into either hypebeasty populists or pseudo-intellectuals, neither of which is a particularly flattering designation. It had been debated plenty before DJs/electronic musicians A-Trak and Zedd got into it over "Mo Bamba" on Twitter, but their clash offers the best summary (and most entertainment value) of the lot. In some now-deleted tweets, A-Trak called Wes' single "the best song of the year," citing its ability to "engage people in the club." Zedd, climbing up on his high horse, said A-Trak had "lost his mind," and claimed that he "judges music by melody, chords...

Migos' ever-widening catalogue gets 19 tracks deeper with the release of Quavo's solo debut. Is it "for keeps?" Before “Bad and Boujee” reintroduced Migos as rightful superstars, calls for a Quavo solo album had already begun. After the release of their underperforming debut Yung Rich Nation in 2015, the group, made up of Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff, hit a slow patch. As the trio failed to match the success of their string of early hits that began with the 2013 breakthrough “Versace,” fans began to diagnose the stall. With Quavo being the most natural hook-writer of the three and beginning to turn in a number of memorable features, the question of whether or not a solo career was the best path ahead for the Atlanta rapper came into play -- perhaps the concept of the “rap group” was not due for a reemergence after all? The blazing ascent of “Bad and Boujee” quickly put that theory to rest. Not only did it give the trio the biggest hit of their career, it posited O...

Lil Yatchy dropped off his third studio album, and second album of the year, with Nuthin' 2 Prove. As the title suggests, Yachty has found himself with a swell of confidence that allowed him to take this project on with the bar set apathetically low. His freshman effort, Teenage Emotions, solidified his lead on the "bubblegum trap" genre, but was largely considered a disappointment to fans. After mediocre sales and mixed reviews, Lil Boat made a U-Turn and dropped a second album entitled Lil Boat 2. His sophomore effort catered to his built-in audience and was received in a much more positive light than Teenage Emotions. With Nuthin' 2 Prove, Yachty exudes a sense of awareness,  confidence and a nonchalant attitude all at once. There's a lot of sentiment packed into the succinct title, leaving it up for interpretation-- is "Nuthin 2 Prove" meant as a slight towards his fans (who seemingly turned on him) or his critics (constant detractors that they are...

Future and Juice WRLD aren't as odd a couple as they initially seem, but "WRLD On Drugs" showcases their lopsided talents. It's pretty jarring to hear Juice WRLD quote Future's "Ain't No Way Around It" on WRLD On Drugs and realize that he was just 12 when the True Story cut dropped. Juice and his newest collaborator, Mr. Hendrix himself, are 15 years apart in age, a full generation's worth of a gap that makes for an odd pairing. Consider this: Lil Wayne and Birdman, erstwhile Like Father Like Son partners, only have a 13-year age difference. Styles P and Dave East, who just linked up for the joint tape Beloved, are also 13 years apart. But even beyond the numbers, consider the additional similarities: Baby and Weezy had been rapping together as Cash Money compatriots for years, East and P are New Yorkers cut from the same cloth. Comparatively, Future and Juice WRLD have very little in common. One is a denizen of ATL's streets just as cap...