This is exactly what it sounds like, and what it sounds like is awesome. The first entry into this series turned up quietly and mysteriously last week, but it didn’t take long before people sussed out the folks responsible. Apparently, this is the brainchild of people affiliated with the Minneapolis hip-hop crew Doomtree, which is [...]

As we head into the 4th of July weekend with firecrackers in one hand and a frosty six-pack in the other, the eMusic staff thought we’d help soundtrack your next barbecue by offering some of our favorite reissues and best-of compilations — revolutionary records, if you will — for just $4.99 or less. As the [...]

Kitchen Sessions: Killer Mike performs “Burn” from 3 Little Digs on Vimeo. I know there are a lot of people who feel that hip-hop would be a lot more accessible to them it if retained the sociopolitical edge it had in the late 1980s and early ’90s. It’s not something I feel, personally, but I [...]

Every summer needs an anthem, and I am officially nominating the above for Summer Jam of 2011. Jayson brought this to my attention the other day, and I think I have played it roughly 500,000 times since then. Good God, what a spectacular song this is. In the latest installment of Pitchfork.tv‘s Selector series, Jim [...]

By Jayson Greene Every rapper has a pseudonym or five, and every major pop star has toyed with an “alter ego.” But no one turned those personalities into a bloody Cuisinart blur like Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, aka Slim Shady. In his hands, identity was more than a branding exercise: It was a thrilling, high-stakes [...]

Lately, I’ve been spending a whole lot of time with In Case I Don’t Make It, the latest full-length from Philly rapper Has-Lo. My hip-hop tastes are almost embarrassingly retro: the stuff I react the most strongly to is the stuff that draws inspiration from what’s commonly referred to as “The Golden Age.” Has-Lo’s record [...]

Mashups! Crazy! And, apparently, still with us! People who watch Glee tell me they do them on Glee. And now Matt & Kim — basically the Glee of indie rock — and Big Boi have a mashup of their very own. Called “CameraBuggin,” it combines Big Boi’s incredible “Shutterbug” with Matt & Kim’s “Cameras” for [...]

Talib Kweli Gutter Rainbows [Duck Down] By Ben Westhoff Despite its title, Talib Kweli’s latest Gutter Rainbows is less “inner city” than “Sunday drive through the country with the top down.” The weather is mild, and the shining sun has got him in the mood to reflect on his blessings and career highlights. A digital-only [...]

First things first. As most of you have probably noticed, Freshly Ripped is kind of FUBAR today. Which makes it difficult to do our usual Tuesday new release roundup. We put a handful of titles we knew people would be looking for in Today’s Buzz, but if there’s something you want that you’re having trouble [...]

This guy first came to my attention a while ago, but the further he’s gotten in this project, the more fascinating it’s become. His name is Logan Walters, and he’s an artist/designer. In addition to his regular, paying work, Walters has taken up a little hobby project on the side: redesigning all of the Wu-Tang [...]

(photo by Talie) Finally! An avalanche of new releases today, the first real bounty in what looks to be an extremely exciting autumn. I’m gonna do my best to cover all of them in this post, but I’ll undoubtedly miss a few, so please point out my oversights in the comments! I’m going to break [...]

While there’s not a whole lot that qualifies as “new” today, we do have a pretty solid variety of catalog titles perfect for summer listening! Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career: New Camera Obscura finally arrives on eMusic. Some of you may have heard this already but for those who haven’t — it’s fantastic. I’ve been [...]

So… any good new releases today? Obviously, today is Sony day, which sees a slew of popular — and not-so-popular — titles hit the site. There is a kind of giddy rush that comes from seeing, say, Bitches Brew or the first Stone Roses record turn up, and I’m already figuring my personal Save for [...]

Every two weeks or so, I update eMusic’s Best New Hip-Hop hub, adding the latest batches of indie hip-hop worth caring about. I’m gonna make a “now more than ever” pitch for some of these records, because if there’s a single season when hip-hop sounds the best, it has to be the summer. Here’s what [...]

(that post title is for you, Todd, wherever you are) So. Death Row Records. Where to even start with this? Maybe with a statement of fact: love ‘em or hate ‘em, the records released on Death Row in the early 90s are classics — as foundational genre texts as, I dunno, Let it Bleed or, [...]

(photo by marymactavish) Today we’re happy to announce the return of a feature we started last year — “Indie Moms Sound Off!” This year, the mothers of members of the National, Okkervil River, Cut Copy, Bosque Brown, the Danielson Famile and many, many more tell us which of their kids’ songs they like the best [...]

That DOOM. So unpredictable. You never know where he’s going to turn up. You can, however, make a pretty accurate guess as to where he’s not going to turn up: DOOM concerts, DOOM videos, DOOM in-stores, and so on. Here’s a joke: What’s the quickest way to get DOOM out of your living room? Answer: [...]

It’s been a while since we’ve done a hip-hop roundup, and the arrival of a few notable titles on the site make today as good a day as any. Ghostface Killah, Hidden Darts: No big mystery why I’m starting here. Not only do I love Ghost, but this is the best of the batch, a [...]

To say this one snuck up on me would be an understatement. I’d never even kinda heard of the 7×7 Beat Series (out on the equally mysterious All City Dublin label) until I clicked out of sheer curiosity about 20 pages deep into browsing New on eMusic. Here are the basics: The Deal: Seven 2-3 [...]

I first saw Bishi perform one very hot night in the summer of 2006 at east London’s Bistroteque. The audience had started to blow out the candles on their tables – even the tiny amount of heat produced by a tea light was too much. The room was nearly dark when Bishi appeared, using her [...]