hiphops

DJ Envy is a poster child for hip-hop’s crossover into the mainstream. Over the past three decades, the 46-year-old Queens native went from hustling rap mixtapes to anchoring the Good Morning America of urban radio – The Breakfast Club, where he plays the role of schoolmarm on “the world’s most dangerous morning show”. The role of failed real estate tycoon, however, might well prove to be his swan song now that Envy’s own listeners accuse him of perpetrating a fraud scheme they say bilked them out of millions.In October,…

Last Tuesday morning, the rapper YBN Cordae was due at LAX for a flight to Berlin in about five hours. But first, he had to shoot a music video for his single “Broke As F— ” from scratch.All around him on a South L.A. studio set, a dozen crew members frantically assembled a rig of neon light tubes. Stylists and makeup artists attended to two actors in matching red and white outfits.The clock ticked down — four hours until takeoff. This video was essential — he had less than a month before his debut LP, “The Lost Boy,”…

A section of an Oakland street will be partially renamed to commemorate the life of the late legendary rapper Tupac Shakur amid hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.The Oakland City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to rename a portion of MacArthur Boulevard between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue — where he once lived — as “Tupac Shakur Way.” The initiative was introduced by District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife.“When first started people didn’t think it was a valid art form,” Fife said during the meeting. “Now it’s taken…

OK, so we did a ranking and you came out on top. I didn’t wanna show you our full ranking, but I wanted to show you—  How many people did y’all rank? Twenty-five. Oh, whoa. Y’all gonna get people fighting. It’s in no particular order. So take a look at it. I just want to hear what your thoughts might be. Yeah, you know what? You could do 25 now that you look at this. We could have done 30. Some people who you know intimately well were, like—  Teetering. Yeah, teetering. On the edges. These…

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop—that fateful day in 1973 when DJ Kool Herc took to the decks for the Back To School Jam on Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx.As part of the celebrations, Yonkers trio The LOX are coming to Indigo at the O2 in London on May 17 for a massive celebration of their enduring legacy and the history of hip-hop. Coincidentally, this year also marks 25 years since the release of their Platinum-selling debut album, Money, Power & Respect.Sheek Louch, Styles P, and Jadakiss …

Just before announcing the 2023 Juno Award for Rap Album/EP of the Year, rappers Haviah Mighty and Kardinal Offishall took the stage to pay homage to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.Offishall, sporting a De La Soul jacket, began with a shout-out to DJ Kool Herc, whose infamous party back in the Bronx back in 1973 is widely accepted as the birthplace of hip hop. Mighty followed highlighting different iconic locations integral to the expansion of hip-hop in Canada.After their short history lesson, Offishall welcomed…

Cash Money cofounder Birdman says people need to put some respect on the contribution of CEOs to the culture in light of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.On Feb. 5, fans gathered to watch a historic celebration take center stage at the Grammy Awards. The 15-minute tribute at L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena included performances from pioneers LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot, Run DMC, and more. Newer MCs such as GloRilla, Lil Baby, and Lil Uzi Vert were also among the participants. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Birdman…

Louis Vuitton may have delivered the world’s biggest surprise on Valentine’s Day when the French luxury house unveiled that Pharrell Williams would become Louis Vuitton’s new creative director of menswear. It was another bolt of lightning sent down by a label known for making creative decisions that have produced both shock and awe within the fashion industry. Naturally, fans of Williams (and his celebrity friends) rejoiced that he would be filling the late-Virgil Abloh’s shoes. Williams’ appointment aptly arrives as…

Jonathan “Hovain” Hylton didn’t have to speak loudly to be heard. The prominent and beloved artist manager and music industry executive, who passed away last Friday, was known for a steadiness that got his message across. Drew “Dru Ha” Friedman, co-founder of Brooklyn’s Duck Down Records, recalled to Complex that “Hovain was very even-keeled and level-headed, and practical. He didn’t have to dominate a call. He wasn’t a loud person. He didn’t have to oversell his message,” Friedman tells Complex. “He was extremely…

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) A glass-walled truck motored its way into a strobing L.A. warehouse in April, careful to avoid the throngs of people who’d gathered for what they presumed to be a typical record release party. Behind that glass was a bare-chested young female rapper, sporting only silver body paint and thigh-high boots while flanked by a dozen women clad in nude bodysuits.Doechii, 24, commanded the crowd’s attention as she rapped the first verse from her woman-as-warrior single “Crazy”…