The great thing about hip-hop being a young genre is that the greats are still alive, and in some cases, still dropping records. Grandmaster Flash, the man behind The Message, brings us a his latest offering, The Bridge. Budding with artists that he influenced (and some who stood alongside him in the hey day of hip-hop), Q-Tip, Busta, Snoop Dogg, and freestlye master Supernatural all contribute verses, as well as old school pioneer KRS 1. Thankfully, Flash himself hasn’t succumbed to the slapdash, easy-make sound that popular hip-hop continuously descends into.

Kahlil Almustafa is from Queens, a place he describes as being located between New York City and Nowhere. “[It's] now overpopulated with Crown Fried Chickens, Popeye’s Chickens, Chester’s Chickens and take-out Chinese food stores that sell chicken wings and French fries as if it were the national dish of China. Queens, the home of bootleg DVD collections, 99-cent stores, birds chirping, sirens blazing, subprime mortgage crisis, suburban schizophrenia.”

If you didn’t notice, Almustafa has a way with words. His book Growing Up Hip Hop has been in a stack of books I’ve been meaning to check out for a long time– and I’m damn glad I pulled it aside this evening and dug right in.

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Reef the Lost Cauze has been making moves in Philadelphia since well before his debut, but the Army of Pharoahs MC is bringing real heat with his sophomore record A Vicious Cycle. The same grit and grime that made him an underground favorite pares with refined production. The result is a catchy, yet not poppy, sound that we are hearing more and more today. Beats by Marco Polo and Stress The White Boy compliment Reef’s consistently engaging rhyme style. If you live in Philly, you’re bound to see Reef play sooner or later, and if not keep an eye out for his tour dates.

Today is a very important day. We couldn’t be more excited about an Obama presidency. Just to add to our excitement we cracked up over this Obama Run DC shirt. You can pick up your own here for $20. More importantly, we hope you enjoy today’s celebration and historical significance, regardless of whether or not you have a clever T-shirt on.

While we have yet to see if Biggie biopic is any good, but we can count on the soundtrack. In addition to the basic hits (Kick in the Door, Hypnotize, etc.), the disc includes a bunch of B.I.G.’s old features, making it a decent selection. What really makes it worth picking up are the original demo tracks that were yet unreleased. If you’ve seen the old freestyle video, you know how raw this MC was when he was young. Hopefully Notorious will do his story justice.

Cuban hip-hop is far from an extensive genre, but if one crew is exemplary of the fusion, it’s Orishas. Since 1999, the three man group has been evolving from record to record, reflecting the success that brought them from underground fame in Cuba to international recognition. Their fifth album, Cosita Buena drops today, boasting a more refined sound and the next step in their style, which began incorporating conga, rumba, and Cuban rock styles early in their discography. Hip-hop manifests itself in many forms around the world, taking cues from local language and culture. Too often the product sounds as empty and homogeneous as the stuff we hear on American radio today, but if you’re looking for a unique international take on this global genre, Orishas can deliver.

Lego and hip-hop might have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but that doesn’t mean they can’t combine forces to yield something awesome. Twenty classic hip hop album covers have been recreated in Lego by Formatmag.com, including Three Feet High and Rising, Stillmatic, Violent by Design, and for some reason Big Doe Rehab and not an earlier Ghostface record. Nevertheless, the whole line up will have any connoisseur smiling. The closest resemblance is probably Common’s Be. We never would have made the comparison, but the man has a permanent Lego man smile.

Via Formatmag

Evan Roth created the typography driven video for the new Jay-Z track, produced by Kanye “Brooklyn (We Go Hard).” The song is set to be a piece of the Notorious soundtrack due out later, but it;s being released now to be a part of the RED & Global funds to fight AIDS in Africa campaign. The track is amazing, but the video — killer. I’m going out on a limb here, but I think Evan may have out done the Hova himself. To make things even more interesting, you can grab the FLA code here and remix the video up yourself. Genius work for a good cause.

If you’ve heard of a rapper called AZ, it’s probably because he was the only other lyricist on Nas’ Illmatic. Appearing on the “Life’s a Bitch”, produced by LES, the Brooklynite dropped an introspective verse, followed by the unforgettable, nihilistic hook; “Life’s a bitch and then you die / That’s why we get high / Cause you never know when you’re gonna go.” LES provided the MC with another gem a year later for “Sugar Hill”, appearing on AZ’s solo Debut Do or Die. While his rise took its time and his slick, treblely flow went unheard, AZ’s Anthology: B-sides and Unreleased is out today, giving us a chance to catch what we missed of a solid career. The collection features appearances by Consequence, Heavy D, MOP, Twista, and the man who put him on first, Nas.

Mic legend the Gift of Gab and Quannum producer Chief Xcel, known commonly as Blackalicious, give us 4/20 Live in Seattle, out now on DVD and Blu-Ray. The show is one of typical quality for the Bay Area duo, and has them performing their finest work, kicking off with the well-known exercise in lyrical prowess “Alphabet Aerobics”, originally produced by Cut Chemist. The energy of a Blackalicious show is hard to capture. No matter the setting, the machine gun pace at which Gift drops knowledge captivates the crowd, whose feet stop moving as their minds try to grasp the MC’s content. We recall a 2003 show at SOB’s in New York where Gift, ailing from diabetes, performed the entire set sitting down and still had everyone there hanging on his every word. The DVD succeeds in conveying the experience of a Blackalicious show and is a must-have for anyone who’s lost faith in what the majority of contemporary live hip hop shows have become.

We haven’t been quiet about our belief in Takashi Murakami as one of the future art legends and neither has Kanye West. Murakami did the cover art for Kanye’s latest album Graduation and now you can see his animated music video for the song “Graduation.” The video stars Murakami’s character he created for Kanye’s album, a little teddy bear with colorful eyes, as he wakes up late for his graduation from hip hop university. He rushes through a future city full of colorful subways and flying cars to make a dramatic entrance just in time. To all of you who started back to school this week, take note this is exactly what you should do for your graduation.

No one expects a hip-hop producer to be a guy named Alfred Darlington, but that’s exactly what long-haired, tuxedo and top hat wearing hipster Daedelus is. Named for the mythological Greek artisan said to have invented images, the L.A.-based beatsmith has been known to dish out refreshingly weird compositions utilizing classic breaks, mismatched melodic samples, and heavily processed analog sounds and effects. A further departure from the forefront of modern abstract beat work, the first single from his tenth major (and cleverly titled) album Love To Make Music To can be heard at Daedelusmusic.com. The record is due out June 8th.

For anyone still insisting rap is dead, you may want to send Del tha Funkee Homosapien the memo. The rapper has been slinging rhymes for 16 years, starting out as part of his cousin Ice Cube's background band and later rising to recognition with Hieroglyphics and hip hop super group Deltron 3030. Also having collaborated with the Gorillaz on the songs “Clint Eastwood” and “Rock the House,” Del is clearly still at the top of his game. Currently touring, The AP's Douglas Haddow caught up with him for an interview. A few topics covered are: his upcoming projects, including a sequel to Deltron 3030 (the original being a concept album set in the year 3030) and Del's thoughts on technology and its place in the future which is, basically: we’re screwed. Even if you're not a huge fan, I still suggest checking it out for the highly expletive, f-bomb laden quotes and a cameo by a Beedi blunt.

As a casual fan of hip-hop, I find some publications on the music, the scene, and the culture inaccessible. Not so with recently released DropMagazine. It’s not as if co-founders Alex Richard and Sam Wils don’t know their stuff — based on the first few weeks, they do — but the articles, columns, reviews, interviews, and industry news offered on their site seem targeted at a slightly broader audience than the big name outlets. With any genre, increased popularity seems to lead to fragmentation as various cliques, sub genres, mainstream and underground elements splinter into increasingly incompatible (even downright hostile) camps. Media treatment of hip-hop can make matters worse, resulting in a off-putting mish-mash for those of us who love the music, but don’t want to deal with the drama. DropMagazine offers a fresh voice in the community, plus directly accessing its readers via blog, where users can comment and keep tabs on any new developments. If its early history is any indication, Drop’s future looks mighty promising.

The socially-minded crew at Akomplice are about to drop season six of their hip-hop inspired menswear, and after checking out the merchandise I’m happy to report that things are looking pretty incredible for this coming spring/summer. As always, Akomplice has done a great job weaving subtle but powerful political messages into their designs, resulting in awesome looking tees and hoodies that address important issues without being overbearing in the slightest. I’m loving this Class Act reversible hoodie, highlights of which are a delicious gold silk lining and a funny yet serious gun/booze screen print, and the tribute to Steve Irwin limited edition tee (I advise you vigilantly site-stalk until the season’s debut if you want to pay homage to the Crocodile Hunter; there’s only making 380, and it’s killer).