RapStation

Rap Station acknowledges the birthdays of two West Coast figures in Hip-hop today, Flying Lotus and DJ Qbert!

Steven Ellison, known as Flying Lotus, is a Los Angeles-based producer known for his multi-dimensional, quality production, ranging from Hip-hop to experimental jazz. Since his 2006 debut with 1983, FlyLo has accumulated much notoriety for critically-acclaimed albums and singles.

Interestingly, Ellison's musical career also catalogues his contributions for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim segment, most specifically rapping under Captain Murphy, based off the Sealab 2021character.

Meanwhile, a Filipino American artist by the name of DJ Qbert began his career into Hip-hop as a member of the grou

With the 2016 A3C Hip Hop Festival now officially underway in Atlanta (October 5-9), iHipHop Distribution and the A3C have announced their renewed partnership for A3C Volume 6.  The first single comes from the young Los Angeles lyricist, A-F-R-O, short for "All Flows Reach Out."

The 18-year old prodigious MC first gained notoriety in 2014 with an audio submission to R.A The Rugged Man’s ‘Definition of a Rap Flow’ contest, which quickly went viral. A-F-R-O then captured the attention of heavy hitters in the music industry, including Questlove, who said,  “A-F-R-O is the future of Hip-Hop.” A-F-R-O released his debut EP with producer Marco Polo, appropriately

The self-professed “Lonely Stoner”, Kid Cudi, broadcasted an alerting reveal last Tuesday. Confessing to feeling constantly haunted by depressing and suicidal thoughts, Cudi announced both a regress from music and a recent rehab check-in.

“I am not at peace. I haven't been since you've known me. If I didn't come here, I would've done something else,” Cudi admitted via Facebook post, “I simply am a damaged human swinging in a pool of emotions everyday of my life. There's a raging violent storm inside of my heart at all times. [I don't know] what peace feels like. [I don't know] how to relax. My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it.”

We're well into the first week of October, and Halloween can already be felt along city streets and social media. I myself, consider to be one among many, enamored by this season of mystery and unpredictability—but this year, I encountered a specific mysterious case, and it came in the form of sOuL from the O's Contraband Mixtape.

Beginning in 2000, sOuL from the O's built up a reputation for his erratic musical styles, “sometimes eclectic, sometimes fierce,” but nevertheless powerful in the sense of its immensely-imaginative ambience. Simply put, I was thinking along the lines of “His stuff is really unheard of, but should be heard of”.

Contraband Mixtape&

Doesn't mainstream radio these days feel, whats the word, redundant? A hit song comes, you get glued, it gets overplayed, next thing you know it starts sounding mundane. Luckily, throwback playlists are always an option, and today we recommend three anniversary records from 90s Hip hop.

Can I Borrow a Dollar back in 92 was the debut album from now-prominent Chicago rapper, Common. The album's entirety was produced by the notable No I.D. (formerly known as Immenslope) and Twilite Tone, as well as additional contributions from The Beatnuts.

Being his debut, Common introduced a distinct brand of melodic rapping, containing both clever wordplay pop-culture allusions—all of which floating atop jazzy samples and laid back beats.

Virginia rapper D.R.A.M. will be following up the slow burn success of his single "Broccoli" with the release of his first studio album sometime this month.

Entitled "Big Baby D.R.A.M.," the highly anticipated new album will be released on October 21st through Atlantic Records. D.R.A.M. revealed the album's release date and album cover, which features a picture of him with his dog, through Twitter.

D.R.A.M.'s biggest hit so far, "Broccoli," which also features Georgia rapper Lil Yachty, was released a few months ago and gradually grew in popularity through word of mouth. In early September, "Broccoli" dethroned Drake and Rihanna's "Too Good" from the top spot on the Billboard charts, and the sing