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The Roots successfully kicked off the summer concert season this weekend with their 9th annual "Roots Picnic" event in Philadelphia, but the legendary band isn't taking the rest of the summer off. Instead, The Roots have just announced they're hosting another picnic event, this time in New York City.

The Roots Picnic in Philly featured performances by Usher, DMX, Future, Migos, and Swizz Beats, but it seems like the band isn't showing any hometown bias, as the line-up for their New York Picnic is just as packed with guest stars. Besides performances by The Roots themselves, the event will also feature The Wu-Tang Clan, D'Angelo, Swizz Beats, David Byrne of the Talking Heads, Nile Rodgers, and more. The event will be hosted at NYC's Bryant Park and

RAPstation.com is proud to present the brand new official stream for The Art of Rap, which features the work of some of hip hop's most influential and important artists.

Designed to give fans a taste of what to expect from this year's Art of Rap Festival, The Art of Rap Radio stream features music by legendary rap icons Ice T, Public Enemy, EPMD, Naughty by Nature, Kurtis Blow, MC Lyte, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Scorpio, Mobb Deep, and the festival's very own host, Busy Bee.

Fans interested in seeing these acts perform live should check out the official Art of Rap Festival website for tour dates and locations, including a newly

The Tibetan Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa once told Allen Ginsberg, “Why don’t you do like the great poets do, like Milarepa?  You’re bored with reading the same poems over and over.  Why don’t you make poems up on the stage?  Why do you need a piece of paper?  Don’t you trust your own mind?”  While this occurred before the advent of rap music, Trungpa was essentially telling Ginsberg to go up on stage and freestyle.  One could reasonably argue that no creative medium requires one to trust their own mind more than freestyle rapping.  Even the briefest moment of hesitation or self-judgment can bring the flow state required for freestyling to a crumbling halt.

A study done in 2012 by Siyuan Liu, a neuroscie

Kanye West has released the first track off of the upcoming "Cruel Winter" album. Besides Yeezy himself, the track also features more than half a dozen other artists.

Kanye still hasn't decided on a title for the song -- it's appearing online as "Champions" but West says he's considering naming the song "Round and Round." The track features Travis Scott, Gucci Mane, Migos' Quavo, Yo Gotti, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Desiigner. As if that wasn't enough, Kanye says there's a 12-15 minute version of the song in the works that features all of the other artists associated with his G.O.O.D. Music label.

"Champions"

Vic Mensa's new EP, "There's Alot Going On," was released earlier yesterday, and the former Kids These Days rapper is already garnering a lot of attention for "16 Shots," a track that direct addresses the shooting of Laquan McDonald, a Chicago teen who was killed by police officers in 2014.

McDonald was shot a total of 16 times, including a number of shots that were reportedly fired after McDonald had already collapsed to the ground. The City of Chicago later offered McDonald's family a five million dollar settlement deal. A police officer who was involved with the shooting, Jason Van Dyke, is currently on trial for McDonald's murder.

"I was inspired to make this song by my time down on the ground floor, in the street, when we

Common and Public Enemy's Chuck D -- two veteran rappers who both have a long history of political activism -- have just announced that they're working together on a new track for Common's upcoming eleventh studio album, "Black America Again."
Common gave the world its first preview of the politically charged "Black America Again" yesterday, and now more details are emerging about the Grammy award winning artists' next album.

Common reportedly reached out to Chuck D through Public Enemy and Bomb Squad producer Keith "Wizard K-Jee" Shocklee. Common and Chuck D met in the studio, where Common pitched Chuck on the idea of maki