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California native Diamond Ortiz personifies funk in every way, shape and form. It’s in his blood and pulses through his veins. The 31-year-old grew up playing bass in his family’s band, Diamond Ortiz (named after his parents). According to the Bay Area native, they used to “rock so hard,” they’d start walking on tables as the crowd would go crazy. He carries that same energy into his latest endeavor, which finds Ortiz at the helm of his own funk ship. 

Now living in Los Angeles, Ortiz continues to contribute to the resurgence of modern-funk and boogie, and is often mentioned in the same breath as Dam-Funk, Brian Ellis, XL Middleton, and others. Ortiz is preparing to release his first full length LP titled Lovelin

Some of Hip-hop's most magnum opus work come in the form of waves rippling new sounds and innovative concepts all throughout the Hip-hop scene. Gaining prominence through The Chase as well as his hit-single, “Bang Exclusive”, Kid Tsunami is shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with. Fortunately for us, the tides turn towards in our favor on this Rap Station Exclusive Interview with the wave-maker himself.

What's the story behind the name?

I started MC'ing in 98 and called myself Tsunami just cause of the ferocious nature and the Japanese link (my mom used to tease me about my samurai looking eyebrows). A lot of people at the time would think m

November 13, 2004—This day in Hip-hop pays homage to the passing of the iconic Ol' Dirty Bastard.

Most fans recognize Russel Tyrone Jones (ODB) as an original member and co-founder of the legendary rap supergroup, the Wu-Tang Clan. True enough, Jones formed an underground rap trio, Force of the Imperial Master. Along with cousins Robert Diggs and Gary Grice (later known as RZA and GZA), the three eventually recruited three new members and the Wu-Tang Clan was formed, ushering a new era of Hip-hop with their groundbreaking debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chamber).

Two years following the group's debut, ODB launched his first solo record, Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, which featured multiple hit-singles, such as

Following a long period of media hype and speculation, the pioneering Hip-hop group is back with their latest and last album We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service.

“This is an excellent high note to end on but this is only telling me that the gas in [A Tribe Called Quest's] tank is NOWHERE near empty,” reads a response post written on Questlove's Instagram page, “I mean it feels vintage in its musicality but is such a 2016 record. And it's timing could really really truly couldn't be like—better because it's topical.”

And The Roots drummer got it right to mention the word “topical”, because that's exactly what listeners can expect. A Tribe Called Quest's final album witnesses

Flip back to Hip-hop's glorious Golden Age with Gray and Pipitone's new book, No Half Steppin': An Oral and Pictorial History of New York City Club the Latin Quarter and the Birth of Hip-hop's Golden Era.

No Half Steppin' entails an extensive amount of historical accounts anchored upon the earliest years in Hip-hop. Accounting 212 pages and over 175 colored photographs and images, the text also includes personal narrations from a laundry list of iconic figures, including Special K and Teddy Tedd, KRS-One, MC Shan and Eric B, Daddy O, Fab 5 Freddy, Just-Ice, Positive K, DJ Clark Kent, Chuck D, Sadat X, Prince Paul, Kurtis Blow, Big Daddy Kane, Queen Latifah, Kool G Rap, and the list goes on.

As written on the text's titl

This day in Hip-hop acknowledges the following iconic albums making their debut on this day, several years back.

Live From The Styleetron (1991)

• Marking the memorable debut of Oakland-based hip-hop supergroup, Raw Fusion, the album showcased an unexpected dive into a more minimal, jazzy sound, as opposed to the previous P-funk sounds witnessed in earlier work. Raw Fusion represented the combined forces of Digital Underground's Money-B and DJ Fuze, ushering their distinct humor-induced lyricism onto the West Coast scene.

2Pacalypse Now (1991)

• Hip-hop legend, Tupac Shakur's debut album also released on this day under Interscope