Here are snippets of my contributions to RapReviews.com for the month of February. Feel free to visit the site or subscribe to the newsfeed.

The headliner made his way to the stage, and as expected, the crowd greeted him with open arms. Obviously familiar with the material, the crowd recited nearly every word with Tha Ripper as he delivered an array of songs from his various mixtapes, including his recently released “The Cleveland Show”.

Late Wednesday evening, the news of the passing of one of this generation’s most revered soul singers, Teddy Pendergrass was a shock to many people, including myself. Early reports were posted on social networks like Twitter and just like with the death of Michael Jackson last year, the news was at first abrupt and unbelievable.

“The Year In Review” is a tradition over at RapReviews.com that they’ve upheld for a decade. Experimenting with a few different approaches, they finally found the most successful formula in 2004 – individual editorials from each of the site’s contributors, allowing them to choose their “best of the best” as they see fit.

For awhile, I was trying to figure out what I would do with this section of the site. Instead of showcasing all of the weekly reviews over on RapReviews [link], I’ll just highlight mine every couple weeks or so.

Many hip-hop fans across the world were filled with excitement when Chef Raekwon’s oft-delayed sequel to the seminal 1995 debut album, “Only Built For Cuban Linx” finally became a reality. After its release, Rae continued to record as both a solo artist and as a member of the pioneering Wu-Tang Clan, but many loyalists had [...]

To most historians, the term “Black Tuesday” refers to the collapse of the stock market in October of 1929, which resulted in the Great Depression of the 1930’s. However, this past Tuesday, the term was used to describe the larger than life, double-headlining concert held by Columbus emcees Searius Add and Sinatra.

The Regiment :: A New Beginning
Long Range Distribution
Author: Steve ‘Flash’ Juon
“The Regiment first caught our attention in 2007 when Jesal Padania took the time to review their debut album “The Come Up.” Jay Soul was impressed by the musical and lyrical direction of kids barely out of their teens who made up the group [...]

Brother Ali :: Us
Rhymesayers Entertainment
Author: Patrick Taylor
“I first heard Brother Ali last year on “The Truth” off of Jake One’s “White Van Music.” I had heard of him, but only knew that he was a white albino Muslim. Then I heard him rap and I was sold. “Hungry pacing in a bus station with my [...]

Del the Funky Homosapien & Tame One :: Parallel Uni-Verses
Gold Dust Media/!K7
Author: Steve ‘Flash’ Juon
“The year of hip-hop superteams continues. We’ve already had the all-star Slaughterhouse team, the New York dynamic duo of KRS-One & Buckshot, the Brooklyn to Boston duo of Masta Ace & Edo.G among others, and at long last [...]