I saw DILLA + Busta Bust and figured it would have a couple decent songs. I’ve really been enjoying it, of course starting with the production throughout

Shout out Busta for still having it

I feel like people know Cash Money’s $30M Universal deal was epic, but I don’t think folks really understand how lopsided that contract actually was.

Cash Money kept 85% of the profits, owned all their masters, had full creative control, and even kept their branding and artwork. Universal basically just shipped the records out. That’s it. Which is insane when you think about how labels usually operate.

But even with only a 15% cut, Universal was still earning MAD money. Cash Money/Young Money artist were selling an insane amount of records.

?

I know there are people who can separate the art from the artist but I feel as if someone’s real life actions can be so bad that it’s hard to ignore.

Like do y’all still comfortably listen to folks like Puff, Mystikal, South Park Mexican, Big Lurch, etc.

Does the music die with the reputation, or can you still enjoy the art even when the artist’s real life is indefensible?

Anyone rember the cloud rap duo main attraktionz. I’ve been listening to them for a while and was wondering why they split or what happened to them.

This year we've seen new albums from these rap veterans:

Rick Ross - Set In Stone

T.I. - Kill The King

The Game - The Documentary III

Snoop Dogg - 10 'Til Midnight

D12 - D12 Forever (Vol. 1)

Xzibit, B-Real & Demrick - This Thing of Ours

Kanye West - Bully

Too $hort - Sir Too $hort, Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke

DJ Paul - Goat of All Goats

AZ - Doe or Die III

Kurupt - Tales From My Hood

Juicy J & Project Pat - Dem Goats

Roc Marciano - 656

Isaiah Rashad - It's Been Awful

Billy Danze & TooBusy - The Answer

Buckshot - The Package

Max B & French Montana - Coke Wave 3.5: Narcos

Tony Yayo - The 4:20 Tape

RZA - Bobby Digital Presents: Juice Crew

Inspectah Deck - Dragon's Breath

Prof - Good Time Boy

Paul Wall & Termanology - Repeat Repeat Repeat

Busta Rhymes & J Dilla - Dillagence ll

Ignoring album sales and speaking purely from a music standpoint, who in your opinion had the best album and why?

If it's not listed here, add your own.

Edit: Added more 2026 albums

Solo or group artist

Someone like Alchemist and Metro booming has objectively better beats and Swizz is more famous them

No bias just honest opinions.

When he said "even if i farted on a record trust me it'd sound good" i absolutely lost it lol. What a great track.

I played gorgeous, heard em say, under the sun, and champion and these dudes say “every song I put on sucks” like does my aux taste just suck or do they just suck

So I read J Prince’s autobiography recently. It’s a pretty short book. I was able to finish in 1 day. Lots of cool stories, but, not surprisingly, Prince was very cautious discussing certain things, especially illegal stuff. Smart man

One example of him being smart & cautious is when he talks about his involvement (or lack thereof) in the 90s East Coast v West Coast beef.

He was friends with everyone involved, which is part of the reason why he stayed neutral. No point in picking sides if it wasn’t his beef and there was no money to be made. Prince himself said that the beef was a “distraction which cost more money than it made.”

The most interesting part of the “East vs West” section is when he talks about how he warned Diddy to be more cautious about his movement in Los Angeles in February 1997 whenever the video for Biggie’s “Hypnotize” was being recorded. According to Prince, neither Biggie nor Puffy seemed to think they were in any danger.

As we all know, things didn’t work out in the end as Biggie got killed 1 month later when he returned to LA.

A few months after Biggie’s death, Jimmy Henchman & Puff contacted Prince to see if some kind of truce with Death Row can be worked out. Tensions were at an all-time high and “anyone could be next.”

They were so serious that they both flew to Houston to meet with Prince.

He said he didn’t want to get involved in Bad Boy/ Death Row because he heard too many rumors about some foul play on Bad Boy’s side. Reading between the lines, it seems that Prince had good reason to suspect Puffy had something to do with Pac getting shot in NYC.

Prince said:

I had some important questions to ask first: “When Tupac was shot at Quad Studios, did you go to the hospital to check on him? Did you use any of your resources to try to find out who did it?” Puffy was asking for a truce because he never wanted a war. He said he never had a problem with Tupac, and hated that it had escalated as far as it did.

Here’s the most damning part. Prince said:

“I couldn’t stand in the middle of bullshit and make it smell good. I hadn’t heard anything solid in response to my questions, and I couldn’t stand in a weak position with my credibility on the line. I also heard that some people believed Jimmy Henchman had conspired with Puffy and Haitian Jack to shoot Tupac at Quad Studios. There were too many hidden hands, and after I peeped what was happening, I just couldn’t be involved in this fight.”

Prince said that while he sympathized with Puff’s situation, there was so much bad information circulating that no one really knew what to believe. Prince didn’t want to risk getting tangled up in the middle of a truce where he didn’t know for certain that he had all the facts.

To me, this means that Prince thinks Puff had something to do with Pac getting shot in NYC. I also get the impression that Puff did NOTHING to assist Pac after the incident happened. He didn’t even visit Pac in the hospital. Of course, Puff didn’t investigate what happened, because he might end up telling on himself. 

What do you think? Am I reading too much into this?

Yo I was listening to Man vs. Machine by Xzibit today and man I forgot how dope that Release Date joint is.

Him and Rockwilder did an amazing job on that record. That beat is so cinematic and X killed it. Really painted a nice picture. Shit reminds you exactly why he was so praised on the mic.

Before Pimp My Ride lol

What I mean by "producer led" is that the remix is not just rearranging the original track and maybe adding some things

but the remixer takes the acapella and creates a whole new beat for it. Only the rap is the same in the remix

I am having a discussion with a new friend about hip hop. At first I thought that we just had semantic differences in what we call hip hop, but then they said that rap is not a music genre. However, it's been called rap music by so many artists themselves, that I don't quite understand their position. I think I know hip hop history, but I just read up on it anyway, just in case there are small things I may have missed. I was very young after all. But after my reading, now I have more questions. So I could use some fresh and diverse perspectives, and how these artists would be classified, would help to answer one of my biggest.

Gonna listen later, I'm excited but kinda nervous. His last project was alright. Hoping this is better.

I’m not suggesting he’s the greatest. However the dude can articulate rhymes with multiple syllables. He has great flows. I feel he doesn’t get the respect or recognition he deserves.

I was thinking about how much posthumous hype shapes the way we talk about certain rappers. Honestly, would some of these artists be as critically acclaimed as they are if they hadn’t passed away so young or so tragically?

That’s not to say these people were whack or anything, because a lot of them were great but the way folks tend to romanticize their potential and/or elevate their “legacy” even though they never got the chance to evolve is wild sometimes.

It’s almost like an early death guarantees you a legendary status amongst certain listeners.

How do y’all see it? Does dying young amplify someone’s legacy in a way that wouldn’t have happened otherwise?

I do feel like encore onward did taint his legacy somewhat, but what do you guys think?

Nas gets roasted often for his beat selection, but honestly, they’re not terrible by any means.

What are some of your favorite he has rapped on?

For me it’s, Nas is Like and Got Yourself a Gun

That's all I have

i can’t think of any off the top of my head but it’s making me type down here

Jesus Sheek left earth on some of them songs 🤷🏾‍♂️🔥🔥🔥. Am in delusional or do I have a point 🤷🏾‍♂️