Interviews

“My album is all me. You can hear it.”

“I think that you have to fail in order to know how to succeed.”

We unearth an interview with Crenshaw's Nipsey Hussle in the wake of his tragic passing.

"I feel more comfortable onstage than I am in regular life."

“Things are never easy when you look like you’re trying to accomplish the impossible.”

“He was honest and he’s just a person, you know?”

“There’s no free rides. Everybody pays for all the things that they do, sooner or later.”

“I don’t know if you ever find your sound, until you’re done making music and you look back on the whole thing.”

"It's not about me anymore."

“This song is crazy because originally, it was done by Sounwave, Baby Keem, and Cardo.”

Gang Starr only cared to look forward, never behind. But for the 25th anniversary of 'Hard to Earn, DJ Premier didn't mind taking me back to 1994.

“He would literally do anything to be in the studio.”

“I’m not trying to cater to sounds and trends.”

The Notorious B.I.G., whose work has been sampled more than 1,684 times.

“There’s a million things you could do to get your foot in the door with.”

“You can’t really learn innovation. It just has to be in you, and you have to dig inwards to find it.”

"He was just like, 'You won’t have any problems out of me dog, you from Richmond.'"

“All I cared about at the time was just cleansing, and doing my own self-healing.”

"I’m not afraid of being judged or telling the truth."

“It’s always better to do tours because you actually in these people’s faces”

The great prophet Flavor Flav told the world in 1988 not to believe the hype. Thirty years later, a series is upon us that may convince you otherwise.

“I don’t care about being famous, but I do want the music to reach more people.”

“I can’t think of more of a pure person.”

Qari and Green Sllime discuss their joint project, 'Operation Hennessy.'

We spoke with 17 hip-hop writers about the ups and downs of the creative life.

"When you look at the greatest artists in history, it’s not about the perfect debut, but their careers."

The short film 'Nowhere, Nobody,' co-directed by Naima Ramos-Chapman, reflects the life and perspective of Earl Sweatshirt.

“My fans really do make me feel special.”

“It’s about introducing myself in a fiery way… being brought up in a fiery environment, in Brooklyn."

“The minute we got back to the fun of it, things started moving.”

Thomas is of the 10 artists handpicked by Pusha-T for his 1800 Tequila-partnered album, 1800 Seconds.

"Things aren’t always fire, but when shit stink, you put it in the toilet and flush it."

He isn't trying to be an underground legend, either.

We spoke with Alex Larsen, aka Kid Twist, about the new Eminem-produced film loosely based on his career.