By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorThe posse-rap album has become a rite of passage for rap superstars. Either just before or right after you've snagged your shoe line and/or headphone endorsement, the crew album is up next: the time to… more »

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic Contributor"Nas hasn't been good since Illmatic. It's a tired phrase, trotted out every time Nasir Jones has the temerity to release a new record. And at a certain point, it started being accepted as gospel… more »

By Nate Patrin, eMusic ContributorNas's career path has been a strange, contradictory one: It's clear that he's a legend, but he's always being pressured to live up to it, as though Illmatic was his own personal Citizen Kane. The… more »

By Nate Patrin, eMusic ContributorNas's career path has been a strange, contradictory one: It's clear that he's a legend, but he's always being pressured to live up to it, as though Illmatic was his own personal Citizen Kane. The… more »

By Nate Patrin, eMusic ContributorNas's career path has been a strange, contradictory one: It's clear that he's a legend, but he's always being pressured to live up to it, as though Illmatic was his own personal Citizen Kane. The… more »

By Nate Patrin, eMusic ContributorNas's career path has been a strange, contradictory one: It's clear that he's a legend, but he's always being pressured to live up to it, as though Illmatic was his own personal Citizen Kane. The… more »

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-ChiefNot to split hairs, but if you want to make a point about hip-hop's creative paralysis, it's probably not the best idea to do so over a production track you yourself already used six years… more »

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-ChiefNot to split hairs, but if you want to make a point about hip-hop's creative paralysis, it's probably not the best idea to do so over a production track you yourself already used six years… more »

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-ChiefNot to split hairs, but if you want to make a point about hip-hop's creative paralysis, it's probably not the best idea to do so over a production track you yourself already used six years… more »

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-ChiefNot to split hairs, but if you want to make a point about hip-hop's creative paralysis, it's probably not the best idea to do so over a production track you yourself already used six years… more »

By Jayson Greene, Managing Editor more »

By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorThe very first thing you hear on Illmatic is the lonely sound of a subway train rolling over the tracks and disappearing into the distance. It's followed by the faint sound of young Nasir Jones's… more »

By John Morthland, eMusic ContributorHip-hop blues seems like a natural. With all the open spaces in a good piece of blues music, wouldn't a little scratching fit right in? And the way the great blues singers repeat a line… more »