Tupac Shakur

The ten best diss tracks of all time

Since hip-hop's genesis, beef has been as integral a driving force to the art as bravado. There's been some titanic tangles over the years, from Canibus facing off with LL Cool J to Jay-Z and Nas locking horns with one other, all of which have resulted in some relentless and incendiary rhymes being ... More >>

The ten greatest West Coast rappers of all time

West Coast rap is sometimes disparaged by hip-hop purists for it's perceived lack of lyricism and substance, but what it lacks in lyrical acrobatics and "message," it more than makes up for in personality. Whether the aesthetic is raw and violent or chill and relaxed, the sentiment comes through equ ... More >>

The ten most underrated rappers of all time

What contributes to a rapper's underrated status? Is it the unwillingness to compromise? The inability to compromise? An early demise? Bad promotion? Possibly all of these things and more? Whatever the case, with these rappers, it's certainly not for a lack of talent. We put together a list of the t ... More >>

Here's what the Denver Nuggets are listening to

On Friday night, I had the chance to chop it up with some of the Denver Nuggets in the locker room before they completely whooped ass on the Brooklyn Nets. With the exception of my two favorite players (who evidently don't do interviews before a game, as they both tersely informed me), everybody was ... More >>

The 50 best rap lyrics of all time: Complete list

Last week, we took a look at the fifty worst rap lyrics of all time. Going through all the dreck and drivel to get to the crème de la crème of crappiness was tedious and rather exhausting. This week, we even things out by taking a look at the other end of the spectrum and examining rap lyrics to f ... More >>

The 50 best rap lyrics of all time: 50-26

Last week, we took a look at the fifty worst rap lyrics of all time. Culling through all the dreck and drivel to get to the crème de la crème of crappiness was tedious and rather exhausting. This week we even things out by taking a look at the other end of the spectrum and examining the fifty best ... More >>

The ten best movies featuring rappers

Wu-Tang has been immersed in kung-fu for so long, it was inevitable that one member of the Clan would make a major appearance in a martial arts movie at some point. The RZA appeared briefly in Ghost Dog in 1999, but only for a passing moment, though he did produce the soundtrack. In The Man with the ... More >>

From tough times, DJ Cavem Moetavation built conscious lines

The five biggest hip-hop name changes

See also: - Snoop Dogg at Comfort Dental Amphitheatre, 8/17/12 - Review: Snoop Dogg at Snowball, 3/3/12 - Review: Snoop Dogg at the Fillmore, 3/2/12 Artists do what they can to control their image, from their songs to their videos to their Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. They hire publicists. The ... More >>

Tupac hologram tour: Dr. Dre says not so fast. "It was strictly for Coachella. Get it right."

See Also: Tupac hologram at Coachella: Here's how it was done Okay, so now we have it straight from the doctor's mouth: Contrary to an item in the Wall Street Journal last week citing "a person familiar with the discussions" claiming that representatives of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were intending to ... More >>

Watch: Video of Tupac hologram at Coachella performing with Snoop Dogg, "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," from All Eyez on Me

Tupac at Coachella. While there were plenty of memorable performances and an equal number of WTF moments at the first weekend of this year's Coachella, there's only one from last night that we guarantee everyone is talking about this morning, and It happened early this morning around 12:30 or so our ... More >>

Watch: Tupac hologram at Coachella -- you've seen the footage. Here's how it was done

By now you've seen Tupac's performance with Snoop Dogg last night at Coachella. The legendary rapper was brought back to life by Dr. Dre's production company in collaboration with Digital Domain, James Cameron's digital production company, and AV Concepts, a company based in Tempe, Arizona, using a ... More >>

Five acts whose careers have resurrected

Whether you're honoring a ubiquitous egg-laying rabbit obsessed with scavenger hunts or the miraculous resurrection of a thirty-something Jewish carpenter, the Easter season is upon us once again. But regardless of your religious affiliation, in the world of music, returning from the dead seems to h ... More >>

Five songs that foreshadowed 2Pac's death

​On this day fifteen years ago, Tupac Shakur was gunned down on the Las Vegas strip while riding in a car driven by Marion "Suge" Knight. The seeming culmination of a media hyped East Coast vs West Coast rivalry, the murder of 2Pac has been shrouded in mystery and conspiracy. No doubt one of t ... More >>

How to go swimming... in other people's pools

Tupac gets into other people's pools, too​Denver's public pools have been closed for almost a month already, and if you don't wanna fork over the cash for one last hurrah at Water World, what do you do? Baby pools in the yard suck, and chances are, if you have your own actual pool in your yard ... More >>

MTV's top five greatest on-air rap moments

​Oh, MTV. There has been no greater platform for fuckery's finest and the brilliance of unfiltered musician craziness than Music Television's many segments. Whether drunken freestyles, acceptance speech interruptions, or classic moments in live performance, hip-hop rightfully lived and thrived ... More >>

The 27 Club? More like the posthumous platinum club: Albums sales spurred by death

​You can go on for days debating the musical mysteries of the so called 27 Club -- which includes Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and now Amy Winehouse -- but one thing is certain: The death of these artists had a profound impact on their subsequent sales. Pearl, for example, was rele ... More >>

Awesome People Hanging Out Together is awesome

Oh yeah, that's Madonna, Sting and Tupac​We are flashed hundreds of images of celebrities doing regular stuff everyday via tabloids and television -- they get caught buying groceries, going to Starbucks and fighting inappropriately with their significant others in public. But who cares if they ... More >>

Chromeo interview: 'We're funny guys'

Chromeo: nice guys, funny guys, can sing 2Pac songs on cue.​The black SUV with the "Ecstasy" vanity plate pulled up to the back-stage entrance of Westword Music Showcase on Saturday, and out stepped the driver, who looked fully dressed to attend an '80s prom. He was suited appropriately for hi ... More >>

2pac would've been forty years old today -- a look back at the five best songs of his career

Today is 2Pac's birthday. Had the young MC lived to see this day, he would have been forty years old. It would take days of paragraphs to capture the impact 'Pac had on society, music in general, particularly hip-hop. A poet, actor, 'hood scholar and the mightiest thug, the name 2Pac is synonymous ... More >>

Friday the 13th brings at least one good thing: $13 tattoos and piercings

​Friday the 13th has been associated with a lot of creepy shit over the years. From various natural disasters to Tupac's death, the date has been deemed unlucky by superstitious people everywhere. But rather than succumb to friggatriskaidekaphobia tomorrow and keep looking over your shoulder f ... More >>

Tonight: Too $hort at Casselman's

Often imitated but never duplicated, Too $hort (performing tonight with DJX, Shade Loc G, Hypnautic, King Tef, Johny Rocketz, 20:12, Nominee, Mya Rose, Spoke n Wordz, Playalitical and Felisa Latin Soul at Casselman's) has been making records for almost thirty years, helping to establish Oakland, Ca ... More >>

#ripkurtcobain: Seventeen years ago today

​Hard to believe it's been that long. Seventeen years ago today, Kurt Cobain left this life entirely too early. I remember vividly where I was and what I was doing when word of his death first came across the clock radio on my desk. It was a complete shock to the system. And that's the way th ... More >>

Hip-hop's ten most impactful deaths

​Today marks the anniversary of the day that the world lost the greatest rapper of all time. Christopher Wallace's untimely death on March 9, 1997, had a significant impact on the rap game. If Biggie had lived, for instance, his presence would have essentially erased the need for Jay-Z. Unstop ... More >>

Tupac biopic finally gets the greenlight. Here's five ideas for who should play him.

​After being held up by years of litigation from Afeni Shakur-Davis, the mother of late rapper Tupac Shakur, the film depicting the rapper's life has finally been given the green light. Literally years in the making, the production company Morgan Creek has been mired in legal wranglings with ' ... More >>

Meet Anxious, an MC who's anything but

​ Anxious doesn't come off as nervous, worried or scared. In contrast to his chosen stage name, the MC, aka Ryan Hyde, actually seems pretty confident. So much so, in fact, that he says he will battle anybody, anytime -- and win. So far, he has the record to prove it. He's won every battle he ... More >>

Top Ten musical jailbirds: In honor of Lil Wayne and T.I. and their respective prison stints

​Earlier this morning, Lil Wayne was released from New York's Rikers Island after serving eight months of a one-year sentence for criminal possession of a weapon. Fellow Southern rapper T.I., meanwhile, went back to jail on Monday after a federal judge in Atlanta revoked his probation follow ... More >>

Mr. Midas on Son of the Crack Era, hip-hop unity and the downfall of King Midas

Chris Eng When the crack epidemic hit the streets in the '80s, it changed the social constructs of a generation. Not only did it birth a legion of children with addicted parents, but from Jay-Z to Rick Ross, it also served as thematic fodder for some of rap's biggest names. Like hip-hop, crack comp ... More >>

The 10 Most Hated People in Hip-Hop

Guru (left) and heartless greed monger Solar (right). Photo by Barbara Mürdter​ There is no fence-riding in hip-hop. It is the most competitive genre of music, partly because of the way it formed and partly because it remains the newest major movement. So there is no shortage of hatred going ... More >>

MP3 Freeloader: DJ Ktone's We The West Vol. 6 mixtape

​Those wanting to get to know the Colorado hip-hop scene a bit more intimately should check out the latest offering from DJ Ktone. His latest mixtape, We the West Vol. 6, features a collection of Colorado MCs such as Young Doe, Kajmir Royale, Innerstate Ike and Hawkman, mixed with classic and curr ... More >>

When music meets movies: Ten Great Hollywood Decisions

​All right, a few weeks ago we offered up our take on the ten worst moments of crossover disaster, ill-advised efforts to mate movies with music. Now it's time to look at the flip side of the coin, the ten movies in which music and Hollywood made great bedfellows, outstanding cinematic turns that ... More >>

If this alleged photo of Tupac is A) authentic and B) current, dude's got some 'splaining to do, Lucy.

borrowed from TMZ.comAll right, so, yesterday, the always dependable, completely reliable, trustworthy sleuths over at TMZ posted a series of photos of some guy, who looks a helluva lot like Tupac, that were allegedly snapped in some bar in the Big Easy last weekend. Seems viable. I mean, everybody ... More >>

The Game

A player himself now, the Game is still paying homage to rap's finest

Notorious is B.I.G. made B.L.A.N.D.

The Game

LAX
Geffen

Friday Rap-Up: The Pirate Signal, Remy Ma, Tupac, Diddy, 50 Cent

Last Night: Common @ The Fillmore Auditorium

2PAC

Pac's Life
Amaru/Interscope

The BellRays

Have a Little Faith (Cheap Lullaby)

Tupac's Mom Remembers

Tupac’s mom, Afeni Shakur, makes peace with the artist’s legacy alive.

The Beatdown

Singling out some exceptional singles.

Mobb Rules

After six albums, Mobb Deep is still creating hell on earth.

Tech N9ne

Thursday, April 29, Ogden Theatre, 303-830-2525.

For the Record

For national releases, 2003 wonked as much as it rocked.

Backwash

A Boulder student cares more about the life of hip-hop than the deaths of Biggie and Tupac.

Snoop Dogg Presents Tha Eastsidaz

(Dogg House/TVT Records)

2Pac + Outlawz

Still I Rise
(Interscope)

The Notorious B.I.G.
Born Again
(Bad Boy)

Not Your Typical Shoot-'em-up

Our Gangstas

Is gangsta rap getting more profound? Well...no.