Boomshots

Category: Hip Hop

  • WATCH THIS: Rakim Bigs Up Stephen “Ragga” Marley: “He’s Keeping It Lit For The Next Generation”

    WATCH THIS: Rakim Bigs Up Stephen “Ragga” Marley: “He’s Keeping It Lit For The Next Generation”

    The Making Of Revelation Part 2

    “Doing a song with Rakim, I couldn’t do it lukewarm,” says Stephen “Ragga” Marley. “It still did haffi rock heavy.” The song in question is “So Unjust” the third track on Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life. The long-awaited sequel to Ragga’s Grammy-winning 2011 album Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life picks up where part one left off, highlighting Ragga’s versatility and expanding his sonic terrain with a wide range of styles and collaborations, from roots reggae to dancehall, hip hop, soul, R&B and dance music. Complex Media enlisted acclaimed director Stephanie Black to document the process of making the album. “Something to wake up the masses,” is how Rakim describes this parrticular track. “That’s right up my alley.” The hip hop icon goes on to praise Stephen’s role as a producer and a cultural force “It’s like the Bible of music, when the Marleys speak,” says Rakim, who estimates hip hop’s current consciouness level “at zero.” Although Rakim says he means no offense to the artists who are out today, in his words “Something ain’t right…. We definitely need conscious music and it has to come from the superiors, you know what I mean? Stephen Marley is definitely one of them cats who can stand anywhere with a bullhorn, and say Hey!” says Rakim. “It’s a blessing to be part of the march.” Video After The Jump…
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  • Remembering “The People’s Champion” -Muhammad Ali

    Remembering “The People’s Champion” -Muhammad Ali

    A Champion of All Champions

    According to Matthew 22:14, “many are called but few are chosen.” Born in the first month of the year, in Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. seemed to be destined for greatness. He began his boxing journey at 12 years old and by 22 years old, he was the World HeavyWeight Champion (1964). The “People’s Champion” was kingly by nature, and his confidence was inspiring especially for people of African descent, because his title was preceded by the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the same year. His accomplishments left an indelible mark on history, culture and the globe. More After The Jump…

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  • HEAR THIS: Stephen “Ragga” Marley ft. Waka Flocka “Scars on my Feet”

    HEAR THIS: Stephen “Ragga” Marley
    ft. Waka Flocka “Scars on my Feet”

    Ragga x Flocka Connect and Reflect

    If you’re paying attention you already know that the long-awaited final chapter of Ragga Marley’s two-album epic is set to arrive July 22nd. Today team Ragga revealed the full track listing of Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life and offered these thoughts about the overall project: “The Fruit is about the different branches; there are many pages within my mind, many colors and ideas” says Marley. “We come from a versatile generation that can’t be put in a box.” As if to underscore that versatility, Marley also teased a new track from the album, featuring ATL trap star Waka Flocka Flame, bringing out the Brick Squad rapper’s revolutionary side. Stephen’s duet with dreadlocked turn-up king is available now with a pre-order of the album pon iTunes.  Audio and Track Listing After The Jump…
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  • Super Cat Remembers “Dolly My Baby” Collab With Biggie Smalls, Sends a Message To Puffy

    Super Cat Remembers “Dolly My Baby” Collab With Biggie Smalls, Sends a Message To Puffy

    A Dialog With The Don Dada

    Today we celebrate what would have been the 44th birthday of hip hop’s G.O.A.T., Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls. (The day is now an official holiday in Brooklyn.) One of the first big looks for the fledgling rapper came in 1993 when he got the chance to drop lyrics on Puff Daddy’s remix of “Dolly My Baby,” a single off Super Cat’s classic Don Dada album. As a youth of Jamaican descent, Biggie fully overstood what a special opportunity this was to rhyme on a record with a living legend of Jamaican dancehall culture. Sadly Biggie’s career would end four years later, but Super Cat lives on—he will perform May 30 at the Oracabessa Festival in Queens, NY. In honor of two lyrical heavyweights, we pulled this interview from the Boomshots archives. Respect in all aspect. Interview After The Jump… (more…)

  • Tune For Tune: Battle of the UK “Panda” Refixes

    Tune For Tune: Battle of the UK “Panda” Refixes

    Who Flipped The “Panda” Beat Better: Gappy Ranks or Lady Leshur?

    All this week we’ve been deluged with a Desiigner media blitz since the 19-year-old Barbados-by-way-of-Brooklyn eccentric dropped the Tidal-exclusive video for his chart-topping smash “Panda.” Though he spends most of the tune talking about Atlanta—and sounding a whole lot like Future sippin’ on some sort of new double-cup concoction—Desiigner goes down in history as first New York rapper to top the pop charts since Jay Z dropped “Empire State of Mind.” Where Jigga did it with an assist from Alicia Keys, Desiigner of course got a huge boost from Kanye West, who discovered his tune on Soundcloud and incorporated it into “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2” the third cut on The Life of Pablo. Since that time a bunch of American rappers—from Fabolous to Lupe Fiasco to Jadakiss, and Meek Mill—have all hopped on the beat, which was built by UK-based producer Menace (who reportedly sold the beat to Desiigner for $200). Two of the more interesting flips have come from British microphone controllers, both with Caribbean roots: dancehall deejay Gappy Ranks aka Pelpa and Lady Leshurr of “Queen’s Speech” fame. No more long talking—let’s get to the tunes. Audio After The Jump…
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  • That Time Drake Almost Got Arrested With “Mava-Dado” & Other Exciting Tales

    That Time Drake Almost Got Arrested With “Mava-Dado” & Other Exciting Tales

    40 And The 6 God Regale Nardwuar With Dancehall War Stories

    Earlier this week Drizzy linked with fellow Canadian phenom Nardwuar aka the Human Serviette for a typically epic interview/gift-giving-b/show-and-tell session. Amongst many highlights gleaned by the good folks at Billboard were several dancehall-related anecdotes—including a massive big up for the World Boss Vybz Kartel. But not until we watched the video did we come to fully appreciate certain gems like Nardwuar’s question about “Mava-Dado.” (Must be seen to be believed.)  To be fair Nardwuar seems to be more of an old-school cat, as he presents Drizzy with a King Tubby’s Dance Hall Style Dub album on vinyl. Nuff respect. Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • Barrington Levy Is Broader Than Broadway

    Barrington Levy Is Broader Than Broadway

    Barrington Celebrates And Boomshots Appreciates

    It is Barrington Levy birthday bash here at Boomshots. We are celebrating the musical icon for his accomplishments in Dancehall, Hip-Hop, and transcending music barriers. His distinctive ad-libs make his music enjoyable for people of all ages from various walks of life. Barrington Levy’s 52nd Birthday is today, April 30th. Read more after the jump… (more…)

  • Lost In Translation: Does Drake’s Dancehall Obsession Benefit Anyone But Himself?

    Lost In Translation: Does Drake’s Dancehall Obsession Benefit Anyone But Himself?

    EXCLUSIVE GENIUS EXCERPT: Please Don’t Call Drake “King of the Dancehall”

    While revealing the release date of his long-awaited album, Views From The 6, on Beats Radio, Drake sought to evoke the denseness, complexity, and overall quality of the record by stating that “It’s not a short ting.” His use of patois, although not surprising for any native of Toronto—a city where Caribbean culture has seeped into many aspects of mainstream language, food, and music in much the same way it has in London, Miami, or Nigeria—was no accident. Excerpt Continues After The Jump…

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  • HEAR THIS: Bosco & Speakerfoxxx “9mm” PREMIERE

    HEAR THIS: Bosco & Speakerfoxxx “9mm” PREMIERE

    ATL Bad Gyals Mash Up King Tubby x BDP—Buk! Buk! Buk!

    DJ Speakerfoxxx is known for dominating the wheels of steel with addictive Southern rap blends, but in her downtime she likes to chill out with some Junior Reid. “I love reggae music,” says the certified A-Town mixmaster. She and her homegirl Bosco, who made waves with last year’s Boy EP on Fool’s Gold Records, recently linked up at Atlanta’s legendary Stankonia studio to bust out a nine-shot mixtape that targets the sweet spot between Santigold, Missy Elliott, and Black Box. Don’t get it twisted: Girls In The Yard is not a reggae mixtape but the first single, “Beemer” (produced by Mr. 2-17) reworks the hook from Beenie Man’s “Sim Simma.” A few tracks later Speakerfoxxx flips an ill King Tubby loop as Bosco gets her Blastmaster on, resulting in a musical thing called “9mm”—which we proudly premiere today pon Boomshots. Can she sing her song?  Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Drake ft. Popcaan “Controlla!”

    HEAR THIS: Drake ft. Popcaan “Controlla!”

    The Long Awaited 6 God x Unruly Boss Collab Is Here At Last

    Popcaan and Drake have been bigging each other up for so long it feels like this tune—which leaked today—is long overdue. First Drake started dropping “Y Pree” in his lyrics. Then Drizzy’s boys shot a music video for Poppy up in Toronto. After that the OVO posse jetted down to Jamaica and shot a short documentary, “6 in the 876”—snippets of which ended up on Drake’s acclaimed mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Just the other day Boomshots caught up with Popcaan, and asked him point blank if there would be any unruliness on Drake’s upcoming album Views From The 6. At the time he answered no, but added “anything is possible.” Which makes us think this track—something shimmy joint fe de gyal dem—which leaked unofficially and hit all the blogs today, must have been completed fairly recently. Drake opens his verse with an O.G. Poppy reference “My eye just changed.” Anyway, no more long talking. The ting shot. Wickedness Increase! Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Kanye West ft. Rihanna & Swizz Beatz “Famous”

    HEAR THIS: Kanye West ft. Rihanna & Swizz Beatz “Famous”

    Don’t Watch The Swift Diss—Watch The Beat. What a Bam Bam!

    Before anybody knew anything about Kanye’s remarkable TLOP album they heard that he had dissed Taylor Swift. Then the news was all about how you couldn’t find the album anywhere except on Tidal. Well, now that “Famous” is finally available on Apple Music and Spotify we thought we’d take a moment to vibe the tune and reflect on how dope this song truly is. Rihanna’s feature is a strong as anything on Anti and Swizzy kills the ad-libs. Kanye’s raps are on point as ever—the Taylor Swift diss being the least interesting part of this intriguing meditation on the flipside of fame and fortune. But for the reggae massive, what Kanye does with the sample of Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” is the highlight. This man gets down on the production like nobody else. Respect.   Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • Phife Dawg’s Dopest Reggae & Dancehall Quotables

    Phife Dawg’s Dopest Reggae & Dancehall Quotables

    Man Like Mutty Ranks Inna The Area

    I woke up this morning in a pretty good mood until I heard the news that Phife Dawg had passed away. Although we all knew the 45-year-old “funky diabetic” had been battling health issues for years—he even addressed the fact in his touching music video “Dear Dilla”—the news still came as a shock. When I had the privilege of kickin’ it with A Tribe Called Quest last November, Q-Tip was mad late but Phife’s sense of humor shone through. While Tip was Tribe’s undisputed front man, sonic visionary, and certified genius, Phife was always my favorite. The group got better and more cohesive as he came into his own as a microphone controller. There was something about his hardboiled wit, the bluntness of his boasts, and his take-no-prisoners approach to competition—”steady eating booty MCs like cheese grits”—that never failed to bring a smile to my face. Plus the fact that he was always spitting some type of random patois. I knew that ATCQ were reggae fans, not just because of their “Chase Vampire” remix of “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo” but also because Jarobi used to hang out during my reggae sets on the rooftop of a five-story NYC club called Mars back in the day, but nobody repped Caribbean culture like Malik Isaac Taylor aka Phife Dawg aka Mutty Ranks, the Trini yute from Queens. Much will be written about this vastly under-rated and endlessly entertaining MC, but I’d like to focus on some of my favorite instances of the Five Foot Assassin coming with that Roughneck Business. Audio After The Jump… (more…)