Salon.com > hip hop

Lil Wayne breaks Elvis Presley’s Billboard Hits record

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:36:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — Lil Wayne is not only making rap history, he's making rock 'n roll history: the rapper has surpassed Elvis Presley as the leading male with the most entries on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

Lil Wayne now has 109 songs on that chart with Thursday's debut of Game's song "Celebration," where he is a guest alongside Chris Brown, Tyga and Wiz Khalifa. Of his 109 charted songs, only 42 are led by Lil Wayne; 67 are songs where he is the featured act.

Thursday is the rapper's 30th birthday.

Presley totaled 108 songs on the Hot 100 since it launched in 1958. Presley's career kicked off before that and several of his songs — like "Heartbreak Hotel" — could not be included in his total number.

The "Glee" cast has the most Hot 100 entries with 204.

Ill Doctrine on plagiarism in hip-hop

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:47:00 +0000

Ill Doctrine: Can Ghostwriters Keep It Real? from ANIMALNewYork.com on Vimeo.

Why we need to rethink the rules for hip-hop & creativity.

Nicki Minaj’s retroactive feminism

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:08:00 +0000

Last month, Nicki Minaj was part of a dust-up that underscored how important the Queens-born rapper is to young women. At Hot 97's Summer Jam—arguably the most important arena concert in New York hip-hop—a white Hot 97 DJ by the name of Peter Rosenberg made some disparaging comments about her music while introducing another artist. "I know there are some chicks here waiting to sing 'Starships' later—I'm not talking to y'all right now. Fuck that bullshit. Bullshit. I'm here to talk about real hip-hop shit."

"Starships" is Minaj's latest number-one pop-techno hit, and to "real hip-hop" heads, Rosenberg was indicting the commercialization of rap. But to those of us who are "real hip-hop" heads, Nicki Minaj fans, and also "chicks" at the same time, Rosenberg's comments illustrated the gender divide in hip-hop that has made it so difficult for women rappers to ascend to the level of their male counterparts.

Ill Doctrine on Mitt and blacks

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:20:00 +0000

Ill Doctrine: Mitt Romney's Blackest Week Ever from ANIMALNewYork.com on Vimeo.

What we can learn about Mitt Romney, from his week of wacky adventures with black people

Ill Doctrine: Why is every hip-hop debate so annoying?

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:45:00 +0000

Ill Doctrine: Why Is Every Hip-Hop Debate So Annoying? from ANIMALNewYork.com on Vimeo.

Why debates about hip-hop culture are a bad influence on society.

Ill Doctrine is a video blog on music, politics and culture, launched in 2007 by Jay Smooth.

Ill Doctrine on Frank Ocean

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:42:00 +0000

Why “coming out” without using any one label might have a power all its own.

Ill Doctrine is a video blog on music, politics and culture, launched in 2007 by Jay Smooth. We will be premiering two episodes a week on ANIMAL. Older episodes can be found at IllDoctrine.com, and you can follow Jay on Twitter here.

Hip-hop foodies

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:46:00 +0000

When Queens rapper Action Bronson rose to prominence last year, the most defining thing about him was his attention to food detail in his rhymes. And it wasn’t in a cursory way, like the way Lil Wayne has referenced lasagna or Ghostface Killah has namedropped baked ziti. Action Bronson rapped with the precision and language of someone whose first passion was that of a chef—which is what he was. Bronson graduated from New York City’s culinary program at the Art Institute, and after working a swathe of restaurants as well as a stint as the Mets’ personal chef, he got cooking on the mic. One of his best brags, from the song “Tapas”:

"I'm known to eat expensive lunches/from the farm right to the table/air straight to the plate/I doubt you can relate/figs at the peak of their ripeness."