“Boom bap. East coast. Sample-based. Traditional. Hard. Vulnerable. Honest. Good’ol Hip Hop.” This is how Toronto born emcee, Eternia would describe her music, to someone who was yet to be exposed to her music. Perfecting her skill since the age of only 8 years old she tells me “It was as natural as a kid learning to tie a shoelace or ride a bike.” she reminices, “my brother introduced me to hip-hop in the form of N.W,A, 2 Live Crew, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and whatever else a white kid in Canada could get his hands on.  He was the man of the house as my parents were divorced, so we viewed him as the purveyor of cool. I’ve been rapping ever since. It  wasn’t a (conscious) decision to “get involved” though,” she adds “I was 8!… Subconsciously, it was a talent that was nurtured an validated. I’m sure we all follow in the steps and the doors that open to us, doing things that we love to do. That’s pretty much how I ended up where I am today.”
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Emcee, Fashionista, Label Owner, Art Lover… Mickey Factz is really building a movement for the New School, abolishing the idea that artists should only freestyle over the latest hip-hop instrumentals and encouraging people to be more individual in their dress sense as well as being the man behind GFCnewyork; a label with one of the freshest rosters of new artists in the game. It is clear that Mickey Factz is set to be a big name in the future of hip-hop, I got the chance to interview him about his movement, influences and his upcoming mixtape “I’m Better Than You”.
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Sims is an emcee who has the rare talent of balancing both style and skill almost perfectly, able to make a track that bangs but also contains more substance than most rappers full albums. This ridiculously under-rated rapper discussed his crew, influences, writing process and albums he has recorded already for release dates next year, when I interviewed him earlier this week.
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Hollywood FLOSS doesn’t sound like other Houston artists, although he is influenced by his hometown, he has a sound that is very different to what his peers are creating. He also likes to be innovative in marketing, coming up with his “Xperiment” projects in which he asks blogs and fans to A&R his mixtapes. With HipHopFiend.net putting together a version of “Xperiment 2” (released on Tuesday), I talked to FLOSS about the project and found out his story so far. HipHop Fiends, meet Hollywood FLOSS…
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XV is a hard-worker, since beginning to create music when he was 15, he has independently released 14 mixtapes, including his “40 Days & 40 Nights” project (in which he released a song online every morning and every evening for 40 days) and has used online networking sites to create a huge online fanbase. Yesterday XV proudly announced that after all of his hard work, he has finally signed a deal with Warner Bros, a testament to the fact that hard work pays off!
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Paper Tiger has been behind the boards for some of Doomtree’s finest cuts, has been the tour DJ and has designed the bulk of graphics for the crews promotion. However now it is time for the man in the white-rimmed shades to take the shine with his excellent debut album “Made Like Us”. I was lucky enough to get to listen to the album (which is released on Tuesday 27^th) and have a chat with him about the new release, his musical and visual influences, his crew, his choice of eyewear and his ambition of working with Rick Ross…
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Listening to Dessa’s music is like delving into an old book full of essays, articles, short stories and poetry. It gives the feeling of classic literature, full of metaphor, commentary and emotion. It is obvious that Dessa loves language. She looks at hip-hop from a totally different angle to every other rapper, coming into it through spoken word, taking influence from Leo Tolstoy more than Jay-Z and being amongst the first students to graduate a diploma in hip-hop, interviewing Dessa was a very interesting and inspiring conversation.
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Ivy League educated duo, Kidz in the Hall, have been providing consistently good quality hip-hop music since their 2006 debut “School Was My Hustle”. I have watched them grow artistically over their first three albums (plus several mixtapes) and witnessed the rise of Naledge as one of the top MC’s of the present, who I am sure, given time will achieve history-book status. I had the chance to interview Naledge about his new venture, Brainiac Society, his upcoming solo album, Kidz in the Hall, his influences, writing books and the New School… [Read More..]

Nowadays Nickelus F is probably best known for his work with Drake on “Room For Improvement” and for (as Drake posted on his blog) inspiring him to start rapping, however, Nickelus F is not someone who should merely be sighted as a character in Drakes past, but as an amazing artist in himself. He is one of the most underrated rappers of all time, appearing in “Unsigned Hype” as a seventeen year old and in 2007 was inducted into B.E.T’s Hall Of Fame, for winning “106 and Park’s” “Freestyle Friday” seven weeks consecutively.

If you don’t know him yet, I suggest you get to know…
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By now most of you will probably be familiar with this Chicago-based duo’s hit single “Famous Girl” (or at least one of its many remixes). The pair have worked with artists ranging from Diddy and The Clipse to Armand Van Helden and Peter Bjorn and John, add this to the fact that they have gained the interest of Pharrell Williams and I think its clear that they are not to be slept on. I interviewed them about high fashion, art, the influences that form their sound, and their situation with the Neptunes…
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