Today we will prepare a solid foundation on which to build in the future. Madlib and J Dilla are the biggest of the hip hop legends. Two producers, each from the opposite side of the USA; both artists have already put together uncountable numbers of projects, which we will talk about in the future in our Album of the Week section. This whole little paragraph might have raised a question: “What would happen if these two geniuses worked together on one project?” Well, here is your answer: the duo Jaylib and their album Champion Sound.

Rap might feel like a genre that is mostly meant for men; a large percentage of rap lyrics are full of violence, sex, and masculinity, with no space for feminity. Of course, this is a misconception caused by the influence of the music industry, which marginalizes the work of women. Women, even with their tougher starting position full of prejudice, manage to produce rap from its complete beginnings, and there are a countless number of projects released by women every year. One of the pioneers is MC Lyte and her album Lyte As A Rock (1988), or Lauryn Hill, who is a member of the Fugees and back in 1998 released her only solo project called The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, an album that took over the rest of the nineties. As our first Album of the Week produced by a female rapper, we chose Rapsody’s Eva.

Strict street rap that respects the roots of the genre yet brings some new, fresh sounds. Alchemist, Westside Gunn, or Roc Marciano; those are the names associated with neo boom bap and underground Renaissance on a daily basis, but not far from them stands one name that is climbing its way to the top. Rapper, which builds upon the knowledge of the veterans and conquers every beat as pirates used to conquer the wild sea. Knowledge the Pirate and his debut Flintlock.

If we were to have a conversation about mafioso rap (rap about the culture of American street gangs), we would have mentioned things like Reasonable Doubt from Jay-Z, The Infamous by Mobb Deep, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…by Raekwon, or Illmatic from Nas. Illmatic is not just the debut album from Nas; it also opened the door to one of the best albums of the nineties that is quite often forgotten, an album called Doe or Die by AZ.

The duo of Willie The Kid and V DON has given listeners many great albums. Let’s take a look at why the dope rapper and talented producer mention Germany in the title of their most famous album and uncover some indelible Deutsche marks in American rap.