It’s been hit or miss lately for Usher. First, after making an entire album about how in love he was he got divorced, then decided to write a song terrible song about his experiences call “Divorce Papers”. From there he managed to regain some musical credibility with the release “There Goes My Baby”, which he promptly squandered by dressing like a “gay urban Batman” at his All-Star performance. The rollercoaster ride continues with “Guilty”, a softly bouncing cut that has Usher pleading his case to the judge, along with the “I’m Back” emcee T.I., for whom the word “guilty” carries an entirely different meaning. Listen and download…

Due to, um, we’ll have to say “differences” with Capitol Records it unfortunately looks like Novel’s “Audiobiography” album isn’t going to be released, at least anytime soon, but lucky for us he’s determined not to let all those hours in the studio go unheard. Hence today’s certified bedroom burner “Take Over”, a sultry track that showcases both Novel’s undeniably songrwriting skills and impressive vocals skills. Plus, those bongos you hear in the background? That’s actually me playing, true story. Listen and download…

The words “respect” and “women” don’t usually appear in the same sentence when it comes to rap (unless you’re Queen Latifah), so it’s unfortunately remarkable that up-and-coming Arkansas emcee Epiphanyt decided to title his new mixtape “Respect Pt. 2 (Women)”. The latest in his ongoing “Respect” series, “Women” isn’t an unflinching examination of male-remale relations, for better and worse, fueled by Epiphany’s on point microphone work. Listen and download…

Far from the glitz and glamour of contemporary hip-pop, in its early days hip-hop was a vehicle to describe, and overcome, the struggle of everyday life, a mission that Freestyle (of the Arsonists),  Wordsworth (of eMC) & M-Dot (of EMS) take to heart on their new track “Struggle”. Producer by Abnormal, this smoothly paced banger is quite simply quality hip-hop, so quality in fact that I’m just going to shut up (a rare event) and let you get to listening. Enjoy. Listen and download…

First, one of Young Money’s most promising talents Jae Millz has dropped a new mixtape, “The Flood”, and if you’re into that booming, Southern styled street lyricism, I guarantee you’re going to dig this one. But, as regular followers of the RefinedHype’s Twitter have probably already figured out, I’ve got an ulterior motive behind posting this - namely, share site fuckery. For better or worse, share sites like usershare, mediafire, zshare etc. have become an essential part of the online hip-hop game, and while all of them aggravate me to some level, I’m willing to live with most of them…except LimeLinx. Listen and download…

It sounds insane now, but there was a time, 1993 to be specific, when no one knew who the Wu-Tang Clan was. And then they dropped “C.R.E.A.M.”, a song that in no uncertain terms announced the arrival of the greatest rap crew of all time. Seriously, this song is the s**t. See more…

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and in GhostWridah’s case, that’s true. I first became aware of the Miami emcee after my homeboy DJ Z over at DJBooth.net got caught up in some drama between Ghost and Don Cannon over Ghost’s single “Red Bottoms”, a controversy that made sure I was on the lookout for more from the man. Well, today more came in the form of his new “Just Begun (Freestyle)”, a joint that finds him flexing his lyrical dexterity over Reflection Eternal’s brand new but classic sounding beat. Listen and download…

Longevity, integrity and compromise are hard things to maintain in the music industry. but don’t tell that to Cypress Hill. Selling over 18 million records and having a career spanning 3 decades, they are still going strong and preparing for the release of their upcoming eighth studio album “Rise Up” coming out on Priority Records. They’ve been able to achieve all of this while keeping their hard edge, rebellious attitude and bucking commercial trends; qualities that are evident in their hit video “Rock Superstar”.

Very few modern artists can truly pay proper homage to classic soul and r&b, but the eclectically talented Mayer Hawthorne is definitely one of them. Last week Hawthorne’s unique brand of retro-soul was on full display at New York’s Webster Hall Mayer as he crooned to a spellbound audience just like a classic Motown artist would have back in the day. See more…

If you’re like RefinedHype you talk about yourself in the third person, and spend all day scouring the interwebs for the latest and illest hip-hop. That’s why now, because we love you so much, and want to get you hooked on our product, we’ll be delivering the RefinedHype Daily Re-Up, a collection of the top ten tracks of the day, some which were featured on the site along with some extras, conveniently wrapped in one dope, raw and uncut package. Download now…