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”.

No rapper has been more thoroughly confusing over the last decade than Kanye West. In the six plus years that he’s been on the scene, critics, fans and haters have often found themselves bewildered by West’s choices, and I was beginning to think that Yeezy was simply an enigma we’d never truly understand. And then I read the following quote on his blog: “I never feel like I’m not the underdog. I never felt completely comfortable.” Suddenly I understood his every move. See more…

So I just wanted to say I had something else completely written and I erased this because…well I kind of had a better idea of what to right. And believe me…it was fucking genius. I just wanted to delve into something else. Can music truly be the connection into controlling our moods? Because I believe that our moods are what truly paints the picture of our lives. Splattered on the walls of our psyche, a complex masterpiece of different colors and intensities representing the beauty that is our life. See more…

As I mentioned in part 1 of our Block of Biggie, it just so happens that I live only a few blocks away from Farifax and Wilshire, the intersection where Biggie was shot and killed on March 9, 1997. With that in mind, I thought we’d take a closer look at the intersection that changed hip-hop forever, a landmark location that has absolutely no memorial of any kind. See more…

Today we’re fittingly paying tribute to the legend that is Biggie Smalls in a big ass Block of Biggie, so it was only fitting that this week’s classic verse belongs to Christoper Wallace and his epic, tragically prophetic “What’s Beef?” There are about 3,117 classic Biggie verses to choose from, but “What’s Beef?” has always been a personal favorite. I’ll let you figure out what that says about me. See more…

Over the last decade Chicago has emerged as hip-hop’s most creatively dope city and, as we recently saw on his “Same Rebel, New Cause” mixtape, Scheme is determined to carry on Chicago’s lyrical legacy while adding his own unique flavor. In this edition of our My City series, Scheme talks about the rise of his home city, explains Chicago’s “sound” (or lack thereof) and says he can be found wherever good music’s being played. See more…

In the late 90’s, Mos Def’s partnership with Kweli as the hip-hop group Black Star produced an album that is definitely a classic, but to me it’s his solo effort “Black On Both Sides” that fully displays his brilliance. Released in 1999, “Black On Both Sides” was the solo debut of Mos Def, and with 17 tracks, was an epic piece of hip-hop. See more…

While I certainly didn’t derive any enjoyment from some of the epic f**k ups below, they were too egregious not to be called out. In the third of an ongoing series that will include the best…or worst…fails of the week from the world of hip-hop, sports, pop culture and beyond, I examine D’Angelo’s prostitution arrest, the worst movie ever made, Plies’ new ultra-terrible single and more…

I know what you’re thinking. Ok, so literally billions of people watched the 82nd Oscar Awards last night, but this is a hip-hop blog. Well, just like I did for the list of nominees, if you don’t think I can give Hollywood’s brightest night a beat and rhyme twist, well then you clearly haven’t been reading RefinedHype for very long. And unlike the actual show, this won’t take more than three hours to get through, so, you know, everyone’s a winner. See more…

For those who don’t have any idea where I’m going with this (that is, everyone except myself), let’s rewind a moment. Last night in the Booth, G.O.O.D. Music R&B singer Tony Williams introduced himself to our readership with “King or the Fool,” a catchy cut which our own Matthew Kyle found to be inexplicably… scary. Others, however, didn’t seem to catch his drift. See more…