Rap / Hip-Hop

On shelves this week: Killer Mike's collaborative LP with El-P (Mr. El Producto actually has two albums scheduled this month, with the second, Cancer 4 Cure, arriving in two weeks), Rye Rye's debut, and Krizz Kaliko's latest. Proceed for a rundown of hip-hop albums in stores today.

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Welcome to the first of what I hope to be a sweet and expansive series. Over the next few weeks or so, you'll be learning about new faces from various hip-hop cities, as picked by hip-hop journos in those cities. Oh, you're definitely welcome to weigh in and tell us who we missed, who's overhyped, and allathat. Charity, they say, starts at home, so I'm kicking off the series with a list of Houston's 10 best new rappers, brought to you by H-town's own Brandon Caldwell. Get familiar.

This Mother's Day, surprise Mom with a playlist of these adorable hip-hop songs for moms.

Lil Boosie can breathe a sigh of relief. The jury in his first-degree murder case returned a not-guilty verdict, according to the Rolling Stone.

The Louisiana rapper was facing murder for the death of Terry Boyd on October 20th, 2009. Boosie had been accused of paying Michael "Marlo Mike" Louding $2,800 to kill Boyd.

It happens every year. Mother's Day rolls around and you have absolutely no idea what to get Mom. Well, is she crazy about music? If she is, then these gorgeous musical gifts will plant a smile on her face this Mother's Day. Here are the 10 Best Gift Ideas for Moms.

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Lecrae has dropped his Don Cannon-hosted mixtape, Church Clothes. On hand to help the Houstonian fashion his Sunday getup are: producers Boi-1da ("Gimme a Second) and 9th Wonder ("Rise," "Long Time Coming"), rapper No Malice, p.k.a. Malice (of the Clipse), among others.

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Strange Clouds sold 74,000 copies in its first week. Each person who bought it also bought a box of Kleenex. Here's my take on Strange Clouds.

The numbers are in. B.o.B.'s Strange Clouds sold a respectable 76,000 units in its first week.

For the sake of comparison, The Adventures of Bobby Ray moved 84,000 in its opening week, just enough to notch the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart. If Strange Clouds claims the top spot, I'll eat my head.

See also: Top 10 Rap Albums, May 2012

Update: Bob's album docked at #5. My head is safe for now.

Photo © Atlantic/WBR

Beastie Boys rapper MCA (real name Adam Yauch) has died.

As most hip-hop fans know, MCA had a long bout with cancer. After experiencing some irritation and gland inflammation in his throat, MCA had it checked out. In July 2009, he announced that his physician had discovered the presence of cancer. He underwent surgery and radiation therapy to deal with it. At the time, he expressed optimism that the ailment was treatable.

Yauch was a founding member of Beastie Boys. He played a pivotal role on the group's eighth album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, which dropped last year. Unfortunately, his illness kept them from touring, and Yauch missed the group's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two weeks ago.

Yauch was 47.

A$AP Rocky released a NSFW video for "Goldie" today. So that gives me an excuse to talk about the southern-fried single. Irresistible, yes. Timeless, no. Here's my two pennies on "Goldie"

Art © RCA