hip-hop

Right when you launch AutoRap, you can get started by tapping your screen and speaking. The app immediately records your speech until you tap the screen again to stop it. After a few seconds of "rappification" (AutoRap's proprietary syllable-mapping technology), the app will replay your recording, autotuned, timing-adjusted, and laid over one of its generic rap beats.

Off the bat, you get two free beats to play with: Turkey Burgers and OneOneOne (I've never heard of them either). You can use these as many times and as often as you like. If you want more beats, … Read more

NEW YORK -- The sun has just come up outside the hallowed Apollo Theater in Harlem, and Lord "Black Jesus" Harrison is doing what he often does on Saturdays: selling CDs of his rap group, Harlem 6.

"We're distributing online and on the streets," Harrison said in a baritone voice on the awakening street. "People got to know who you are... all the greatest did this: NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, this guy 50 Cent."

As his eyes scan the street for potential buyers, Harrison is talking piracy now, and his rapid-fire speech slows to … Read more

To get in the mood for this one, I've put on an old favorite, a deep bass track by Dead Prez. It turns out the song's title, and main refrain--"It's Bigger Than Hip Hop"--applies to the power of music in a very literal sense as well.

The acoustical vibrations that are particularly pervasive in the heavy bass lines of hip-hop penetrate our bodies and can then be captured and stored as electricity to power implanted medical devices. Researchers out of Purdue have built a device, which they are unveiling at the IEEE MEMS conference in Paris … Read more

Forget the tools and ties for dear old Dad this Father's Day. What he really wants is the Beastie Boys' new tunes on vinyl--or so the message goes from a new video uploaded to YouTube by the band on June 15.

Because of an Internet leak of the Beastie Boys' "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two" album, the band was forced to stream the entire thing (the explicit version), on its Web site before the actual June release date. By the end of April, the CDs and digital downloads of the album were (and are) made available on iTunes, Amazon, and Best Buy.

The focus for this new video, however, is on the sale of the vinyl format, which Mike D. says "...will be slightly different than the other formats. But please know that our corps of engineers and experts have been on this, making sure the wait is worth it and that I can personally tell you that in my humble opinion, the test pressing of the vinyl sounded banging on my home hi fi." … Read more

If you don't know what nerdcore is, you might find the lyrics to the song "My Girlfriend's a Hacker" a little strange.

"My girlfriend's a hacker, best hacker ever," the song begins. "She's quick on her feet and her code is so clever. Yes she's a hacker and brilliant as well. Who knows what she cast, but I'm under her spell."

The song is from nerdcore hip hop specialists Dual Core, the duo made up of a programmer from Cincinnati, Ohio, known as Int Eighty, and a graphic … Read more

To get ready for the show, warm up to this year's top contenders in one free and continuous playlist featuring Coldplay, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, The Jonas Brothers, Radiohead, Duffy, Brazilian Girls, and many more.

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will air on Sunday February 8 at 8 p.m. on CBS. In the meantime, listen to this free playlist by clicking on the green button below, then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.

iDrum lets you choose from several preset beats or you can make your own using an intuitive interface. While you could dive right in and make your own, it's very useful to play a preset beat and watch how drum sounds show up in the unique interface. Beats are broken down into measures and you can zoom in to insert sounds at your chosen intervals. You can then create several measures and use the touch screen to copy and move them around to your specs. You also have the ability to adjust the volume using sliders for each sound. … Read more

It was only a matter of time before someone took notice of Rawkus 50 emcee Cymarshall Law. Combining raw lyricism with soulful East Coast slaps on his latest release Hip-Hop in the Soul, he's unsurprisingly been described as "the next most important artist in hip-hop."

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SoulStice is not your average emcee. Not only does he have a master's degree in engineering, but he's also a very skilled lyricist. His new single, "Crash the Party," breaks new ground as the first to be released in three different languages.

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