Great reading, some great music in the mix, too. Happy to see Cocaine Blunts getting active styles again.

Always essential, and especially overloaded and good this week. Ivan Rott does Teh Internets a serious service with this here feature…

Although this starts off with Jabee telling a classroom about Bushwick Bill, it’s actually more heartwarming and/or inspiring than it sounds. This is actually a very challenging article about the power of music — your music, specifically — to make a real difference where you live. Food for thought.

Another great read from The Smoking Section. Increasingly impressed by their staff of writers there, they really put in work to produce thoughtful, interesting material.

Great article: detailed, focused, strictly advice from the front lines. Even if you don’t need to use this yet, you need to know this.

The real answer, of course, is that the United States is an empire in collapse and you will never, ever see the glory days you grew up in again. That’s not what this article is about, though. It’s still good reading. Lots of inside scoops and useful insights here.

Focused on song-writing and craft, an excellent read even if you’re not into the guy.

Again: way more to learn from failure than from success. This article is a perfect example. So far the entire Born in 88 site is pretty much perfect — spend some time over there because there’s a hell of a lot to learn.

Here’s hoping that Em won’t be running his label like Dre ran aftermath. And yes, I do realize that the Crooked I spelling is actually “SLAUGTER HOUSE” but really, let’s cut him some slack.

This was pretty damn interesting. Also - why did NPR step up their hip hop coverage out of the blue lately?

This is essential reading — short, brutal and the most important shit you’ll probably read this year.

An entertaining look at business / movement flops in hip hop history. You can generally learn more from failure than success, yet all people ever want to read is success stories…

Way beyond the usual “in the studio” videos, this really goes in depth AND has clear, quality camera work, too. Sa’id found a serious gem here, this is highly recommended for anyone who’s into hip hop production….

Most folks are saying this is about the end of the music biz — nah. This is about the collapse of US infrastructure and three decades of outsourcing our entire manufacturing workforce. This is corporate America pissing on your forehead — not record labels hurting from internet piracy.

Completely awesome round table with Z-Ro, Slim Thug and a bunch of other funny cats. This had some serious gems in it, too.