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Lyricism is the backbone of hip hop. Although there are a ton of rappers who aren’t saying a gotdamn thing, there are those who are exceptionally gifted at putting words together over a beat. And with so many songs dropping during any given month, we feel that those rhymes that combine lyrical dexterity and cleverness with verbal gymnastics should be celebrated. Enter: Verse of the Month.

Past winners have included Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, André 3000, and Eminem. And for January, we’re rolling with Lil Wayne for his D6: Reloaded highlight.

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Weezy is our first Verse Of The Month winner of the year, though he had some heavy competition.

Yes, Eminem showed that he still has it (taking the fan-vote, because of course), but, for reasons unknown, “it” really didn’t show too much on Revival. Drake.. was okay, but he wasn’t near the level of Lloyd Banks (who had Shake’s vote),

Blink, and you may have literally missed a Fugee star in a Super Bowl ad.

In between the chuckle-inducing Tide spots and Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman’s rap battle, an advert for Blacture debuted. In it, a lone figure stood in an empty amphitheater, blind-folded and gagged, before removing them and walking away to the tagline “Be Celebrated, No Tolerated.”

That figure? None other than Pras.

As it turns out, Blacture is the artist and philanthropist’s new venture, a website which he feels “will become the epicenter for Black culture.”

“I recognized the need for a platform to truly showcase Black excellence,” said Pras. “It’s important to not just survive — this is the time for the culture to truly thrive. I’m so proud of Blacture and excited to see it grow and empower Black people.”

The “Be Celebrated” spot was created by Pras, director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Southpaw), ad

Weekly Dope.

With another seven days in the books, we’re back with the latest installment of our ongoing Weekly Dope playlist. And for the artwork, it didn’t take long to decide who was getting the honors: Skyzoo, for his masterful work on his new album, In Celebration of Us.

On top of that, Royce 5’9″ and DJ Premier announced PRhyme 2 with a Dave East-assisted single, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd reunited for the Black Panther soundtrack, and Apathy continued to tease The Widow’s Son with a Pete Rock-laced banger with Pharoahe Monch. Chromeo and The-Dream linked up out of left field. Rick Ross and T-Pain got together for a fresh joint, Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott got back to business, and Joey Bada$$ flipped a Prince classic. Plus new music from JMSN, Murs, Tee Grizzley, Onyx, and others.

Check out the tracklist and press play below.

Skyzoo – “Crown Holder“

On March 16th, 2016, Bankroll Fresh was tragically murdered after being gunned down outside an Atlanta studio. His posthumous album, In Bank We Trust, was supposed to be released in 2017, but it has yet to see the light of day.

However, it looks like the project may drop sometime in 2018. Composed of previously-vaulted songs, Fresh follows up the first offering “Truth Be Told” with “Blow A Key” with Street Money Boochie. Listen to it below.

You never want to be upstaged.

Justin Timberlake was selling entertainment. The NFL was selling drama.

Once upon a time the game was lousy, it was about the commercials and then the halftime performance. As for new groundbreaking commercials, that paradigm is dead. Steve Jobs and Apple established it, a few others rode on the coattails, and then it was done. Kinda like Radiohead’s In Rainbows promotion and release; once you’ve seen the trick it can’t be repeated. Kinda like SNL. It pushed the envelope 40 years ago, with its original cast, when we all lived in a monoculture and television was safe, but now almost no one gets the references, there are no punchlines and the only ones who care are in the mainstream media trumpeting efforts the rest of us don’t care about.

That’s the story of today: how the younger generations have broken free of the constructs of the older and the older just don’t get it, despite convincing themselves how hip they are by using iPhone X’s and driving Teslas. Just ask them how to use Snapchat, which is already passé. As for Instagram, which they’re bragging on, they don’t know it’s cooler to have a private

In October 2017, Bishop Nehru delighted fans when he revealed that his next album, Elevators: Act I & II, would be produced by none other than DOOM and Kaytranada. Now, it appears that the album will arrive in the coming weeks.

Bishop has released a creative trailer for Elevators, revealing more details about the ambitious project. It will be split into two parts: Act I (Free Falling), and Act II (Ascension). The album is slated to arrive March 16th.

“This project is a collection of my feelings straight from my heart, all of my ideas were created specifically off of instinct and intuitive occurrences,” explains Bishop. “This album is my answer to the question, ‘What would you say your music sound like?’ My answer to that would be ‘Grammy Rap.’ There’s ‘Mumble Rap’ and then there’s ‘Grammy Rap.’ With this project I was largely influenced by music theory and Pet Sounds

Cashmere Cat and Major Lazer combined their production talents for the Tory Lanez-guested “Miss You.” The single, which was was co-written with Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran, now has a matching set of visuals.

The video takes place on an ice skating rink, as a woman nimbly pirouettes and glides through the air before being joined by a gaggle of synchronized skaters/dancers. Meanwhile Tory, Diplo and Cashmere are riding around on a Zamboni.

Live and direct from Los Angeles’ Flight Club (the New York shop > the Los Angeles one, and this isn’t even a debate), YG is the latest artist to take part in Complex’ “Sneaker Shopping” series. While with Joe La Puma, Fo’ Hunnit talks life in Compton, loving Michael Jordan through his father, his unique relationship with James Harden (the NBA All-Star is, originally, from Long Beach, CA), and more.

A choice quote:

On Jordan family ties

“I’ve been a Vans kid since I was 14, 15. Before that I was strictly all Jordan’s. I was brought into the world on Jordan’s. I didn’t even have a choice, and I’m OK with that. My pops was Jordan’d out. He got the Jumpman logo tatted on his leg. It’s Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls everything at my house. My pops don’t wear Vans. I buy my pops Jordans until this day.”

Watch below.

New York, NY – Bishop Nehru announced his next album, Elevators: Act I & II, was on its way last October. Now, the 21-year-old MC has unveiled the project’s release date. According to a press release, Elevators: Act I & II is expected to arrive on March 16.

Ahead of its release, Nehru has shared a trailer for the DOOM and Kaytranada-produced album. Created by Raphael Truffi Bortholuzzi of Grandmondo Miniatures, the visual finds Bishop narrating the inspiration behind the album’s two part concept (Act I – Ascension & Act II – Free Falling).

“This project is a collection of my feelings straight from my heart,” Nehru explained in the press release. “All of my ideas were created specifically off of instinct and intuitive occurrences. This album is my answer to the question, ‘What would you say your music sound like?’ My answer to that would be ‘Grammy Rap.’

“There’s

Migos and its follow-up to 2017’s Culture — the aptly titled Culture II — has dominated the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending February 1. Following closely behind is Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, which saw a huge boost in sales after the Honolulu-born pop/R&B singer walked away with six Grammy Awards last Sunday (January 28).

Elsewhere on the chart, Rhymesayers MC Evidence and his new project Weather Or Not makes its modest debut on the chart at #187, and Eminem’s Revival drops to #16.

Ridin’ High

Migos released its highly anticipated album Culture II last Friday (January 26) and the project has entered the Billboard 200 chart at #1. Boasting 199,467 total album equivalent units sold (38,486 in pure sales and a streaming count of 224,593,278), the 24-song project marks the Atlanta trio’s second #1 debut.

The original Culture debuted at #1 in 2017 with 131,193 equivalent album sales and was nominated for Best Rap