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Three film and television studios that center Black stories are coming together to produce a slate of hip-hop biopics — and they’ve announced that Queen Latifah’s will be first. Neither a writer nor director has been announced yet, but Queen Latifah herself will be one of the producers through her company, Flavor Unit Entertainment. Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Jesse Collins’ Jesse Collins Entertainment are also on board for Latifah’s biopic.

In a statement, Smith emphasized the importance of starting with the “Ladies First” artist’s story,...

Now that’s a legend. Missy Elliott blew the roof off Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Monday night in her historic Out of This World Tour — her first headlining tour ever. It was a celebration of her gold mind and its evolution through the years. But it was also a revelation of her impact and her one-of-a-kind artistic legacy, as her avant-funk hip-hop and R&b style has shaped the way pop music has sounded for the past three decades. Her last full album, The Cookbook, dropped nearly 20 years ago,...

In our Q&a /feature series Tell Me Más, we ask some of our favorite Latine artists to share some inside info about their lives and habits, revealing everything from their most recent read to the songs that get them hyped. This month, Grammy-winning artist Goyo, a member of legendary group ChocQuibTown, drops in to talk about her latest turn as a solo act, Afro-Latine representation, and what she's got in store for us in 2024.

As reggaetón, afrobeats, and trap become global, their distinct sounds and formulas become more cemented. However, rapper and singer Goyo has always defied the confines of a single genre. As a member of the award-winning group ChocQuibTown, the sound that she helped craft along with her brother Miguel "Slow" Martinez and Carlos "Tostao" Valencia, combined elements of traditional African percussion, Colombian folk, hip-hop, dancehall, and reggaetón. Now, as she continues her musical journey, this time as a solo artist,...

The 2001 cult classic horror remake "Thirteen Ghosts" has a dedicated following for a reason: it's a brutally nasty, deeply creative horror film that creates its own unique mythology and utilizes it to tell a surprisingly heartfelt story. The movie follows bereaved widower Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub) and his family after he inherits a mysterious mansion from his ghost hunter uncle Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham). Unfortunately for Arthur, the mansion is absolutely murderous.

The end of the film pulls each of the 12 ghosts trapped within the mansion together for a bizarre ritual to make Cyrus immortal that requires the titular thirteenth ghost to work -- but things don't go as planned for crafty ole' Cyrus and he's torn apart by the very souls he was going to sacrifice. It's seriously satisfying, especially after the full cruelty of Cyrus' plan is revealed in the third act and the audience realizes why he...

Slasher films are known for their one-liners, both the badass and the embarrassing. Dr. Loomis in the "Halloween" series, Freddy Krueger in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series, Ghostface in the numerous "Scream" flicks, Pinhead in the "Hellraiser" films, and just about everything Chucky has ever said throughout his franchise have all birthed quotes as memorable as the characters who say them. In the delightfully silly "Freddy vs Jason," one of the most infamous lines is not spoken by either slasher icon or even the film's final girl, but by the secondary character Kia, played by Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child.

When Kia comes face to face with Freddy Krueger, she doesn't cower in fear -- she mocks him. Freddy Krueger thrives on fear, and by choosing to humiliate him instead, she defangs him quite a bit. She spends much of the movie being mouthy to everyone anyway, so...

Image Source: Everett Collection

Hip-hop has transformed music, and the world at large, since it was conceived 50 years ago. In a relatively short time, it's made a massive impact on every aspect of pop culture - and fortunately, there are a lot of great documentaries that chronicle the unforgettable, twists, turns, and triumphs that made hip-hop what it is today.

Many of these documentaries offer fascinating insights into hip-hop's exponential growth, such as 1995's "The Show" and 2016's "Hip-Hop Evolution," which both examine exactly how the genre became a worldwide, multibillion-dollar industry. Some of them also focus on individual artists, like 2003's "Tupac: Resurrection," a documentary narrated entirely by Tupac Shakur himself. Others focus on specific music scenes, like Ava DuVernay's "This Is the Life," which centers Los Angeles's alternative rap scene in the 1990s, while others delve into the technical aspects of hip-hop and rap, like Ice-t's...

‘Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop‘ is a four-part documentary series that delves into the rich history and profound impact of women in the hip-hop genre, spanning from its early beginnings to the present day.

Hip-hop has rightfully become a cultural phenomenon, with African American women being one of its main pillars. This documentary is dedicated to them, the ladies of hip-hop, and the evolution of this music starting from the song “Rapper’s Delight” that gave it its name. It explores how this style quickly turned into a multi-billion dollar business, while also commenting on the social issues faced by African American women. Hip-Hop is a product of the inherent need to express the rights, wrongs, injustices and dreams that were deeply rooted in the struggles of the underprivileged classes.

‘Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop’, a Documentary about Women, Music and Society

“Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop...

‘Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop‘ is a four-part documentary series that delves into the rich history and profound impact of women in the hip-hop genre, spanning from its early beginnings to the present day.

Hip-hop has rightfully become a cultural phenomenon, with African American women being one of its main pillars. This documentary is dedicated to them, the ladies of hip-hop, and the evolution of this music starting from the song “Rapper’s Delight” that gave it its name. It explores how this style quickly turned into a multi-billion dollar business, while also commenting on the social issues faced by African American women. Hip-Hop is a product of the inherent need to express the rights, wrongs, injustices and dreams that were deeply rooted in the struggles of the underprivileged classes.

‘Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop’, a Documentary about Women, Music and Society

“Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop...

Hip-hop turns 50 on Aug. 11, and it seems that the whole world is celebrating. From concerts organized by Amazon and Mass Appeal to block parties put on by New York City, the festivities are plentiful. There is also a wide range of exhibits and galleries curated by artists of the hip-hop generation. It would be impossible to reference every single event happening for rap’s birthday, but here’s a list of notable Hip-Hop 50-related events happening this August.

Concerts and Events

Amazon Music: 50 & Forever: New York (through Aug. 10)

Rotation,...

Women in hip-hop are getting a major spotlight from Netflix next month in a new limited docuseries. Per the streamer, "Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop" aims to recall the history, impact, and influence of women in the culture, as well as "their role in the genre's 50 years by reinserting them into the canon where they belong: at the center, from day one to present day."

The trailer, which was released on July 26, plainly states that "Black women are crushing it in hip-hop right now," from "dominating the charts" to "being the ultimate influencers of the culture." So, in their own words, the docuseries gives women in hip-hop the floor to share their stories and honor the sisterhood that's contributed to their success.

The Netflix series has four installments that each feature a parade of iconic women rappers and originators, such as Mc Lyte, Queen Latifah, Rah Digga,...

As hip-hop celebrates 50 years of trailblazing this year, Netflix is spotlighting the women who have shaped the genre’s legacy with unrelenting confidence, even when it was an uphill battle to garner any respect or recognition for doing so. In the first trailer for Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop, the four-episode docuseries premiering Aug. 9, generations of artists — from Queen Latifah and Remy Ma to Tierra Whack and Latto — give each other and themselves their hard-earned flowers.

“We’ll always be stronger together than we are apart,” Queen...

Netflix has shared a trailer for its upcoming docuseries Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop, which will tell the history of the genre through a new lens, giving credit to the countless women who shaped it. Watch the trailer below.

The documentary will explain how Black women came to “dominate the charts” and become the “ultimate influences” of hip-hop culture, focusing both on pioneers of the genre as well as current-day superstars. Many influential rappers sit down for interviews, including Roxanne Shante, Mc Lyte, Queen Latifah, Rah Digga, Tierra Whack, Saweetie, and more. Notably, as commenters on YouTube have pointed out, the trailer makes no mention of Nicki Minaj, the best-selling female rapper of all time, but with four episodes, it’s still possible the series itself will correct this omission. The series is set to premiere on Netflix on August 9th.

“This timely limited doc series recontextualizes...

BET honored Black excellence in music, television, film, and sports across more than 20 categories at “BET Awards” 2023 on Sunday, June 25. Throughout the music-centric night, Culture’s Biggest Night paid homage to the biggest names in Hip Hop over the past five decades with special music medleys curated by acclaimed DJ and producer Kid Capri in an exciting unscripted format.

Busta Rhymes was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award with an introduction from Marlon Wayans and Swizz Beatz. Tribute performances included Bia, Coi Leray, M.O.P., Rah Digga, Spice and Supercat. Patti Labelle performed a powerhouse tribute to the late icon Tina Turner.

See Tina Turner dead: Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Questlove, Beyoncé, and two U.S. presidents honor the late icon

The complete list of winners for the “BET Awards” 2023 are:

Album Of The Year (Tie)

Sos – Sza

Renaissance – Beyoncé

Best Collaboration

Wait For U – Future feat. Drake & Tems

Best Female...

The 2023 BET Awards honored the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with dozens of performances that played like a musical family reunion as pioneers of the genre blazed the stage during a hostless but party-filled show held during the writers strike.

The Sugarhill Gang, Big Daddy Kane, Mc Lyte, Doug E. Fresh, Erick Sermon and Keith Murray performed Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, celebrating rap music and honoring its roots as well as its domination in pop culture.

Ja Rule, Red Man, E-40, Master P, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Styles P, T.I., Fabolous, Trick Daddy, Trina, Uncle Luke and Skillz hit the stage, helping the four-hour-show flow during the writers strike, which several presenters acknowledged before giving out awards, including Grammy-winning singer Muni Long.

“Let’s take a moment to acknowledge and stand in solidarity with the artists who make us laugh, cry and, most important, think — our Writers Guild of America family.

The 2023 BET Awards will celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop this Sunday, June 25 starting at 8 p.m. Et. Viewers wanting to catch Culture’s Biggest Night can catch the show on BET and will be simulcast on Paramount on BET, BET Her, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, Pop, TV Land, Nickelodeon and VH1 in the U.S. BET+ and Paramount+ will be streaming the show to subscribers.

International viewers can watch the award celebration on BET Africa and BET France and will be available to watch on My5 and Sky On-Demand in the UK, as well as BET Pluto in the UK and Brazil.

The musical medleys will be curated by DJ and producer Kid Capri and showcase moments throughout the night of the history of Hip Hop.

Related: 2023 BET Awards: Complete Winners List

Patti Labelle will hit the stage to pay tribute to Tina Turner. Labelle will honor the incomparable Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll,...

2022 has been a big year for music stars to appear in horror movies thanks to the likes of X and Studio 666. Of course, it is far from the first time that happened, with the horror genre being perfect for talents to try their hand at something new.

History is littered with performances from musicians though they aren't all great. Even some that are considered poor by a lot of moviegoers have still seen the musician shine because their role was memorable. Regardless of how well the performance was received, horror fans will never forget certain roles by singers and rappers.

Foo Fighters - Studio 666 (2022) Stream On Starz

Most of the team, musicians appear in movies as fictional characters since it helps the audience see them as someone other than the artist they know from the radio. However, the Foo Fighters opted to go a different route with their starring parts in Studio 666.

American rapper Hurricane G, born Gloria Rodríguez, has passed away at age 52.

The musician, who was of Puerto Rican descent, died on Sunday, Epmd’s Erick Sermon confirmed.

Sermon, who shares daughter Lexus with Rodríguez, wrote, “My heart is hardened today. One of my good friends…. my oldest daughters mother passed away today #Hurricanegloria was also a legend in her own right in the Hiphop community.

“One of the first puertorican female rappers She rapped with me. @redmangilla she paved the way @keithmurray @diddy she was in all the Hiphop magazines with all the top females at the time.. #stretchandbobito loved a song that she did called ‘Milky’.

“She will be missed all around the world. I can’t believe this. Pray for us. Beautiful blessings. She was a beautiful person a wonderful mother as real as they come. We love u G” Sermon concluded.

View this post on Instagram...

Before we bid yet another month adieu, we do have one final round of horror and sci-fi home media releases to look forward to before we head right into August in just a few days. Scream Factory is keeping busy this week with their new releases of Thir13en Ghosts and Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift and Severin Films is resurrecting Revenge of the Living Dead Girls this Tuesday as well. If you haven’t had a chance to catch up with it, HBO is releasing the first season of The Outsider (another King story!) on both Blu and DVD, and Universal is set to haunt homes everywhere with You Should Have Left as well.

Other releases for July 28th include The Other Lamb, James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction, Dead Dicks, and Old Dracula.

The Other Lamb

For her entire life, the cult she was born into has been...

Scream Factory Presents Thirteen Ghosts Starring Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Rah Digga, and F. Murray Abraham Collector’S Edition Arrives On Blu-ray™ July 28, 2020 From Scream Factory™ This summer, thrills and chills abound with the arrival of the horror thriller Thirteen Ghosts Collector’s Edition Blu-ray on July 28, 2020 from Scream …

The post Scream Factory Home Ent | Thirteen Ghosts Collector’s Edition Arrives July 28 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Scream Factory is looking to make this summer one to remember for horror fans with a bunch of new Blu-ray releases, and perhaps one of their most anticipated titles is 2001's Thirteen Ghosts, the Dark Castle remake of William Castle's 1960 film. Initially slated for a June 9th debut, the new Collector's Edition Blu-ray is now coming out on July 28th, and we've been provided with the full list of special features, including a new audio commentary with director Steve Beck:

Press Release: This summer, thrills and chills abound with the arrival of the horror thriller Thirteen Ghosts Collector’s Edition Blu-ray on July 28, 2020 from Scream Factory™. Awesome ectoplasmic specters populate Thirteen Ghosts, an effects-rampant remake of the 1960 William Castle haunted-house film directed by Steve Beck (Ghost Ship) and from producers Gilbert Adler (House on Haunted Hill), Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis. Tony Shalhoub (Galaxy Quest) leads a cast...

The fashion world, celebrities and fans alike were shocked to learn that design icon Kate Spade died in an apparent suicide in her New York apartment.

The designer, best known for her brightly colored handbags, was found hanging by her housekeeper at around 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. She was 55.

Spade began her career in the early 1990s, co-founding Kate Spade Handbags, before branching out into clothes, shoes and other fashion accessories.

pic.twitter.com/ylX5sA6MpQ

— kate spade new york (@katespadeny) June 5, 2018

My grandmother gave me my first Kate Spade bag when I was in college. I still have it. Holding Kate’s family, friends and loved ones in my heart.

– Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) June 5, 2018

Kate Spade’s tragic passing is a painful reminder that we never truly know another’s pain or the burden they carry. If you are struggling with depression and contemplating suicide,...

Iggy Azalea's ongoing feud with fellow rapper Azealia Banks was reignited this week after Azealia gave a 47-minute interview on Hot 97, where she discussed her beef with white rappers like Iggy and Macklemore, amongst other things. Azealia took issue with Iggy getting nominated for a Grammy, linking it to Macklemore's controversial Grammy win for best rap album at the award show earlier this year. She explained: "That Iggy Azalea shi*t isn't better than any f*cking black girl that's rapping today, you know? When they give those awards out - because the Grammys are supposed to be accolades of artistic excellence, you know what I mean? Iggy Azalea is not excellent. [...] When they give these Grammys out, all it says to white kids is: 'Oh yeah, you're great, you're amazing, you can do whatever you put your mind to.' And it says to black kids: 'You don't have sh*t.

If you plan on calling out Iggy Azalea, don't expect her to keep quiet. Rapper Rah Digga criticized Iggy on Thisis50 on Tuesday saying, "Teach me Australian hip-hop culture. Don't come to America and try to convince me that you're gangsta, boo." She went on to argue against artists who don't write their own rhymes, claiming, "that's the problem, there are too many passes being given." Iggy responded to Digga's comments on Twitter, defending her music and expressing her disappointment in the criticism, especially coming from another female artist. Scroll down to check out the original video and Iggy's tweets about the situation. I honestly don't really mind if I'm described as rap or pop. My passion is purely making music and entertaining. — Iggy Azalea (@Iggyazalea) September 24, 2014 its definetly funny seeing ppl get so emotional over it all. What does it matter? music is music and many enjoy mine, no need to feel upset.

Iggy Azalea's street cred is being slammed by a fellow female emcee.

Former Flipmode Squad member Rah Digga recently spoke with ThisIs50's Gossip Vivabout the current state of rap music, and ended up dissing the Aussie rapper in the process by saying Iggy is not "real" hip-hop.

"Iggy Azalea, I can't really get into her. Because it's just not real to me," Digga said. "There is a white girl from Australia that spits in an Australian accent, and her name is Chelsea Jane. That I can get into. Teach me Australian Hip-Hop culture. Don't come to America and try to convince me that you're Gangsta Boo...We're not going to believe you if you're trying to convince us that you're out here trap shooting."

She continued, "That's the problem. They're too many passes being given. When did it become wrong to call out people that don't write their own rhymes?...

Iggy Azalea's street cred is being slammed by a fellow female emcee.

Former Flipmode Squad member Rah Digga recently spoke with ThisIs50's Gossip Vivabout the current state of rap music, and ended up dissing the Aussie rapper in the process by saying Iggy is not "real" hip-hop.

"Iggy Azalea, I can't really get into her. Because it's just not real to me," Digga said. "There is a white girl from Australia that spits in an Australian accent, and her name is Chelsea Jane. That I can get into. Teach me Australian Hip-Hop culture. Don't come to America and try to convince me that you're Gangsta Boo...We're not going to believe you if you're trying to convince us that you're out here trap shooting."

She continued, "That's the problem. They're too many passes being given. When did it become wrong to call out people that don't write their own rhymes?...

Iggy Azalea's street cred is being slammed by a fellow female emcee.

Former Flipmode Squad member Rah Digga recently spoke with ThisIs50's Gossip Vivabout the current state of rap music, and ended up dissing the Aussie rapper in the process by saying Iggy is not "real" hip-hop.

"Iggy Azalea, I can't really get into her. Because it's just not real to me," Digga said. "There is a white girl from Australia that spits in an Australian accent, and her name is Chelsea Jane. That I can get into. Teach me Australian Hip-Hop culture. Don't come to America and try to convince me that you're Gangsta Boo...We're not going to believe you if you're trying to convince us that you're out here trap shooting."

She continued, "That's the problem. They're too many passes being given. When did it become wrong to call out people that don't write their own rhymes?...

Iggy Azalea's street cred is being slammed by a fellow female emcee.

Former Flipmode Squad member Rah Digga recently spoke with ThisIs50's Gossip Vivabout the current state of rap music, and ended up dissing the Aussie rapper in the process by saying Iggy is not "real" hip-hop.

"Iggy Azalea, I can't really get into her. Because it's just not real to me," Digga said. "There is a white girl from Australia that spits in an Australian accent, and her name is Chelsea Jane. That I can get into. Teach me Australian Hip-Hop culture. Don't come to America and try to convince me that you're Gangsta Boo...We're not going to believe you if you're trying to convince us that you're out here trap shooting."

She continued, "That's the problem. They're too many passes being given. When did it become wrong to call out people that don't write their own rhymes?...

Iggy Azalea's street cred is being slammed by a fellow female emcee. Former Flipmode Squad member Rah Digga recently spoke with ThisIs50's Gossip Viv about the current state of rap music, and ended up dissing the Aussie rapper in the process by saying Iggy is not "real" hip-hop. "Iggy Azalea, I can't really get into her. Because it's just not real to me," Digga said. "There is a white girl from Australia that spits in an Australian accent, and her name is Chelsea Jane. That I can get into. Teach me Australian Hip-Hop culture. Don't come to America and try to convince me that you're Gangsta Boo...We're not going to believe you if you're trying to convince us that...

Back in 2007, Winehouse hoped to work with Nas, Mos Def and more.

By James Montgomery

Mos Def and Amy Winehouse

Photo: MTV News

From the moment she burst onto the international scene with "Rehab," Amy Winehouse — the British belter who died Saturday in her London apartment — was embraced by the hip-hop community, and she embraced it right back. It wasn't enough for her to get Jay-z or Ghostface Killah to appear on remixes of her hits (which she did); she wanted to work with them, record proper tracks with them.

This was nothing new, of course: Even before she broke big with her Back to Black album, Winehouse was bringing hip-hop into the fold. She recorded her debut disc, Frank, with producer Salaam Remi (who had worked extensively with Nas and on the Fugees' epochal The Score). And her early single "In My Bed" sampled the iconic "Apache" beat from Nas' Remi-produced "Made You Look.

'Kim is the original, I believe, and Nicki is the right now,' G-Unit Mc says on Shade 45.

By Jayson Rodriguez

50 Cent

Photo: Jordan Strauss/ WireImage

Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj's war of words has died down considerably in the new year, following months of fiery sniping in interviews and songs.

Queen Bee collaborator 50 Cent ("Magic Stick"), not one to shy away from differences with others, downplayed the rift between the feuding female MCs. In an interview on Shade 45's "G-Unit Saturdays," he spoke via phone about the beef with DJ Whoo Kid.

"When I look at them actually competing, I don't see anything," 50 said. "I think it's harmless. It adds an interesting story and other interests to them, 'cause Kim is the original, I believe, and Nicki is the right now."

When the pugilistic rapper was told his answer was surprisingly neutral — in addition to working with Kim,...

Ex-Flipmode Mc tells Mixtape Daily battle between Nicki Minaj, Lil' Kim and others is about 'celebrity,' not artistry.

By Jayson Rodriguez, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes

Rah Digga

Photo: Raw Koncept Media Group

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From the Underground

Can't a lady Mc just spit anymore? With all the beefing going on between Nicki Minaj, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown and now, even Jackie O, lost in the shuffle is veteran rhymer Rah Digga.

The Dirty Harriet star recently headlined an all-ladies lineup in Los Angeles and next month she'll bring her talents to Brooklyn for a "Ladies First" show at Southpaw, alongside underground Toronto lyricist Eternia.

"To be honest, if you're an artist and you're just into the music, all that [beef] stuff is irrelevant," Digga told Mixtape Daily. "All that stuff they're fighting for has nothing to do with making good music or being an artist.

The end of 2010 is almost upon us, which is why MTV News is rounding up the Top Songs of 2010. We had over two dozen MTV News staffers submit their own personal lists of their 25 favorite songs, and from those lists we derived a master list whose top 10 will be slowly rolling out over the course of this week. Check out one of the 25 lists below, with an argument or two for the greatness of some of the under-appreciated tunes of the year.

By Kyle Anderson

1. "F--- You," Cee Lo Green

2. "Runaway," Kanye West featuring Pusha T

3. "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)," Rick Ross

4. "Teenage Dream," Katy Perry

Every time I hear "Teenage Dream," I'm transported to that time in senior year when I hopped in the car, cranked up this song and drove north in search of a record shop and a place that sold vegan burritos. Except that...

The new Rihanna album Loud will be hitting stores in a few weeks, and thanks to a news blast from RocNation we now know the official track list. We already knew that the album would feature collaborations with Drake ("What's My Name?") and Nicki Minaj ("Raining Men"), but the full list points to a collaboration with Eminem on the familiar-sounding "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)."

Of course, the original "Love the Way You Lie" was a chart-topping smash from Eminem's multi-platinum Recovery, so it's logical that Rihanna would want to continue the narrative. Rihanna is hardly the first artist to follow up a hit song with a sequel, and as you can see below, she will be in excellent company.

Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind (Part II)"

Perhaps the clearest antecedent for "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)," Alicia Keys followed-up her chart-topping guest appearance on...

Back when people still used to get their music from plastic discs you had to purchase in a store, the onset of the fall would always mean a series of "Super Tuesdays," which would typically see handfuls of high-profile albums drop on the same day. In the push toward selling music around the holidays, fall was always reserved for the most high-profile records, and each Tuesday brought a new pack of headline grabbers. Consider this: There was a Tuesday in November of 1999 that saw the release of Mariah Carey's Rainbow, Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles, Foo Fighters' There's Nothing Left to Lose and Lil Wayne's Tha Block is Hot (which was a bigger deal in retrospect, but still). A week later it was new albums from Faith Hill, Alanis Morissette, Prince and Fiona Apple. They were always a big deal, and at the height of the "Trl" era,...

I was invited to attend a screening of this documentary earlier this month, here in NYC; alas, my crowded calendar prevented me from doing so. However, it will air on cable TV later tonight, so the rest of us will get an opportunity to experience it.

The documentary, directed and produced by an acquaintance, Ava DuVernay, and titled, My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women In Hip Hop, will premiere tonight, August 30, at 10:00 Pm Est on Bet.

So, even if you never watch Bet, here’s one reason why you might want to tune in

Broadly, the film very frankly, and comprehensively explores the female Mc’s journey in the male-dominated world of rap music, via in-depth interviews with industry execs, writers, and the artists themselves (past and present), including Mc Lyte, Missy Elliott, Eve, Yo Yo, Rah Digga, Questlove, Russell Simmons, and many others.

Journalist Neil Drumming...

Over the course of film history, there have been many releases that have been great. There's a smaller list of flicks that can be described as "classic," and then there are only a few that are "transcendent." And then there's "The Wizard of Oz," a film that exists in a completely different universe than everything else. On this day in 1939, it made its premiere at the Strand Theatre in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The story, as it happens, is relatively simple: A young girl growing up on a farm in Kansas gets swept up by a tornado and into a magical alternate universe full of witches, talking lions, a race of people called Munchkins and a powerful wizard who may not be everything he seems.

Directed by Victor Fleming, "The Wizard of Oz" is an incredible accomplishment. It showed the world the possibilities of Technicolor, turned a handful of songs (written by Harold Arlen and E.

As Nicki Minaj climbs up the charts with her hit "Your Love," an almost-forgotten female Mc is primed to make her comeback. Rah Digga, formerly the feminine voice of Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad (and secretly the most talented Mc in the bunch), is back with a new album called Classic in September. It's Digga's first solo joint in a decade (she took time off from the rap game to raise her daughter and go back to school to learn film editing), and she just dropped the video for the album's first single, "This Ain't No Lil' Kid Rap." And, of course, it absolutely rules.

Rah Digga - This Ain't No Lil' Kid Rap from Raw Koncept on Vimeo.

Digga began her career as an Mc as a member of the New Jersey-based collective the Outsidaz. Their affiliation with the also-Jersey-based Refugee camp earned them a guest spot on the...

Luda insists that a Minaj/Kim collabo would 'kill the entire industry.'

By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Shaheem Reid

Ludacris

Photo: MTV News

What's a good way for Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj to resolve their issues? Do a collabo, says Ludacris. If the two rap divas put their bewigged heads together and traded rhymes on a song, Luda thinks minds would be blown by the resulting track.

"I think if Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj do a record together it's gonna kill the entire industry," Luda told MTV News. He added that the two femcees should take advantage of the lack of high-profile ladies in the game right now: "You don't have that many women in the industry so the lane is wide open."

The Atl rapper insisted that the two should work on music not only for themselves, but for their fans as well.

"The fact...

'There's barely any female artists as is -- we don't need this!' Trina says; Rah Digga and Diamond also comment.

By Mawuse Ziegbe

Lil' Kim

Photo: Getty Images

Lil' Kim's recent harsh comments about up-and-coming femcee Nicki Minaj are nothing new when it comes to hip-hop. The Queen Bee has lashed out against the Young Money Barbie onstage and in interviews, accusing the Lil Wayne protégé of jacking Kim's style without giving proper respect.

From Jay-z and Nas' years-long iciness to 50 Cent's sharp-edged comments about well, everybody, verbal jabs off and on wax are arguably as much of an element of hip-hop as DJing or breaking. While nearly every high-profile Mc has been embroiled in some kind of drama with another rapper, the situation can be more complicated when it involves female hip-hop artists, who have to contend with the relative lack of female colleagues in the game...

Full clip premieres Saturday at midnight on MTV.

By Shaheem Reid

Eminem in his "Not Afraid" music video

Photo: Interscope

The rollout for Recovery is in full swing. Eminem's new video for "Not Afraid" premieres Saturday at midnight on MTV, and a 15-second clip from the video has hit the Web.

In the preview, Marshall Mathers seems to have trouble on his mind. We see him standing on the ledge of a roof, in a basement throwing a chair against the wall and walking the streets of Newark, New Jersey. Em, of course, is no stranger to the Brick City. He used to run heavy with NJ rap collective the Outsidaz, which included Young Zee, Pace Won and Rah Digga.

"Not Afraid" debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 a few weeks ago and has been well-received by fans.

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In fact, the...

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