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The major-label debut from the young Chicago rapper is a bleak, nihilistic celebration of street violence, gang culture, and disrespect for women. It arrives as the city nears the end of a year that’s seen an epidemic of violent killings in black neighborhoods every bit as tragic—and preventable—as those in Newtown, Conn.

King Louie, a rising star of Chicago rap, talks about his upcoming CD, Dope & Shrimp.

With Pitchfork this weekend, a lot of the attention has been been on shock rappers Odd Future performing, but Das Racist is the fest's rap group that would be on my must-see list (they perform tonight at 6:30 p.m.) if I didn't have to spend the evening saying, "No, you can't have/do that" to my

Before there was Kanye, before there was Lupe, before there was Common, there was Rubberoom.

For nearly two decades, music producers Kevin Johnson and Aaron Smith have been joined at the hip-hop intersection of beats and samples. They started out in Rubberoom- one of the best-known crews of the 1990s.