Topher Sanders

Alicia Keys must have been doing a lot of performing before the taping of her performance on MTV's Unplugged, because her voice sounds horribly strained and stressed on Unplugged's first track, the anthemic "Karma." But Keys's voice warms up as the set progresses, and by the time she reaches "A...

In modern hip-hop, groups have been supplemented by cliques. Cliques usually consist of one successful rapper (in this case ATL superstar T.I.) and a gang of stragglers and hangers-on (enter Pimp Squad Clique). And what's become par for the course, Pimp Squad Clique's debut, 25 to Life, proves to be...

Jaguar Wright's sophomore album, Divorcing Neo 2 Marry Soul, comes just as people were beginning to ask, "Whatever happened to that bad-ass chick from Jay-Z's Unplugged?" Alas, Divorcing only glances at Jaguar's potential. Sure, the addictive "My Place" is the perfect soundtrack for intimate back rubs. "All the drinks are...

If a secret fountain of fun exists, producer Andres Levin has found it and is hoarding it for himself and his band Yerba Buena. On Yerba's second release, Island Life, the group seamlessly blends Afro-Cuban funk, hip-hop, and salsa together for a concoction that is the sonic equivalent of spiked...

One had to figure that it wouldn't be long before the puglike cuteness of the Diplomats wore off. On "Stop-N-Go," Cam'ron again proves why he is the most unjustifiably arrogant figure in hip-hop with rhymes such as "Y'all sing sing sing/I'm from the Sing Sing bing/right to the wing ding...