King Los Gets Candid: Mom Tears Up, Crazy Past + Lola Monroe

King Los returns to Sway In The Morning, a year after his legendary freestyle, to promote his latest album God Money War. The Baltimore MC talks on everything from his family history to label dealings with Bad Boy Records.

Drake – Obey Your Thirst (Episode 1)

Drake is a superstar—the only guy who could dethrone Taylor Swift on the charts with a mixtape. In a rare interview, he spoke with The FADER.

Coming up in Toronto, people told Drake to move to New York if he was serious about making it. Instead, he stayed where he was and made history by proving that if you’re a truly multi-layered artist, you can make it from anywhere. “Do it the way I did it,” he says in the above Obey Your Thirst documentary. “Do it from where you’re at. If you have the music, that’s all it takes.”

Now, at the top of his game, Drake says he competes not with established legends or other top-sellers, but with the countless kids itching to take his spot.

Now that hip-hop’s playing field is more open than ever before, Drake knows
there are countless kids itching to take his spot. Those up-and-comers are now his competition, not any established rapper. “That’s how I try to keep pushing this forward,” he says. “Just to let that kid know that I’m not done yet.” Watch the full documentary above, and stay tuned for three more by Sprite and The FADER, sharing the stories of Nas, Vince Staples, and Isaiah Rashad.

MistaJam Speaks To Kendrick Lamar

Mistajam sat down for an in depth interview with Kendrick Lamar and spoke about his views on the state of Hip Hop, how he approached his latest album, why he doesn’t like listening to his older music, who his favourite U.K. artist is and much more.

XXL Freshman Class 2015

After a long wait, it’s finally Freshman season again and today, XXL is proud to reveal our highly-anticipated 2015 XXL Freshman Class. This year, we’re presenting 10 up-and-coming rappers who we feel, collectively and individually, are defining the new wave of hip-hop. Check out our Freshmen performing live in New York City at the Best Buy Theater on Tuesday, June 30 and in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theater on Monday, July 13 to catch the new Class in action.