Check out Queens-bred emcee/soul artist Dynasty's debut album, "A Star in Life's Clothing", which features guest appearances & production from hip-hop heavyweights like Talib Kweli & DJ Premier among others. The project would stand solid on its own but excels with the additional support.

Tickets for Hiero Day (Sept 7th), the mayor commemorated Oakland holiday/outdoor festival, concert, food, and block party, are now on sale. Free in previous years the event has always been reliant on public contributions, while the celebration has understandably grown pricey to produce. In order to avoid overcrowding (approximately 22k people attended in 2014), ensure a safe and controlled environment and to maintain the level of quality event that you expect and deserve, the organizers have come up with the low ticket price of $19.93 (*cough* '93 Til) for a General Admission Ticket. We can all agree this is more than a fair price for the amount of entertainment provided.

Chicago emcee Lupe Fiasco took to Instagram last week to address his peers in an open letter titled "The Haunting". Directed "to rappers from a rapper", Fiasco discusses lyricism and ghostwriting in hip-hop as well as questioning motives and the direction of the art in general. With the current Meek Mill/Drake dust up (which gets a brief mention) as well as recent accusations against Nikki Minaj and Iggy Azalea among others, this topic has been a hot one.

Talib Kweli's Action Support Committee, made up of artists, organizers and activists, will be hosting "Ferguson Is Everywhere", a free concert taking place August 9th at Fubar in St. Louis, MO. The event marks the one year anniversary of 18 year-old Michael Brown's death, and will be hosted by Tory Russell, co-founder of both Hands Up United & Youth Lead Organization. Performances are set to include Talib Kweli, Kendra Ross, M1 (Dead Prez), Tef Poe, Bun B, Jasiri X, Immortal Technique, Pharoahe Monch & DJ Needlez.

It's been asked that people bring canned goods for donations to Hands Up United's Food Pantry, donations will also be taken for the family of Michael Brown.

The Black Eyed Peas surprised everyone on Friday debuting a new single and video for the song "Yesterday" on Apple Music, which pays tribute to a number of old school hip hop classics. One person who we're guessing wasn't thrilled was the venerable soul songstress Erykah Badu. Miss Badu took to social media today to point out the similarities between the new Peas' video and her video for the song "Honey", the lead single from her 2008 album "New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)".

"I think THE BLACK EYE PEAS borrowed my idea a Lil lol" - Erykah Badu (Facebook)