HRS News

Proving that she is a future legend evolving right before our eyes, a brilliantly mature Alicia Keys radiates on her third album As I Am.

Read the full review.

Check out more new R&B/soul releases here.

Kanye West’s mom, Dr. Donda West, tragically passed away Saturday night in Los Angeles. The former chairwoman of Chicago State University’s English department had undergone elective surgery, but the cause of death has yet to be officially released. She was 58.

The rapper was in London when he was told the news of the death of the woman who raised him alone after his father left him at the age of 3.

The Post Chronicle reports the death resulted from plastic surgery and quotes Dr. West’s publicist, Patricia Green as saying: “She died as the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure.”

Did you know that you can write reviews for your favorite rap/hip-hop and/or R&B/soul albums, songs, concerts and more in
your very own blog on our site?

Here's the info you need to get started.

Read more…

Inspired by the Denzel Washington film of the same name Jay-Z’s American Gangster is chock full of new material. Due for release on Tuesday, the set ranks as the Def Jam honcho’s best work in years.

More new stuff comes from Nas, Kool Keith and more.

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Featuring Common, RZA, T.I. and a slew of Hollywood’s finest acting talent, this movie is stolen by Washington who shows us the complex levels of a man who had what it took to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but instead ended up another victim of racism-induced rage. Co-star Russell Crowe’s steady performance (featuring a shaky accent that lands somewhere between Australia and New Jersey) is solid but not enough to make the audience root for him, while Washington, as brutal as his character is, steals hearts, minds and theater audience applause.

After you see the movie, don’t forget to check out the adequate, although somewhat typical, official soundtrack featuring a diverse slate of artists such as Anthony Hamilton, Bobby Womack, Public Enemy, The Staple Singers and more. Surrounded by classic artists, Hamilton offers brand new soul stuff in the form of the lead single “Do You Feel Me” (which he also performs in the film).

And keep an eye open forJay-Z’s unofficial soundtrack of the same name. Due to drop November 6, it’s chock full of new material and ranks as the Def Jam honcho’s best work in years. Really.

Full film review

Film website

We recently caught up with the the ultra-busy California crew known as The Pack who told us about what they’ve been up to lately.

Fresh off their tour with Gym Class Heroes, they’re back with their sophomore album Based Boys. Dropped this week, the set follows up their December 2006 introduction, Skateboards 2 Scrapers, which featured the now infamously-banned-by-MTV single “Vans.”

Despite, or maybe because of, the banning, the counter culture teens have grown tremendously popular in a unique way.

“It’s funny and its kind of ironic,” Stunnaman told HiphopRnbSoul.com, “but I think we represent the losers and the underdogs.”

Listen to the audio interview here.