Biz Markie performs at the Mecca Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Aug. 1, 1988. Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images. Last week the world lost Biz Markie, the Clown Prince of Hip-Hop. I won’t go over everything from his obituary again but despite often being considered a one-hit wonder, Markie is…

Under that moniker DJ Shadow, Joshua Paul Davis in 1996 gave sample-based music one of its first hit albums with Endtroducing. He transcended the established norms of ‘90s hip-hop by incorporating elements of ambient music, electronica and “sampledelia.” Davis found more common ground with U.K. trip-hop than West Coast G-funk—which might…

LL Cool J performs during the Kings of the Mic Tour at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif. on May 25, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. LL Cool J may be one of the elder statesmen of rap, rhyming since his 1985 platinum debut, but he has been out of the…

LL Cool J, courtesy. Last week I interviewed rapper-actor-Grammy host LL Cool J. The big issue swirling around him lately has been the controversy over “Accidental Racist,” the song he recorded with country singer Brad Paisley. I briefly go into that in my story. But since space is at…