To get ready for the show, warm up to this year's top contenders in one free and continuous playlist featuring Coldplay, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, The Jonas Brothers, Radiohead, Duffy, Brazilian Girls, and many more.
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will air on Sunday February 8 at 8 p.m. on CBS. In the meantime, listen to this free playlist by clicking on the green button below, then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.
It was only a matter of time before someone took notice of Rawkus 50 emcee Cymarshall Law. Combining raw lyricism with soulful East Coast slaps on his latest release Hip-Hop in the Soul, he's unsurprisingly been described as "the next most important artist in hip-hop."
SoulStice is not your average emcee. Not only does he have a master's degree in engineering, but he's also a very skilled lyricist. His new single, "Crash the Party," breaks new ground as the first to be released in three different languages.
Keeping with the theme for Q-Tip's election day album release "The Renaissance," remix extraordinaire J. Period teams up with the Abstract for an exclusive political freestyle over a classic Eric B. & Rakim instrumental.
Bloc Party gets intimate with their new album, Intimacy.
Now that Daylight Savings Time has ended, it's that odd time of the year when it gets dark while we're still at work (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere with day jobs). Sun worshippers may be bummed, but night owls should be psyched about the extra hours of darkness. Either way, it's a good time for everyone to get out and embrace the nightlife!
Listen to our free playlist "Night Moves" featuring Bloc Party, New Order, Black Sheep, Metallica, Kid Cudi, Juliana Hatfield and more. To launch, click the green button below, and then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.
It's too bad the term "seminal" has faded with overuse: it was made for work like this. The New York mixmaster was the influencer of influencers--the guy who raised sampling to new levels of eclecticism and art. New retrospective "What Does It All Mean?" is a must for rap students.
Remember the '91 classic "The Choice Is Yours," whose lyrics go a little something like this: "...You can get with this, or you can get with that..."? Well, Dres of the platinum-selling hip-hop group Black Sheep has revitalized the hit by rewriting the lyrics in hopes to inspire and remind voters to vote on Election day. Download a free MP3 and watch the video illustrating contrasts between the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin campaigns.
The lines between hip-hop and pop have grown increasingly blurry--if hip-hop's the most popular music, what exactly is "pop?"--and this Chicago pair have no interest in clarifying things. Christian Rich drop glossy beatscapes that treat the club rap form in abstract but forceful terms.
Turbulent political times are a petri dish for musical prophets, and there's a new resonance to the Bay Area sages' latest LP, the aptly named "Pick a Bigger Weapon." Reduxing Vietnam-era spirit and coolly blending Sly Stone with modern poli-rap, the group has made a definitive protest record.
"And I swear/ It's so rare/ Take the '80s flow/ And switch it to this year," rhyme the Retro Kidz, who take rap's nostalgia for the old-school to new extremes. We're talking four-inch flattops and abundant Lycra, and where beats are concerned, expect seriously dated synthesizers.
