Eddie STATS. Writer.

“ The more you know about him, in fact, the harder it seems to know exactly who Drake is. There is something almost chameleon-like about his talent. He's parlayed this "from everywhere" quality into a burgeoning career as a guest verse specialist, always adjusting his approach to the demands of the host organism, a strategy that makes you wonder which Drake will step out on his major label debut—slated to drop before the end of the year—a project that's not recorded yet but already titled Thank Me Later. ’”

“ If the world's expectations ever fazed Bob's firstborn son, he's never let it show. “I don't carry any weight,” says Ziggy, 47. “This is a family. Whatever we are is the same way we grow up—nothing has changed, really. Each individual role is important.” Just a man doing his part for the family business–a family business which just happens to be carrying on one of the greatest artistic visions of the millennium. “

“Sting 1991 is considered by many to be the greatest clash of all time, and unquestionably is the most re-played, analyzed and hotly debated. It began with Ninja Man warming up the crowd with a short solo set at the height of the star-studded bill, a victory lap cut short by Super Cat’s entrance onto the stage with a chilling war-cry of  “Warning, Warning Warning! Clear the way, The Apache is coming!” “

“...it's embarrassing sometimes, when I have to ask my son [whispers]: Who's Rick Ross? --and he’s like, Daddy he’s one of the hottest rappers out here! I think sometimes it's better not to know. Because I’ve been blessed to work with so many people in my time: Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix…and I still see them. It sounds crazy but when I perform, I see them there on stage with me, like they’re grading my performance. And I mention them in my music for that reason, because they’re very present to me.”

“In many ways, “Work” feels like the song Rihanna has been moving towards throughout her career…feeling out a faded, diasporic patois that screws together rap and Kingstonian slang into a voice that is distinctively hers. Both instantly hummable and emotionally subtle, it captures the small triumphs and heartbreaks of real relationships (You took my heart and my keys and my patience) and the energy required to maintain them (Recognize I’m trying, baby!).”

“ “I love controversy," he explains. “If Vybz Kartel bleach him skin, people say, 'Kartel bleaching!' and I be like, The gal dem love off me bleach out skin, and the song becomes a hit. On toppa that, I start to manufacture face-soap, yuh nah mean?" With control as the key word, the bleach and the tattoos begin to take on a different significance. If his rhetoric is post-racial, Kartel's person, from the teardrops under his right eye to the Gaza on his knuckles, is a canvas of self-invention bordering on the post-human.”