u/LuxuriousEnt

South Central LA female rap group CUZZOS is back with a new single, "BODY," featuring Michael Sneed.

If the name sounds familiar, Kendrick Lamar brought the group onstage during his Pop Out concert at the Kia Forum, and they also appeared in his "Squabble Up" music video.

The five-member group, consisting of Big I-N-D-O, JassCole, Milly Mo, TeaaWhy, and BB, has already made noise with songs like "POP OUT" and "GOLDMEMBERS," which they performed at Kendrick Lamar's historic Pop Out concert.

West Coast female rap groups have a history that deserves more recognition.

From Eazy-E's platinum-selling J.J. Fad with "Supersonic" to MC Hammer's Oaktown's 3.5.7 and Warren G's platinum-selling Da 5 Footaz, women have been representing the West Coast as groups for decades.

What's interesting about CUZZOS is seeing five female rappers coming together instead of everybody chasing solo careers.

CUZZOS have worked with several established West Coast rappers and emerging artists, including BlueBucksClan, Buddy, Kamaiyah, AZ Chike, REASON, 310babii, OhGeesy, G Perico, RJMRLA, Rucci, Wallie the Sensei, AshBashTheRapper, and many many more.

Listen to “BODY” on Apple Music

Ice Cube and his son O'Shea Jackson Jr. got into a heated argument on X with LA hip-hop personality Dejon Paul over whether Cube has done enough to support younger Los Angeles rappers.

Dejon questioned why Cube hasn't signed or developed more upcoming LA artists despite his money and influence.

Cube fired back, explaining he's still making music, movies, television, and running the BIG3 basketball league.

Personally, I think Dejon doesn't know what he is talking about, Ice Cube have put on many rappers, producers, and actors in his career. I don't think Cube owes anybody a record deal.

Ice Cube helped put West Coast hip-hop on the map. His legacy is already established.

But I also understand why people question whether established LA legends could do more to help the next generation.

Look at how Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, and other Southern rappers have helped introduce younger talent.

The personal insults were unnecessary, though. There's actually a worthwhile conversation underneath all that arguing.

More than seven years after Nipsey Hussle’s death, his older brother Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom has quietly taken on one of the hardest jobs in hip-hop: protecting Nipsey’s legacy without allowing it to become frozen in time.

And when you look at everything happening around The Marathon in 2026, Sam isn’t simply keeping Nipsey’s name alive. He’s continuing to execute the blueprint they built together.

The Marathon Clothing remains at the center of the brand. Nipsey and Sam opened the original smart store in 2017, combining streetwear, technology, music and ownership in a way that was ahead of its time. What started with Nipsey selling music independently eventually grew into an ecosystem extending far beyond rap.

Then came Marathon Burger.

The restaurant opened on Melrose Avenue in 2025 after initially launching as a pop-up. This wasn't somebody attaching Nipsey’s name to a random restaurant concept after his death. Sam has said Nipsey used to specifically talk about expanding the brand into products like “Marathon Water” and “Marathon Burger.”

That distinction matters.

Sam appears determined to expand ideas that actually came from Nipsey instead of licensing his brother’s image onto anything capable of generating money.

The Marathon Collective is another example. The cannabis venture opened its Los Angeles brick-and-mortar location in 2022, extending Nipsey’s business philosophy into another industry while emphasizing employment and legitimate economic opportunities.

Now the Marathon footprint around Crenshaw is growing again.

The Crenshaw Rec opened August 22 at Crenshaw and Slauson as a major retail and community concept involving Foot Locker and Nike, with Jordan Brand and Converse also represented. The Marathon Brand played a leading role in shaping the space alongside local creatives and community institutions. The location includes retail, an open gym, creative spaces and community programming.

The location makes the project even more significant.

This is the same Crenshaw and Slauson area where Nipsey's story was built — from selling mixtapes independently to eventually becoming a property owner and businessman in his own neighborhood. In February, the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue was officially designated Nipsey Hussle Square.

And then there’s the music.

For years after Nipsey died, Blacc Sam resisted the pressure to flood streaming services with unreleased Nipsey Hussle songs.

That might be one of the most important decisions he made.

Hip-hop has seen plenty of posthumous catalogs turned into an endless supply of albums, features and compilations. Sam took the opposite approach. He told the Los Angeles Times that he didn't feel comfortable releasing music simply because people were demanding it. He wanted anything carrying Nipsey's name to arrive when the family and people closest to the music believed the time was right.

That time finally appears to have arrived.

Nipsey Hussle and Bino Rideaux's long-awaited collaborative project, Prolific, is being prepared as Nipsey's first major posthumous music release. Bino and Nipsey had been working together years before Nipsey's death and released No Pressure in 2017. Sam revisited those unreleased sessions with All Money In and Nipsey's family before moving forward with the project.

That approach says a lot about how Blacc Sam has handled Nipsey's legacy.

He isn't trying to replace Nipsey.

He isn't pretending every unfinished idea should become a product.

And he hasn't turned Nipsey Hussle into nothing more than nostalgia.

Instead, the Marathon keeps expanding through businesses, clothing, food, cannabis, community spaces, partnerships, philanthropy and carefully handled unreleased music.

The Marathon Clothing.

The Marathon Collective.

Marathon Burger.

Nipsey Hussle Square.

The Crenshaw Rec.

The Neighborhood Nip Foundation.

The upcoming Prolific project with Bino Rideaux.

And there are still other pieces of the Marathon ecosystem continuing to develop.

Nipsey spent years talking about ownership, reinvesting in the community, controlling intellectual property and turning ideas into assets. Seven years after his death, those ideas haven't disappeared with him.

They've become businesses you can walk into.

That's what makes Blacc Sam's role different from simply managing the estate of a famous rapper.

He was Nipsey's brother, business partner and one of the people building beside him before the world fully understood what they were creating.

Now he's responsible for making sure the Marathon continues without losing what made it Nipsey's Marathon in the first place.

So far, that may be the strongest part of Nipsey Hussle's legacy:

The blueprint didn't die with the architect.

Blacc Sam kept building.

Why JT The Bigga Figga Is One of the Bosses of Bay Area Hip-Hop

When people talk about Bay Area rap bosses, JT The Bigga Figga deserves to be in that conversation — not just because of his music, but because of the business blueprint he helped establish.

Coming out of San Francisco’s Fillmore District, JT founded Get Low Recordz while still a teenager and built an independent operation before artists could upload a song and instantly reach the world. He was pressing records, distributing projects, producing music, developing artists and figuring out how to make money without waiting for a major label.

“Game Recognize Game” and Playaz N the Game helped establish JT in the Bay, but his influence went much further. Get Low became an important part of San Francisco’s independent rap movement, and JT worked with and helped develop artists throughout the West Coast.

Then there’s The Game.

Years before The Documentary turned Game into a superstar, JT was working with the young Compton rapper and releasing some of his early material through Get Low. That chapter alone connects JT to one of the biggest West Coast rap careers of the 2000s.

And JT never stopped thinking like an independent media boss.

Today, he’s behind TrapFlix, continuing to build his own platform around independent films, street culture, music and entertainment instead of depending entirely on traditional Hollywood or major media companies.

That’s really been the JT The Bigga Figga formula for decades: own something, build something and create your own lane.

Get Low Recordz then. TrapFlix now.

That’s why JT isn’t just an OG rapper from San Francisco. He’s one of the bosses of Bay Area hip-hop.

I can also build a “Bay Area Bosses” Reddit series around JT, E-40, Too $hort and other independent West Coast pioneers.

Buddy was already making moves before linking with Nipsey Hussle. The Compton rapper and singer had signed with Pharrell Williams’ Star Trak Entertainment as a teenager and was building his own name in the industry.

But I still think Nipsey played a major role in putting Buddy on the map with West Coast rap fans.

And it started years before Victory Lap.

Buddy appeared on Nipsey’s “Status Symbol” from Mailbox Money in 2014, followed by “Status Symbol 2” in 2016. Then they completed the trilogy with “Status Symbol 3” on Nipsey’s Grammy-nominated 2018 album Victory Lap.

That wasn't just some random feature.

Nipsey had been rocking with Buddy for years, and by the time Victory Lap dropped, their chemistry was already established. Having Buddy featured during arguably the biggest moment of Nipsey’s career introduced him to even more listeners.

To me, that says a lot about Nipsey’s impact on Los Angeles hip-hop. He wasn't only focused on making himself bigger. He consistently worked with and brought attention to other West Coast artists he believed in.

Now Buddy is expanding his career into television, playing Artillery in FX’s The Drop, the continuation of the Snowfall universe centered around 1990s Los Angeles and the rise of West Coast hip-hop.

Buddy obviously had talent, connections and a career before Nipsey.

But when we're talking about who helped put a bigger spotlight on Buddy, Nipsey Hussle deserves a lot of that credit.

This one is crazy because Nas and Hit-Boy looked like one of the healthiest rapper-producer partnerships in hip-hop.

Hit-Boy recently revealed that he and Nas haven’t spoken in three years and basically shut down the idea of them working together again. When asked what happened, he said there were “a lot of reasons” and described the situation as “pretty deep.”

That makes you wonder what REALLY happened behind the scenes.

These two went on an insane run from 2020 to 2023, dropping six albums together between the King’s Disease and Magic series. Hit-Boy helped give Nas a completely new sound without making him sound like an older rapper chasing younger trends. King’s Disease even helped Nas finally win his first Grammy.

Personally, I think that run is a huge reason Nas had one of the best late-career stretches we've ever seen from a legendary rapper.

That's why it's so weird hearing that they apparently don't even speak anymore.

The interesting part is Hit-Boy clearly knows exactly what caused the fallout, but he isn't telling the whole story. And until Nas responds, fans are probably going to keep trying to figure out what happened.

Whatever the issue was, losing this partnership sucks. Nas proved he still had plenty left in the tank, and Hit-Boy seemed like the perfect producer for this stage of his career.

Six albums, a Grammy and one of Nas' best runs in years — then they just stop speaking?

Yeah, there's definitely more to this story.

Now that Keefe D has been found guilty in Tupac Shakur’s murder case, one of Suge Knight’s wildest claims from the trial is getting another look.

The Death Row Records co-founder claimed Keefe D’s legal team offered him $1 million to testify that Keefe D was not inside the Cadillac involved in Tupac’s 1996 Las Vegas shooting.

According to Suge, he turned the money down, saying his loyalty to Tupac couldn’t be compromised.

That’s a major allegation considering Suge was sitting beside Tupac when the legendary West Coast rapper was shot.

Suge never took the witness stand, but prosecutors ultimately secured a first-degree murder conviction against Duane “Keffe D” Davis. During the trial, prosecutors argued that the shooting was retaliation for the MGM Grand fight involving Tupac, Suge Knight and Keefe D’s nephew Orlando Anderson.

The trial also included testimony from Outlawz member E.D.I. Mean, who was traveling in Tupac and Suge’s caravan that night. He described seeing an arm and gun emerge from the Cadillac before the shots were fired.

Nearly 30 years after Tupac’s murder, Keefe D has now been convicted — but Suge’s alleged $1 million offer adds another crazy chapter to one of the biggest cases in West Coast hip-hop history.

AllHipHop recently reported some troubling jailhouse rumors surrounding Bricc Baby, the LA rapper and No Jumper personality currently behind bars.

The unconfirmed claims include alleged drug use, poor hygiene and problems with other inmates. There’s also speculation that Bricc Baby could cooperate against Big U, although there’s currently no evidence confirming that. AllHipHop itself has kept these claims in the rumor category.

What isn’t a rumor is that Bricc Baby is dealing with a serious federal case. He pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, while his attorneys have emphasized that his case is separate from the racketeering charges involving Big U.

Hopefully Bricc can eventually get on the phone with Adam22 and No Jumper and clear some of these rumors up himself. Until then, prayers up for Bricc Baby and his family. Hopefully he stays strong through everything he’s facing and eventually makes it home to his loved ones. 🙏🏾

Once again, these allegations are what’s being reported by AllHipHop, and we make no claim that any of these rumors are true.

What do y’all think — is this just wild jailhouse gossip, or do you think there’s more going on behind the scenes?

For anyone who isn’t familiar with AshBashThaRapper, Ash Bash is an Inglewood rapper who has been around the LA rap scene for years and has had a few moments that put her name beyond the local underground.

One of her biggest early viral moments came from a collaboration with Kandie over Nipsey Hussle’s “Last Time That I Checc’d.” Kandie later said the record went “crazy viral,” pulled a few million views and was getting played around Los Angeles.

Ash Bash has also been interviewed by No Jumper, where she talked about growing up in Inglewood, her street background, being in a group with Rucci, her relationship with 2 Eleven and her career in LA rap.

Musically, she’s worked with some recognizable West Coast names too, including Kurupt and Geechi Gotti, while also appearing on records connected to artists like Zoe Osama and Panda BadAzz.

Now she has “5 STAR” featuring Amayajane, released August 17, 2026.

AshBashThaRapper is one of those Inglewood/LA rappers who has been around longer and has more connections to the scene than people outside Southern California might realize.

AshBashThaRapper ft. Amayajane — “5 STAR”

Watch “5 STAR” on YouTube

Los Angeles Christian rapper Dedge P is opening up about a dark chapter from his past on “I Believe In You,” his latest collaboration with Christian hip-hop veteran K-Drama. On the song, Dedge P addresses his experience with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, the controversial Inland Empire religious group that has made headlines in connection with two murder cases.

The group was led by Pastor Darryl “Muzic” Martin and his wife Shelley “Kat” Martin, a self-described prophetess. Former members have described His Way as cult-like and alleged an environment of extreme control, isolation, physical abuse, starvation and control over members’ finances. In court testimony, a former member said Shelley Martin claimed God spoke directly through her and portrayed herself as a physical embodiment of the Holy Spirit.

The story became much bigger after authorities connected investigations involving the group. Shelley Martin and other defendants have been charged in connection with the disappearance and alleged murder of former member Emilio Ghanem, who vanished in 2023 after leaving the ministry. Darryl and Shelley Martin and another defendant also face murder charges stemming from the 2010 death of 4-year-old Timothy Thomas, who had been in the Martins’ care. The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The allegations generated major Southern California news coverage as former members began publicly describing what they say they experienced inside the organization and testimony emerged through court proceedings.

Now Dedge P is addressing his own experience through music. “I Believe In You” connects his personal story of faith, struggle and leaving the group with a case that has gone from a little-known Inland Empire religious organization to murder charges and nationwide courtroom headlines.

Dr. Dre is almost automatically placed on the Mount Rushmore of hip-hop producers. The Chronic, Doggystyle, 2001, N.W.A., Snoop, Eminem, 50 Cent, The Game — the catalog and influence are ridiculous.

But when you get past the classics, how much of Dre’s greatness comes from the actual beats versus his ability to produce records, work with musicians and collaborators, develop artists and create an overall sound?

Put Dre strictly against DJ Premier, RZA, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Madlib, The Alchemist, Kanye, Timbaland and Pharrell.

Are Dr. Dre’s beats really better?

Or is Dr. Dre the GOAT because he’s the greatest overall producer, not necessarily the greatest beatmaker?

Who are you taking over Dre?

Crenshaw rapper Feezy Lebron, formerly one-half of Los Angeles rap duo OSBS, recently revealed during an interview with REVOLT that Gucci Mane originally recorded a verse for “They Know,” but Gucci’s team didn’t clear the feature.

Produced by multi-platinum producer Mally Mall at his personal studio inside his Hollywood Hills mansion, the record was reworked with 2 Chainz, released through EMPIRE, and went on to surpass 1 million streams.

Feezy, also affiliated with Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang, recently returned with solo singles “Rent Due” and “Last Call,” both produced by London producer GeorgeYouGoCrazy. He’s also set to release new material with Los Angeles record label Luxurious Entertainment via Roc Nation Distribution.

But that unreleased Gucci Mane verse still raises the question:

Would “They Know” have been bigger with Gucci Mane instead of 2 Chainz?

One of the biggest controversies in the Tupac Shakur murder trial might also be the simplest question: Where is the evidence outside of Keefe D’s own mouth?

Former Las Vegas homicide detective Dan Long testified that although he believed Duane “Keefe D” Davis’ account of Tupac’s 1996 murder, he could not independently verify Davis’ incriminating statements.

That’s huge considering prosecutors have leaned heavily on Keefe D’s old police interviews, media appearances and memoir. Meanwhile, the defense argues he exaggerated his involvement for money and notoriety, and there is no physical evidence placing him at the murder scene.

So nearly 30 years after 2Pac was murdered in Las Vegas, the case could come down to a wild question:

Can you convict Keefe D of Tupac’s murder largely because of stories he repeatedly told about himself — when even a detective admitted he couldn’t verify them?

DJ Akademiks Says West Coast Rap Has “Zero Motion” — This Is Why People Call Him a Culture Vulture

DJ Akademiks saying West Coast rap has “zero motion” outside of Kendrick Lamar is exactly why people call this dude a culture vulture.

Ak doesn’t know shit about the West Coast rap scene. If it isn’t trending on his timeline, connected to some internet beef, or generating drama for his livestream, apparently it doesn’t exist.

The West Coast is bigger than Kendrick. LA, Compton, Long Beach, Inglewood, Watts, Oakland, Vallejo, Sacramento, Stockton and the Bay Area still have artists building movements, independent labels dropping music and entire local scenes that national media barely covers.

You can't ignore a region, refuse to cover its artists, and then turn around and claim it has “zero motion.”

That isn't analysis. That's hating from somebody who clearly isn't tapped in.

The West Coast doesn't need Akademiks' approval to have motion. Maybe Ak needs to actually know the culture before speaking on it.

Snowfall may be over, but FX is bringing that world back with The Drop: A Snowfall Saga, following Wanda and Leon into a new chapter of 1990s Los Angeles.

This time, the story shifts toward the rise of West Coast hip-hop. Wanda sees rap as a way to build something legitimate and begins bringing together artists and creative talent as LA's music scene starts taking off.

That's what makes this interesting for West Coast rap fans. Snowfall explored how the crack epidemic changed South Central LA. The Drop can show what came next — when a generation turned many of those same streets and experiences into music.

We're talking 90s West Coast rap, gangsta rap, G-funk, record labels, producers, studios, radio and the business behind the LA hip-hop scene.

If they get the music and history right, this could be one of the better TV portrayals of the era that helped make West Coast hip-hop a worldwide force.

Anybody else remember how good the original Mortal Blitz was on PSVR1? 😂 Randomly played it again today and honestly it still holds up way better than I expected.