1.  “Be”
 — Common
2.  “Hip Hop Is Dead”
 — Nas
3.  “Game Theory”
 — The Roots
4.  “The Minstrel Show”
 — Little Brother
5.  “This Week”
 — Jean Grae
6.  “Right About Now”
 — Talib Kweli
7.  “True Magic”
 — Mos Def
8.  “Blue Collar”
 — Rhymefest
9.  “Food and Liquor”
 — Lupe Fiasco
10.  “Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures”
 — Guru

» Now click here to show us yours.
subscribe now inside this issue essence.com Presenting the 2008 Hip-hop song writing contest
And the winners are…
After carefully listening to songs submitted from around the country, we’ve settled on our winners! Big thanks to everyone who entered this year’s contest, as well as celebrity judges Yo-Yo, Pete Rock and Roxanne Shante. We’d also like to thank the judging panel from Berklee College of Music—Prince Charles Alexander, Pat Pattison, Mike Hamilton and Da’Rayia Wilson—and everyone out there supporting positive hip-hop!

Click here to find out who won! »



  •  The New Hustle
  •  Rap's Delight
  •  Taking It to the Streets
  •  Said: MC Lyte
  •  Music Videos Broke My Spirit
  •  Dirty Dancing
  •  What's Really Going On
  •  What They're Saying
  •  X-Rated

  •  The New Hustle
  •  Rap's Delight
  •  Taking It to the Streets
  •  Said: MC Lyte
  •  What's your video story?
  •  Top Ten Videos
  •  Dirty Dancing
  •  What's Really Going On
  •  What's the biggest barrier?
  •  Change mainstream hip-hop




   © 2008 Essence Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.     Privacy Policy