I was shocked to hear about Nipsey's murder earlier this week. The L.A. rapper had been active for nearly 15 years when he finally released his major debut "Victory Lap" last year to both critical and fan acclaim. He was the poster child for how hard work and dedication finally pay off when you don't let go and don't compromise. His message of approaching life as a marathon rather than a sprint resonated with all audiences no matter where you're from or what your upbringing was. He really was bigger than life, and like a Tupac before him, his message touched a lot of people and he was trying to do a lot of good for his community. Outside of the "Victory Lap" album, his discography is very long and you should check out his "Bullets Ain't Got No Name" and "Marathon" mixtape series. It's been just over a year since "Victory Lap" released and as I was listening to it yesterday I couldn't help but think that...

I can't believe it's been so long. On this day 20 years ago (23rd February 1999), Eminem released his breakout album "The Slim Shady LP". While this may not be Eminem's best album ("The Marshall Mathers LP" and "The Eminem Show" top this one for me) and it is far from classic in my books, this should still be on everyone's must-have list. And what better occasion than the 20th anniversary of its release to revisit this project. I must admit I am a little biased when it comes to this album. And when I popped my original copy of the album in my CD player today, the nostalgia kicked in. The memories came back rushing of this being my first Rap/Hip-Hop CD I ever bought, back in 2000. This is this very same CD that got me into the genre in the first place. Now that I go back in, I realise why most of the hip-hop community back then saw Eminem as a gimmick and why some even saw in his rise to fame a conspiracy orchestrated by the establishm...