You might know Kevin Frazier from his work on Entertainment Tonight. Black Tree Media caught up with him by the elevator bank outside the press conference for the announcement of the 2007 BET Award nominees. During that press conference, 50 and T.I. were hit with the question of hip-hop's role in the post-Imus environment. It's sad to see most rappers duck and dodge all responsibility for the sake of la dinero. "I'm just a street reporter." more..

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When Nas hit the press last year for "Hip-Hop is Dead." He did so without any real explanation of what he meant. People on both sides of the 'what has hip-hop become' debate got shook and decided Nas was coming after their baby. Southern rappers (T.I. and Lil Wayne) took the, "I'm making money, it must be alive" route; and underground mags (Mass Appeal) propped up profiles featuring underground rappers, nuclear fallout deep, proclaiming they were proof hip-hop isn't and will never be dead. Didn't Young Jeezy want to smack Nas around a little or at least give him a firm talking to? It was like Moses rose from the ashes, landed on the Empire State Building and smashed the hip-hop commandments on the heads of the heathens. What was all the fuss about? more..

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Bill Maxwell used to be a professor at Stillman, a small, black college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. With 800 students in total, Bill Maxwell says many of the local folks think of the college as an oasis, the only real symbol of hope in the area. Two years ago, he quit his job as a journalist, taking a teaching position at Stillman, with the hope of infusing those fresh, young minds with the wealth of his knowledge. To contribute to “uplifting the race,” as his professors had taught him. He had big plans, big ideas. more..

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