“I guarantee this will be the greatest concert of your life,” says Kanye West, with typical modesty, at one point in this first London Watch the Throne show. For fans of the pair, he might not be too far off the mark.  

"I do my thing, I do my thing," sings London homegirl Estelle, all smiles and sassy posture, with an even more ferocious outfit to match.

Adam Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper and the most conscientious member of the seminal hip-hop group, has died, his mentor Russell Simmons said tonight. He was 47.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has revealed that years of playing live has left him with tinnitus.

The early American reaction to Nicki Minaj's follow-up to Pink Friday has been "mixed" – which is entirely appropriate, given that the album itself has an almost schizophrenic character.

Despite topping the iTunes charts last year with his second album Ambition, Wale (pronounced "Wah-ley") has struggled to filter into mainstream media.

When it comes to Drake, critics like to focus on the 25-year-old Canadian's excessive compulsion to over-sentimentalise his rapid flight to fame and the many women he's slept with (plus the ones who got away), often disregarding that it takes a certain kind of man to present all that mushy stuff in the guise of hip-hop and get away with it.

Banks bonus

Rap superstar Jay-Z is to headline BBC Radio 1's Olympic celebration, the Hackney Weekend 2012

There comes a point in every critic's life when you look at a row of Common albums and realise you are never going to listen to them again.

“We’re definitely going to do ‘Spinnin’’ now,” Speech Debelle promises.

HTC prides itself on being "quietly brilliant" but things may get a bit louder after the mobile phone company secured a deal with rapper Dr Dre.

Tinie Tempah has revealed that he wants to collaborate with Adele.

With his third album out soon, the rapper describes what he thinks makes his act so appealing to the public, and how he intends to stay at the top of his game.