This new Madonna video, in which M.I.A. appears (and doesn't do much, along with Nicki Minaj), is not as good as M.I.A.'s new video, "Bad Girls." Considering this, and also the great video Jay-Z and Kanye West made for their song "Otis" last summer, it seems that the Bay Area hip-hop subculture known as "hyphy," which peaked four or five years ago, is having its most lasting cultural impact in the phenomena of the dangerous-looking car tricks known as "ghost riding."

The lyrics are Christmas themed. The beat and the video, more appropriate for Halloween. But Gucci Mane is Gucci Mane, so he'll put it out late January. Sort of in time for Valentine's Day.

"Rap History: This Day in 1987 Public Enemy release Yo! Bum Rush The Show."

Druggy Harlem rapper ASAP Rocky plays Jean-Michel Basquiat to fashion designer Jeremy Scott's Andy Warhol on the cover of this month's Complex magazine. And here is his new video, which has some fun with familiar rap-video tropes. (Be careful if you're at work right now, it may not be entirely safe for you to watch there.) The song, an echoey, ethereal number, was produced by the wonderfully-named Clams Casino, who should make a song for Jay-Z called "Oysters Roc-a-Fella." It could be about diamonds and pearls, or just having lots of money, or maybe something sexual.

Oh my god this so good! It's basically new De La Soul, as "First Serve" is the name chosen by Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove, two-thirds of the the storied Long Island rap trio, for their new project with French production duo 2+4. Apparently, they're making a concept album (and maybe a movie?) for which they've adopted alter egos (Posdnuos is "Jacob 'Pop Life' Barrow," Trugoy is "Deen Whittier"), that tells the story of a pair of goofy Queens teenagers hoping to make it in rap. Conceptually and musically, First Serve harkens back to De La's old pal Prince Paul's super-awesome, not-nearly-well-enough-known 1999 rap opera, A Prince Among Thieves. They made a video—sort of a one-act play with a cool, cartoon backdrop that gives a good idea about the overall tone and direction. That embed looks nicer than the Soundcloud band. But the music is better than the skit, so I wanted to put that up top. READ MORE

You know the part in Robocop when the drug deal gets intense and the thugs pull out rifles and pistols and Kurtwood Smith sort of laughingly says, "Guns! Guns! Guns!" That's how I feel sometimes watching rap videos, because the weaponry worship can get so ridiculous. (I should admit that my reaction to seeing a real gun in real life is always much less cavalier.) The new video from Freddie Gibbs and producer Madlib is a case in point. But it's also a good video. And Madlib's beat tingles like some kind sad angels' harp strings, and, man, Gibbs can really rap.

New York singer, saxophonist and band leader Jimmy Castor died yesterday of as-yet-unknown causes. The very funky Castor took Frankie Lymon's place in the doo-wop group The Teenagers in 1957 (when he was not yet a teenager). And he went on to solo success with "Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You," which has been sampled a lot, notably on the Beastie Boys' "Hold It Now, Hit It," and which also seems, pretty clearly, to have been source material for Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard." Castor had his biggest success in the early '70s, with his group The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Samples of the above "Troglodyte (Caveman)" and the title track from the 1972 album It's Only Just Begun have been used in too many rap songs to count.

"Powerful, indignant, protective: that’s how a bear feels, and that’s how Mr. Ross sounds, as if nothing could possibly derail him, and everyone who walks with him will be safe." READ MORE

"It's very surprising because no one's ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination. This is evolution in action." READ MORE

The culture (and TV) experts at ego trip bring us a wonderful ghost of Christmas past. Run-DMC, performing one of the very best Christmas songs ever by anybody, on TV, in 1991. It's a bit mysterious (as most ghosts are, I guess), because no one seems to know what program this was on. Does anybody recognize the backdrop? Chevy Chase' show didn't come on til '93.