Rachael takes on Creation East main stageThe Washington Projects may be new to some, but siblings Jekob Washington and Rachael Washington are not new to the music scene.  In fact, they are two of the three original members of The Souljahz.  "The Washington Projects is all about spreading love, hope, peace, joy, happiness through music, hip-hop, R&B, a blend of folk, soul, bluegrass, and everything else”, explained Jekob when we sat down with them during GMA week in Nashville this past April.  Commanders of the Resistance was released by the duo in October, 2007.

We found some interesting quotes from the band at various places online and decided to ask them to discuss them further.  The following lists the quotes and responses in this exclusive interview

Sintaxtheterrific probably makes more money than you. The South Carolina-based emcee is an attorney by day and rhyme-spitter by night and, as such, doesn't need hip-hop to survive. But the artform is a passion of his, and one that has produced a good deal of quality music.

In addition to his contributions to spiritual rap uber-collective Deepspace5, Tax has produced two solo projects since 2004: Simple Moves and Curb Appeal, which was released in 2006. We caught up to him at Gospel Music Association (GMA) Week in Nashville earlier this year. Read on...

inReview: When we last spoke to you, "Simple Moves" was about a year old and you were still working as a lawyer. Are you still doing the lawyer thing?

sintax: I am still an attorney.

Submitted by The Runaway aka Jon Corbin (Current Album: A Brief Word - Prophetic Poetic Productions)

1. Relic It's All Relative

A self-produced hip-hop record from my man Relic in Brampton, Ontario. This one has been several years in the making and has been creating quite a buzz online. So few hip-hop records can offer dope beats and rhymes the whole way through. Here, both are outstanding.

In 2005, Deepspace 5's The Listener embarked on a unique tour that found him in very odd - and relatively small - places. Dubbed "Listener's Tour of Homes," the venture consisted of a number of small concerts in attics, living rooms, front yards, and back yards - as well as larger spots like skate parks, art galleries and amphitheatres.

"We had such an amazing time," says an unnamed 2005 Tour of Homes attendee in a recent edition of Listener's e-mail newsletter. "It's the kind of DIY touring and music making we love to do, and you guys [the fans] have done a fantastic job of making us household names in a ton of households."

With the arrival of his third album, Graduation, Kanye West teeters on the edge of this chasm.

The Runaway has been nominated alongside heavy-hitting Canuck Manafest in the Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year category of this year's Covenant Awards, a show similar to the United States' GMA Awards and administered by Gospel Music Association Canada (GMA Canada).

Kanye West appears to be winning his head-to-head battle with 50 Cent for record sales supremacy, but both rappers are likely to move fewer units than they did with their previous albums.

This is the verdict of a Reuters news article that cites Billboard magazine as saying West is projected to sell between 575,000 and 700,000 copies of his new album Graduation, while 50 is likely to sell between 500,000 and 600,000 of his new offering, Curtis.

It won't exactly be a battle of wits, but the rumoured debate between 50 Cent and Kanye West is apparently a go. The two will face off Tuesday on BET to argue the merits of their respective albums - Curtis and Graduation -- according to the Associated Press.

A few years back we had a Canadian dude named Jon (alias: "The Runaway") handling our hip-hop section. Though some of us were (and are) fans of this type of music, we lacked the depth of understanding and intelligence Jon brought to appraising albums of the type. In late May, he broke in with his first full-length offering as a producer and emcee, titled A Brief Word. Here are the details, straight from the man himself.