Veteran hip-hop artist Xzibit discussed his latest album, Napalm, during a recent appearance on Yahoo! Music’s The Aftermath series, the best music discussion on the ‘net.

Keeping true to the Napalm title, X-to-the-Z actually shot ta music video for the album in Iraq. X offers details about filming the short in Saddam Hussein’s palace Victory Over America.

Kris Kross members Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith

Kris Kross members Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith will be reuniting on stage on February 23 in Atlanta for the 20^th reunion of Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def. Their 1992 debut, Totally Krossed Out, was certified quadruple platinum and spawned the No. 1 hit “Jump.”

Hip Hop Media Training recently spoke to Chris Kelly to find out what he’s been up to since the group released its last album, Young, Rich & Dangerous, in 1996; why he still wears his pants backwards, what prompted Kris Kross’ beef with Another Bad Creation, and how they discovered Da Brat. Kelly also offered commentary on some of the other most popular kid rappers of all time.

See the Q&A below with Kelly.

Hip Hop Media Training: What have you been up to over the years? I heard you went to school to be a music engineer? What made you do that?

Chris Kelly: I just wanted to do something different. Get more on the technical side of things than just being an artist, and produce. I just wanted to be [the] all around best I could be as far as doing everything.

A$AP Rocky (photo: Getty Images)A$AP Rocky, the hip-hop young gun who grabbed Rihanna’s backside when joining her on stage at the Video Music Awards last September, transcends his Pretty Flacko persona on his highly-anticipated debut album, Long.Live.A$AP.

While most rappers have used their trials to justify their gravitation to street life, on Long.Live.A$AP’s “Phoenix” the 24-year-old MC offers another perspective – depression.

The rapper whose parents named him Rakim, after the respected hip-hop icon, said hard times have sometimes lead him to consider taking his life.

In the opening lyrics of “Phoenix,” he raps, “Bloody ink on my pen spelled suicide. Michael Jackson even passed because you scrutinized.”

A$AP takes a few lines to boast but returns to describing the impact of being the victim of lies, referencing the likes of Kurt Kobain and Jesus Christ. Instead of offering a venomous response to his detractors, A$AP decided to better himself: “That’s why I never judged another n-gga,” he rhymes.