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Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most successful rap collectives in the history of the genre, were always undoubtedly more than the sum of their parts: each rapper affiliated with the crew, from ODB to Raekwon, brought his own spitfire rapping prowess. But ask any Wu-Tang fan and there’s never a question as to which group member ran the show. From producing nearly all of the group’s material, to overseeing its creative vision, RZA has always had his hands on all the dials. In later years, he would branch out, testing the solo waters before venting into the world of film, where he’s  served as an actor and now, with The Man With the Iron Fists, a director as well. So, in honor of his debut behind the lens — and its superb accompanying soundtrack — we’re dedicating this edition of Flashback Friday to the one and only RZA.

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Eminem is 40. Yes, you read that correctly. The foul-mouthed, no-nonsense rapper from Detroit who, thanks to a co-sign from Dr. Dre, broke into the mainstream in 1999 with his brash debut, The Slim Shady LP, turned the big four-zero this past week. Wow, that makes us feel old! But it also reminds us how long the man born Marshall Mathers has been spitting wise and delivering arguably some of the best music in hip-hop history. With Em’s birthday this week, we found ourselves revisiting some of his most cherished material. And so we thought we’d share some of our memories of Eminem for this edition of Flashback Friday. Enjoy!

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Things have come full circle for Ben Gibbard. The singer-songwriter and principal voice behind rock outfit Death Cab For Cutie jump-started his career in 1997 as a solo artist, recording under the name All-Time Quarterbackl he only added a band when it became abundantly clear that he was quite the talent. Now, over a decade later, Gibbard is set to release his official solo debut, Former Lives. But it’s undoubtedly Death Cab — which includes band members Chris Walla, Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr — that has helped propel him to stardom. So in honor of Gibbard’s major moment we’re looking back at the massive success of his band. To that end, this edition of Flashback Friday is dedicated to Death Cab For Cutie.

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It’s no secret: the careers of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera have run parallel to one another. And it’s a fact both artists have been made aware of ever since they sprung on the pop-music landscape with platinum-selling debut albums as teenagers in the late-Nineties. Now both are pitted against each other again once more, each currently holding down posts as reality-singing-competition judges on X-Factor and The Voice, respectively. But as a fan of either singer can attest to, the paths of Britney and Christina have diverged along the way, revealing each to be a distinct and highly-complex artist. So for this edition of Flashback Friday we’re comparing and contrasting the mega-wattage careers of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. This is Britney Vs. Christina or Christina Vs. Britney (depending on how you see it).

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In an era when rock music has supposedly gone to die, three punks from the East Bay named Billie Joe, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt keep on pluggin’ away. And it’d be more than expected for these perennial punks, who call themselves Green Day to simply rest on their laurels; at this point in their storied career, after going from “Basket Case” to Broadway, it would really only be fair. But rather they returned this week with Uno!, the first of three successive releases (Dos drops in November and Tre follows in early 2013). Yes, we know that Billie Joe had a bit of a temper tantrum last week at the iHeartMusic festival in Las Vegas and is now doing a subsequent stint in rehab, but that’s certainly not going to stop us from honoring his and his band’s unreal accomplishments. Yup, this week Flashback Friday is dedicated to Green Day.
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