Some of rap’s biggest songs almost ended up in entirely different hands. Producers often shop beats around, but whether due to timing, personal taste, or fate, some artists pass on tracks that later ...

This story is part of our new Hip-Hop: ’73 Till Infinity series, a celebration of the genre’s 50th anniversary. Producers are just as (if not more) important than MCs on a track. As much as fans care ...

As hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, headlines swirled around its potentially diminishing force as a commercial juggernaut: The first half of the year didn’t see a rap song or album ...

“Rapper’s Delight” will always be considered the song that introduced hip-hop to the masses. The Sugarhill Gang classic with its tongue-twisting opening – “I said a-hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to ...

Hip-hop has always been loud on the surface. Heavy drums, bold hooks, statements that refuse to whisper. Yet beneath that volume there is structure, and not just musical structure. There is design.

(ThyBlackMan.com) Few artists in hip-hop history have matched the meteoric rise and cultural impact of MC Hammer. Emerging from Oakland’s music scene in the late 1980s, he quickly evolved from a local ...

Thanks to great new singles from Beyoncé and Drake, it’s become the summer of hip hop with house beats. Larger-than-life figures like those two have the power to dominate the conversation and steer ...

Hip-hop didn’t just go viral on TikTok. It rewrote how songs blow up. Short hooks, simple dances, and fan participation now ...