STOP THE BREAKS HIP-HOP • MUSIC • CULTURE

How Run-DMC Turned Sneakers Into Hip-Hop’s First Big Fashion Power Move

A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory Still Sounds Ahead of Its Time

Ed Sheeran’s Philadelphia Return Comes Without Openers After Macklemore Fallout

Hip-Hop History

The Night Outkast Made the South Impossible to Ignore

Missy Elliott and the Blueprint for Futuristic Mainstream Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop History

View all

Hip-Hop History

How “Rapper’s Delight” Turned Hip-Hop Into a National Business

Hip-Hop History

How “Walk This Way” Broke Hip-Hop Through MTV’s Wall

Hip-Hop History

How No Limit Records Built a Southern Hip-Hop Empire

Hip-Hop History

How Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad Turned Hip-Hop Into a Sonic and Political Force

Rankings & Lists

View all

Rankings & Lists

The 15 Greatest Hip-Hop Debut Albums That Went Gold or Platinum: A Defensible Way to Rank the Canon

Rankings & Lists

The 10 Hip-Hop Albums That Earned Diamond Status—and Why They Still Matter

Rankings & Lists

10 Essential G-Funk Albums That Defined West Coast Rap

Rankings & Lists

Female Rap Albums That Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200: A Chart-Milestone Ranking

Artists

View all

André 3000’s Flute Era and the Art of Reinvention

T-Pain and the Long Afterlife of Auto-Tune

Three 6 Mafia and the Memphis Blueprint for Trap

How Rick Ross Turned Luxury Rap Into a Business Model

Albums

View all

Why Illmatic Still Defines East Coast Rap

How Mobb Deep’s The Infamous Became the Blueprint for Queensbridge Hardcore Rap

OutKast’s ATLiens and the Beautiful Loneliness of Southern Hip-Hop

How Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Built the Wu-Tang Solo Empire

Culture

View all

How College Radio Became Hip-Hop’s Underground Launchpad

Why Sampling Became Hip-Hop’s Most Important Creative Tool—and Its Hardest Business Problem

How Breaking Became Hip-Hop’s Most Global Culture Carrier

Why the Mixtape Became Hip-Hop’s Ultimate Proving Ground

News

View all

Drake’s ‘FOMO’ Finally Lands, With New Music, Fresh Visuals and a 2027 Tour Tease

Snoop Dogg Will Host the 2026 VMAs as MTV Brings the Show Back to Los Angeles

Macklemore’s Palestine Comments at MetLife Show Trigger Backlash and Tour Petition

Drake Finally Sets a Date for His Cryptic ‘FOMO’ Rollout