Let’s take a vote. For everyone who believes that the 1990s were the best years for rap music, raise your hand. Okay, that’s one… two… three… all of you ...

Music changes in strange ways. Sometimes it happens so slowly you barely notice, like watching grass grow. Other times, an ...

In terms of artistic advancement, many rap fans would probably not consider Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” a genre-shifting single. However, regarding popular appeal, they probably would, as it was the ...

Editor’s note: This story is part of That’s My Word, an ongoing KQED series about Bay Area hip-hop history. “I’ll never lose that spirit, but I don’t miss being on the street from morning to night,” ...

*The week of October 25, 2025, marked an unprecedented setback for hip-hop: according to The AV Club, no rap songs made the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40. The long-running hit “Luther” by SZA and Kendrick ...

When Nas said “hip-hop is dead,” this certainly isn’t what he meant. Since 1990, rap music has topped the music charts as arguably the most impactful genre in the world. But for the first time in ...

Salt-N-Pepa at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony (Photo credit: Nagashia Jackson) Salt-N-Pepa, a name that symbolizes their spicy and bold approach to music, emerged from Queens, New York, in 1986 ...

Photo screenshot: Clipse YOUTUBE/ Clipse - So Be It (Official Music Video) Clipse made their stance crystal clear about what constitutes essential hip-hop knowledge during a recent festival appearance ...

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Young Bleed, a popular rapper in the 1990s, has died of complications from a brain aneurysm, just days after he was rushed to a hospital. Young Bleed’s son, Ty’Gee Ramon, ...

*The week of October 25, 2025, marked an unprecedented setback for hip-hop: according to The AV Club, no rap songs made the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40. Billboard links some of this change to new ...