From MPCs to FL Studio sessions, one thing remains consistent across generations of Hip Hop and R&B: The power of the sample. With that said, few eras have been mined more heavily than the 1980s. With ...

From Clipse to Metro Boomin and Cardi B, the year was full of memorable rap songs that expanded and experimented with the ...

Slang and fashion are two relatively well-known facets of our society that stem from hip-hop. Whether it’s a unique catchphrase or a physical, nonverbal greeting, hip-hop’s influence on how we ...

Hear where moments of Kraftwerk, Enya, Herb Alpert and more ended up in producers’ deft hands. By Lindsay Zoladz Today’s playlist is a celebration of a tried-and-true method of discovering new-to-you ...

While hip-hop is continuously in a state of innovation, early on its ear for music was attached to the sounds its earliest listeners enjoyed partying to.

The world has come to stand and acknowledge the 50-year mark of the assassination of a man who is defined as being the most influential civil rights leader in American history, Dr. Martin Luther King ...

(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 ...

Welcome to The State of R&B, ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, ESSENCE editor Rivéa Ruff reports on the blending of hip-hop and R&B. Since the ...

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, it is crucial to set the record straight about its origins. Despite the genre’s massive influence and global reach, there are still many misconceptions ...

Since the mid-1980s when hip-hop fully entered the popular culture, filmmakers have been including dope beats and great rhymes in the soundtracks of their movies, creating some of the best soundtracks ...