For fans and critics who intellectualize it, gangsta rap, or “reality rap,” is serious business. For them, the defining genre of West Coast hip-hop represents true stories from the ’hood as told by ...

If a rapper were only to be known for one song, it’s hard to beat “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Coolio’s signature No. 1 smash in 1995 was voted the best single of the year in the Village Voice’s “Pazz & Jop” ...

With “Dipset Anthem”, the Diplomats created an immortal song. For our latest Behind the Beat, Rsonist (of The Heatmakerz) tells Thomas Hobbs why we’re still listening to that “gangsta music” 20 years ...

Do Music Reviews Even Matter Anymore? From one-listen reviews to polarizing scores, music criticism has traded patience for speed, leaving artists and audiences wondering how music is even measured ...

Memphis rap is enjoying a spotlight moment, with the likes of GloRilla, Moneybagg Yo, NLE Choppa and others, turning out hit singles, platinum albums and earning more mainstream acclaim than any ...

The pop charts have been a dangerous place for much of the past two decades. When N.W.A’s Efil4zaggin hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1991, it established gangsta rap as a viable commercial ...

Rapper. Actor. Architect? Most people donNt know Ice Cube earned a certificate in architecture from the Phoenix Institute of Technology. YNknow, just in case the genre-creating music thing didnNt work ...

When Dr. Dre and his N.W.A bandmates released their 1988 debut album “Straight Outta Compton,” they immortalized the city as the birthplace of West Coast gangsta rap. Over the next few decades, many ...

He’s straight outta synagogue. Nissim Black, a black Orthodox Jewish rapper from the streets of Seattle, landed in New York with a bang this week, headlining a concert in Passaic, N.J., Thursday and ...

Memphis rap pioneers were celebrated at the RiverBeat Music Festival in Memphis. The concert paid tribute to the late Gangsta Boo, a prominent figure in Memphis rap. Memphis rap is enjoying a ...