The Art of War, or, The Calculus of the Diss Track

The most electrifying times in hip hop are when emcees take to the booth to lay down verses going after their rivals. It feels like these intentionally public airings-out happen about as often as a really good election season, when it is time…

Diving Into The Golden Age of Hip Hop (1988–1990)

Stepping (but ain’t no half-steppin’) Into the Golden Age of Hip Hop (1986–1987)

Height of the Golden Age of Hip Hop (1991–1993)

1991 proved to be a big year for hip hop with cultural value and significance. Surely the commercial success of MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice the year before got A&R types excited to break the next cash cow, and the fans of rap music were prepared to…

The Birth and Infancy of Hip Hop

On August 11, 1973, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York, there was a party. Clive Campbell and…

Top Five Music Movies

Readers of this publication will easily agree that music is a crucial element of memory and plays a role in how we not only enjoy life but how we remember it. Popular culture ties a very visible thread to the memories that we as a society share and, depending on our coming of age period…

Top Five (which happen to be) Female Emcees

The G.O.A.T. discussion is consistently dominated by rappers who happen to be male. It borders on awful to, in 2016, separate the female emcees into their own list, but rather than let some of the great (which happen to be) women be denied their due…

Top Five Maybe Not (OK, Totally) Dead Rappers

So many of the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) conversations call for your “top…