How young is too young to talk to your kids about rap? For a Louder co-host, the arrival of a Biggie-loving toddler changed everything about how he hears hip-hop — especially women's place within it.
From Kendrick Lamar and Megan Thee Stallion to Coldplay, here they are: the magnificent, the flawed-but-forceful, the forgettable and the truly, epically misbegotten.
Rico Nasty and her fans know what it's like to be judged for being themselves. For anyone who feels like an outsider, Nasty Mob is a space to forget that alienation.
A longtime hero of the underground rap scene for his worldly, wily lyrics that are erudite and streetwise, billy woods has made his clearest, most engaging album yet with Maps.
Since 2019, Saucy Santana has been a regular presence on the social web, producing several streaming hits. But the very qualities that set him apart threatened to hold him back.
In 2016, a rift between hitmakers showed the limits of rap's tolerance for rule-breakers. As Mark Anthony Neal explains, "authentic" Black masculinity has always been a moving target in hip-hop.
In 2005, Kim Osorio sued The Source for gender discrimination, sexual harassment and hostile work environment, retaliation, defamation. Responses to the case reinforced hip-hop's culture of silence.
Like her idol Trina two decades earlier, Latto saw her creativity open up when she started rapping explicitly about sex. But with her frankness came harsh new standards to live up to.
