Loud Sound Studios is home to two of Rwanda's up-and-coming hip-hop acts: Pro-Zed and Kenny K-Shot. Hip-hop is all about the beats and the flow. For two Rwandan artists, that flow sometimes comes in ...

Doechii’s “Nissan Altima” emerged as one of 2025’s most discussed breakout rap tracks. Featuring stinging lyricism, dramatic cries and jolting beat changes, the track showcased her range and ...

You might say it was Drake, DJ Premier, or Ice Cube. But the real idea of a beat flip starts with the DJ. In the early days of hip-hop—when DJing was the center of the action and park jams at rec ...

Every month, The FADER's Vivian Medithi showcases all the standout rap songs from the past 30-ish days in one unranked list. Over the sort of subtle ShunGu beat that makes you sit up and listen a ...

As hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, headlines swirled around its potentially diminishing force as a commercial juggernaut: The first half of the year didn’t see a rap song or album ...

The best rap beats are nerdy as hell. Every drum placement, every melody, every chopped-up sample sends me down a YouTube rabbit hole trying to piece together the way a producer contorts and dissects ...

Read previous Rap Columns here. 30. Sexyy Red, “Fake Jammin” 29. zayALLCAPS, “Boy (V)” 28. Lisha G, “Whatcha Got” 27. J.P., “Come and see” 26 ...

The producer Kenny Beats has noticed some strange phenomena at his shows over the past few years. For one, the crowds have gotten noticeably bigger, as have merch sales and streams. But most notably, ...

We should address the elephant in the room: hip-hop did not have a strong year on the charts. In fact, rap music had its worst showing in years. Back in October, it made headlines when—for the first ...