The year was 1988. Hip-hop music was really taking shape thanks to big name artists like Run-DMC, The Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J. It was a year before the Grammy Awards would hand out the first ...

A hit song from one of the most successful artists of all time has landed in a surprising place on a music ranking. Even though it was embraced by the masses, Eminem's "Rap God" was named the "worst ...

To get you in the mood for Valentine’s Day, here are some of The Root’s favorite rap love songs. While hip-hop is often characterized by its bravado and aggression, the genre has also flourished ...

Ridley Scott's inimitable 1979 sci-fi thriller, Alien, expertly ratchets up the tension by not having the titular alien show up on screen until roughly an hour into the film. Following in Scott's ...

Rap in 2025 was all about experimentation. From the year’s first runaway hit, NBA player-turned-musician Gelo’s single “Tweaker,” to the maximalist ecclesiastics of Playboi Carti’s Music, or even in ...

Every year, we’re told that hip-hop is in crisis. But if you ask us, it feels like there’s too much heat to keep up with. What’s lost on the chart-watchers lamenting rap’s mainstream lull is that the ...

Yesterday, Billboard deputy editor and Stereogum buddy Andrew Unterberger published a piece with some confusing implications: On last week's Billboard Hot 100, there were no rap songs in the top 40.

For the first time in more than 35 years, no rap songs appear in the Billboard Hot 100's top 40. The streak came to an end on the chart dated Oct. 25, 2025, following the fall of Kendrick Lamar and ...

For the first time since February 1990 — over 35 years — the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 contained zero rap songs on the chart dated October 25, 2025 The removal of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “luther,” ...

With Kendrick Lamar and SZA's 13-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Luther" falling off the Hot 100 dated Oct. 25, 2025, there were officially no rap songs in the chart's top 40 last week. The ...

Billboard's recent rule change ends a three-decade-long streak for the genre Michael Owens/Getty Kendrick Lamar's hit song "Luther," featuring SZA, fell off the Billboard Hot 100 chart The list now ...