featured rap albums
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- Killer Mike
- R.A.P. Music
- Vital and exciting, R.A.P. Music finds the Atlanta rapper working exclusively with adventurous hip-hop producer El-P.
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- B.o.B
- Strange Clouds
- With Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, and Nicki Minaj among his guests, the pop-rapper remains thrilling and persuasive on this sophomore effort.
- El-P
- Cancer4Cure
- After putting his beloved Def Jux label "on hiatus", the producer/rapper returns with proof positive that he's been focusing on his craft.
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- Rye Rye
- Go! Pop! Bang!
- Baltimore's hyperkinetic Rye Rye makes her long awaited debut on Go! Pop! Bang!
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- Nicki Minaj
- Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
- Half of the rapper/singer's sophomore effort delivers on its promise of the wild-mixtape-Nicki gone legit, while the remainder is safe pop.
- Krizz Kaliko
- Kickin' & Screamin'
- Building on all the fun packed into his previous effort, Kickin' & Screamin' finds the dark and dramatic rapper offering something both sour and sweet.
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- Death Grips
- The Money Store
- The avant hip-hop crew offer a dark ball of anti-matter rap on their exciting major-label debut.
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- Original Soundtrack
- The Hunger Games: Songs…
- This soundtrack's mix of folk, country, rock, and rap pays tribute to the roots and moods of The Hunger Games' violent, riveting story.
- Odd Future
- The OF Tape, Vol. 2
- Although their official debut is merely a mixtape, Off Future remains a vital force in the hip-hop underground with this thrilling set.
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- Diggy
- Unexpected Arrival
- The 16-year-old son of Run-D.M.C.'s Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons charms on this ambitious pop-rap debut.
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- Chiddy Bang
- Breakfast
- For those who like positive hip-hop with plenty of electro, Breakfast is a great way to start the day.
- Azealia Banks
- 1991
- Featuring the massive "212," the Harlem rapper/singer combines fierce rhymes and sweaty house music on this sharp EP.
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- Madlib
- Madlib Medicine Show:…
- The underground hip-hop producer's ambitious series gets boxed -- or bricked -- with all 12 volumes (and a secret 13th volume) collected.
- THEESatisfaction
- awE naturalE
- Stellar Sub Pop debut from a Seattle-based duo who hold their own with fellow alternative rap/R&B; veterans such as Georgia Anne Muldrow and Sa-Ra.
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- Curren$y
- The Stoned Immaculate
- A surprisingly ambitious attempt to connect with a wide audience, this is a great introduction to the stoned flow of Currensy.
- Gang Colours
- The Keychain Collection
- Following a track on a Brownswood Bubblers compilation and an EP, Gang Colours' debut album sticks to a subdued hybrid of downtempo and U.K. garage.
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- Spoek Mathambo
- Father Creeper
- The African dubstep producer makes the "hard truths" sound like "real talk" on his eclectic and unsettling sophomore effort.
- Far East Movement
- Dirty Bass
- Justin Bieber, Tyga, Flo Rida, and Pitbull all help the pop-rap/dance-pop group bring the party on this 2012 release.
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about rap
Rap's germination is sometimes attributed to the righteous street poetry of the Last Poets and the Watts Prophets, but it didn't begin to take full shape -- and earn its tag -- until after the Sugarhill Gang released "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. Since then, rap spread from its New York epicenter throughout the remainder of the U.S. (with each region taking on its own specific flavor) and then to countless countries. Rap's core components are beats and rhymes, but that simplicity belies the wide range of sounds that have sprung from them. Instrumentalists, a sampled breakbeat, or a drum machine can form the backbone of a track, while an arrangement can be spaciously spare or chaotically dense, and a chorus can range from atonal shouting to a sweet melody. Detractors were still calling rap a fad in 1985, when LL Cool J released his first single. They were doing the same thing when, roughly 20 years later, the same MC released his tenth album, and they'll probably continue to do so as long as the genre exists. Should rap ever die, which isn't likely, it would be far too late to prevent its effect on most other music forms, from R&B; to rock to jazz.
