Outkast's debut album established southern rap in the mainstream

Southern rap redefined the sound of hip-hop in the '90s

In the 1980s, most attention focused on New York, the birthplace of hip-hop, and Los Angeles, the epicenter of its burgeoning gangsta variant. By the mid-90s, though, artists like Outkast, Master P, and Missy Elliott shifted the focus to the south.

Hip-hop gained significant popularity in the 21st century

Although hip-hop and rap music were popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it was ubiquitous in the early 2000s, with 20 songs in the Billboard top 10 in 2003 alone. The surge was due in no small part to Jay-Z and Eminem, who were the biggest names in the genre.

The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ introduced hip-hop to the masses

While it’s not technically the first hip-hop song set to record—that’s Fatback Band’s “King Tim III (Personality Jock)”—1979’s ”Rapper’s Delight” is the song that proved rap was worth putting on wax and introducing the music to a broader audience by reaching the US top 40.

Jazz built the template for hip-hop

Hip-hop was born out of obscure samples, including many that were taken from the annals of jazz. That style was especially popular in rap's early eras, with the subgenre "jazz rap" becoming an accurate descriptor for New York groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Gangstarr.

Kendrick Lamar's breakthrough concept album was inspired by real events

The rapper's 2012 album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" follows a young, impressionable protagonist who unwittingly becomes associated with a series of crimes. As this episode of the "Disgraceland" podcast explains, Lamar's album may be nonlinear and impressionistic, but it's based on autobiographical elements.

The 100 best hip-hop albums of all time

Although it still sounds youthful, hip-hop reached middle age in 2023, reaching its 50th anniversary. This Pitchfork list of the genre's 100 best albums spans the entire history of the genre. Despite a few controversial picks, it's still worth a read, if only to dig back into some classics.

Daft Punk's 2006 set helped mainstream electronic dance music

Daft Punk's 2006 Coachella set wasn't just a performance—it was a turning point for electronic music. Their futuristic pyramid, dazzling visuals, and seamless live mixing captivated a packed crowd and pushed EDM into the mainstream.

How smooth jazz took over the '90s

As jazz entered the '70s, it was at a crossroads. While the genre's figureheads explored fusion and free jazz, which intentionally flouted mainstream convention, other artists began veering towards pop. Eventually, that sound would be called "smooth jazz."

How British youth resurrected overlooked American soul music

Motown released some of the 1960s' biggest soul records and changed the sound of pop music. The label also inspired countless smaller, regional labels that released songs by lesser-known artists that received limited attention. That changed with the rise of British Northern Soul, an underground scene that repurposed these obscure records (including several overlooked Motown releases) for all-night dance parties and, in the process, minted some unexpected American superstars.

Country's sound continues to evolve

Country music is having a moment. In 2023, it saw the biggest growth in market share of any genre—up nearly 22%. This overview traces country’s rise from Appalachian folk roots to its current pop, rock, and hip-hop-infused wave, with artists like Beyoncé and Post Malone joining the mix.

Prince pioneered what would come to be known as 'the Minneapolis Sound'

Inspired by eclectic artists like Sly and the Family Stone, as well as lesser-known mentors and peers in the Twin Cities, Prince blended R&B, rock, pop, new wave, soul, funk, punk, and more, creating a sound that defied easy categorization.

Champagne has a rich history in hip-hop

The drink is both aspirational and a bragging right. Famous artists name-check brands like Cristal, and up-and-comers long for the day when sparkling wine will flow like water. The trend traces back to the early 1990s and Branson B., “hip-hop’s unofficial sommelier.” The Harlem-based artist would bring bottles of his favorite bubbly to parties, celebrations, and, crucially, recording studios, where friends like the Notorious B.I.G. were laying down some of rap’s foundational tracks.

Ray Charles' 'Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music' albums blurred genre lines

Released in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, Charles’ records showed that country music, by then largely segregated, was an American music, no matter one’s background.

How underground radio revitalized rock 'n' roll

Early FM was a wasteland and quickly became the domain of amateurs and risk-takers, including many stations and DJs who played music that flew in the face of mainstream trends. This history of the band's scrappy beginnings unpacks how it realigned the rock charts.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

How the Wu-Tang Clan built a hip-hop empire

“Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” is considered one of the greatest rap albums of all time, but it was just the start of a career that would eventually include dozens of solo albums, a clothing brand, and a video game. This retrospective breaks down how the Staten Island group made it happen.

'Livery Stable Blues' was the first jazz recording and helped popularize the genre

The 1917 song by the Original Dixieland Jass Band was the first jazz recording to be issued and put the New Orleans sound on the national stage, along with inspiring several soundalikes.

Bad Brains sped up punk, creating hardcore

Punk was already fast, but Washington’s Bad Brains pushed the tempo even further, creating music that would come to be known as hardcore, influencing acts like Minor Threat, Nirvana, and countless others. The band was hardly one-dimensional. Their self-titled debut bounced between blistering hardcore and slow-burning reggae about Rastafarianism.

The internet has changed the definition of a cult classic

Cult classics were often established slowly over time, often through alternative outlets, like independent video and record stores, underground magazines, and tape trading. The internet has put those delivery methods on hyperdrive, helping to splinter the notion of a mainstream monoculture. The Ringer's Miles Surrey wonders whether anything can have a "cult following" if everything now exists outside the "mainstream."

Basquiat helped move graffiti from the streets to the galleries

He took graffiti's aesthetics—cryptic slogans, bold colors, and repurposed iconography—and placed them on his canvases, helping to create what some called "post graffiti." These short documentaries, produced in 1982 and 1983, capture the nascent movement as it emerged in the mainstream art world.

Rockwell's 'Murder in Mississippi (Southern Justice)' was a response to real events

The 1965 painting was inspired by the 1964 murders of three men—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. The men were affiliated with the Council on Racial Equity and killed by the Ku Klux Klan in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The painting accompanied an article about the inequities of the justice system, which is why its title often includes the parenthetical "(Southern Justice)."

The Great Migration helped transform Harlem into the epicenter of Black culture

Starting in 1910, millions of Black Americans moved from the South to escape segregation, violence, and dismal work opportunities. They moved to urban areas in the North, Midwest, and West. Chief among them was Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood, which became an especially desirable location for Black people around 1910.

The history of the 808, the drum machine that changed pop music

Roland's TR-808 is one of the most consequential pieces of gear in the history of popular music, providing the framework for innovative hip-hop, dance, and pop records in the early 1980s.

The first Grammys acknowledged only 4 genres

At the first Grammys, there were six awards presented in four genres: classical, jazz, country, and R&B. But over time, it became clear that plenty of music didn't fit neatly into those categories. Now there are more than a dozen genres recognized, spanning multiple cultures and continents.

How one trial tested the limits of satirical music

The rapper Afroman, who earned jokey hits in the '90s with songs like "Because I Got High," was taken into court by police officers by police officers in Adams County, Ohio, who alleged that he'd defamed them in his songs. The music in question was recorded after those officers raided his house and satirized the situation, often in graphic terms. The rapper beat the case, but not before his satirical songs were analyzed in court.

The Mississippian culture mastered corn cultivation, long-distance trade, and complex governance

From roughly 1100 to 1540, Mississippian peoples across what is now the Southeastern United States mastered corn cultivation, built political structures that organized large populations, and maintained trade networks that spanned much of the continent.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.