Menu Close

Articles on rappers

Displaying all articles

Hip-hop culture spread quickly – to places like London, seen here in 1984. Kerstin Rodgers/Redferns

Hip-hop at 50: 7 essential listens to celebrate rap’s widespread influence

On Aug. 11, 1973, a block party in the Bronx spawned a genre that would go on to influence nearly all aspects of US culture – and the music, fashion and art of countries around the world.
Hip hop artists, from top left, clockwise, DMX, Lexii Alijai, Prince Markie Dee and Trugoy the Dove have all passed away within the past decade. Getty Images

Hip-hop and health – why so many rap artists die young

As hip-hop turns 50, an unfortunate reality is that so many of its pioneering artists never live to see much more than 50 years themselves, a professor of hip-hop writes.
Busta Rhymes and P. Daddy’s song “Pass the Courvoisier” was a major hit in 2001, and reportedly led to a significant rise in the brand’s US sales. Busta Rhymes/YouTube

From Black GIs to Puff Daddy: how African Americans fell in love with cognac

Legend has it that African Americans soldiers brought back a love of cognac after service in Europe in World War II. It’s a lovely story, but the history goes back much further.
Numerous rap songs criticize the Reagan administration for its complicity in the illicit drug trade. Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Rap artists have penned plenty of lyrics about US presidents – this course examines what they say about Reagan and the 1980s

Ronald Reagan may have been known as ‘The Great Communicator,’ but rap artists don’t view his legacy through such rose-colored glasses. A professor of Black studies and history takes a closer look.
Flowers are laid near the scene of a mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

Scapegoating rap hits new low after July Fourth mass shooting

Since rap music emerged in mainstream culture in the late 1980s, politicians have derided its lyrics and imagery as violent. Over the years, rap has become an easy target to blame for violence.
Neither 50 Cent, left, nor Ice Cube, right, herald a previously undetected Black male movement to reelect President Donald Trump. AP Photo

Are 50 Cent, Ice Cube and young Black men the supporters who will enable Trump’s return to the White House? Not exactly

Despite the attention paid by the press when two Black hip-hop artists signaled their support for Donald Trump, they do not represent swelling enthusiasm for Trump from young, Black men.
Rapper Skibkhan in the video for ‘Shob Chup,’ which condemns the culture of silence around poverty and inequality in Bangladesh. YouTube

Bangladeshi rappers wield rhymes as a weapon, with Tupac as their guide

In voicing youthful outrage over inequality and violence, Bangladeshi rappers are creating a powerful form of protest music — just as American MCs have done for 40 years.

Top contributors

More