ALL: Best Of

Thanks to Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C., rap finally went mainstream. But decoding the freshest Black sound in decades would take much longer.

These albums reflect 12 months of listening to and writing about the music that the genre’s artists have to offer.

In 2005, Young Jeezy led a Southern trap paradigm shift, marking the beginning of the end of East Coast hip-hop dominance.

Despite standout work by Wu-Tang Clan and others, the rap industry warred with itself, yielding an unmistakable feeling of dread.

Thanks to stars like Run-D.M.C. and Roxanne Shanté, rap grew fitfully into a pop culture fixture. But respect for the art remained elusive.

As rap teetered between pop corporatism, brilliance and malaise, the eccentric MF DOOM as well as exotic Southern sounds offered redemption.

By 1994, hip-hop had clearly evolved into a generational movement. But its innocent sensibility was lost in the process.

Hip-hop in 1984 brought Fresh Fest superstars Run-DMC and Whodini, Melle Mel’s breakout year, and the beginning of the Roxanne wars.