The 125 Best Rap Singles of 1996
October 1, 2026
Amid a rap industry wrought by conflict on and offstage, 2Pac pioneered a new kind of Black antihero that sparks heated debate to this day.
ALL: Hip-Hop 1990s
The 125 Best Rap Singles of 1995
June 18, 2025
Despite standout work by Wu-Tang Clan and others, the rap industry warred with itself, yielding an unmistakable feeling of dread.
The 125 Best Rap Singles of 1994
June 8, 2024
By 1994, hip-hop had clearly evolved into a generational movement. But its innocent sensibility was lost in the process.
The Best Rap Singles: Former Entries
December 21, 2023
The Best Rap Singles series began in 2020 and has undergone changes in the years since. This list of entries shows what’s been removed.
Valentino, Inc
September 4, 2023
Few seem to know that one of the key brands in the 1992 film Juice is Valentino, Inc, a now-defunct library music company.
The 125 Best Rap Singles of 1993
March 28, 2023
The year 1993 reflected the music industry’s “see if it sticks” approach to rap, resulting in a boundless variety of peaks and valleys.
Mapping the Hip-Hop Nation in the 1990s
November 21, 2022
By 1990, hip-hop culture had inspired regional scenes across the United States. A series of maps attempted to mark the changes.
The 100 Best Rap Singles of 1991: 2Pac
September 15, 2022
With his debut solo single, it was clear that 2Pac would be a very different artist from his Digital Underground crew.
The 100 Best Rap Singles of 1992
March 17, 2022
The year marked the beginning of the second half of the “golden era,” when the genre’s greatest peaks and worst tragedies were just beyond the horizon.
A Company Flow Fan’s DJ Bag in 1997
February 21, 2022
As I spent the weekend revisiting Company Flow’s Funcrusher Plus, I began to wonder…what other records did I spin as an amateur DJ in 1997?
The 100 Best Rap Singles of 1991
October 9, 2021
Of all the years when rap music grew into a global movement – the golden age years – 1991 may be the most difficult to summarize.
1996: The Year of the Sista
September 10, 2021
In an essay originally written for Maura magazine, the 1996 renaissance of female rappers resonates as a time of missed opportunity.