It was the best of hip-hop times. It was the worst of hip-hop times. Ha! 2025 was a rollercoaster of rap music’s highs and lows. The duality was so real. I can’t recall a year with such a wide array ...

A recent tiff between underground rap promo pages has sparked an impassioned online debate about the definition of “gimmick rappers” over the past week. Most of it is boring and wrapped up in ...

In 2016, as "mumble rap" was being used as a slur for the first time, and SoundCloud had become a bolt-hole offering asylum to young hip-hop castoffs, a handful of the movement's defining figures were ...

Week in and week out, there are plenty of brand-new rap songs, no matter the time of year. It can be really difficult to stay aware of what's out and also what's hot, so XXL decided to make things ...