The best rap beats are nerdy as hell. Every drum placement, every melody, every chopped-up sample sends me down a YouTube rabbit hole trying to piece together the way a producer contorts and dissects ...

In a year that had no rap songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 for the first time since 1990, rap thrived in so many other ways. This list of the 25 best rap albums of 2025 includes grand ...

Rap in 2025 was all about experimentation. From the year’s first runaway hit, NBA player-turned-musician Gelo’s single “Tweaker,” to the maximalist ecclesiastics of Playboi Carti’s Music, or even in ...

Every year, we’re told that hip-hop is in crisis. But if you ask us, it feels like there’s too much heat to keep up with. What’s lost on the chart-watchers lamenting rap’s mainstream lull is that the ...

Back when hip-hop was seeping out of New York City and becoming the soundtrack of urban American, red states preferred the rootsy melodies of country music. In those years, the idea of combining the ...

Every month, The FADER's Vivian Medithi showcases all the standout rap songs from the past 30-ish days in one unranked list. After opening up for Lil Tecca on tour in 2024, 18-year-old tana has been ...