The '80s was hip-hop's Wild West. These 10 essential Golden Era albums defined the genre and still hit like a brick today.

A few of old-school hip-hop's finest. Photo illustration by Ellie Skrzat for Slate. Photos by Vince Bucci/Getty Images, Stringer PN/Reuters, Blake Sell/Reuters, and Mario Anzuoni/Reuters. This summer ...

In August 1973, the Jamaican-born Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell held his first block party in the Bronx, bringing the Jamaican sound system culture to America and inadvertently providing the first ...

Hip-hop might have been birthed in the ‘80s; however it wasn't until the ‘90s when the genre started to take off. It was an era of legends like Nas, the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, and more who earned ...

This article has been handpicked from the Okayplayer editorial archives and included in our Hip Hop 50 collection as a noteworthy inclusion to the genre's rich and diverse narrative. The article has ...

On August 11, 1973, hip-hop was born, changing music and popular culture forever. But in each decade since, the genre has been distinct, with its own style, stars and sounds. In honor of hip-hop’s ...

The music may be the straw that stirs the drink in terms of it being the driving force behind hip-hop's popularity, but when it comes to culture as a whole, there are many facets of the culture, which ...

The ’70s, ’80s and ’90s were a musically powerful moment in history where artists like David Bowie, 2Pac, Queen, The Bee Gees and Dr. Dre paved the way to our current modern hits. Here is a list of ...