While hip-hop is continuously in a state of innovation, early on its ear for music was attached to the sounds its earliest listeners enjoyed partying to.

Hip-hop has had a strong connection to reggae music since the days of DJ Kool Herc’s summer house parties in the early 1970s. Hip-hop’s foundation was built on elements of the Jamaican sound system ...

From MPCs to FL Studio sessions, one thing remains consistent across generations of Hip Hop and R&B: The power of the sample. With that said, few eras have been mined more heavily than the 1980s. With ...

Sampling has been a cornerstone of hip-hop since its inception, with producers repurposing existing music to create entirely new sonic landscapes. A standout hip-hop sample is more than just a looped ...

Sampling originated from DJ Kool Herc's Merry-Go-Round technique. Over time, the technique evolved and has created hip-hop songs with ties that go back decades. The legal battles with clearing samples ...

Hip-hop has existed for over 50 years, and since its inception, the genre has mastered the art of sampling to create some of the most iconic records in music history. Effectively using a sample ...

Following the release of De La Soul’s latest album, ‘Cabin in the Sky,’ Okayplayer ranks De La Soul albums from worst to best. Since the last one blew up, here’s one you probably didn’t know 👀 ...

House music being celebrated in new songs from big-time acts like Drake and Beyoncé has turned into a huge conversation as of late, but the fast-paced, drum and hi-hat-riddled genre has always had a ...

Funk allowed Black musicians and their audiences to shapeshift and speak truth to power—even while speaking in tongues. But as Stanley Nelson and Nicole London’s documentary WE WANT THE FUNK! reveals, ...