These days, urban music can encompass dance pop, quiet-storm soul, and hardcore hip-hop, from Rihanna to Charlie Wilson, from Jill Scott to Lil Wayne in "How to Love" mode. This would all be confusing, except for one thing: You know an R&B track when you hear it. That's why our Urban Hits station mixes tracks from genre queens Beyoncé and Mary J Blige with adult-contemporary goddess Adele and rap heroine Nicki Minaj. All of them contribute to our current understanding of R&B as less of a fixed genre (or a fixed race) than an aesthetic. It's a style of music with deep roots in soul and an appreciation of pop music's boundless creativity. Most importantly, it retains the ability to speak to a wide international audience. So don't be surprised if you hear Rick Ross' "Aston Martin Music" after Trey Songz "Bottoms Up." This is the sound of R&B in 2011.Listen Now: Urban Hits
Each Christmas brings with it another glut of holiday soul albums. This year's crop includes 
It's nearing the end of the year, and there's no shortage of rappers trying to squeeze in an album for holiday shoppers. The big releases this month come from Drake, Wale, Gym Class Heroes and, surprisingly, Mac Miller. December brings The Roots, Common, and Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa. However, there are plenty of lower-profile albums worth a listen, too; so many, in fact, that I couldn't squeeze them in. I compiled a list of them at the end of this roundup.
Every rap season has that one rapper whose mere voice ensures radio airplay and paid downloads. Over the past 12 months, that artist has been 
On the cover of his second album, 
When 
Dwight "
There was once a time when Americans treated the idea of British rappers as a joke. How could the English, with their funny accents and halting rhymes, approach the dexterity and rhythm of quality hip-hop music? Those days ended with the classic 1997 compilation 
It's been a few months since we've done a roundup of new R&B albums. The summer was quiet, save for urban pop efforts from Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Lloyd and others. But the end of the year is usually prime time for soul artists, so the genre's output has increased. Perhaps the approaching winter months are to thank, inviting us to cuddle with our loved ones; more cynically, the perception that soul listeners skew older and stick to the classics may result in fewer new releases than most other genres enjoy. No matter the reason for the delay, I'm glad to finally hear some new soul music.
This year's major-label rap seems to lack ambition. From potentially groundbreaking Internet stars forced into awkward compromises (J Cole and Big Sean) and classic mixtapes gutted and truncated for retail release (Big K.R.I.T.'s R4 the Prequel) to imitations of past glories (see Jay-Z and Kanye West), the 2011 slate has been underwhelming so far. Perhaps that's why I've spent more time listening to indie rap records — or at least what's nominally considered "indie" — and mixtapes. They may not necessarily be better, but at least they don't have the burden of living up to marketing hype.
The mixtape-to-majors trajectory, and the implicit challenges of converting underground acclaim into a sustainable career, has become part of the modern rap narrative. But it's not the only path. We've all seen how 
A pair of Technics turntable decks will cost you around $800 — maybe cheaper if you can get them used (or if you opt for a lesser brand like Numark). A DJ mixer will set you back another $300. A copy of the Turntablist's Super Duck Breaks costs around $10, and you'll need two copies. But the ability to scratch like 
This month's Hip-Hop Roundup brings a mixed bag of goodies, from the underground satires of Das Racist and Serengeti to the well-chronicled stadium rap of Lil Wayne and Jay-Z & Kanye West. There's not much common ground between Ace Hood and Theophilus London — one's a star on the mixtape circuit, while the other gets more name-drops on fashion blogs than rap forums. Hip-hop in 2011 encompasses so many contrasting and conflicting styles that it takes a wide palette to enjoy it all.
It's a bit late to celebrate Juneteenth. After all, the annual holiday commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States doesn't take place in the middle of September, but at the beginning of summer, on June 19. Perhaps it's the onset of fall, though, that makes our thoughts turn to warmer months and memories of park jams, barbecue and family reunions.
We all reacted to the horrible events of September 11, 2001, in our own ways — wherever we were, whatever we were doing, whichever CD or radio station or fizzy pop single we first reached for to help us cope. Here, Rhapsody's editors offer their own musical perspectives, from saber-rattling country to hopeful worship music, from pop-punk bromides to plaintive protest songs, from the momentary tentativeness of comedy to the fieriness of hip-hop to the transcendence of jazz. As Sonny Rollins put it, "Maybe music can help. I don't know, but we have to try something." Here's what we tried. 
In case you were wondering, yes, I was one of those people who would spend months perfecting a mixtape, design a collage of artwork for it, and then shyly hand over the cassette tape to some crush I mooned over in hopes that she would get my special "message." Don't front like you didn't do that, too.
Hyper-talented, mercurial, unpredictable, prolific, hedonistic, and seemingly unstoppable, 
It's impossible to pay tribute to the late songwriter 
When 
Back in the '80s, the world's biggest rock bands gathered together for an annual stadium festival called Monsters of Rock. Though mostly a U.K. phenomenon, an American version featuring Van Halen and Metallica toured the States in 1988. Now, with the release of Jay-Z and Kanye West's 
"Wasn't I a good king?" complains 
Independent hip-hop is no longer split between "backpack" and "street." In 2011, the underground defies categorization, and artists like Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar (both from the Black Hippy crew) or Mellowhype (from Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) balance an unapologetic street ethos with a taste for complex sounds and themes. Even Sole, who helped create the modern indie-rap landscape with early '00s albums like 
The year 1983 must have been a crazy time to be a black teenager. 
Click here to listen to 
Welcome to the final installment of 
In an age of male vocalists who either whisper and croon, or modulate their voices with Auto-Tune and other "pitch-correcting" technology, 
Welcome to another edition of 
"Delayed gratification" is the theme of June's rap slate. Big Sean's Finally Famous has arrived long after the Detroit rapper signed to G.O.O.D. Music in 2007. Bad Meets Evil's Hell: The Sequel is a "follow-up" to an abandoned album once planned for the end of the '90s, back when 
When we think of 
Welcome to week two of 
By now we've got a pretty good handle on the biggest stars of 2011: 
Do a little dance y'all! (Like this y'all, like that y'all!) Feel the groove! (I feel it, I feel it now!) Make a little love now! (Ooh, aah, ooh ooh, aah!) This party's at the funhouse, we're rocking high-top fades, Cross Colours tees and high-top Jordans, and the sound is the New Jack Swing.
For weeks now, hip-hop has been dominated by 
Perhaps the best thing about 
Odd Future leader 
The dust has yet to settle on the indie-rap renaissance of the late '90s, with critics and fans fiercely divided on which albums constitute classics. One title they agree on is 
Humor in soul music hasn't been the same since everyone went hardcore in the late '80s. These days, if you want to cut a joke, you can't just make a corny novelty song like Bobby Jimmy & the Critters' "Roaches." You've got to do it cool and use plenty of ironic asides, sly put-downs and slang-filled allusions. 
Before we begin, please note that this isn't a collection of comedic rap songs, so you won't find any material from some of the genre's greatest humorists, such as 
The world of soul music may not generate as much product as rock or hip-hop, but it tends to have an outsized impact. Two of this year's best-selling records thus far came from Adele and Marsha Ambrosius, while Chris Brown's comeback album may be the most controversial. Beyond the headliners, there were troubadours like Noel Gourdin, Anthony David and Ginuwine, men who exemplified vintage R&B, and a lineage that stretches back to the late Teddy Pendergrass. Whether it's the Afropean neo-soul of Les Nubians or the dance pop gospel of Jennifer Hudson, when you hear soul music, you know it.
A blog post about the lyrical evolution of the 
Let's face it: Aubrey 
Initially formed in Minneapolis in 1994 as an outlet for cassette-only recordings, Rhymesayers have grown from a modest rap collective to perhaps the biggest indie rap label in the country (albeit distributed by Warner Bros.' Independent Label Group). In some ways, Rhymesayers earned that distinction just by being the last brand name standing because the indie rap scene is a shell of its former turn-of-the-century glory. But its roster of multiracial musical revolutionaries, from albino Muslim Brother Ali to crustcore emcee P.O.S., have loyal audiences, too. In 2008, flagship artist Atmosphere saw their 
Here at Rhapsody, none of us were high school age back in 1965, so we can only imagine what a genuine go-go was like. Our thoughts turn to the scene in Malcolm X when his assassins tour the Audubon Ballroom during a youth dance the night before he was killed, casing the joint while kids shuffle and stomp to 
What is the cost of forgiveness? 
Just as the East Coast hip-hop industry experienced its renaissance in the mid-'90s, so did the South's. The latter wasn't a musical revolution, at least in terms of beats. Southern artists still took their cues from the West Coast and producers like 
Nathaniel Dwayne "
Rap rock hasn't changed much since 
The rap season has begun to heat up with this week's arrival of Raekwon and Lupe Fiasco's new albums. But the previous two months brought a handful of solid fare, too, from Saigon, Joell Ortiz and Slaughterhouse. Check out our Roundup for a sampler of the latest hip-hop discs.
Last year, I 
Rap videos were mad fun in 1988. Remember all the crazy cameos in 
Before we get started, it bears remembering that the black community is not monolithic. There are various segments within it just like any other. Just as there is a pop mainstream, there is a black equivalent, too. Historically speaking, black radio programmers can be more conservative than their white counterparts. Stars have long complained of being unable to crack black radio playlists, from Bob Marley to 
It's impossible to summarize the contributions of black musicians to our cultural history with a few random albums. Some of the innovators we could not fit into this short list include 
Released in late 1993, 
The world of rap music can be expansive and reductive at once. We tend to talk about the same handful of artists and albums, swapping out names according to their buzz at the moment. But the fact is that hundreds of rap albums get released during a calendar year. Some deserve to get ignored, but many undeservedly fall through the cracks.
Remember the '90s, when production giants like 
Last year, Otis "
The rap world will find it hard to top 2010, a year where B.o.B., 
This may be the year when hip-hop artists re-embraced the mainstream. Big, soaring choruses; glittery guest appearances; and allusions to mall-rocking pop and rock sounds all cropped up on 2010's most successful works. If the resulting list of one writer's favorites lacks street swagger, it's because there wasn't much of it, at least when it came to official albums. (The mixtape scene, led by 
With 2010 defined by the emcee and his crossover ambitions, from 
When 
Over the course of four platinum-plus albums, 
To understand why 
Classic albums are built in part with mythology. Our impressions of how they were made, the circumstances under which they were recorded, and the influence they wield over us are often subjective, yet we treat them with reverence, as if they were just as important as the music itself. Such truths and half-truths surround 
This post is inspired by a commenter on my recent piece about 
If you want to know what rappers think about the country in the years following President Obama's 2008 election, then you'll have to read between the lines. For the most part, Obama's historic campaign was a topical fad and a way for the likes of 
Earlier this year, 
The end of summer and beginning of fall could be described as "waiting for 
Here are a few impressions of the latest hip-hop hits.
When 
The mythical emcee is usually an egoist, often claiming credit for constructing a song himself (even though "ghostwriters" and others contribute lyrics more often than the public realizes) and relegating the producer to the background (even though producers not only create the beat, but sometimes the arrangements and even the hooks) and engineers to the liner notes (even though engineers often play a crucial role in the sound and vibe of an album). It's no surprise that, as hip-hop has become big business, classic groups of the '80s and '90s like 
Several years ago, I interviewed Radric "
Nearly 12 years after its release, 
The rap nerds don't know what to do with 
L.A.'s sprawling community of musicians and producers — at least the ones who tend to fuse electronic and hip-hop into a new sound often classified as "beat" or "bass" (as well as less-respected and kitschy terms like "lazer bass" and "wonky") — have flooded the market this year. Few national scenes have garnered as much attention, whether it's 
As the fall season rapidly approaches, the Internet and radio stations alike are swelling with new singles by the record labels' biggest priorities. However, summer proved unexpectedly bounteous, yielding platinum albums from Drake and Eminem as well as critically acclaimed hits from the Roots and Drake. Kanye West, Soulja Boy Tell' Em and, uh, New Boyz have much to live up to.
When 
In our constant search for an imagined golden age of hip-hop, the early '90s shines particularly brightly in our imaginations. It was a rough period for artists, though. Major labels regularly tossed albums onto the market with no clue how to promote them and then summarily dropped those artists when the albums didn't yield results. The multiplatinum success of 
Editor's Note: Listen to a selection of the songs mentioned here on a playlist at the end of this post, or click through to listen to all of the artists listed here on Rhapsody. If you're not a member, 
Editor's Note: Listen to a selection of the songs mentioned here on a playlist at the end of this post, or click through to listen to all of the artists listed here on Rhapsody. If you're not a member, 
You're forgiven for believing that 
"Black music is black music, and it's all good," 
We've reached the midway point of 2010, and all seems right in the hip-hop world. After much worrying, we finally have a legitimate candidate for rap album of the year (
Hip-hop and R&B share a history fraught with musical romance and cultural tension. Though there have been successful marriages — 
It's only been a year and some change since 
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