Loud Sound Studios is home to two of Rwanda's up-and-coming hip-hop acts: Pro-Zed and Kenny K-Shot. Hip-hop is all about the beats and the flow. For two Rwandan artists, that flow sometimes comes in ...

Producers are fusing the scale of orchestral music with the pulse of hip hop, resulting in tracks that feel both epic and street-ready. By combining strings, brass, and cinematic percussion with ...

This story is part of our new Hip-Hop: ’73 Till Infinity series, a celebration of the genre’s 50th anniversary. Producers are just as (if not more) important than MCs on a track. As much as fans care ...

Hip-hop production merges creativity with technology, where carefully chosen plugins, MIDI resources, and samples define the sound. From versatile synths to detailed drum samplers, the right setup can ...

Hip-hop beat-makers are usually unseen. Not all sample-based producers are as reclusive as the torch-bearing loop artist Madlib, but even the most prominent among them are part of the backdrop. After ...

Despite how they’ve at times been ideologically pitted against one another, country music and hip-hop are often compared as the two forms of pop music that speak most directly to the everyday problems ...

HIP-HOP WAS BORN IN THE BRONX IN the summer of 1973. To celebrate the music’s 50th anniversary, “ Rolling Stone” will be publishing a series of features, historical pieces, op-eds, and lists ...

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 ...

Al Kapone and DJ Zirk hosted the Memphis Rap OGz set at RiverBeat, which featured Tom Skeemask, Gangsta Blac, Frayser Boy, ...