Hip-hop is a young artist’s game. Most athletes peak in their mid-twenties to their early thirties, and rappers follow a similar trajectory. There are exceptions, of course—boxer Bernard Hopkins won a world championship at age 49, and Pusha-T defeated Drake at age 41. Fame, money, drugs, love, and …
“I got a lot to lose ’cause in every situation, I’m the bigger artist, always gotta play it smarter” —Drake, “4 PM In Calabasas” N.W.A. was considered the world’s most dangerous group after the 1988 release of their world-shaking debut, Straight Outta Compton. Lyrically, across 13 tracks, the …
Since its humble beginnings, the rap game has delivered an endless array of seminal debut albums, many of which fans consider among the greatest bodies of work the genre has ever seen. You know the titles: Illmatic. The Chronic. Ready to Die. Enter the Wu-Tang. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… …