Some samples breathe new life into forgotten classics, while others recontextualize a song's place in contemporary music more ...

Southern hip-hop’s influence continues shaping modern music through strategic sampling, with artists like Future, GloRilla and Sexyy Red drawing from classic Southern tracks. Recently, Juicy J noted ...

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 ...

This week, the musical world lost an icon when composer, arranger and producer David Axelrod died on Sunday (Feb. 5) at the age of 83 from complications of a brain aneurysm. Although not a well-known ...

It was announced yesterday that Ron Howard of all people will be directing a concert documentary about Jay-Z’s upcoming Made in America festival in Philadelphia, which is set to go down on September 1 ...

Sampling has quietly reshaped music over the past five decades. A snare hit here, a vocal yelp there, maybe a drum loop that ...

The hip-hop world has lost a true pioneer in the game. Legendary rapper Lovebug Starski, whose real name is Kevin Smith, passed away in Las Vegas on Thursday (Feb. 8). According to reports, the rap ...

No shortcuts, no gimmicks. Just a rising star from PG County, Md. is ready to make his story known globally. 2 minutes ago In 2001, Just Blaze, the producer of “Song Cry,” made a soul sample. In 2020, ...

There are at least a dozen love songs that everyone can relate to. It may be about the artist who sang it, the time in which it was popular and on the radio, or simply the words of the song that ...

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place – lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask ...

Rocks Off just finished reading Ian Christe’s 2007 Van Halen biography, Everybody Wants Some, which chronicles the band’s history from the Van Halen boys’ entry into the U.S., the upbringing of David ...