With “Dipset Anthem”, the Diplomats created an immortal song. For our latest Behind the Beat, Rsonist (of The Heatmakerz) tells Thomas Hobbs why we’re still listening to that “gangsta music” 20 years ...

Knowledge the Pirate counts himself as a member of the rapper Roc Marciano’s inner circle. Alongside KA, who we recently nominated as recording the best New York City rap album of the year, Knowledge ...

For fans and critics who intellectualize it, gangsta rap, or “reality rap,” is serious business. For them, the defining genre of West Coast hip-hop represents true stories from the ’hood as told by ...

This story is part of our new Hip-Hop: ’73 Till Infinity series, a celebration of the genre’s 50th anniversary.With the unfortunate death of beloved rapper Coolio, hip-hop lovers have been mourning ...

No one wants to take credit for coining the term “gangsta rap.” At least, no rappers do. As noted in L.A. Weekly's story commemorating the 20th anniversary of Eazy-E’s death, during N.W.A’s time, ...

Overtones is a new column by Jayson Greene that examines how certain sounds-- a snare crack, a synth blob, a ghostly string sample-- linger in our minds and lives. If you were a gangsta rap fan who ...

In the 2-1/2 decades since Marion “Suge” Knight founded his volatile label Death Row Records, the label’s artists and crew have moved beyond gangsta rap and onto more peaceful projects. Andre “Dr. Dre ...