Certain records beyond Hip-Hop are forever associated with the genre due to their influence upon it. Thanks to 1970s park jams, songs like Jimmy Castor Bunch's "It's Just Begun," Babe Ruth's "The Mexican," and Liquid Liquid's "Cavern" are indelible threads in the fabric of the sound to come. Out West,... Read more

K-Def is one accomplished producer. The New Jersey native is known for his extensive discography, which includes work with Lords Of The Underground, UGK, and Puff Daddy. The onetime protege of Marley Marl, K-Def has maintained a career in music for nearly 25 years. In 1993, Def was hard at... Read more

RZA is one of Hip-Hop's most celebrated producers. The Wu-Tang Clan Abbot not only gave his own clan a distinct set of sounds since the early 1990s, he provided dusty textures for The Notorious B.I.G., Cypress Hill, and AZ, among others. Grand Finale amassed a collection of RZA-produced tracks for... Read more

Fifty years ago today (August 11, 1965) the Watts Riots began. In South Central Los Angeles, California, the Watts Rebellion (as it also known) would last one week. The historic event followed a Black motorist, Marquette Frye's traffic arrest by a white Los Angeles Police Department officer Lee Minikus. Frye was... Read more

Both Public Enemy and The Staple Singers have made uplifting jams for the people of their audience. Whether it's "Don't Believe The Hype" or "Respect Yourself," Chuck D and Mavis Staples made timeless songs of hope, truth, and unification. On Mistachuck's new self-released EP, The Black In Man, he teamed... Read more

Stax Records Heads know that William Bell's "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" is one of the most moving, timeless, and downright beautiful songs of the period. The 1968 hit has since been a basis of samples by Dilated Peoples, Brand Nubian, and even Ludacris and Scarface, among plenty of... Read more