In 1989, 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be became the first album declared legally obscene, and the group's legal battles set a precedent for the rappers that followed.

Ahead of Beyoncé's three concerts at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this weekend, a producer of her Renaissance album gives the inside story on some of her biggest hits. 

Though the vibrant Bay Area rap community lit the fuse on many of the stars, styles and innovations that have blown up across the map, the region might still be best known for being underestimated.

United more by strategy than sound, the city's stars are fans-first nonconformists, who have often succeeded by doing the opposite of what the industry deems bankable.

The 305's hedonistic reputation is not unearned, but there is artistry in its debauchery, and a young generation reinvesting the rewards of their predecessors' battles against censorship.

With their 1987 debut album Paid in Full, Eric B. & Rakim introduced internal rhyme schemes to rap, and changed the flow of hip-hop forever.

The synth-pop band just finished its first tour in nearly 20 years. After a recent show in Brooklyn, two longtime fans reflect on why this music still hasn't lost its power.

Hip-hop superstar Post Malone shares stories of fatherhood, self-doubt and why he named his latest album after his real name.

O'Connor committed to a lifetime program of dissent, discontent and refusal against establishment evils. She carried all that swirling vehemence in her body and exorcised it through her howling music.

Isolated at the bottom of the map, the Bayou City had to build its scene from scratch, and its influence inched ever outward. Today you can hear its pulse everywhere, beating slow and low.

The grassroots country star, whose fan base crosses lines of identity and politics, is releasing a song called "In Your Love," from a new album. Its video tells a queer, Appalachian love story.

They don't say "Detroit Vs. Everybody" for nothing: Dismissed from the outside and splintered within, Michigan's rap cities turned scrap-or-die underdog status into a gritty aesthetic all its own.

Hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Commentator Kiana Fitzgerald is looking back at the albums that changed the game.

Though defined from the start by outsiders — hip-hop flyover country one day, scrutiny magnet the next — Chicago's poets, brawlers and hustlers remain the last word on what gives the city its soul.

Taylor Sheesh, the Philippines' top Taylor Swift impersonator, has set out on her own tour across the country in a bid to get the global superstar's attention.