Rabbit Holes is a recurring series in which writers pay homage to the diversity and ingenuity of the ways we procrastinate now. To pitch your personal rabbit hole, email humaninterest@slate.com.

There’s a raw energy in the air—a palpable, jittery anticipation as the old guard of hip-hop production gets tossed aside by the relentless force of technological innovation and cultural upheaval.

As the legendary DJ Premiere once said, “Hip-hop is about style and finesse and being creative and different. And to do that you have to be ballsy enough to not do what everybody else does.” Rap music ...

An in-depth look at masculinity in hip-hop culture — where creative genius, poetic beauty, and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence, and homophobia. Take an in-depth look at masculinity in rap ...

Forty years later, hip-hop is just youth music, with all of its signifiers and stylings and subgenres translated and remixed around the world. But how do we pass down that creation myth? The way we so ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Add us as a preferred source on Google Today marks the 16th anniversary of J Dilla's Donuts.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue/Ronald Martinez/Jo Hale/Getty Images (2)/Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for BACARDÍ Rum/Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Sony Pictures ...

Producers Fast Eddie and Joe Smooth mix at DJ International Studios in Chicago in 1990. Innovation was at the forefront of house and hip-hop. Raymond Boyd/Getty Images There was a time when artists ...

The emergence of the type beats community as a legitimate force in rap music was initially met with resistance from veteran producers like 9th Wonder, who, in a since-deleted tweet from 2016, said, ...

On 2010's "Did It On’em," from Nicki Minaj's debut studio album, Pink Friday, the then-28-year-old rapper asserted her dominance in the rap game. "All these bitches is my sons/And I'ma go and get some ...