Keke Palmer has made the evolution from child star to Hollywood empress look seamless. Whether it’s on set of a blockbuster movie, along the red carpet, or in the podcasting space, the actress, author, and entertainment mogul has remained the same Keke she’s always been. For more than two decades, Palmer has been steadfast in her pursuits and intentional with…
It's hard to believe that no one wanted to sign Jay-Z in the mid-'90s. Before he became one of rap's most decorated and celebrated moguls, the Brooklyn-bred emcee, born Shawn Carter, faced so much rejection from record labels that he was forced to release his first album independently. Little did the naysayers know, that project marked the beginning of perhaps…
After delivering a series of trunk-rattling hits and Billboard Top 20 projects, Key Glock stepped away from music in 2024 for personal and creative realignment. Upon his return this year, the Memphis rapper had inked a deal with Republic Records. While it was perhaps an uncharacteristic move for the independent star, it fulfilled an important promise. Born Markeyvius Cathey, Key…
Watch highlights from the 2025 GRAMMYs on live.GRAMMY.com. The 2025 GRAMMYs telecast was reimagined to raise funds to support those impacted by the wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area. The Recording Academy and MusiCares launched a dedicated campaign to support affected music professionals, and we need your help. Donate now. The musical bond between Future and Metro Boomin blazed…
Juice WRLD lived life fast, and he wasn't afraid to go off course. The Chicago rap star captured the hearts of fans who endured the same romantic and emotional storms, and was hopeful a more promising forecast would emerge from the clouded skies. Born Jarad Higgins, Juice WRLD broke out from the SoundCloud underground alongside Lil Peep, Trippie Redd and…
Leon Thomas III has had a big year. Following a Best R&B Song win at the 2024 GRAMMYs for "Snooze" and a three-month stint in Florence, Italy to produce Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures series, the R&B singer and songwriter is ready to see his own name atop the marquee. When he’s not penning chart-topping songs or producing for…
With a series of gritty mixtapes and bone-sticking albums under his belt, Babyface Ray has transcended the Detroit reality rap scene and established firm ground as a solo artist on a national stage. In the decade since the East Detroit native released his debut mixtape, Ray had become one of the faces of "reality rap" — the de facto sound…
Denzel Curry isn’t typically one for repetition. His recent run of critically acclaimed projects have all contrasted in concept and musicality. The Miami Gardens native has cascaded through boom-bap, synth-soaked trap metal, and cloud rap throughout his catalog. But on his upcoming project, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2, Curry returns to the muddied, subwoofer-thudding soundscape that he captured…
Metro Boomin has spent more than a decade redefining rap music. The gloomy, 808-induced trap beats that flood radio airwaves and blare from nightclub speakers are a symbol of his influence. But now, the Atlanta-based superproducer is on one of his biggest musical runs to date. In April, Metro released the second of two joint albums with Future, hinted at…
As June kicked off over the weekend, The Roots notched another glorious celebration at West Philadelphia's Fairmount Park with the 16th annual Roots Picnic. This year's festival featured even more activations, food vendors, attendees, and lively performances. On Saturday, June 1, the action was established from the onset. October London and Marsha Ambrosius enlivened the soul of R&B lovers, while…
After shaking up the rap game with a breakout verse on the Main Source’s "Live at the Barbeque," a 17-year-old, chip-toothed MC named Nasir "Nas" Jones was crowned a prophet. His silk-smooth delivery and poetic rhymes on the 1991 jam were reminiscent of hip-hop greats like Kool G Rap and Rakim. The verse — which included the line "Verbal assassin,…
Rapper/producer Erick The Architect is no stranger to reinvention. The Brooklyn-bred MC cut his teeth over alt-East Coast beats as Erick Arc Elliot before forming psychedelic rap trio Flatbush Zombies with childhood friends Meechy Darko and Zombie Juice. But after multiple mixtapes and two albums with the group, Erick is returning to solo form and venturing into new creative ground. …
Metro Boomin isn’t your ordinary hero. Instead of scaling walls and flying over cityscapes, he possesses the rare ability to generate hits across a myriad of genres while remaining true to form. Like heroes in the Marvel and DC universes, the often withdrawn producer has played a not-so-quiet role in hip-hop for a decade. For his superpowers, Metro has become…
Benny The Butcher is prepared to spar with the biggest names in rap music to prove he’s one of the most prolific MCs in the industry. "My confidence comes from my talent, and my talent comes from my preparation," Benny tells GRAMMY.com. For the uninitiated, the East Buffalo rapper's brash delivery and unshakeable confidence could be perceived as arrogance. But…
In the early 1990s, hip-hop was on the verge of being its broadest. Hip-hop had grown far beyond its origins in the Bronx, as acts like Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul drew listeners outside New York’s five boroughs. Elsewhere, a legion of MCs from L.A., the Bay, and the South were cementing their legacies. Amidst…
As hip-hop celebrates 50 years of musical and cultural history, GRAMMY.com is exploring the genre’s influence and international reach through the decades. Much of its success and longevity is a credit to established acts who have broken geographical barriers. Meanwhile, contemporary supernovas have driven rap forward in recent years. Their transcendent powers have allowed hip-hop to be as cross-cultural as…
Tragedy struck the hip-hop world in November 2022 when Migos star Takeoff was killed during an early morning shootout in Houston. Among the hardest hit by the loss was one-third of the famed trio and his uncle Quavo, who witnessed the shooting and sat by Takeoff's side as he passed outside a nearby bowling alley. Since Takeoff's death, Quavo has…
It’s only been three years into the new decade, but a new era of hip-hop artists have already made their mark on the ever-evolving genre. In the 2020s, social media platforms like TikTok have played a growing role in the trajectory of an artist's career. Social media has given artists like Finesse2tymes, Coi Leray, Baby Keem, Ice Spice, and others…
Few genres have evolved as remarkably as hip-hop over the past five decades, and the eerily recent, yet, distant 2010s saw the genre at its most progressive. Legendary acts and fresh-faced stars pushed rap’s cultural and musical bounds, opening a pathway for a new class of artists to emerge, and for overlooked regions to gain their deserved recognition. With the…
As Jay-Z declared in 2001's "Breathe Easy," few rappers stack up when it comes to his flow, consistency, stories, charisma, and trendsetting powers — and he's backed up his claims for three decades on. The Brooklyn rapper has cranked out chart-topping hits and street anthems across classic albums like The Blueprint and The Black Album, and he's inspired generations of…
