Hip-hop is not only a global phenomenon, but a multi-lingual expression. There are many Latinx rappers who have contributed to the genre's legacy with Spanish-language music, and others who form the larger fabric of hip-hop history.

Hip-hop was born on Aug. 11, 1973 at a back-to-school party in the Bronx, which included African American, Caribbean and Latinx attendees. While Latinx people have helped shape the genre in the years since, Nuyoricans such as Angie Martinez, Fat Joe, and his collaborator Big Pun left an indelible Latinx mark on rap in the ‘90s. At the same time on the West Coast, the Latin Alliance formed and led to breakout careers of Chicano rappers Kid Frost and Mellow Man Ace, who both largely rapped in Spanglish. Cypress Hill and Ozomatli later emerged in their wake. Cuban American rapper Pitbull would soon crossover in the rap mainstream into the next decade. 

On the island of Puerto Rico, rappers nurtured the emerging genre of reggaeton in the ‘90s and 2000s as another medium where they could flex their Spanish flow. Pioneers like Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderón, and Don Omar unleashed their rhymes over dembow-driven rhythms. Ivy Queen and Lisa M blazed a path for women in the male-dominated genre. N.O.R.E.'s hit "Oye Mi Canto" would later help globalize reggaeton in 2005. That decade also saw the rise of Puerto Rican group Calle 13, which was led by rapper Residente, who has since become the most-awarded artist in Latin GRAMMY history. Cardi B and Bad Bunny are now representing Latinx rappers on a global level. Those are just a few names of many Latinx trailblazers. 

In honor of hip-hop's 50th anniversary, GRAMMY.com highlights eight artists from the next generation of Latinx rappers.

Trueno

Since the release of his breakthrough album Bien O Mal in 2022, Trueno has become the rap artist to watch out for in Argentina. In his songs like the empowering "Argentina" featuring Nathy Peluso or the poignant "Tierra Zanta" alongside Argentine folk artist Victor Heredia, he celebrates the culture of his country while embracing the sounds and influences of American rap.

Trueno went global after the Gorillaz invited him to perform "Clint Eastwood" with them at the Quilmes Rock festival in Argentina. Earlier this year, he got a co-sign from Latinx rap group Cypress Hill, who remixed Trueno's socially-conscious banger "F— The Police." More recently, Trueno is having fun with his rhymes in his recent feel-good singles like "Tranky Funky" and "Ohh Baby."

"My mission in life is to take Argentine rap as far as we can go," Trueno told Infobae this year. 

Eladio Carrion

Eladio Carrion is proving that his explosive rap flow can't be contained to one genre. The Puerto Rican rapper has made a name for himself thanks to his series of Sauce Boyz albums, which first launched in 2020. Carrion largely dominates the Latin trap scene, but he has also made his mark in drill with the "Tata" remix featuring J Balvin, Daddy Yankee, and Bobby Shmurda, even experimenting in Mexican corridos with Peso Pluma in "77."

Carrion's latest album, 3men2 Kbrn, features collaborations with rappers that he idolized. Future joins him in the swaggering "Mbappe" remix, Lil Wayne appears on the triumphant "Gladiador" remix, and "Si Salimos" features 50 Cent. The all-Spanish LP debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 chart in March.

"I just keep trying to build that bridge between Latin and American culture because I’ve been influenced so much by American hip-hop, but you know I do Latin music," Carrion told Uproxx this year. 

Villano Antillano

Villano Antillano is making a mark for both women and the LGBTQ+ community in the Latin hip-hop scene. The Puerto Rican rapper — who identifies as transfemme and nonbinary — has proudly represented who she is within her fierce anthems. Antillano teamed up with Spanish rapper Ptazeta for the girl power anthem "Mujerón" and empowered trans women in "Muñeca" with nonbinary artist Ana Macho.

Antillano made a global impact last year when she featured on Argentine producer Bizarrap’s hit "BZRP Music Sessions #51." Over trap beats with an electronica edge, she unleashed fiery flow about how she is running the Latin rap game. Villano then released her debut album La Sustancia X where celebrated women's resilience alongside Residente's sister iLe in "Mujer" and paid homage to La Delfi and Celia Cruz in "Cáscara De Coco."

"I hope that from seeing me and hearing my music, more people can live authentically in their everyday lives," she told MTV News in 2021. 

Young Miko

Young Miko is also breaking down barriers for the LGBTQ+ community in the Latin hip-hop scene. The queer Puerto Rican rapper has proudly dropped bars about her love for other women in her songs, like this year's global hit "Classy 101" with Colombian singer Feid, as well as  the swaggering "Lisa."

Young Miko broke through last year with her debut EP Trap Kitty, further asserting  her dominance in Latin trap previously exemplified by  the sexy "Riri" and the empowering "Putero." 

Young Miko has become one of the most in-demand collaborators in today's Latin music scene, proving that she can shine in any genre. In 2023, she featured g on Marshmello's house-infused "Tempo" and Bad Gyal's reggaeton banger "Chulo Pt. 2" with Dominican star Tokischa. 

"This generation is tired of the same," she told Popsugar this year. "They're accepting and receptive to something new. Maybe [my lyrics] are not how I feel but how I'd like to feel."

J Noa

In Latin rap, J Noa is proudly carrying her country of the Dominican Republic on her back. The teen phenom released her debut EP Autodidacta earlier this year. In the somber "Betty," J Noa shined a light on the pressures that Dominican teens face in underserved neighborhoods. In the explosive "Autodidacta," she unleashed her mind-blowing rap skills.

A triumphant moment on the EP is empowering "No Me Pueden Parar." The self-proclaimed "La Hija del Rap," or "the daughter of rap," spit inspirational bars about not allowing any obstacles to get in the way of achieving her dreams. J Noa has a knack for mixing social truths with fierce rhymes. Back in July, she wowed hip-hop pioneers DMC, Grandmaster Caz, Mighty Mike C, and Sha-Rock with a freestyle rap in the Bronx. 

"I can keep rap going by staying on the path that I am on," she told Refinery29. "Real rap is about social protests and history."

Akapellah

Akapellah is proudly representing the hip-hop scene in Venezuela, releasing songs that are both playful and socially-conscious In 2020, the hard-hitting "Condenados," he dropped bars about the plight of the Venezuelan people following the country's economic collapse.

Instead of letting his size be anyone else's punchline, Akapellah boasted about the benefits it gives him in the smooth "Gordo Funky." For his feel-good rhymes, he received multiple Latin GRAMMY nominations for Best Rap/Hip Hop Song. Akapellah made headlines this year when he released a tiraera, or diss track, against Residente called "No Eres Rapero." Understanding it's a part of hip-hop culture, Residente took the shot in stride and later named Akapellah one of his favorite Latinx rappers.

"My [success] has been very organic and like a hybrid," he told La República newspaper. "I have had my peaks of hype, but [my career] has always remained stable."

Nanpa Básico

Nanpa Básico is a proud exponent of Colombia in the Latin rap scene. The Medellín native has made waves with his street-conscious lyrics and romantic flow, first breaking through in 2017, with the guitar-driven ballad "Sin Ti Estoy Bien" and the haunting "Ya Para Qué."

This past year, Básico has gone global while exploring different genres. Alongside Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana, he tackles a whimsical pop sound in the dreamy "Nunca Tuve Tanto." Básico's slick rap flow met R&B in the soulful "Ya No Se Mueve" with Leon Leiden. Básico's latest album, HECHO M13RD4, boasts features from Mexican rappers Gera MX and Santa Fe Klan, regional Mexican music star Adriel Favela, and Colombian reggaeton singer Ryan Castro.

"I studied social work so I said I don't want to continue glorifying the problems, but on the contrary, very cool things happen in the hood too, that people sometimes don't talk about," he told Rolling Stone En Español.

Gera MX

Gera MX is making Mexico's rap scene go global. In 2021, he blended trap and mariachi music with Christian Nodal in the genre-bending hit "Botella Tras Botella." They made history with the first regional Mexican song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Last year, Gera MX continued to push boundaries for Latin rap in his two albums, No Teníamos Nada, Pero Éramos Felices and Ahora Tengo Todo Menos A Ti. In explosive "Hagan Ruido," he teamed up with Mexican American rapper Snow Tha Product where they proudly boasted about their roots. Colombian reggaeton singer Blessd joined Gera MX in the feel-good "One Love." This year, Gera MX brought together the worlds of Latin trap and corridos in the fiery "Feria En El Sobre," featuring Peso Pluma and Herencia De Patrones.

"Mexican hip-hop has gained a lot of respect and popularity," he told Remezcla. "I don’t know if it’s the Golden Age, but it’s a good time."

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"You don't know that people are going to 40 years later call you up and say, ‘Can you talk about this record from 40 years ago?’"

That was Cory Robbins, former president of Profile Records, reaction to speaking to Grammy.com about one of the first albums his then-fledgling label released. Run-DMC’s self-titled debut made its way into the world four decades ago this week on March 27, 1984 and established the group, in Robbins’ words, "the Beatles of hip-hop." 

Rarely in music, or anything else, is there a clear demarcation between old and new. Styles change gradually, and artistic movements usually get contextualized, and often even named, after they’ve already passed from the scene. But Run-DMC the album, and the singles that led up to it, were a definitive breaking point. Rap before it instantly, and eternally, became “old school.” And three guys from Hollis, Queens — Joseph "Run" Simmons, Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels — helped turn a burgeoning genre on its head.

What exactly was different about Run-DMC? Some of the answers can be glimpsed by a look at the record’s opening song. "Hard Times" is a cover of a Kurtis Blow track from his 1980 debut album. The connection makes sense. Kurtis and Run’s older brother Russell Simmons met in college, and Russell quickly became the rapper’s manager. That led to Run working as Kurtis’ DJ. Larry Smith, who produced Run-DMC, even played on Kurtis’ original version of the song.

But despite those tie-ins, the two takes on "Hard Times" are night and day. Kurtis Blow’s is exactly what rap music was in its earliest recorded form: a full band playing something familiar (in this case, a James Brown-esque groove, bridge and percussion breakdown inclusive.)

What Run-DMC does with it is entirely different. The song is stripped down to its bare essence. There’s a drum machine, a sole repeated keyboard stab, vocals, and… well, that’s about it. No solos, no guitar, no band at all. Run and DMC are trading off lines in an aggressive near-shout. It’s simple and ruthlessly effective, a throwback to the then-fading culture of live park jams. But it was so starkly different from other rap recordings of the time, which were pretty much all in the style of Blow’s record, that it felt new and vital.

"Production-wise, Sugar Hill [the record label that released many key early rap singles] built themselves on the model of Motown, which is to say, they had their own production studios and they had a house band and they recorded on the premises," explains Bill Adler, who handled PR for Run-DMC and other key rap acts at the time.

"They made magnificent records, but that’s not how rap was performed in parks," he continues. "It’s not how it was performed live by the kids who were actually making the music."

Run-DMC’s musical aesthetic was, in some ways, a lucky accident. Larry Smith, the musician who produced the album, had worked with a band previously. In fact, the reason two of the songs on the album bear the subtitle "Krush Groove" is because the drum patterns are taken from his band Orange Krush’s song “Action.”

Read more: Essential Hip-Hop Releases From The 1970s: Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash, Sugarhill Gang & More

But by the time sessions for Run-DMC came around, the money had run out and, despite his desire to have the music done by a full band, Smith was forced to go without them and rely on a drum machine. 

His artistic partner on the production side was Russell Simmons. Simmons, who has been accused over the past seven years of numerous instances of sexual assault dating back decades, was back in 1983-4 the person providing the creative vision to match Smith’s musical knowledge.

Orange Krush’s drummer Trevor Gale remembered the dynamic like this (as quoted in Geoff Edgers’ Walk This Way: Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song that Changed American Music Forever): “Larry was the guy who said, 'Play four bars, stop on the fifth bar, come back in on the fourth beat of the fifth bar.' Russell was the guy that was there that said, ‘I don’t like how that feels. Make it sound like mashed potato with gravy on it.’”

It wasn’t just the music that set Run-DMC apart from its predecessors. Their look was also starkly different, and that influenced everything about the group, including the way their audience viewed them.

Most of the first generation of recorded rappers were, Bill Adler remembers, influenced visually by either Michael Jackson or George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. Run-DMC was different.

"Their fashion sense was very street oriented," Adler explains. "And that was something that emanated from Jam Master Jay. Jason just always had a ton of style. He got a lot of his sartorial style from his older brother, Marvin Thompson. Jay looked up to his older brother and kind of dressed the way that Marvin did, including the Stetson hat. 

"When Run and D told Russ, Jason is going to be our deejay, Russell got one look at Jay and said, ‘Okay, from now on, you guys are going to dress like him.’"

Run, DMC, and Jay looked like their audience. That not only set them apart from the costumed likes of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, it also cemented the group’s relationship with their listeners. 

"When you saw Run-DMC, you didn’t see celebrity. You saw yourself," DMC said in the group’s recent docuseries. 

Read more: 20 Iconic Hip-Hop Style Moments: From Run-D.M.C. To Runways

Another thing that set Run-DMC (the album) and Run-DMC (the group) apart from what came before was the fact that they released a cohesive rap album. Nine songs that all belonged together, not just a collection of already-released singles and some novelties. Rappers had released albums prior to Run-DMC, but that’s exactly what they were: hits and some other stuff — sung love ballads or rock and roll covers, or other experiments rightfully near-forgotten.

"There were a few [rap] albums [at the time], but they were pretty crappy. They were usually just a bunch of singles thrown together," Cory Robbins recalls.

Not this album. It set a template that lasted for years: Some social commentary, some bragging, a song or two to show off the DJ. A balance of records aimed at the radio and at the hard-core fans. You can still see traces of Run-DMC in pretty much every rap album released today.

Listeners and critics reacted. The album got a four-star review in Rolling Stone with “the music…that backs these tracks is surprisingly varied, for all its bare bones” and an A minus from Robert Christgau who claimed “It's easily the canniest and most formally sustained rap album ever.” Just nine months after its release, Run-DMC was certified gold, the first rap LP ever to earn that honor. "Rock Box" also single-handedly invented rap-rock, thanks to Eddie Martinez’s loud guitars. 

There is another major way in which the record was revolutionary. The video for "Rock Box" was the first rap video to ever get into regular rotation on MTV and, the first true rap video ever played on the channel at all, period. Run-DMC’s rise to MTV fame represented a significant moment in breaking racial barriers in mainstream music broadcasting. 

"There’s no overstating the importance of that video," Adler tells me. vIt broke through the color line at MTV and opened the door to a cataclysmic change." 

"Everybody watched MTV forty years ago," Robbins agrees. "It was a phenomenal thing nationwide. Even if we got three or four plays a week of ‘Rock Box’ on MTV, that did move the needle."

All of this: the new musical style, the relatable image, the MTV pathbreaking, and the attendant critical love and huge sales (well over 10 times what their label head was expecting when he commissioned the album from a reluctant Russell Simmons — "I hoping it would sell thirty or forty thousand," Robbins says now): all of it contributed to making Run-DMC what it is: a game-changer.

"It was the first serious rap album," Robbins tells me. And while you could well accuse him of bias — the group making an album at all was his idea in the first place — he’s absolutely right. 

Run-DMC changed everything. It split the rap world into old school and new school, and things would never be the same.

Perhaps the record’s only flaw is one that wouldn’t be discovered for years. As we’re about to get off the phone, Robbins tells me about a mistake on the cover, one he didn’t notice until the record was printed and it was too late. 

There was something (Robbins doesn’t quite recall what) between Run and DMC in the cover photo. The art director didn’t like it and proceeded to airbrush it out. But he missed something. On the vinyl, if you look between the letters "M" and "C,", you can see DMC’s disembodied left hand, floating ghost-like in mid-air. While it was an oversight, it’s hard not to see this as a sign, a sort of premonition that the album itself would hang over all of hip-hop, with an influence that might be hard to see at first, but that never goes away. 

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For Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar, The Melodic Blue was a family affair. The two cousins collaborated on three tracks from Keem's 2021 debut LP, "Range Brothers," "Vent," and "Family Ties." And in 2022, the latter helped the pair celebrate a GRAMMY victory.

In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, turn the clock back to the night Baby Keem accepted Best Rap Performance for "Family Ties," marking the first GRAMMY win of his career.

"Wow, nothing could prepare me for this moment," Baby Keem said at the start of his speech.

He began listing praise for his "supporting system," including his family and "the women that raised me and shaped me to become the man I am."

Before heading off the stage, he acknowledged his team, who "helped shape everything we have going on behind the scenes," including Lamar. "Thank you everybody. This is a dream."

Baby Keem received four nominations in total at the 2022 GRAMMYs. He was also up for Best New Artist, Best Rap Song, and Album Of The Year as a featured artist on Kanye West's Donda.

Press play on the video above to watch Baby Keem's complete acceptance speech for Best Rap Performance at the 2022 GRAMMYs, and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.

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While significant attention was devoted to the celebration of hip-hop in 2023 — an acknowledgement of what is widely acknowledged as its 50th anniversary — another important anniversary in hip-hop is happening this year as well. Specifically, it’s been 30 years since 1994, when a new generation entered the music industry and set the genre on a course that in many ways continues until today.

There are many ways to look at 1994: lists of great albums (here’s a top 50 to get you started); a look back at what fans and tastemakers were actually listening to at the time; the best overlooked obscurities. But the best way to really understand why a single 365 three decades ago had such an impact is to narrow our focus to look at the important debut albums released that year. 

An artist’s or group’s debut is their entry into the wider musical conversation, their first full statement about who they are and where in the landscape they see themselves. The debuts released in 1994 — which include the Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die, Nas' Illmatic and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik from Outkast — were notable not only in their own right, but because of the insight they give us into wider trends in rap.

Read on for some of the ways that 1994's debut records demonstrated what was happening in rap at the time, and showed us the way forward. 

Hip-Hop Became More Than Just An East & West Coast Thing

The debut albums that moved rap music in 1994 were geographically varied, which was important for a music scene that was still, from a national perspective, largely tied to the media centers at the coasts. Yes, there were New York artists (Biggie and Nas most notably, as well as O.C., Jeru the Damaja, the Beatnuts, and Keith Murray). The West Coast G-funk domination, which began in late 1992 with Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, continued with Dre’s step brother Warren G. 

But the huge number of important debuts from other places around the country in 1994 showed that rap music had developed mature scenes in multiple cities — scenes that fans from around the country were starting to pay significant attention to.

To begin with, there was Houston. The Geto Boys were arguably the first artists from the city to gain national attention (and controversy) several years prior. By 1994, the city’s scene had expanded enough to allow a variety of notable debuts, of wildly different styles, to make their way into the marketplace.

Read more: A Guide To Texas Hip-Hop: Definitive Releases, Artists & Events

The Rap-A-Lot label that first brought the Geto Boys to the world’s attention branched out with Big Mike’s Somethin’ Serious and the Odd Squad’s Fadanuf Fa Erybody!! Both had bluesy, soulful sounds that were quickly becoming the label’s trademark — in no small part due to their main producers, N.O. Joe and Mike Dean. In addition, an entirely separate style centered around the slowed-down mixes of DJ Screw began to expand outside of the South Side with the debut release by Screwed Up Click member E.S.G.

There were also notable debut albums by artists and groups from Cleveland (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Creepin on ah Come Up), Oakland (Saafir and Casual), and of course Atlanta — more about that last one later.

1994 Saw The Pinnacle Of Boom-Bap

Popularized by KRS-One’s 1993 album Return of the Boom Bap, the term "boom bap" started as an onomatopoeic way of referring to the sound of a standard rap drum pattern — the "boom" of a kick drum on the downbeat, followed by the "bap" of a snare on the backbeat. 

The style that would grow to be associated with that name (though it was not much-used at the time) was at its apex in 1994. A handful of primarily East Coast producers and groups were beginning a new sonic conversation, using innovations like filtered bass lines while competing to see who could flip the now standard sample sources in ever-more creative ways. 

Most of the producers at the height of this style — DJ Premier, Buckwild, RZA, Large Professor, Pete Rock and the Beatnuts, to name a few — worked on notable debuts that year. Premier produced all of Jeru the Damaja’s The Sun Rises in the East. Buckwild helmed nearly the entirety of O.C.’s debut Word…Life. RZA was responsible for Method Man’s Tical. The Beatnuts took care of their own full-length Street Level. Easy Mo Bee and Premier both played a part in Biggie’s Ready to Die. And then there was Illmatic, which featured a veritable who’s who of production elites: Premier, L.E.S., Large Professor, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip.

The work the producers did on these records was some of the best of their respective careers. Even now, putting on tracks like O.C.’s "Time’s Up" (Buckwild), Jeru’s "Come Clean" (Premier), Meth’s "Bring the Pain" (RZA), Biggie’s "The What" (Easy Mo Bee), or Nas’ "The World Is Yours" (Pete Rock) will get heads nodding.

Major Releases Balanced Street Sounds & Commercial Appeal

"Rap is not pop/If you call it that, then stop," spit Q-Tip on 1991’s "Check the Rhime." Two years later, De La Soul were adamant that "It might blow up, but it won’t go pop." In 1994, the division between rap and pop — under attack at least since Biz Markie made something for the radio back in the ‘80s — began to collapse entirely thanks to the team of the Notorious B.I.G. and his label head and producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. 

Biggie was the hardcore rhymer who wanted to impress his peers while spitting about "Party & Bulls—." Puff was the businessman who wanted his artist to sell millions and be on the radio. The result of their yin-and-yang was Ready to Die, an album that perfectly balanced these ambitions. 

This template — hardcore songs like "Machine Gun Funk" for the die-hards, sing-a-longs like "Juicy" for the newly curious — is one that Big’s good friend Jay-Z would employ while climbing to his current iconic status. 

Solo Stars Broke Out Of Crews

One major thing that happened in 1994 is that new artists were created not out of whole cloth, but out of existing rap crews. Warren G exploded into stardom with his debut Regulate… G Funk Era. He came out of the Death Row Records axis — he was Dre’s stepbrother, and had been in a group with a pre-fame Snoop Dogg. Across the country, Method Man sprang out of the Wu-Tang collective and within a year had his own hit single with "I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By." 

Anyone who listened to the Odd Squad’s album could tell that there was a group member bound for solo success: Devin the Dude. Keith Murray popped out of the Def Squad. Casual came out of the Bay Area’s Hieroglyphics. 

Read more: A Guide To Bay Area Hip-Hop: Definitive Releases, Artists & Subgenres From Northern California

This would be the model for years to come: Create a group of artists and attempt, one by one, to break them out as stars. You could see it in Roc-a-fella, Ruff Ryders, and countless other crews towards the end of the ‘90s and the beginning of the new millennium.

Multi-Producer Albums Began To Dominate

Illmatic was not the first rap album to feature multiple prominent producers. However, it quickly became the most influential. The album’s near-universal critical acclaim — it earned a perfect five-mic score in The Source — meant that its strategy of gathering all of the top production talent together for one album would quickly become the standard. 

Within less than a decade, the production credits on major rap albums would begin to look nearly identical: names like the Neptunes, Timbaland, Premier, Kanye West, and the Trackmasters would pop up on album after album. By the time Jay-Z said he’d get you "bling like the Neptunes sound," it became de rigueur to have a Neptunes beat on your album, and to fill out the rest of the tracklist with other big names (and perhaps a few lesser-known ones to save money).

The South Got Something To Say

If there’s one city that can safely be said to be the center of rap music for the past decade or so, it’s Atlanta. While the ATL has had rappers of note since Shy-D and Raheem the Dream, it was a group that debuted in 1994 that really set the stage for the city’s takeover.

Outkast’s Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was the work of two young, ambitious teenagers, along with the production collective Organized Noize. The group’s first video was directed by none other than Puffy. Biggie fell so in love with the city that he toyed with moving there. 

Outkast's debut album won Best New Artist and Best New Rap of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards, though the duo of André 3000 and Big Boi walked on stage to accept their award to a chorus of boos. The disrespect only pushed André to affirm the South's place on the rap map, famously telling the audience, "The South got something to say." 

Read more: A Guide To Southern Hip-Hop: Definitive Releases, Artists & Subgenres From The Dirty South

Outkast’s success meant that they kept on making innovative albums for several more years, as did other members of their Dungeon Family crew. This brought energy and attention to the city, as did the success of Jermain Dupri’s So So Def label. Then came the "snap" movement of the 2000s, and of course trap music, which had its roots in aughts-era Atlanta artists like T.I. and producers like Shawty Redd and DJ Toomp. 

But in the 2010s a new artist would make Atlanta explode, and he traced his lineage straight back to the Dungeon. Future is the first cousin of Organized Noize member Rico Wade, and was part of the so-called "second generation" of the Dungeon Family back when he went by "Meathead." His world-beating success over the past decade-plus has been a cornerstone in Atlanta’s rise to the top of the rap world. Young Thug, who has cited Future as an influence, has sparked a veritable ecosystem of sound-alikes and proteges, some of whom have themselves gone on to be major artists. 

Atlanta’s reign at the top of the rap world, some theorize, may finally be coming to an end, at least in part because of police pressure. But the city has had a decade-plus run as the de facto capital of rap, and that’s thanks in no small part to Outkast. 

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Hip-hop has always been a part of Argentina's musical output, simmering in the country's underground for decades while rock and pop music dominated national charts and album sales. Yet over the past 15 years, Argentine hip-hop has begun to enter the country's mainstream — and reach a global audience.

Argentinian hip-hop began gaining traction in the 2010s,  due in part to the popularity of freestyling competitions. One of the most popular competitions, El Quinto Escalón, became a YouTube show which tens of thousands of people watched live. Also vital to the scene was the rise of the much celebrated producer Bizarrap, who took home three golden gramophones at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, including Song Of The Year. His five-year-old YouTube series, "BZRP Music Sessions," regularly gather millions of views as well as major names such as Peso Pluma and Shakira. 

While Biza may be the brightest light in Argentine hip-hop as of late, he is one of a galaxy of artists. In fact, the past decade has seen a growing number of Argentinian hip-hop icons such as Wos, Y$Y A and Khea. Read on for five artists who  are helping create a new path for the genre. 

Duki

Duki spent years in Argentina's competitive freestyling scene, eventually rising to prominence in  2016. After participating in battles for El Quinto Escalón, Duki gained a strong following and released his first single, "No Vendo Trap."

From there, Duki's rise was quick and dizzying. He became a member of the highly influential rap trio Modo Diablo (co-founded by fellow Argentine rappers YSY A and Neo Pistea), in which he released hits like "Trap N' Export" and "Quavo" — which is still celebrated by the Argentine trap fans to this day. He also was featured on Bad Bunny's YHLQMDLG, with the Latin GRAMMY-nominated track "Hablamos Mañana." At the 2021 Latin GRAMMYs, Duki's solo track, "Goteo," was nominated for Best Rap/Hip Hop Song. 

After Modo Diablo split up, in 2019, Duki released multiple solo albums, which would become a hallmark in Latin trap — particularly 2021's Desde el fin del mundo. 

Trueno

The son of the Uruguayan rapper MC Peligro, Trueno started rapping when he was 7 and, at the age of 13, began participating in national freestyling competitions. Less than a decade later, his  "Dance Crip" was nominated for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Song at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs.

The artist born Mateo Palacios Corazzina effuses an old school approach to hip-hop, which translates well into his music. His 2021 sophomore album, Bien O Mal, showcases Trueno's  love for and study of hip-hop, with a particular affinity for boom bap and G-Funk. 

Trueno is also a powerful political voice in Argentina, speaking out about Latin America's history of oppression and evoking names of its cultural past within his music, such as Víctor Heredia, a famous singer-songwriter from the Greater Buenos Aires area, and Atahualpa Yupanqui, an Argentinian folk musician. 

L-Gante

Hailing from General Rodríguez, in the Greater Buenos Aires area, L-Gante began his career in 2017, but his music started making waves during the pandemic. On "L-Gante RKT," a collaboration with producer Papu DJ, the rapper described the clandestine partying and entertainment that took place in Argentine barrios during the lockdown.

Less inclined to utilize international sounds, L-Gante is a part of an Argentinian movement known as RKT. A subgenre of reggaeton, RKT is influenced by the popular barrio-centric cumbia villera. 

Although L-Gante has not yet released a debut album, his singles and collaborations gather millions of plays. In 2021, the rapper appeared on BZRP Music Sessions #38 and their collaboration topped the Argentine Billboard Hot 100 chart for several weeks. As of writing, the session has 333 million views on YouTube.

The rapper is already performing at packed venues in Buenos Aires — on November 21st, he headlined a four-hour show at the famous Luna Park, which had the participation of many artists, including cumbia villera legend Pablito Lescano.

Dillom

Twenty-two-year-old rapper Dillom is leading the way for the weirdos and eccentric rappers in Argentina. The artist was raised in the central neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and learned to play bass at age 9 before learning how  to produce rap beats. Beginning with his first single, "Drippin'", in 2018, the youngster took off.

A year later, Dillom's career skyrocketed following a participation on BZRP Music Sessions. He later formed the crew Talented Broke Boys, and released their first self-titled mixtape. Dillom made his solo debut with the album Post Mortem in 2021, in which he collaborated with fellow Argentine rappers Muerejoven and L-Gante.

Post Mortem is a showcase of Dillom's true interests: a mix of horrorcore, trap, elements of reggaeton, cumbia and dance music, with funny and ironic lyrics. The rapper once said that "art should be a little offending, or it would be boring". 

Nicki Nicole

Nicki Nicole has been nominated for several Latin GRAMMYs  — including for Best New Artist in 2020 — and, at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, walked the red carpet with Peso Pluma.

The rapper and singer started out doing freestyle in her hometown Rosario, Argentina, when she was 18. Her debut album came in 2019, after linking with producer Gonzalo Ferreyra, but the artist really started gathering the attention of hip-hop fans with the release of the track "Colocao" in 2020.

Nicki's catchy songwriting skills have netted significant attention: in just three years she has racked up hits such as "Mamichula" with Trueno, and "DISPARA ***" with Milo J. Her 2023 album Alma was nominated for Best Urban Music Album in this year's Latin GRAMMYs, and her Nicki Nicole Abre Su Alma tour has sold out seven shows at Buenos Aires' Movistar Arena.

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