The meeting of canvas and rubber that began in the 1830s still inspires crowds to queue for the latest pair. Sneakers are now big business and high fashion.
Jamal Knox, the rapper known as ‘Mayhem Mal.’
Screenshot, KDKA CBS Pittsburgh
Rapper Jamal Knox was convicted of making terroristic threats against two Pittsburgh police officers in a rap song. Now his case is before the Supreme Court, with serious implications for free speech.
If Mr Beyonce wins his argument that an arbitration clause should be struck down for lack of diversity, the barn door will be blown off the whole profession.
The stigma attached to HIV and AIDS, particularly in hip hop culture, is rife. The disease is represented poorly and often factually incorrect through lyrics.
In voicing youthful outrage over inequality and violence, Bangladeshi rappers are creating a powerful form of protest music — just as American MCs have done for 40 years.
Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d'ete de Quebec on July 7, 2017.
Amy Harris/AP Photo
Hip-hop heads around the world are rejoicing over Kendrick Lamar’s win. But it’s been a tumultuous ride for a genre once derided as ‘pornographic filth.’
Kendrick Lamar in the music video for Humble.
Screenshot from Youtube
Whether it is art or pop, high or low, terms such as creativity, authenticity, innovation and uniqueness can help us judge a work of music. And Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. brims with these qualities.
The artists who first sang the legendary Canadian hip hop song “Northern Touch” 20 years ago reunited to perform at the 2018 Juno Awards. From left to right: Checkmate, Red1, Misfit, Kardinal Offishall, Choclair and Thrust.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The current global dominance of Canadian music on today’s Billboard charts obscures the difficulties many early rap artists faced in garnering local support for this country’s hip hop music.
Chuck D (L) and Flavor Flav of the US rap group Public Enemy performing in 2009.
Steve C Mitchell/EPA
Following the explosion of screen-based personal devices, the risk of users slipping into hyper reality has multiplied enormously since the television age.
Superstar rapper, Kanye West.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
What if the current cultural context is informing the production of mumble rap? In the contemporary western world, daily life is fuelled by widespread consumption of both products and images.
Joelistics (left) and James Mangohig in In Between Two.
WilliamYang
Australian rapper Joelistics and producer James Mangohig bring their family histories to the stage through a breathtaking display of beats, raps and storytelling.
Duo Movaizhaleine and artist Wonda Wendy take a minute’s silence to honor the dead during a concert in Paris, February 2017.
Silber Mba
The Beastie Boys’ Ill Communication closed out hip-hop’s Golden Age with a kaleidoscope of jazz-infused beats, bratty punk interludes and a deeper appreciation for storytelling.
J Cole at Etihad Stadium in 2014. Cole (aka ‘Therapist’) runs non-profit organisation Dreamville Foundation, and houses single mothers rent-free in his childhood home.
Photo supplied by Michelle Grace Hunder
Many have long forgotten the simple fact that Kanye West is one of the greatest producers of hip-hop in its history. A decade-long six-album streak of critically acclaimed albums rivals the greatest icons of pop.