As the sophomore triumph turns 30, Okayplayer’s private eye examines the catalog of hip-hop’s psychedelic duo.

Born the son of a Pentecostal minister, Michael D’Angelo Archer was destined to pursue a career in music. At the age of three, he began playing the piano by ear inside the Archer household. By five, ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 14 days ago The new sexual anthem, which broke streaming records in its debut week, has caused conservative figures ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 14 days ago Hindsight is crystal clear. Sure. But what the hell kind of laced blunts were those A&Rs smoking? Did ...

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Rick James' Street Songs, we spoke with engineer Rick Sanchez, who provided an incisive account of how this classic record came to fruition. Coming from ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 14 days ago In the case of these well-known female singers, some of their hip-hop features complemented an already ...

Women have been at the vanguard, battling systems of inequality. Here are 30 underrated female rappers you should know about in 2023. Fifty years into hip-hop, we are officially living in a ...

In the New York City of the early '90s that love affair came to life at a dimly lit underground club called Giant Step. Aptly named after the seminal John Coltrane album, Giant Step was more than just ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 14 days ago These iconic lines from the end of Warren G’s 1994 classic “Regulate” serve as a kind of credo for the ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 15 days ago Going from “dope” to “decked out,” the Y2K era introduced fads that would define female rappers of the ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 14 days ago Pryor's new book, Something We Said: Richard Pryor, A Notorious Word, and Me, is part memoir but also ...

This one was worth the wait. Check out our highlights from 'Before the World Blows.' 15 days ago The record business has (allegedly) scammed countless musicians out of their masters, publishing rights ...