2017 was a year of breakout stars: Cardi B, 21 Savage, XXXTentacion, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Pump and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie all went from 0 to 100. Of course some familiar faces continued to reign, like Migos, Future, Drake, Gucci Mane and Kendrick Lamar. It was also a year of interesting collaborations: Pharrell had Rihanna try her hand at rapping, Jay-Z and No I.D. threw it back to the Blueprint era, and Calvin Harris competed with DJ Khaled to see who could have the most features on an album. Overall, a super eclectic and exciting year in hip-hop ..read more

The Rub is back with another year of hip-hop history! 2016 was a great for both bangers and experimentation: Rae Sremmurd and Migos released their biggest singles to date, Travis Scott continued his winning streak, and Anderson .Paak blew up in the underground. D.R.A.M. and Yachty broke through with the sublimely weird “Broccoli,” Young M.A. had her moment in the spotlight with “Ouuuuu,” and Lil Uzi Vert hit radio (more from him in 2017!). Despite it being the streaming era, rap fans were blessed with some great full length albums, most notably from Chance (Coloring Book), Kanye (Pablo), and D ..read more

2015 feels like it was yesterday, and this mix is chock full of anthems that still get run in the clubs and on the radio, like Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" to Desiigner's "Panda." Then there are the viral hits that helped to define the current culture (think "Hotline Bling," "Look At My Dab," "Milly Rock.") But our favorites are the songs in the margins, songs like "Wavybone," and "The Blacker The Berry," and "Good Times." As always with The Rub's History of Hip Hop series, the goal is to expand the canon to include not only the most popular songs of the year but also all of the forgotten greatn ..read more

2014 was a banner year for a handful of rappers and producers who were familiar to hip-hop fans - Young Money, GOOD Music, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, etc - but their music was evolving and absorbing influences from the margins. Upstarts Fetty Wap, Rae Sremmurd, Bobby Shmurda, OT Genasis, Makonnen and Dej Loaf all scored huge hits and got cosigns from the previous generation of rap stars. DJ Mustard kept chugging along with a string of top 10 radio records in a streak which may have only been preceded by The Neptunes the decade prior. History of Hip Hop 2014 is a rich tapestry of ATL trap, West Co ..read more

There's an argument to be made that 2012 was one of the greatest years in hip-hop. The Rub's History of Hip Hop 2012 mix argues the case forcefully, with wall to wall bangers in a plethora of regional styles... Complete description, download link and tracklist available here: Listen to all of 33 of The Rub's History mixes, from 1979 to 2012, at itstherub.com/category/history...tory-of-hip-hop ..read more

As The Rub’s History of Hip Hop mix series moves into the teens, the range of styles ever widens, touching on everything from classic soul samples to weird dubstep beats. (Watch The Throne had both.) Drake, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross were featured on everything; Juicy J. was putting out mixtapes at an astonishing rate, and Meek Mill had a couple of career-defining hits. J. Cole, Big Sean, Future, A$AP Mob, Odd Future and the Black Hippy crew were the new kids on the block, and Kreayshawn and YC were the year’s biggest one hit wonders. In R&B, both The Weeknd and Frank Ocean debuted in 2011. A ..read more

Fans of The Rub's History of Hip Hop series have been asking for new episodes since 2009, and your dreams have finally been fulfilled! We pick up right where we left off, and we'll be dropping another year every month until we're caught up. 2010 was dominated by a few big stars - Young Money's Nicki Minaj, Drake and Lil Wayne were on the radio and in clubs nonstop, along with huge hits by Rick Ross, Wiz Khalifa, and Kanye. Yelawolf, Big K.R.I.T. and J. Cole were the hot up-and-comers. It was Ludacris and Jeezy's last really stellar year, and we also got surprising comeback singles from Dipset ..read more

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