With this month marking the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, we’re celebrating this culture-defining movement with a month of fresh content. Featuring unique artist interviews to insightful essays and more, we’ll explore the history of rap from a variety of angles. After debuting our list of the 50 Best Hip-Hop Albums of all time, today we’re presenting the 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs.
Keep an eye out for all our Hip-Hop 50 content throughout the month, and check out our exclusive merch featuring our Hip-Hop 50 design at the Consequence Shop. A portion of proceeds from sales benefits Chance the Rapper’s SocialWorks.
It always starts with a song. Mine was Atmosphere’s “Trying to Find a Balance,” Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog told us about “Buffalo Gals,” and yours might have been “The Humpty Dance” or “My Name Is” or “WAP” or any banger on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. But no matter your age, if you love hip-hop, that love was probably sparked by one perfect track.
From the cuts that changed history to the ones that led to new developments in throwing ass, there have been far more than 50 great songs in hip-hop’s 50-year history. We polled our writers, editors, and freelancers, but narrowing such a vast genre down to a manageable list turned out to be a brutal exercise, even once we decided to limit the proceedings to one song per artist.
The results might look strange, or even deranged. Our only defense is that we really and truly love these tunes, and we had a blast spreading that joy. Check out our list of the 50 best hip-hop songs below, and make sure to check out our list of the 50 best hip-hop albums and the rest of our Hip-Hop 50 content.
— Wren Graves
Features Editor
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