Baby girl, you're only funky as your last cut...

The male gaze looms over everything, but hip-hop is its favorite entertainment. Those under its watchful eye feel objectified or shamed if they don't give it what it wants to see. In this episode, we share the stories of three artists who are pushing back on the male gaze in thei ...  Show more

How did the "bad bitch" replace the "ride or die chick" in hip-hop? In this episode we talk to the original baddest herself, Trina, about how her career flipped the script on dusty old stereotypes of Black women in rap, and left men down bad. We also sit down with Trick Daddy, th ...  Show more

A Drogheda feud member, convicted of a brutal abduction and torture, has launched his rap career with a highly produced music video about crime and carnage on the streets of his home town.

Criminal Dean Thornton is hoping to find fame with his song about feuding, gun ...

In this bonus feed drop we share an episode of NPR Music's new podcast Louder Than A Riot. Hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden spent a year investigating the link between the rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. In this episode they look at the story of Mac Phipps, a rap ...  Show more

After Hip Hop artist Tupac Shakur is gunned down in a shocking drive-by shooting, Las Vegas Homicide Detective Wayne Petersen’s investigation takes him deep into the Compton gang scene – where he uncovers the chain of events that ended the life of a music icon. Hollywood Homicide ...  Show more

A high-profile criminal trial is underway in Atlanta that could have major implications for the music industry. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has alleged Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug is the cofounder of a criminal street gang responsible for violent acts and is ...  Show more