Welcome to The State of R&B, ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, ESSENCE editor Rivéa Ruff reports on the blending of hip-hop and R&B. Since the ...

Jan. 5 is an outstanding day in hip-hop and R&B history for many reasons. YrkDaRapper was born on this date in 1998. The ...

Dec. 25 has ushered in many important events in R&B and hip-hop. O’Kelly Isley Jr. was born on this date in 1937. He was a ...

Pooh Shiesty's post-prison release, "FDO," storms to a No. 1 debut on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for the rapper's first champ and the Hot 100's top 25.

Wed, August 27, 2025 at 2:18 PM UTC Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan.

You might say it was Drake, DJ Premier, or Ice Cube. But the real idea of a beat flip starts with the DJ. In the early days of hip-hop—when DJing was the center of the action and park jams at rec ...

The red carpet at the annual BET Hip-Hop Awards was a curious shade of green this year: money green. It was fitting for the occasion, because nothing comes close to distilling hip-hop's evolution over ...

Despite what many may think, Black queer artistry has always been intertwined with the DNA of Hip Hop and R&B. The more modern landscape reflects that truth more openly, but it didn’t get there ...

As it celebrates its 50th birthday, we are mapping hip-hop's story on a local level, with more than a dozen city-specific histories of the music and culture. Click here to see the entire list. If you ...