Sheldon Pearce

Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner was removed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's board after sexist and racist comments. But he is, and always has been, an avatar for an exclusionary framework.

Giving rap the future it deserves means smashing the infrastructure as it is. But with the battle lines drawn, we can still take heart in the artists teasing just how much further the culture can go.

The 305's hedonistic reputation is not unearned, but there is artistry in its debauchery, and a young generation reinvesting the rewards of their predecessors' battles against censorship.

Faith and religion have been career-long themes for the Run the Jewels rapper — if often in a wary, ambivalent light. But on Michael, his first solo LP in over a decade, something has changed.

The singer and rapper displays the subtle breadth of his music in this Tiny Desk (home) concert.

A longtime hero of the underground rap scene for his worldly, wily lyrics that are erudite and streetwise, billy woods has made his clearest, most engaging album yet with Maps.

The rapper's third album is a string of prickly songs that spend more time exposing his neuroses than truly analyzing them.

The joyously chaotic rap team-up Scaring the Hoes is less Watch the Throne and more Wedding Crashers: a pair of motormouthed eccentrics running wild trick plays and daring you to stick around.

At this year's awards on Sunday night, Beyoncé could become the artist with the most Grammys ever. She could also go down in history as the most snubbed.

Artists like NBA YoungBoy, Rod Wave and a resurgent Kodak Black pulled in massive streaming numbers this year (and, at times, outran controversy) while barely registering on mainstream pop's radar.