A-List: Check out the Hip-hop Playlists by Apple Music

[damusichits]

[damusichits]

Future Essentials – Apple Music Hip-Hop

A son of Atlanta’s renowned Dungeon Family collective, Future’s ushered in a new wave of success for one of hip-hop’s most legendary crews. A versatile songwriter, he caught his first major looks after penning and appearing on YC’s “Racks.” After mixtape cuts “Tony Montana,” “Magic,” and “Same Damn Time” broke out beyond Atlanta, Future landed a major-label deal with Epic Records. His 2012 major-label debut, Pluto, despite moderate first-week sales, landed on several publications’ year-end lists and only furthered Future’s industry demand. His skills as a hookmaster have since been tapped by the likes of Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus. His sophomore album, Honest, is set for release in early 2014. Whether it’s a knocking street single or a love ballad, Future makes it work, all through his trademark Auto-Tuned warble.

[damusichits]

Drake Essentials – Apple Music Hip-Hop

Drake achieved hip-hop dominance in the most unexpected way possible: by baring his soul. While the Canadian rapper/singer can drop battle-ready bars and swag-fueled club jams with equal ease, he’s more likely to kick introspective verses that take you inside his complicated life, one where even party-hopping excess is no defense against real heartbreak. He also digs in some truly global crates in his search for killer beats, flipping between the moodiness of late-night R&B ballads, the speaker-blowing thump of Southern hip-hop bangers, the waist-winding grooves of dancehall, the floor-filling thrills of UK club music, and much more. Whether he’s grappling with the pain of the one that got away on the haunting “Marvin’s Room” or flipping the script on booty calls with the irresistible Caribbean funk of “Hotline Bling,” Drake mixes raw emotion with seductive hooks, banging hip-hop with bouncy dance-pop, and genre-bending thrills with an inimitable style that’s straight from The 6.

[damusichits]

Kanye West Essentials – Apple Music Hip-Hop

Kanye West started out as the first backpacker with a Benz, a genius producer with a deep throwback streak, lacing hardcore rappers and R&B playas with soulful Golden Age beats. Grabbing the mic from his heroes, Yeezy immediately unlocked his inner swag, blurring the lines between audacious pop superstar, musical visionary, and intensely intimate MC. While he drops more outrageous boasts-per-minute than just about anyone, Kanye’s rhymes mix deadly seriousness with over-the-top silliness, injecting even his most political and personal bars with razor-sharp punchlines. His sound is just as kaleidoscopic, tracking a restless creative mind as he flips dusty jazz loops, soaring EDM riffs, angelic gospel harmonies, furious rock drumming, and so much more. He’ll rip up your heart on haunting slow jams like “Love Lockdown,” pump your adrenaline with ferocious bangers like “Black Skinhead,” and have you going rhyme for rhyme on all-time anthems like “Gold Digger.”

[damusichits]

Eminem Essentials – Apple Music Hip-Hop

Eminem took the industry by storm with the release of his 1999 major-label debut, the multiplatinum Slim Shady LP. Since then he’s released five more multiplatinum albums and is widely heralded as one of the greatest MCs of all time. Perhaps no other rapper’s ever balanced critical acclaim and commercial success quite like Em. He’s a lyrical extremist revered by his peers and critics. His catalog includes several classic albums. As a mogul and producer, he was instrumental in introducing superstar 50 Cent to the world via a Shady/Aftermath joint venture. He’s a record-breaking machine—the highest-selling rapper of all time. No one in any genre’s sold more records than Em in the aughts. His 2002 single “Lose Yourself”—off of the semiautobiographical 8 Mile—has the distinction of being the first rap recording to win Best Song at the Academy Awards.

[damusichits]

It’s Lit!!! – Apple Music Hip-Hop

Hip-hop and R&B for the club. Our editors regularly update this playlist—if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

[damusichits]

Hip-Hop Replay – Apple Music Hip-Hop

[Author]

Posts