Its not a sound, its an attitude.
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The enduring spirit of New York hip-hop is unbridled confidence, limitless audacity.
The spirit of New York hip-hop springs eternal.
Craig Jenkins
100.
Over a brilliant Roger Troutman flip that highlights Sermons considerable production talent, the dynamic duo get down.
A timeless single that came to embody hip-hops golden age.Stereo Williams
99.
As bleak as its lyrics are, it was a minor hit.Gary Suarez
97.
The titular loverman would later grace its remix alongside Busta Rhymes and two-out-of-three Migos.Gary Suarez
95.
Run-D.M.C., Peter Piper (1986)
Goddamn, that DJ made my day!
There it is.Naima Cochrane
91.
13 on the Hot 100.
It also delivered a new word to the hip-hop-culture lexicon.Starr Rhett Rocque
89.
Fat Joe ft. Ashanti and Ja Rule, Whats Luv?
(2002)
Some songs just sound so indisputably 2002. put Fat Joe on the map well beyond the Bronx two years earlier.
But really, Whats Luv?
)Shamira Ibrahim
84.
Collectives and crews who hopped on occasional posse cuts?
A group of MCs with such different styles?
A New York anthem in its own right.Naima Cochrane
81.
The Firm, Phone Tap (1997)
Phone Tap is mob business.
(Spoiler: Dres on the line, foiling all their plans.
)Dee Lockett
79.
Salt-N-Pepa, Push It (1987)
Salt-N-Pepa popped raps macho bubble the moment they entered the metaphorical ring.
Push It broke through during a time when only male rappers had begun dominating the charts.
N.O.R.E., Superthug (1998)
With one single and a comically bizarre video, N.O.R.E.
catchphrase as a New York rap siren.Shamira Ibrahim
75.
Its all done with a melodic hook thats as memorable as a song like their previous hit Push It.
with all your might.
Thats the power of this track,even 30 years later.Naima Cochrane
72.
The God MC at his absolute peak.Stereo Williams
71.
The MCs traded unwritten bars with a similar style of genius.Ivie Ani
68.
The casual, laid-back mood brings out the duos chemistry.
His barks and growls added an extra layer of excitement.Starr Rhett Rocque
61.
Black Rob, Whoa!
But just as telling is its creative DNA.
& Lil Kim (Junior M.A.F.I.A.
), Get Money (1995)
Junior M.A.F.I.A.
and made their own mark with their debut albumConspiracy.
Its dark, menacing magic.
Biggies delivery is methodical, as each line hits with seemingly casual potency.
Harlems finest earned a Grammy nomination with the single Oh Boy the song that was never supposed to exist.
Cams hit overthe stolen Just Blaze beat, originally made for Memphis Bleek, earned a No.
Foxy Brown, Ill Na Na (1996)
Ill Na Na is a lightning-in-a-bottle moment in hip-hop.
G Rap is the father of NYC street rap, and no song captures the essence better.
The cops shot the kid / I still hear him scream, Slick Rick says.Eric Diep
42.
Its Kane in full laid-back mack-daddy mode but offering some of his most nimble rhymes.
Public Enemy, Rebel Without a Pause (1988)
Its like a piercing siren announcing a coming crisis.
Public Enemy has bigger songs, but no track is more quintessentially P.E.
White-linen music.Eric Diep
38.
Mobb Deep, Quiet Storm, Pt.
My Brooklyn style speak for itself, she righteously insists.William E. Ketchum III
36.
MC Lyte, Ruffneck (1993)
Rap owes a great debt to MC Lyte.
The Diplomats, Dipset Anthem (2003)
Jawsworks because you dont see the shark right away.
After beating out Lauryn Hills Doo Wop (That Thing) to have the longest-running No.
Nas, Ether (2001)
Jay-Z vs. Nas was a legendary war of words.
Nass attacks were personal, effectively hurting Jays ego.
& Rakim, Paid in Full (1987)
Rakim has never wavered.
Itll light any tristate-area party on fire to this day.Craig Jenkins
27.
The oft-repurposed formulation ___ is chillin, ____ is chillin still delivers concise B-boy realness.Naima Cochrane
25.
Lil Kim, Crush on You (1996)
Stepping out from Junior M.A.F.I.A.
With one video, Kim melded street fashion with hip-hop on the mainstream stage.Shamira Ibrahim
24.
Pete Rock & C.L.
Smooth, They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)
Onyx, Slam (1993)
Before Onyx, Queens representatives such as LL Cool J and even Run-D.M.C.
were swaggy and cool.
But then this group from South Jamaica came storming in with baggy jeans, Timberlands, and bald heads.
(Public Enemy also lifted that phrase from the Isley Brothers song of the same title.)
for launch, and handed a still-new Bad Boy the crown.Naima Cochrane
11.
So she volunteered to drag the group to hell and back using a sample of their own record.
(You could say it invented raps diss economy.)
I said, This is true.
He said, Explain to me really what MCs must do.
Hip-hop is all about taking whats yours, and no song in the genre embodies that spirit more.
Together, they set the precedent forlyrical beef in the culture.
Wu-Tang Clan, C.R.E.A.M.
is one of its mottos.
As hed say years later, the Notorious B.I.G.
wanted to sell records like Snoop and with Juicy, he made his mark.
As much as his own success, the song celebrated hip-hops arrival as an artistic and cultural force.
Juicy peaked at No.
Biggie was King of New York, and Juicy was his throne.William E. Ketchum III
2.
Its a vivid storytelling masterpiece that effectively captures the nervous energy of Reagan-era NYC streets.
If hip-hop has a Johnny B. Goode, this 1982 single has to be it.
No song embodies that shift better than The Message.
Its a vivid storytelling masterpiece that effectively captures the nervous energy of Reagan-era NYC streets.Stereo Williams
1.
Mobb Deep, Shook Ones, Pt.
Every word uttered on Shook Ones, Pt.
), from the warm hearts turned cold to the nose bones turned shiv.
Its a note-perfect mission statement for one of the genres greatest acts, referenced ad nauseam but never replicated.
To say its rooted in one place would be a staggering understatement.
And as bone-chillingly grim as Mobb Deeps music could be, it was also marked by neighborhood pride.
