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Though it maybe gets more press for less romantic, more straight-up sexual songs, hip-hop has really changed the way we think of love songs, whether it be in early LL Cool J tracks, more contemporary R&B duets, or any of the innumerable examples in between. Last month for Valentine’s Day, Complex assembled a loving list [...]

For an art form that, originally at least, was all about telling the party people how much better you were than the other guy, girl, or crew, rap has lost some of its edge, mostly by going overboard with beefs, battles and disses, cheapening the concept so that now it serves as a marketing ploy. [...]

Food in rap music can have many meanings, whether as an assertion of wealth and success, or as a sexual allegory, or maybe just an evocation of the simple pleasures in life. At any rate, after women, jewelry, cars, guns and drugs, food might be the most popular subject in rap. Street Level cooks up [...]

Lil rappers, because they are so small, come in bulk. And, like most things available in such large quantities, it takes a keen eye to sift through all the bad and find the very best. Helpfully, Big Smudge has tried to narrow the field to the 7 Best Lil Rappers, but we have a few [...]

Given that hip-hop is so focused on showing off the hot gear you’ve got, it’s only fitting that claims to being the coolest one year will sound silly the next. This is especially true with technological goods, which already become obsolete quickly before considering the accelerated life cycles of hip-hop fads. Accordingly, rap is full [...]

With his last few albums Jay-Z has really made the transition from being a famous rapper to becoming a full-fledged cultural icon. He’s even got his own hand symbol, like, um… Well, we can’t actually think of any people with their own instantly recognizable hand gestures (help us out commenters), but plenty of other celebrities [...]

We really love a spectacularly ridiculous hip hop album cover. You know, one that deploys all the common cliches with copious jewelry, fancy cars, naked women, suits, cigars, a lurking posse, toned and oiled muscles, maybe a skyline, the works. It’s hip-hop, it’s all about showing off and having fun doing it. All of those [...]

We love the idea of hip hop supergroups, except that so often they end up sounding like so much less than the sum of their parts, which is a tragic shame. That’s assuming they put out any music at all, which is not always the case. Then there are others, like The Firm, which deliver [...]

As perhaps the subculture that has embraced Internet meme culture with the greatest enthusiasm, hip hop has produced some of the most memorable cross-over mainstream web memes. StreetLevel recounts some of the funnest in their listicle of The 9 Best Hip Hop Memes, from consciously created movements like Souljah Boy’s “Crank Dat” dance or the [...]

Simpsonizing others or oneself is completely harmless fun (as Nelson Muntz might say: “Like punching a guy in the dark”) and it translates our real world fears, concerns and adorations into the playful, orange-tinged world of The Simpsons, where everything seems a little less threatening if not completely hilarious. Format recently commissioned Moxy Creative to [...]