Beats, Rhymes & Lists is an independent digital media publication celebrating hip hop culture, from the old school originators to the new wave innovators.
Over the past 50 years, hip hip has evolved from block parties and park jams in the Bronx to becoming the best-selling and most influential music genre in the world. Inspired by the hip hop story, we launched Beats, Rhymes & Lists as a way to document historical milestones, as well as celebrate the new, up-and-coming talent.
This is for the hip-hop heads out there who love this culture. This website is here to celebrate everyone who have contributed to the culture: from rappers and producers to DJs and industry executives to promoters and journalists.
We’re not confined to any specific era or region, it’s about hip hop as a whole. Beats, Rhymes & Lists is about Melle Mel, Rakim, Kool G Rap and KRS-One as much as it is about Young Thug, Durk, Lil Baby and Pop Smoke. It’s about Chris Lighty, Faith Newman and Wendy Day. It’s Large Professor, Pete Rock, Metro Boomin and Dr. Dre.
Who we’re writing for:
- People who want to read in-depth profiles about iconic hip hop figures
- People who like to check out cool (and random) rap lists like the most sampled hip hop tracks of all time or the 50 greatest posse cuts in rap history
- People who are interested in the sales and commercial side of hip hop
- People who like to peep dope facts like Jay-Z and Big L battled each other or that Just Blaze made “Girls, Girls, Girls” for Ghostface Killah or that Nas rapped the first verse of “N.Y. State Of Mind” in one take
Who we’re not writing for:
- People who don’t think Naughty by Nature’s Treach is one of the greatest rappers of all time
- People who can’t recite “La Di Da Di” off the top of their head
- People who don’t understand why Puffy is one of the greatest to ever do it
- People who can’t name the sample off Nas’ “The World is Yours”
- People who don’t know who Wendy Day is or why she’s so important to the culture