With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from ...

The latest New Music Friday arrives as a powerful testament to hip-hop’s enduring ability to reinvent itself while honoring its roots. This week’s releases showcase an impressive spectrum of artistic ...

As hip-hop has grown into a billion dollar industry, hooks from R&B singers have helped rappers take over the pop charts, and hip-hop has, in turn, influenced the changing sound of soul music. Rakim’s ...

Welcome to The State of R&B, ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, ESSENCE editor Rivéa Ruff reports on the blending of hip-hop and R&B. Since the ...

Kendrick Lamar is Billboard’s 2025 R&B/Hip Hop Artist of the Year. See how ‘GNX,’ “Not Like Us,” and a record-breaking year earned him the crown.

Funk allowed Black musicians and their audiences to shapeshift and speak truth to power—even while speaking in tongues. But as Stanley Nelson and Nicole London’s documentary WE WANT THE FUNK! reveals, ...

Dec. 3 has had numerous defining moments throughout the history of hip-hop and R&B. Trina, who shot to prominence for her ...