Genres: Rap: Underground & Alternative Rap

Just as scrappy and raunchy as their forbears, these freshman also possess a fondness for the art house. Expect DJ Screw-era pastiche, hard drugs and violent fantasies. Decidedly NSFW.

The best songs from the MCs and producers performing at the eclectic, three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. http://coachella.com

Updated weekly, these are the most popular tracks uploaded to the infamous hip hop blog, worldstarhiphop.com.

Emerging as an antidote to the glitzy-jiggy rap scene of the late '90s, underground artists started putting out uncompromising hip-hop on small independent labels. Look back on a sometimes underappreciated scene.

Cited by countless rappers, journalists, and fellow producers as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, DJ Premier has left an an indelible mark on the genre. Here are Primo's greatest beats.

Explore this producer-focused style of hip hop, a combination of rap and electronica.

Turn the bass way up for this collection of funky tracks by legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla.

An intimate experience with some of rap's most compelling introspective and philosophical songs.

As a freshman, Derek Smith left college to focus on music production full-time. Today, as Pretty Lights, Smith runs his own record label and is headlining festivals around the country. Listen to the best tracks from Pretty Lights and his contemporaries.

E-40, Andre Nickatina, Zion I and all your favorite Bay Area rappers.

London-based Ninja Tune Records is an independent electronic and hip hop label. Listen to a playlist highlighting the eclectic range of its catalog.

The Soundtrack To The Cadillac That Was Passed Down Through The Generations. If These Spokes Could Speak...

When indie rock fans feel the urge to switch up their sound and listen to a blast of hip-hop music, these are the rappers and the anthems they inevitably turn to.

Along with fellow heavy hitters DJ Premiere and RZA, Pete Rock helped to define the soulful, sample-based sound of '90s East Coast rap. Here is Pete Rock's oeuvre; from his work with CL Smooth to the hits he produced for Biggie, Common, and others.

Ever since the early days of hip hop, DJs have been innovative manipulators of turntables. This playlist features highlights of "turntablism," including expert scratching, beat juggling, phasing, and spinbacking.

Commonly referred to as jazz hop or jazz rap, this subgenre combines jazz samples with hip hop beats.

Since its birth in the Bronx, hip hop has been interpreted in various ways by different cultures around the globe. See what happens when hip hop crosses the pond with this mix of the best French hip hop.

Bhangra is a lively, percussive form of folk music and harvest dance from the Indian state of Punjab. Bhangra has enjoyed a surge in popularity worldwide, both in traditional form and as a fusion with genres such as hip-hop and reggae.

Hip-hop producers DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and Large Professor helped make Nas's Illmatic a '90s hip-hop classic. Explore the best of the quartet's other work from the same era.

This hybrid genre formed in the '80s when artists from the hip hop and electronic dance music worlds (both burgeoning scenes at the time) began adopting each others' styles and use of primitive synthesizers.

Rappers love to eat! Whether bragging about dining out on lobster and shrimp, extolling the virtues of a healthy diet, or bigging up their favorite hole-in-the-wall chicken spot, these mighty healthy rap songs invoke food as inspiration.

Hip hop started with the DJ. From the original turntable stylists of the late '70s and early '80s until now, we big up the art of DJing while tracing the evolution of turntablism.

Atmospheric and ambient, this is the sound of hip hop producers left to their own devices. Without any vocal assists from rappers, the results are innovative, expressive, and sometimes more than a little trippy.