Dean’s 50 Perfect Rap Songs [Playlist]

To mark hip-hop turning 50 years old, I’ve selected 50 songs that I consider perfect, are meaningful to me, or that I that I played and played until they turned to dust. I spent yesterday and today picking 60 or so tracks, stream of consciousness style, before whittling the list down and assembling them in chronological order as best I could. This is not meant to be definitive. The only rule is one song per artist (excluding features, of course). Little attempt has been made to evenly represent eras, sounds, or regions. This playlist isn’t a 50 greatest rap songs or best rappers list—many of these selections wouldn’t necessarily be my favorite track from the artist. I’m sure in the next few days at least 50 more songs will come to me that I should have selected, and the urge to bang my head on the table will be strong. But then I’ll remember that it’s not serious, it’s a celebration. Because long-live the b-boys, the b-girls, the hotsteppers, the midnight marauders, and the madvillains. And hip-hop over everything.

Finally, Irish readers: At around 10.20AM tomorrow I'll be on Jennifer Zamparelli's 2FM show with God Knows to talk about the hip-hop half century. Set your dial.

Playlist on the link below. (Apologies for this being the second attempt at this. I forgot embedded Spotify playlists don’t show up on these newsletters.)

Dean’s 50 Perfect Rap Songs