The Grammy’s 50th anniversary of hip hop vacation playlist
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip hop, artists spanning the genre’s history took to the 65th Grammys stage to perform snippets of some of their biggest hits. As the musical director and one of the producers of this portion of the show, Questlove was tasked with creating an epic segment. He succeeded in doing so, and the fans were thrilled by the masterful result.
Although the Recording Academy has been called out various times before for making questionable choices in the rap categories, this was one hip-hop moment that we couldn’t take issue with, despite some of our personal favorites being left out. It’s all good! Some of the greats from the last five decades took the stage, including Big Boi, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes with Spliff Star, De La Soul, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, GloRilla, Grandmaster Flash, Ice-T, Lil Baby, The Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rakim, RUN-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, Scarface, Swizz Beatz, and Too $hort. Hov was hype and we were hoping he’d pull a Lil Mama and jump on stage at some point! Of all people, he definitely deserved to be up there.
As a result of how inspiring it was to watch these artists lay the groundwork for what hip-hop is today, we’ve compiled a list of the 50 best hip-hop songs for your next vacation. Join us as we voyage through eras of quality music. Please note, the list is in no specific order.
Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
Kurtis Blow – The Breaks
Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew – The Show
Ice Cube – It Was a Good Day
Public Enemy – Fight The Power
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – The Message
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg - Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang
RUN-DMC - My Adidas
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Tha Crossroads
The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy
Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)
Mobb Deep - Shook Ones (Part II)
Lil Kim - No Time
Pete Rock C.L. Smooth - They Reminisce Over You
The Pharcyde – Passin’ Me By
Luniz – I Got 5 On It
Naughty by Nature - Hip-Hop Hooray
Craig Mack - Flava In Ya Ear
Queen Latifah - U.N.I.T.Y.
Jay-Z - Can’t Knock The Hustle
Method Man featuring Mary J. Blige – All I Need
Nas – If I ruled the world
Tupac Ft. Dr. Dre – California Love
Missy Elliott - The Rain
UGK Ft. Outkast - International Players Anthem
Arrested Development - Tennessee
Common - The Light
Juveline - Back That Azz Up
Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz -Get Low
Outkast - Skew It on the Bar-B Ft. Raekwon
Kendrick Lamar - M.A.A.D. City Ft. MC eiht
Lil Wayne – A Milli
Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)
Fugees – Fu-Gee-La
Big Pun - It’s So Hard
The Roots – You Got Me Ft. Erykah Badu
Kanye West – Through The Wire
Jay-z- Big Pimpin Ft. UGK
Eminem – Lose Yourself
M.O.P - Ante Up Remix – Ft. Busta Rhymez, Teflon, & Remy Ma
Migos - Bad and Boujee ft Lil Uzi Vert
Lil Uzi Vert – Just Wanna Rock
GloRilla - Tomorrow 2 Ft. Cardi B
Jay-z & Kanye West – N*ggas in Paris
Travis Scott – Sicko Mode Ft. Drake
Megan Thee Stallion – Savage
J. Cole – “Love Yourz”
YG – Who Do You Love
50 Cent – 21 Questions Ft. Nate Dogg
Chamillionaire - Ridin’
The year was certainly a big one for hip-hop! With Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The rapper beat out Pusha T (It’s Almost Dry), Jack Harlow (Come Home the Kids Miss You), Future (I Never Liked You), and DJ Khaled (God Did), to win the award, which was given to him by Cardi B.
K Dot has now triumphed in the Best Rap Album category three times, taking home the award for To Pimp a Butterfly in 2016 and for Damn in 2018. Lamar was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, but infamously fell short to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
He also took home the Grammys for Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song for his record “The Heart Pt 5.”
Evie Blanco is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York. She is extremely well-versed in hip-hop music and culture and is always aware of any developments within it. Whether it’s the latest in pop culture, a fascinating foreign destination, a truly amazing new restaurant, or breaking news, she loves to write about it all.
This story was originally published February 7, 2023 at 2:23 PM with the headline "The Grammy’s 50th anniversary of hip hop vacation playlist."