Hip-Hop News, Documentaries and Artist Interviews

Chicago drill rapper Lil Mister, Antwon Fields, archival photograph
DOCUMENTARY

The Final Hours of Lil Mister: No Lackin, Chicago Drill and the 2019 Killing of Antwon Fields

Editorial

On a Friday evening in March 2019, a Chicago rapper whose voice helped define the first wave of drill was shot in Englewood. Antwon Fields, known to fans as Lil Mister or Lil Woppa, had spent years building a name through raw neighborhood videos, collaborations and the kind of music that traveled farther than its budget. By the following day, the artist behind “No Lackin” was dead, and another piece of the scene’s early history had been lost.Fields was more than a name attached to a tragedy. His music belongs…

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Archival photograph of Hakeem HK Murray, brother of T.Roy, from Raptology's Chicago drill coverage
DOCUMENTARY

The Final Hours of HK From O’Block: T.Roy’s Brother and the Story Behind His 2017 Death

Editorial

Hakeem “HK” Murray died on Nov. 24, 2017, less than a year after his brother T.Roy was killed. To people outside Chicago, HK’s name would later surface through King Von, Muwop, O’Block documentaries and the mythology surrounding Get Back Gang. To the people who knew him, the story was simpler and more painful: two brothers from the same family were gone within nine months. HK was not a mainstream rapper and did not leave behind a major solo catalog. That is exactly why his story became so vulnerable to internet…

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Editorial illustration for Raptology’s documentary about Odee Perry and the origins of O’Block
DOCUMENTARY

The Final Hours of Odee Perry: The Killing That Gave O’Block Its Name

Editorial

Before O’Block became one of the most recognizable place names in modern rap, it was simply a stretch of Parkway Gardens on Chicago’s South Side. Then Odee Perry was killed in August 2011. In the years that followed, his name became attached to the block, then to a street faction, then to a global drill mythology carried by Chief Keef, King Von and a generation of Chicago rappers. That transformation makes Perry’s story unusually important to hip-hop history. He was not a famous rapper. He did not leave behind a…

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Takeoff of Migos, subject of Raptology documentary The Final Hours of Takeoff
DOCUMENTARY

The Final Hours of Takeoff: What Happened the Night the Migos Rapper Was Killed in Houston

Editorial

On the morning of Nov. 1, 2022, Takeoff was supposed to be entering a new chapter. The quietest member of Migos had just released a full album with Quavo, had spent October talking more openly about his own place in rap history, and had dropped a new music video only hours before his death. By sunrise in Houston, one of the most technically gifted rappers of his generation was gone. Takeoff’s death has often been reduced to a single phrase: a dice game gone wrong. The real story is more…

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Top 10 Best Hip-Hop Producers of All Time (2022)
Articles DOCUMENTARY EDITORIAL

Top 10 Best Hip-Hop Producers of All Time

Chad Mauli

The age-old question every rap fan talks about all the time... "Who are the best hip-hop producers of all time?" It matters because the backing beat is the foundation of the rap song. Many times, having access to these supreme beat producers can make or break a career. This is an editorial ranking, not an official industry list. I weighed influence on hip-hop’s sound, originality, range, consistency, landmark records, and the ability to shape artists’ careers. Commercial success and credit counts matter, but they do not decide the order on…

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