The familiar beat, synthesizers, and spitting vocals are recognizable anywhere. Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal,” off his record Bad, digs into the darker side of his music. The song opens with an ...

Hip-hop, like any art form, is a means of creative expression. And while rap music is often semi-autobiographical, when Kanye West recorded in 2018, “I thought about killing you / Premeditated murder, ...

Ms. Lee is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and a 2021-22 Knight-Wallace reporting fellow. March 30, 2022 Tommy Munsdwell Canady was in middle school when he wrote his first rap ...