Seeing how different rappers looked when they first got in the game and now can be quite surprising. Drake is one of the biggest examples of an artist who came in the game looking much different ...

And then there are the legal issues ... and "Settle Down" make it arguably one of the best female rap releases of the year. Now for the elephant: The album debuted at No. 14, selling only 29K ...

Now playlists dictate what is heard ... There are always outliers. But all rap is local, if not literally, then philosophically. Even Freddie Gibbs, from the rap wasteland of Gary, Ind., ...

These organizations now pay top dollar to ... “have all the popularity in the world but then the deals that they have are terrible. Top battle rappers, we make more than a lot of recording ...