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Detroit hip-hop artist Invincible performs in the "Good Folk: Women of Hip Hop" show at Joe's Pub. Download her song "Detroit Summer."

Tricia Rose,  professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and author of The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop-And Why It Matters, discusses race in America 20 years after the L.A. violence stemming from the Rodney King verdict. Gary Phillips, writer, activist, South Central native, contributor to Dr. Pop, and author of several books, including Violent Spring, his mystery novel set in the aftermath of '92, joins the conversation.

A murder trial has started for Rapper G. Dep in a 1993 shooting in New York City.

Brooklyn rapper and spoken-word poet F. Stokes performs with Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree at the Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night. Download his ode to hometown Madison, Wisconsin "My Simple." 

Since its humble beginnings in the Bronx during the 1970s, hip hop has become a global musical phenomenon with attendant forms of style and protest. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of hip hop's recent impact is in the Arab world where formed the soundtrack to the revolution with rappers like Hamada Ben Amor from Tunisia, Cheikh Oumar Cyrille from Senegal, and Mohamed el Deeb from Egypt.

Misogynistic and homophobic lyrics are part and parcel of mainstream rap music's hyper-masculine culture. But over the last year, as part of a larger conversation about homophobia and bullying, more and more stars have spoken out against the community's anti-gay attitudes. 

Chicago rapper Common stopped by Eagle Academy for Young Men in the South Bronx on Monday morning to talk to the school's 500-plus students about how they could achieve their dreams. He also performed two raps. The rapper said he wanted to visit Eagle after hearing about the school while serving on an education reform panel at Lincoln Center last year.

Sola Rosa plays SOBs on Tuesday night. Download the group's song "Turn Around," which features emerging Wellington songstress Iva Lamkum.

One of the most difficult conversations we can have in our society has to do with race. In some ways the conversation is complicated by recent milestone events in racial equality like the election of President Barack Obama. But, Jay Smooth says that milestones like that are exactly the reason why we need to think and communicate more effectively about race as such milestones can obfuscate the real inequalities that still remain in our society.

The Jamaica-born, Mount Vernon, New York-raised rapper Heavy D died Tuesday after collapsing outside his house in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 44 years old. Watch some videos to remember him by here.

Check out the video here, in which the two mix up lyrics from De La Soul, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Ice Cube, the Fugees and Outkast, among others.

It’s the story of a record label that defined hip-hop and impacted the music industry forever. In the 25 years since its founding, Def Jam Recordings has built up an incredible roster of recording artists, influencing all areas of culture, fashion, lifestyle, cinema and art, to become the sound of young America, akin to Motown in the sixties. The first single to be released with a Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jay's "It's Yours."

From Tuesday through Sunday, more than 1,350 bands, DJs and comedians will perform at the annual CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival. Check out WNYC's trippy color-coded map to see our CMJ picks — from En Vogue to Mike Birbiglia to Dum Dum Girls — for each night of the festival.

Underground rap forefather Aceyalone plays the Mercury Lounge Monday night. Download "We Are" from his Freestyle Fellowship here.

The white, Jewish rap sensation Hoodie Allen brings his flow to Mexicali Live in Teaneck on Monday night. Download his single "The Chase is On" here.

The 16 contestants in the second annual American Beatbox Championships take the stage on Sunday, armed with their voices and some microphones. Check out some images from the first-ever competition and open your ears.

Justin Timberlake took a break from promoting his new movie "Friends With Benefits" to perform 'History of Rap, Part 2' with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday. Check out the videos for Part 1 and 2 here.

Jeffrey Atkins, better-known as the 35-year-old rapper Ja Rule, was sentenced to 28 months in prison on Monday after admitting to not filing tax returns for five years. The Saddle River, New Jersey native was also ordered to pay over $1.1 million in unpaid taxes on record royalties and live performances.

Big Freedia, the preeminent personality of the NoLA hip-hop sissy bounce scene, plays Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday. Download her "Excuse" here.

From Bulgarian folk dance to New York pole dancing, the New York Dance Parade will be shimmying, swinging and pirouetting downtown on Saturday.