A mystery decoded, a legal field just begun. What is the common bond between Grand Wizard Theodore, Blastmaster, KRSOne, and Stanley Platzer? An historical critical megamix.

“Hiphop is the most modern example, after capoeira and basketball, of African culture’s bent towards aesthetic com­bat — what the graffiti movement itself long ago defined as ‘style wars.’ ”

“Run-D.M.C.’s myth was like Rocky to everyone else’s Apollo Creed. It had to be a myth; no one could possibly be that square.”

How three working-class lads from Edinburgh with nothing to lose made one of the year’s most exciting hip-hop albums

Even her detractors can’t deny the palpable strength of will that makes “Invasion of Privacy” vibrate with personality