@Noriah Alexander

Discover new music from artists we think you'll like. Refreshed every Friday.

One of the best things about rap in the internet era is the ability for regional scenes to find national audiences without leaving their collective couch. Chicago has always been plugged in, but with the occasional exception (Eminem, Big Sean), Midwest rappers have mostly lived—and thrived—in their own hyperlocal bubbles, creating idiosyncratic substyles that have branched far off the evolutionary trunk of mainstream hip-hop. Calling back to the days when Michigan and Ohio were the funk capitals of the country, this playlist celebrates the voices, flows, and humor of one of the busiest—but most underrepresented—regions in rap. Detroit, yes—but also Flint, Louisville, Columbus, and beyond: Welcome to the New Midwest. We regularly swap out these tracks with new ones—if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

For a long time, saying “East Coast rap” was just another way of saying “New York rap”—understandable, given how seismic an impact the city had and continues to have on the culture. But while New York will always make waves, there are also incredibly fertile scenes in Philadelphia, Boston, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and beyond—a fact that life in the digital age has made clearer (and more accessible) than ever. So consider this playlist a rack focus: a broader look at a region that has been too narrowly defined for too long. From Maryland to Maine, radiating off I-95, here’s what’s happening in (ahem) East Coast rap now.

If you don’t immediately associate the Pacific Northwest with rap music, you’re forgiven—certainly there are other corners of the country that sooner come to mind. But culture grows wherever it finds a root, and anyone who has paid attention to music coming out of Portland, Seattle, Olympia, or their environs knows the region has as much to offer hip-hop as anywhere else. Liberal politics, waves of younger immigrant communities, the digital diaspora making homes in places they might’ve otherwise overlooked—whatever the factors, the area has become a reliably interesting place to watch. So let’s go ahead and watch it. Our editors will be rotating tracks regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Here's one for the heads. From new drops by emerging voices to regional hits on their way up to just-released bangers from the game's biggest stars, this playlist collects hip-hop that's just inches from the spotlight: Not just what's good, but what's next. Our editors update these picks regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

From the hardcore to the crossover, the torchbearers to the rule-breakers—this is a hub for all that’s new in hip-hop. If you don’t know, now you know. Selections here are updated regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Listening to Bay Area rap can feel like going to another country. The beats, the slang, the sheer energy of it—the wrapper might look kinda familiar, but bite into it and you’ll find something entirely new. Years on from the pioneering work of Too $hort, Mac Dre, and E-40, the Yay's music is still singular, a secret track running parallel to mainstream rap without ever crossing over (because when you’ve got your own thing going, why do it like everyone else?). At the heart of the sound is an addictive kind of bounciness, a propulsion that keeps things moving no matter how heavy the subject matter gets. Explore the latest in one of rap's most idiosyncratic scenes. Our editors update picks regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.