Ever since its creation in the 1970s, hip hop music has been on the rise. The genre has gone on to change popular music and has become a worldwide phenomenon, even going on to surpass rock as the most popu­lar genre in the United States in 2017.

These songs were some of the biggest hip hop hits of the decade because of their use of “posse cuts” — a type of song featuring successive verses from multiple high-profile rappers — to cele­brate what made the genre be­come a powerhouse.

“Monster” by Kanye West feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver

Since Kanye’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was declared album of the de­cade by Billboard magazine, it is only fitting that this awesome collaboration kickstarts this list. Even though it is hard to recon­cile Kanye’s earlier music with his new gospel focus feature Je­sus is King, this horror-focused track still holds up and is one of the best on the acclaimed album.

Complementing the excep­tional production on the track — reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s hit song Thriller — is how each artist sticks with the horror-theme in their verses, which contributes to the track’s uniqueness. But the crown jew­el is Nicki Minaj’s sporadic high energy finale which makes the song iconic.

“1 Train” by A$AP Rocky feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Ac­tion Bronson and Big K.R.I.T.

While many artists rose to fame during this decade, per­haps one of the biggest was A$AP Rocky. But there was a time — before he was making international headlines in 2019 for his arrest in Sweden — that the rapper was launching a solo career from the A$AP Mob crew.

This song appeared on Rocky’s first debut studio album and features six of the most popular rappers of the decade. The sim­ple looping track of “1 Train” al­lows each artist to highlight their skills without being interrupted by a chorus or hook.

Every BROCKHAMPTON track

The Texas hip hop group BROCKHAMPTON formed in 2015 and became widely popular following the release of their tril­ogy of SATURATION albums. Part of what made hip hop the most popular genre was its rise on the internet, and BROCK­HAMPTON is no different as it was created through an internet rap forum.

Iridescence, BROCKHAMP­TON’s 2018 album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and has received much critical acclaim. The group also represents the changing nature of hip hop with their music’s fo­cus on a diverse range of issues like sexuality, mental health and racism.

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Noah Callaghan/ Staff Writer

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