The New New York

In the more than four decades since Kool Herc birthed breakbeats amid the ruins of the South Bronx, a lot has changed: Gentrification has transformed many of the city’s traditional hip-hop hotbeds, and the music has exploded from a small, thoroughly local, DIY scene to the world’s pre-eminent youth culture. But after years of watching other cities, from Los Angeles to Atlanta, leave their respective marks on the sound it created, New York is showing it never lost its Yankee-hat swagger—often by looking to other regions for inspiration just as much as its own hard-edged boom-bap traditions. The Bronx’s A Boogie wit da Hoodie is blowing up with a thoroughly Highbridge take on the moody Auto-Tuned melodies often associated with post-Drake Toronto; Chicago and London’s nihilistic drill sounds influenced Young M.A and birthed a rowdy Brooklyn scene that continues to bubble even after the death of breakout star Pop Smoke. Way upstate, Buffalo’s Griselda collective is resurrecting the grimy sounds of classic Wu-Tang even as they collaborate with rappers in London and Paris and high-end fashion brands. Check out this playlist featuring the latest wave of hip-hop artists from New York and the whole tri-state area (hi, New Jersey). Our editors regularly update this—if you hear something you like, add it to your library.