As The Rub’s History of Hip Hop mix series moves into the teens, the range of styles ever widens, touching on everything from classic soul samples to weird dubstep beats. (Watch The Throne had both.) Drake, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross were featured on everything; Juicy J. was putting out mixtapes at an astonishing rate, and Meek Mill had a couple of career-defining hits. J. Cole, Big Sean, Future, A$AP Mob, Odd Future and the Black Hippy crew were the new kids on the block, and Kreayshawn and YC were the year’s biggest one hit wonders. In R&B, both The Weeknd and Frank Ocean debuted in 2011.
All told, it’s a pretty incredible year to revisit!