As hip-hop celebrates its 50th birthday this year, most anniversary lineups have, understandably, focused on titans and trailblazers of the past: OGs Kurtis Blow and the Sugarhill Gang through Big Daddy Kane and Slick Rick to Wu-Tang Clan and De La Soul.
But what about the state of hip-hop today? With all due flowers to the founders, the genre isn’t in the rearview. No sound continues to evolve and mutate at the rate of rap: If a time traveler played Boygenius for the Beach Boys, they’d be able to nod and strum along; if they played Young Thug at that fateful back-to-school dance where it all started, DJ Kool Herc’s speakers and attendees’ brains would both melt.
Amid the usual premature obituaries and concern trolling about a dearth of chart hits this year, hip-hop is thriving. Coincidentally, eight November concerts in the D.C. area demonstrate that the men and women of hip-hop are keeping the form as relevant and inventive as ever.
Bronx-born Ice Spice is the buzziest name in hip-hop (and a crossover star who has appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and in a Dunkin’ ad with Ben Affleck). The self-described “baddie” with the “Annie” hair brings a casual New York cool to the shifty, club-ready sound of the drill subgenre and clearly has no time for boys who are liars, losers and, in the slang of her breakthrough single, “munches.” Her first tour is in support of Doja Cat, a chameleonic artist who scored rap’s first No. 1 hit in over a year with “Paint the Town Red,” a song that pushes back at her critics and underscores how willing she is to court controversy. (Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena. capitalonearena.com. $149.50-$275.)
Coming on strong for the spotlight is Sexxy Red, who takes Ice Spice’s chilly confidence and cranks up the heat. A sonic descendant of Crime Mob and Three 6 Mafia, the “female Gucci Mane” unravels raw raunch in anatomical detail over skeletal drums, sinister melodies and gut-rumbling bass that’s ready for the house party or the strip club. A warning for the scolds who tsk-tsked her for holding her baby son in a music video: The 25-year-old is pregnant and still ready to rock the stage. (Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Silver Spring. fillmoresilverspring.com. Sold out; verified resale tickets starting at $65.)
While it often soundtracks wild nights, hip-hop’s pliability makes it a form fit for any function. Take it from Rod Wave, who’s riding a cresting emo moment in rap and pop music writ large with melancholic melodies and lyrics about a heart that can’t stay unbroken, no matter his successes. Stopping at Capital One for the second time in less than a year, the Floridian nods to performing at playoff-ready basketball arenas on the title track of his third No. 1 album in three years, “Nostalgia.” (Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. at Capital One Arena. capitalonearena.com. $95.50-$596.50.)
For listeners nostalgic for rap marked by boom-bap beats and Mafioso manifestos, there’s Benny the Butcher. Alongside his cousins Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine, the Buffalo rapper has helped build a street-rap empire out of lyrics about kilos and Kalashnikovs. On his last album, he paid tribute to originator Notorious B.I.G. with “10 More Commandments,” a song that warned wannabes, “Get out the game … hope y’all don’t get no ideas/ You gotta live the way I lived to talk the s— I just did.” (Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. at Howard Theatre. thehowardtheatre.com. $35-$80.)
While “Voir Dire,” a collaborative album from Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist, is as dense with hypnotic sample loops as the Butcher’s cuts, it replaces single-minded street rap with elliptical lyricism. “Voir Dire” is a lean and mean collection of tracks that spotlights Earl’s lethargic loquaciousness as the rapper — still in his 20s — writes his way further and further from his teenage Odd Future origins and finds a natural pairing with a producer who’s been in the game since before he was born. (Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Silver Spring. fillmoresilverspring.com. $80.50-$230.)
Even more zooted and experimental than “Voir Dire” is “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” by New York duo Billy Woods and Elucid, under their Armand Hammer moniker. Alongside collaborators including JPEGMafia, Pink Siifu, Moor Mother and DJ Haram, the pair rap with East Coast precision and expand the sonic palette of their dystopian chronicles, nodding to James Baldwin and MF Doom one minute and throwing bon mots like molotov cocktails (“Lost that university stipend, tossed ricin in USPS for the excitements”) the next. (Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at Union Stage. unionstage.com. $20-$40.)
Rounding out New York’s new wave is Lil Tjay, a 22-year-old who drenches his emotive pleadings in Auto-Tune — a trend popularized in Atlanta a decade ago but adopted worldwide since. Tjay’s air of melancholy took on a new density after he was shot seven times during an attempted robbery in June 2022. Beating the odds has only made him more committed to his cause. “Please don’t play around,” he raps on “Project Walls.” “Focus on your sound, put on for the towns/ Tryna reach places I can’t pronounce.” (Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. at Echostage. echostage.com. $51.50-$250.)
Lil Uzi Vert is an example of the creative and commercial heights a rapper can reach when following the gospel of living legends like Future and Young Thug. The Philly-born talent has long been one of rap’s most compelling characters and one known for their catholic tastes. That anything-goes approach spiraled out of control on their bloated “Pink Tape,” which samples Eurodance hits and WWE themes and finds Uzi covering System of a Down and enlisting metal acts as collaborators. Thankfully, the Jersey club banger “Just Wanna Rock” proves Uzi still has a gift for changing the hip-hop conversation. (Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. at the Anthem. theanthemdc.com. Sold out.)
Four other shows to catch
DJ Minx
The story of Detroit electronic dance music starts with the Belleville Three — Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson — but it doesn’t end there. As DJ Minx, Jennifer Witcher has helped carry on the city’s house and techno traditions and give a platform to other female DJs with her Women on Wax collective. (Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. at the Owl Room. theowlroomdc.com. $11.33-$20.
Codeine
True to its narcotic moniker, Codeine mastered subduing time and giving space for depressed feelings in a style that would come to be known as “slowcore.” Reunited to support the release of a “lost” album, the New York outfit returns to D.C. for the first time since 1994. (Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. at the Black Cat. blackcatdc.com. $25.)
Citizen
On its fifth album, Citizen has ironed out the emo influence that marked earlier work into straight-ahead rock. But don’t let the pop sensibilities fool you: Mat Kerekes is as emotive as ever, with lyrics about getting older but not slowing down. “My struggles are so beneficial,” he sings. “I just keep coming back for more.” (Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Black Cat. blackcatdc.com. $30-$35.)
Liz Phair
Of all the iconic albums celebrating a 30th anniversary this year, Liz Phair’s “Exile in Guyville” might have the biggest imprint on contemporary music, in the songs of everyone from megastars Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo to indie darlings like Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail. Phair is marking the moment by playing “Guyville” in its entirety. (Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. at the Anthem. theanthemdc.com. $55-$75.)
