Ryan Dillon

In the mid-to-late 90s, Wu-tang Clan was an unstoppable force of pure Hip-hop. The larger-than-life impact of their 36 Chambers debut still echoes

The holiday season is inching closer and closer as the weather turns grey and ominous. With the joy and merry of seeing loved ones comes the fridged winds

We have a special Golden Age Thursday to kick off the last month of 2024. With what is arguably one of the most unpredictable and tense years Hip-hop has seen in a long time, reflecting on how the genre arrived at its current position in pop culture is vital to understanding and appreciating its journey. While diving through the depths of YouTube for a proper video to usher in the year’s final chapter, a magical and mystifying video came across our feed. A blurry scene of a busy stage slowly enters the frame before being distorted, and the full picture is unveiled. What is beneath the 90’s camera quality is a legendary moment that might’ve been lost forever if it wasn’t for this one camera angel and YouTube.

The time has finally arrived for everyone’s favorite holiday tradition: The Best of Caustic 2024! It has been a long journey with plenty of magical releases that made the soundtrack to this year a beautiful and diverse one. Of all the Caustics done this year, picking 15 of the best is no easy task, and it’s easy to feel behind after only missing one week. That’s why we are proud to present the 15 most memorable songs to be featured on Caustic as we wrap up 2024 with a retrospective on all the wonderful music we had the honor of including in our weekly round-up. As always, thank you for tuning in weekly and sharing these listening experiences with us.

It has been a long, beautiful journey for Rap/Hip Hop. What was once described as “not real music” has become a dominant figure in pop culture and

On November 23, 1993, a duo so groundbreaking and charismatic crashed into the Hip-hop scene, shaking it to its core and causing irreversible changes. It was late in the year 1993, and Snoop Dogg had just released his iconic debut album, Doggystyle, entirely produced by Dr. Dre. The album and the two artists who created it changed the trajectory of West Coast Hip-hop with an impact that can still be felt today. After the storybook year West Coast Hip-hop had in 2024, with Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, The Creator dominating year-end conversations, Dre and Snoop are gearing up for their own 2024 release with Missionary.

We spent last week’s Caustic summarizing the exciting releases we had the pleasure of featuring on our weekly outing. Still, now it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming as we dove through the Caustic catacombs for our Best Of The Year list, a few brand new releases slipped by our peripheral. Our necks nearly snapped as a slew of releases crashed into the Caustic factory. Just when we thought things were winding down, solo material from accomplished bands and triumphant sonic shifts made their presence felt in the last weeks of 2024. We have collected some music released over the past two weeks to bring a Caustic filled with exhilarating new releases.

The city of Philadelphia has become known for many things. The rich history that lines the streets, the passionate sports fans, but if you ask us, the city of brotherly love doesn’t get nearly enough credit for their contributions to modern music. Sure, when you think of Philadelphia music, you can think of The Roots, the numerous soul groups that emerged from the city at the genre’s height, or the thriving Hip-hop scene that has spilled over into Internet lore. What you might not hear about, and what the music world as a whole needs to become aware of, is the ever-evolving and consistently colorful Jazz scene that has been bubbling to the brim of Philly for some years now—that is where Ropeadope Records comes in.

It’s the holiday season, and folks are decorating their lawns and preparing feasts and presents for incoming loved ones. It’s hard to imagine this time of year without thinking of all the music that only feels fit to play as snow caresses dehydrated blades of grass. Frankly, much of the holiday music is watered-down commercial pop, more fitting for a playlist at Target than the soundtrack to a warm home. It is not easy to find authentic holiday music that truly skates around the annoyance of crowded store aisles and reminds us of the child-like excitement of the season. Thankfully, Hip-hop is home to some of the most pure and refreshing holiday tunes of the past few decades.

We are now less than a week away from Christmas, but as we all know, most people start the Holiday season a bit too early. Before the pots and plates of