On the album's 20th anniversary, it's much easier to recognize Be as a crucial intersection record — not simply for Common, on his way to becoming rap's hokey, well-intentioned uncle, but for hip-hop ...

In 2005, two Chicagoans made a generational classic and then sprinted in opposite directions, each daring the rest of hip-hop to follow them. Though defined from the start by outsiders — hip-hop ...

In 2005, two Chicagoans made a generational classic and then sprinted in opposite directions, each daring the rest of hip-hop to follow them. When Rolling Stone put Kanye West on its cover in early ...

When Rolling Stone put Kanye West on its cover in early 2006, it set two undeniable truths on the table: how much the rapper-producer had already accomplished, and how thoroughly he recognized it.