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30 years later, 1988 still stands as rap’s greatest year. The lyrical molotovs of ‘Nation of Millions’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton, the post-modern (and pre-lawsuit) free-for-all of sampling, the national spotlight of a new show called ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ and much more. To celebrate 30 years, Rolling Stone’s Best of ’88 explores the 10 greatest songs from those explosive 12 months. See our previous entries on Rob Base and D.J. E-z Rock and Epmd.

In the four years leading up to 1988, multi-platinum, arena-rocking, Rolling Stone cover stars Run-dmc were the uncontested Kings of Rock,...

30 years later, 1988 still stands as rap’s greatest year. The lyrical molotovs of ‘Nation of Millions’ and ‘Straight Out of Compton,’ the post-modern (and pre-lawsuit) free-for-all of sampling, the national spotlight of a new show called Yo! MTV Raps and much more. To celebrate 30 years, Rolling Stone’s Best of ’88 explores the 10 greatest songs from those explosive 12 months.

In 1988, as New York rattled and popcorned with tense, funky drums sampled from James Brown records, two kids from Brentwood, Long Island stumbled across a smoother groove, giving East Coast rap more bounce.

LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, other label greats are honored at annual event, which airs on VH1 October 13.

By Shaheem Reid

Eminem on stage at the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors

Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Brooklyn, New York — For five years, VH1's "Hip Hop Honors" has paid homage to legendary hip-hop figures, from Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur to Big Daddy Kane. For their sixth show, which taped Wednesday night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (and airs on VH1 on October 13), the event's organizers dedicated the entire program to a record label, the trailblazing house for hip-hop and R&B, Def Jam.

It's only right that the first Def Jam artist to be honored was the label's foundation and face for so many years, LL Cool J.

The Roots started it off with "Rock the Bells." Black Thought ripped the first verse of the record, then gave...

Like Paramore's Hayley Williams, we're big Ufc fans around the Newsroom, so it has come as a great shock and disappointment to everybody at MTV News that former Ufc champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has decided to retire from fighting. After 37 career fights, Jackson has decided to focus on other opportunities, which includes his role as B.A. Baracus — originally made famous by Mr. T — in the upcoming "A-Team" movie. He has chosen to step away from the Ufc at a rather inopportune time, as he is currently one of the coaches (along with rival Rashad Evans) on the just-started season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Not surprisingly, he has drawn the ire of Evans and Ufc President Dana White.

The fight world will miss Rampage, as he is one of the best promos in the business and has been involved in some of the most fun, entertaining fights in the history...