Greatest Hip Hop Hits Of All Time

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TimePeace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album from the Rascals, released on June 24, 1968. It reached number one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart by September 1968. It also topped the Cash Box albums chart with a run in the Top 10 for 20 consecutive weeks

The album is the only such compilation released during the group's active career. Although billed to their later name, most of the material came from when the group was known as the Young Rascals. It contains all their singles through 1968's earlier "A Beautiful Morning", as well as some of their R&B treatments from early in their career.

Time Peace was reissued on CD by Atlantic Records in 1990, but subsequently went out of print. It was then reissued as part of the 2003 limited edition Rhino Handmade 6-CD collection All I Really Need: The Atlantic Recordings 1965-1971, which is also now out of print.

Packaging consisted of a gatefold album cover with front and back consisting of dot-based newspaper cartoon-style drawing of the four group members, with song titles in speech balloons; the interior gave complete song credits on one side, and an ensemble photograph on the other side whose artsy nature and 1968-style dress, together with the album's punning title, foretold the thematic and artistic direction the group was about to undertake.

Time Peace was the group's most commercially successful album, reaching number one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart by September 1968. It also topped the Cash Box albums chart with a run in the Top 10 for 20 consecutive weeks. Moreover, showing the group's white soul label was well earned, Time Peace also reached number four on the Billboard Black Albums chart. It was RIAA-certified as a gold record on September 4, 1968.[citation needed]

Music critic Robert Christgau regarded the album as representative of New York City's rock music at the time,[4] and later included it in his "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[5]

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) told the Associated Press that the GRAMMY-winning band's Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 album is now certified 38x platinum, making it the best-selling album of all time. Michael Jackson's Thriller is currently second on the list at 33x platinum. According to the AP, the last time sales were tallied for the Eagles' greatest hits album was in 2006, while ales for Thriller were updated just last year.

Despite any personal or medical issues the embattled King of Pop faced, he danced and sang terrifically. All 50 dates had sold out; after more than a decade off the road, This Is It was bound to be a momentous pop event.

But the residency would never happen, for the most tragic reason possible: on June 25, 2009, after returning home from a past-midnight rehearsal, Jackson passed away from acute propofol intoxication, administered by his personal physician, Conrad Murray. Jackson was 50.

The news rattled the world, causing major internet platforms including Google, AOL Instant Messenger, Twitter, and Wikipedia to be pushed to the breaking point with significant traffic spikes. The following year, Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to four years in prison. (He was released after serving nearly two years, due in part to good behavior.)

The original production of "The Wiz" had its pre-Broadway tryout in 1974, with a Broadway premiere in January 1975. In the decades since, it's remained beloved among musical theatre fans, as well as a staple of community theatre. Not only does "The Wiz" boast a 50 year legacy and the distinction of being one of the first shows with an all-Black cast, but the musical itself stands the test of time because of the strength of the music and the message behind it. To accompany a tour and Broadway revival at the Marquis Theatre, the 2024 revival cast recording comes out on June 14, paving the yellow brick road for a new generation of fans to ease on down and enjoy the journey.

While many people remember the 1978 Diana Ross film The Wiz (which also starred a young Michael Jackson), it was a critical and box office flop. The Broadway show, meanwhile, had more success. The show won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical. The original cast recording is the 30th highest selling cast album of all time. In 2017, the original Broadway cast recording of "The Wiz" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The original Broadway cast recording is hard to find. It can be purchased on streaming services like Apple, but on Spotify, only the single version of "Home" is playable. "The Wiz: Live!," a well-received televised version, does have a readily streamable soundtrack, but a new Broadway cast album is very welcome. The cast features Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy and television and Broadway veteran Wayne Brady as the titular role; the stage production updates both script and set to feel more more contemporary. Meanwhile, the score has been lightly "refurbished" with additional songs.

Broadway has struggled post-pandemic, and America has a lot to learn about love when it comes to race, but, with the release of "The Wiz" back into the world, we get a much-needed infusion of joy. Throughout the last 50 years, there have been many stories and real events that point to a world that is anything but full of love, but, through it all, "The Wiz" holds onto hope.

"I think outside the box," Sheila E. tells GRAMMY.com. "You just come up with ideas and it doesn't have to be traditional. It just has to be from your heart, a feeling that makes sense, that compliments whatever song it may be."

In addition to her list of impressive accomplishments (which include co-founding the educational nonprofit Elevate Oakland), Sheila E has released eight albums as a solo artist. Her ninth, Bailar, finds the one avenue Sheila had yet to pursue: salsa.

"This is the best record I've ever done. I feel that good about it," she says. Ahead of Bailar's April 5 release, Sheila E. spoke with GRAMMY.com about creating music in a new idiom, the importance of collaboration, and finding space in music.

There was music that I had written for an R&B album that I didn't release, and I said we can take some of this and flip it into salsa. This is another side of me that I'm excited about sharing with the people.

Bailar sounds like something you would hear in New York or Miami, but there's something slightly different about it. What are you bringing to this record that might be different from another salsa band?

Tony Succar and I produced this record together. I did a couple of arrangements [and] co-wrote seven of the 10 songs. The songs that I had already written were arranged, but then we wanted to flip them into salsa.

All of them. Every one is a different story. The only woman that I could think of to call [for "Bemba Color"] was Gloria Estefan; she's like my sister. Mimi Succar is a new and upcoming artist, so we had her to sing as well, and the three of us just had a blast.

[Also] playing "Anacaona," which is a song I used to hear [by] Fania All-Stars and Cheo Feliciano. My dream was to have Rubn Blades sing on my record; he sang that song and I started crying. I was just overwhelmed.

["El Rey del Timbal"] was one song that I had played with Tito [Puente] and my dad many times. When Tony sent me the demo, I listened to it and was like, "We got to go way faster than that. If Tito was playing it, he would've played it this way, and I know because I've played it with him." So I started taking a solo, banging my legs while I was listening to it through the phone, and I just kept going faster, and then Tony's like, "Are you serious? This is 200-something BPMs."

I'd love to hear a little bit about your relationship with Tito Puente and any important musical lessons he taught you, especially now that you're coming out with an album that's very much influenced by his work.

He was such an influence. He was amazing. He did so much for us as a family, musically, as well as being our friend and growing up listening to him. He and my dad met when they were 18, and having him around the house when I was growing up, I didn't even know he was.

The biggest thing was we would go to New York, my dad and I, and we would sit in with Tito at the Palladium and the Corso. And back then, you'd have four bands playing in one night until 6 in the morning. And they would jump from one club to the other. It was the most stressful time because, as jazz artists, we didn't hardly sit in with salsa bands. I was like, "But papa, I don't know the clave, I don't understand what bell pattern or what conga pattern to play." He goes, "Don't worry about it. You don't listen to those guys. You just go play you."

So he kept encouraging [me]: it doesn't matter, you have the heart to go ahead. And my pops would say the same thing: We might not understand it technically, but we play it from our heart. [Tito] always encouraged me, and I got to play with Celia, Tito and [bassist] Cachao [Lopez] at the same time.

Bailar is a bit more celebratory than your last album, 2017's Iconic: Message 4 America, which was heavily political. Obviously we continue to live in increasingly fraught times; why was it important for you to put more positive messages out into the world? One of your tracks is even called "Possibilities."

Many times in my shows, people end up crying. It's emotional, and music brings joy. It lifts you up. It brings you to a place of happiness and love, and we just want you to have a good time. But the joy that I get to be able to do this, it heals me too. And I just thought it was important.

We were always jamming, coming up with something, or recording. A lot of times I would engineer for him as well; it's just he and I [in the room] most of the time. I taught myself some engineering when I was growing up; I saved all my money and started buying recording gear so I could learn how to write and produce myself when I was in my teens.

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