Midwest

Midwest hip-hop comes from cities like Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Cleveland. It's a region without one sound, known instead for its originality and for some of the most influential artists in rap.

The story. Chicago gave us Common, Kanye West, Chance the Rapper and, in the 2010s, drill. Detroit produced J Dilla, whose loose drum style changed hip-hop production forever, and Eminem, the best-selling rapper of all time. St. Louis put Nelly on top of the charts, Cleveland gave us Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and Gary, Indiana raised Freddie Gibbs. Da Brat from Chicago became the first solo female rapper to go platinum.

The sound. Varied: soulful and sample-based (Kanye, Common), loose and jazzy (Dilla), melodic and fast (Bone Thugs, Twista) or catchy and poppy (Nelly). What connects it is a sense of having something to prove.

Key albums

• Resurrection, Common (1994)
• The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem (2000)
• Country Grammar, Nelly (2000)
• The College Dropout, Kanye West (2004)
• Donuts, J Dilla (2006)
• Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper (2016)