Essentials

The foundation of jazz — from bebop to fusion, these ten records shaped the genre and still sound vital today.

From golden-age boom-bap to Southern rap and beyond — the albums that defined hip-hop as an art form.

Ambient textures, pounding techno, and everything in between — the records that mapped electronic music's vast terrain.

A decade of reinvention — grunge, britpop, alternative, and R&B collided to produce some of the best records ever made.

One perfect entry point per major genre — if you've never explored a style, start here.