From Louis Armstrong to Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson and Prince, it's axiomatic that cultural collisions and stylistic miscegenation breed some of the best musical innovations. But for the first time in a long while, 1997 felt like a year to stray from the gray and savor sounds in black and white. For me, anyway, niche-oriented country and hip hop held sway in the form of erudite shit-kickers from the heartland and rappers from Chi-town and the East Coast who eschewed the hard-core gangsta shit for more flexible but firm syllables and principles. Here's the rundown, in order of... More >>>