Visit the Digital Dream Door's 100 Greatest Old School Hip Hop Records (1979–1985) website and find songs listed under each year, along with a summary of the year's music. For example, 1983 ushered in one of the most influential hip hop groups of all time, Run DMC, with its groundbreaking hits, "It's Like That" and "Sucker MCs." The year 1985 saw hits such as "The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh)" by Super Nature -- the American hip hop trio which later changed its name to Salt-N-Pepa -- and LL Cool J's "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "I Need a Beat."
Find a more comprehensive listing of old hip hop songs that made the Billboard charts at different dates in history. At Billboard.com, navigate to the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs web page and click "View Chart Archives" to select a date. For example, if you select January 8, 1999, you will find that Deborah Cox's "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" ranked first on the radio charts, followed by "Love Like This" by Faith Evans. Click the arrow buttons to play the songs.
Find old hip hop songs at a free, legal streaming radio websites. Typically, you can enter a search term, such as "80s hip hop," or a specific artist, album or song to locate the songs you want. For example, enter "Illmatic" and the 1993 album by hip hop artist Nas shows in the results. Click the album title to find the songs. Alternatively, select a radio station in your results, such as "Classic Hip Hop." Find a wealth of old hip hop songs by scrolling through and listening to user-generated mixes. Click the "Buy" button near any song title to download it legally.
Visit record shops in your area with a wide-ranging selection of music styles. You can locate a record store near you at RecordStoreReview.com. Refine the search results to show stores specializing in hip hop. Talk to the shop owner or worker -- he might be able to help you in your search for old hip hop songs.