A lot has happened in hip hop’s 40 year life span so far and XXL chose to highlight some of their fondest memories with five separate covers of their upcoming issue. Featuring the previous covers of Outkast, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and LL Cool J (whose image dates back to ’88), the issue also chronicles ‘the dopest music of all time’ i.e. the Top 10 tracks/albums every year since 1973. Now that’ll keep you busy for a minute. Take a look at all the covers above and keep an eye out for them when they hit the stands on December 31.