ABSOLUTELY
History
1974: Influenced by Kool Herc, hip-hop pioneers Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Caz start DJing at house and street parties across the Bronx.Bambaataa forms the Universal Zulu Nation, a socially conscious collective of DJs, graffiti artists and breakdancers that included the b-boy crew the Shaka Zulu Kings. He defines the “four elements” of the nascent hip-hop scene as DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art and MCing.
1975: Grandmaster Flash starts mixing, a new DJing method that connects bits of two different songs during the breaks.The first MC team, which stemmed from party shouts during DJ sets, is formed by Coke La Rock and Clark Kent, a.k.a. Tyrone Smith.
DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invents “scratching,” or nudging a record under the needle during breaks.
1977:Hip-hop spreads beyond the Bronx and into all five boroughs of New York City. Meanwhile, disco continues to dominate the radio airwaves and the club scene.More rappers begin performing as MCing starts to eclipse DJing. Bronx b-boys JoJo and Jimmy D form the Rock Steady Crew.
Artist Lee Quinones paints graffiti murals on subway trains and on handball courts.
1979:Record label owner Sylvia Robinson assembles the Sugar Hill Gang, who record the first commercial rap recording, “Rapper’s Delight.” Written by Grandmaster Caz and featuring a sample from the disco act Chic, it exposes many Americans to hip-hop for the first time.
Kurtis Blow, managed by Russell Simmons, becomes the first rapper to sign with a major label. He releases “Christmas Rappin” on Mercury Records.
Hip-hop further enters the mainstream with Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack, a new Saturday night radio show on New Jersey radio station WHBI.
Wendy Clark, a.k.a. Lady B, one of hip-hop’s first well-known female artists, releases “To the Beat Y’All.”
1980: Kurtis Blow releases his best-selling album The Breaks and is the first rapper to appear on national TV, performing on Soul Train.Hip-hop meets art pop as the New York scene extends downtown and rappers and b-boys mingle with the white club scene. After meeting hip-hop scenester Fab 5 Freddy, the new wave act Blondie records “Rapture,” featuring singer Debbie Harry rapping and continuing hip-hop’s journey into the mainstream.
1984: KDAY Los Angeles becomes the nation’s first rap-only radio station.Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin establish Def Jam records, operating the label out of Rubin’s NYU dorm room.U.T.F.O.’s “Roxanne, Roxanne” triggers a slew of answer recordings, including “The Real Roxanne” and 14-year-old Roxanne Shante’s classic “Roxanne’s Revenge.”
1988:Yo! MTV Raps goes on the air, further ushering hip-hop to a national television audience.L.A. group N.W.A. releases its first album, Straight Outta Compton. Telling stories about life on the mean streets of South Central, it popularizes West Coast gangsta rap. The controversial track “Fuck tha Police” earns the group an F.B.I. warning. DJ Scott La Rock of Boogie Down Productions is shot and killed. His partner KRS-One vows to continue creating more socially conscious music.Power, Ice-T’s second album, is the first rap record to be slapped with a Parental Advisory warning label.
1990: 2 Live Crew’s As Nasty as They Wanna Be, controversial for its explicit lyrics, is banned for sale in the state of Florida. The group is arrested on charges of lewdness after a concert in Miami. Sparking debates over free speech and hip-hop, the group is later found not guilty.N.W.A.’s Ice Cube releases his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted.Hip-hop meets Hollywood when Will Smith, the Fresh Prince, stars in his own sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
1993:Staten Island’s the Wu Tang Clan release their popular debut, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, reinvigorating the East Coast rap scene with their single “C.R.E.A.M.”Salt-N-Pepa’s Very Necessary is the best-selling album of all time by a female artist.Snoop Doggy Dogg’s long-anticipated DoggyStyle becomes the first debut album to enter the Billboard charts at number one, as Snoop is charged with second-degree murder.
2000:Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP becomes an international hit and sparks controversy for its misogynistic and homophobic lyrics.Dr. Dre files a lawsuit against music download tool Napster for copyright infringement.The West Coast hip-hop scene welcomes the debut album from alternative rappers Jurassic 5 while the South heralds St. Louis rapper Nelly’s Country Grammar.
2002:Run-D.M.C.’s Jam Master Jay is shot and killed at the age of 37, murdered outside a New York recording studio.Eminem reaches epic stardom in his quasi-autobiographical film 8 Mile, which garners an Oscar nomination for its theme song, “Lose Yourself.”Albums from Blackalicious, Common and Talib Kweli renew interest in more conscious hip-hop.
2004:Mainstream hip-hop becomes synonymous with big bucks as the Russell Simmons empire grows with his label Phat Farm. Nelly becomes part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Jay-Z—the new president of Def Jam—buys a share in the New Jersey Nets.Wu-Tang clan member Ol’Dirty Bastard passes away at the age of 35.
2006:Three 6 Mafia’s “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from the movie Hustle & Flow wins an Oscar for Best Original Song and is the first rap song to be performed on the Academy Awards show.Releases from alternative rap favorites The Roots and Jurassic 5 exemplify hip-hop’s shift away from mainstream gangsta rap, as diverse hip-hop styles continue to flourish throughout the world.