Bronx-based DJs set Hip-Hop's sonic foundations. MCs, inspired by African American oral traditions,...

Hip-Hop crews in the Bronx and Harlem begin to form around the DJs, but these pioneering groups neve...

Run-DMC ushers in a new era of Hip-Hop. Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin build Hip-Hop's first empire,...

Ice-T uses Hip-Hop to reflect the violence of Los Angeles and inspires a new form of Hip-Hop: Gangst...

2 Live Crew popularizes the Miami bass sound and scores a victory for free speech. The Geto Boys put...

In the Bay Area, Too $hort channels pimp culture, MC Hammer becomes rap's first pop star, and Digita...

KRS-One makes his mark at New York's legendary Latin Quarter club. A Tribe Called Quest and De La So...

In the early 1990s, a new wave of hardcore East Coast artists emerges, led by Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and...

With the rise of N.W.A., gangsta rap and Suge Knight, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry climaxes wit...

In NYC, the Notorious B.I.G. fosters an empowering protégée, Lil' Kim. When the East-West feud claim...

Alternative hip-hop bubbles up from the streets: Mos Def spits in NYC, the Freestyle Fellowship chop...

A hot, sticky music scene is born in Atlanta as the infectious hooks of TLC and Kris Kross yield to...

Rooted in New Orleans's rich music culture, No Limit mogul Master P and bounce breakouts DJ Jimi and...

Innovators explode out of the South: Houston's DJ Screw slows hip-hop down, Memphis's Three 6 Mafia...

Auteurs like the Neptunes' Pharrell and Chad expand the sonic palette. Timbaland and Missy Elliott l...

Mixtapes spread the hottest sounds, infringe copyright and break artists. Among them, 50 Cent polari...