Before hip-hop topped charts, it was raw, political, and underground. From New York basements to 2Pac’s rage, here’s how “street music” broke through. From the underground of New York to Philadelphia, ...

Born in the 1970s, hip-hop music was built largely on the beat breaks in disco songs. Some of the earliest hits in the genre sampled those dancey tracks, including “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill ...

In the 1970s, rap music emerged as a tool for Black artists to express their life experiences. Like many forms of Black art, rap quickly received criticism and disapproval because of its graphic ...