Illustration by Jackie Lay/NPR

Illustration by Jackie Lay/NPR

On August 11, 1973, a younger revolutionary DJ rocked a modest social gathering for fellow youngsters in a small neighborhood room in a Bronx house constructing. What Kool Herc did behind the turntables at that back-to-school social gathering helped ignite a music we now know as hip-hop. That spark — and the cultural explosion that adopted — is what we’re celebrating immediately, 50 years later.

There are such a lot of methods of this historical past, so All Issues Thought-about has determined to mark the 50 years of hip-hop by zeroing in on moments that illustrate how the style turned a dominant musical power that has infused nearly each nook of mainstream tradition.

By way of interviews and music, this lengthy pay attention traces vital moments in hip-hop historical past from that social gathering in 1973, to the primary hip-hop document deal, the debut of Yo! MTV Raps, the rise of hip-hop within the South and the brand new period of music expertise that has introduced hip-hop direct to followers on the web.

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