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Hip-Hop 50 From the Bronx to ubiquity

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Monday

Friday

How St. Louis recalibrated rap radio

Jibbs, Nelly, Smino & Chingy. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Evan Agostini / Scott Gries / Suzanne Cordeiro / Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

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Evan Agostini / Scott Gries / Suzanne Cordeiro / Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How St. Louis recalibrated rap radio

Call the melodic, countrified swing that took over early 2000s radio an overnight sensation if you like, but it didn't come from nowhere — just a city many considered to be nowhere.

Thursday

How Detroit and Flint became havens for rap dark horses

BabyTron, Tee Grizzley, Eminem and Danny Brown. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Kyle Gustafson / Bennett Raglin / Kevin Winter / Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images hide caption

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Kyle Gustafson / Bennett Raglin / Kevin Winter / Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How Detroit and Flint became havens for rap dark horses

They don't say "Detroit Vs. Everybody" for nothing: Dismissed from the outside and splintered within, Michigan's rap cities turned scrap-or-die underdog status into a gritty aesthetic all its own.

Tuesday

Lil' Kim's fashion legacy is undeniable

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Henny Ray Abrams/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

Lil' Kim's fashion legacy is undeniable

Think of the top women rappers of our time: Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj. They all showcase signature styles that include multicolored wigs, skyscraping heels and designer logos on everything. But that blend of high fashion, femininity and attitude began before any of them joined the game. It was pioneered in the 1990s by the original queen bee: Lil' Kim. Ahead of her time, Kim's ingenuity – and her cementing of the relationship between fashion and hip-hop – has not always been recognized. Host Brittany Luse and fashion journalist Scarlett Newman make the case for why it's time Lil' Kim gets the credit she deserves.

Lil' Kim's fashion legacy is undeniable

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Kurtis Blow breaks hip-hop nationally with his 1980 debut

American rapper, singer and songwriter Kurtis Blow, circa 1980. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The History of Hip-Hop

Kurtis Blow breaks hip-hop nationally with his 1980 debut

Hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Commentator Kiana Fitzgerald is looking back at the albums that changed the game.

Kurtis Blow breaks hip-hop nationally with his 1980 debut

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Monday

How Chicago rap became a home for controversial, visionary stars

Noname, Chief Keef, Kanye West, and Dreezy. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Daniel DeSlover / Frazer Harrison / Dimitrios Kambouris / Xavier Collin/Getty Images / AP Images hide caption

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Daniel DeSlover / Frazer Harrison / Dimitrios Kambouris / Xavier Collin/Getty Images / AP Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How Chicago rap became a home for controversial, visionary stars

Though defined from the start by outsiders — hip-hop flyover country one day, scrutiny magnet the next — Chicago's poets, brawlers and hustlers remain the last word on what gives the city its soul.

Friday

How Memphis rap charted a passage from Delta blues

GloRilla, Three 6 Mafia, Yo Gotti, Gangsta Boo. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Frazer Harrison / Scott Gries/ Greg Campbell / Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison / Scott Gries/ Greg Campbell / Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How Memphis rap charted a passage from Delta blues

The "most known unknown" rap city found its voice by embracing the dark and light sides of its history equally: the horror stories and church hymns, the field hollers and Stax stacks.

Wednesday

How Atlanta became the center of the rap universe

Migos, Baby Tate, Outkast & Jeezy. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Alberto E. Rodriguez / Josh Brasted / Scott Gries / Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption

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Alberto E. Rodriguez / Josh Brasted / Scott Gries / Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How Atlanta became the center of the rap universe

The current rap capital thrives on a thrilling contradiction: Its best music is at once hyperlocal and globally accessible, true to its roots but built for scale.

Monday

How the DMV and Virginia Beach made rap safe (and profitable!) for eccentrics

The Clipse, Missy Elliott, Rico Nasty & Wale. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Scott Gries / Roger Kisby / Michael Loccisano / Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Gries / Roger Kisby / Michael Loccisano / Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How the DMV and Virginia Beach made rap safe (and profitable!) for eccentrics

From one little resort town came some of weirdest, boldest changes to hip-hop's sound. A few hours away, flowery backpack raps and a splash of mambo sauce helped the nation's capital break through.

How Boston quietly triumphed as a seminal rap city

Gang Starr, Cousin Stizz, BIA, Mr. Lif. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Martyn Goodacre / Isaac Brekken / Gonzalo Marroquin / Jack Plunkett/Getty Images / AP hide caption

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Martyn Goodacre / Isaac Brekken / Gonzalo Marroquin / Jack Plunkett/Getty Images / AP

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How Boston quietly triumphed as a seminal rap city

From beginnings so humble that local labels left their addresses off the liner notes, New York's northeast neighbor grew into a sister city, guiding taste and incubating talent.

How New York defined rap's attitude

MC Lyte, Young M.A, Jay-Z & A$AP Rocky. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR. Frazer Harrison / Paras Griffin / Scott Gries / Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison / Paras Griffin / Scott Gries / Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Hip-Hop 50: All Rap Is Local

How New York defined rap's attitude

Beneath the 8 million stories in the culture's birthplace lies a bigger one: the story of American Blackness, which crystallized in a music that can't and won't stop growing.

Tuesday

50 years ago, teenagers partied in the Bronx — and gave rise to hip-hop

A section of Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, N.Y. was renamed Hip Hop Boulevard in 2016, in recognition of the apartment building where the music is said to have been born. José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Music

50 years ago, teenagers partied in the Bronx — and gave rise to hip-hop

In August 1973, an 18-year-old DJ Kool Herc played his sister's back-to-school fundraiser in the rec room of their apartment building. But he and his friends sparked something much bigger.

50 years ago, teenagers partied in the Bronx — and gave rise to hip-hop

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