Where & How To Watch The 2023 GRAMMY Nominations

At its core, hip-hop began as a joyful expression and method of community-organizing grassroots rebellion against the socioeconomic turmoil happening across America in the early ’70s. It originated in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City, specifically in an 18-story apartment building on Sedgwick Avenue, where DJ Kool Herc captivated old and young audiences at Cindy Campbell’s birthday party, commanding the turntables while MCs like Rock La Coke and Puccio Theodore shouted rhymes over his instrumental beats. This historic event remains an integral part of the mythical-like origin of the genre.

Herc’s anointment as the genre’s founding father on this significant day, August 11, 1973, would be recognized as the birth of hip-hop, even though foundational aspects of hip-hop had already surfaced well before it exploded onto the scene at that South Bronx party. As an example, you can listen to Pigmeat Markham’s “Here Comes The Judge” from 1968, which provides evidence of this.

Noname and Kendrick Lamar can be traced back to the current day rap prophets, which paved the way for the piercing social commentary in the hit single “The Message” by Furious Five & Grandmaster Flash and the feel-good party-starting rhymes of Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” the first global rap hit. Over the past five decades, the sound has expanded as a multi-genre invention. Hip-hop is an unapologetically powerful force that has impacted every facet of pop culture and society around the world, and has influenced every genre of music. What began as a local sound and burgeoning scene in the Bronx, known as “Boogie Down,” has evolved into a global movement.

As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop this year, we are paying tribute to the futurists and originators, the pioneers who have shaped hip-hop culture by pushing the artistic boundaries of rap over the past five decades. GRAMMY.Com is honoring some of the most impactful artists who have changed the rap genre.

Instead, this is meant to serve as a survey of some of the most impactful and influential artists in hip-hop and rap music who have shaped the culture over the past 50 years. It is not a voting-based compilation of the top-selling artists in hip-hop, nor is it a clear ranking of the “best” rappers.

The final list of influential and classic artists, based on a wide range of indicators including longevity, career evolution, artistic impact, and creativity, was compiled by our panel of industry veterans, established music artists, published music historians and authors, and music and cultural journalists. This list comprises the selected submissions from our initial pool of contributors. Please see the full list of contributors below in no particular order.

Of course, no one list could ever contain the entirety of hip-hop’s ever-expansive reach and the whole of its influential rappers. Nor could any list of influential rappers be whittled down to a mere 50. That’s an impossible feat. Instead, this list stands as a love letter to some of the culture’s defining moments and impactful voices that have helped create a global movement and continue to inspire and ignite future generations.

There are countless individuals who will continue to carry the culture for the next 50 years and beyond, and among them are countless individuals who have gotten us this far. All of this has been made possible by the ingenious minds that continuously push the boundaries of music — despite it once being thought of as a passing fad, hip-hop has become the world’s biggest genre, even as the youngest. Brown Len, Senior Project Manager for the Recording Academy’s Genre and Rap, and Reggae Awards, shares, “It is important to acknowledge all of its accomplishments and the people in it as we approach hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.”

Throughout the entire year, we honor and celebrate the glory of Hip-Hop, which has been revolutionizing rap voices and continues to be written by today’s leading lights. Its future is still emerging, while its history remains deep and rich. There is so much more to be said about our beloved hip-hop culture.

Explore the curated playlist “Rap Changed Who Artists 50” on Clark L. Kevin’s tastemaker hip-hop and contributor GRAMMY.Com, where every featured artist from Pandora and Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music is included.

All year long, make sure to check GRAMMY.Com for additional exclusive content on 50 Years of Hip-Hop. Over the years, explore our Rap genre page to discover some of the most unforgettable moments in GRAMMY history and for more exclusive material.

– Kevin L. Clark & John Ochoa.

2 Live Crew

The group soon ran afoul of the authorities, who deemed their albums (1988) Somethin’ Move and (1986) Are We What Is Crew Live 2 to be legally obscene. They became the first act to release an obscene recording, incorporating sexually explicit and comical material on stage, influenced by female strippers and creating a party-frat climate. They introduced the bottom-heavy bass sound of Miami, pioneering the culture with their ribald 1986 single “D. The Throw”. The quartet rap group, Uncle Luke, Mr. Mixx, Marquis, and Brother Ice Kid Fresh, owe a sizeable debt to the Miami sound. They incorporated risqué and titillating elements of hip-hop’s artistry, evident in hits like “WAP” by Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj’s “Pound the Town”.

The Live Crew, including artists like David Bowie, emerged as unlikely champions of freedom of speech and artistic freedom, defending the rights protected by the First Amendment. Despite the explicit content of their music, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recognized the artistic value it held and ultimately acquitted the group of charges. In the early ’90s, the group faced trials on obscenity charges for their hit album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be,” which was ruled illegal and obscene to sell in 1990. This made them pioneers in the music industry, as they were the first act to release “clean” versions of their albums, free of profanity.

The Supreme Court ultimately established that the parody commercial “Crew Live 2” is a fair use under copyright law. Therefore, the music group, which was sued for copyright infringement, cleared its way to the Court by presenting their case as a separate legal skirmish involving parody.