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hip-hop: Quick Facts

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How city became home of drum and bass and jungle • Oct. 31, 2026, 3:23 AM ET (BBC)

Photos

Public Enemy
The Empire State Building rises in the background above a colorful graffiti-covered wall under a dramatic, cloudy sky.
A young man performs a breakdancing move balanced on one hand on a mat in Washington Square Park, New York, as a group of spectators watches in the early 1980s.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
DJ Kool Herc sits on a leather bench in a patterned blue outfit and sunglasses, holding a blue street sign reading Hip Hop Blvd, with red lighting in the background.
Afrika Bambaataa
Gil Scott-Heron, smiling in a black cap and T-shirt, clasps hands with rapper Common, who wears a green shirt, backstage at Central Park SummerStage in New York.
The Last Poets-Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Nilaja Obabi, and Umar Bin Hassan-pose closely together for a black-and-white portrait in New York City around 1970.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
The Sugarhill Gang performs on stage at the Apollo Theater, with three members holding microphones and a DJ in the background, under bright stage lights and in front of a graffiti set.
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Related Topics and References

Topics

Key People

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Antwan André Patton
American rapper
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Eazy-E
American musician
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
American rapper and entrepreneur
Kanye West, 2006
Kanye West
American producer, rapper, and designer
Ice-T performs on stage wearing a red cap, a black England football jersey, and a large cross necklace, holding a microphone to his mouth.
Ice-T
American rapper and actor
Kendrick Lamar performs onstage wearing a black outfit and patterned sash, holding a microphone, with stage lights and smoke in the background.
Kendrick Lamar
American musician
Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Raekwon, RZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, GZA, U-God, and Method Man pose together in colorful jackets against a gold backdrop.
Wu-Tang Clan
American rap group
Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator
American rapper, producer, and designer
Rapper A$AP Rocky wears a pink and black tuxedo with layered gold necklaces and a bow tie at the 2026 Met Gala, standing in front of greenery and blurred attendees.
ASAP Rocky
American rapper
Sean Combs poses on the red carpet in a white suit at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, with event signage in the background.
Sean Combs
American rapper and record producer
Mac Miller
Mac Miller
American rapper
Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion
American rapper
50 Cent
50 Cent
American rapper, producer, and entrepreneur
Lizzo sits at a radio studio desk wearing a bright pink outfit and large hoop earrings, smiling beside a microphone labeled SiriusXM.
Lizzo
American singer, rapper, and flutist
Juice WRLD
Juice WRLD
American rapper
Rick Rubin wearing sunglasses and a suit, with long hair and a full, bushy gray beard, at the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood.
Rick Rubin
American record producer
Ice Cube wearing a black Raiders cap and black shirt at the Los Angeles premiere of Straight Outta Compton.
Ice Cube
American rapper and actor
Saint Levant
Saint Levant
Palestinian singer and rapper
DJ Kool Herc
DJ Kool Herc
American disc jockey
Eminem stands on stage wearing a black hooded jacket and holding a microphone, with blurred purple and white lights in the background during the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.
Eminem
American rapper and record producer

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American quartet Boyz II Men (left to right) Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, Nathan Morris and Michael McClary, 1992. (music, rhythm-and-blues). Photographed at the American Music Awards where they won Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist, Los Angeles, California, January 27, 1992.
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