Hip Hop to Pop – Part I

Born in 1973 at a block party in the Bronx, hip-hop has since touched every part of the world and evolved into one of our times’ most important cultural forces. Today, it is at the helm of global trends, shaping music, fashion, and much more. But the journey from the streets to the mainstream was long fraught with challenges.

1970s

For insiders, it is well-known that hip-hop was born on August 11, 1973. That night, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc, an 18-year-old Jamaican who had moved to New York a few years earlier, hosted a party for his sister, Cindy. Herc had a unique style: inspired by funk and soul rhythms, he discovered a way to stretch the “breaks”—the instrumental parts of a song where the beat stood out—by using two turntables to loop them. These breakbeats were not just for dancing, though. DJs and MCs started hyping the crowd with quick shout-outs and simple rhymes, while b-boys and b-girls took over the floor, giving birth to breakdancing.

Acts like the Cold Crush Brothers, Treacherous Three, and Fab 5 Freddy soon began to perform in clubs across the city. At the time, no one in the scene was considering recording tracks. Like early jazz musicians, they believed live performances were everything, so hip-hop stayed underground, far from the mainstream.

Everything changed in 1979. Sylvia Robinson – a former singer and by then a record label owner – was facing financial difficulties. One evening, she went to a club in Harlem and witnessed a live performance by one of the early rappers on the scene, Lovebug Starski. This new style impressed her so much that she turned it into a record. A decline from Lovebug did not stop her from making the project happen, and she found three young guys in New Jersey: Big Bank Hank, Master Gee, and Wonder Mike. The Sugarhill Gang was born and so was the single “Rapper’s Delight”.

Many thought it was just a passing trend, but things turned out differently: “Rapper’s Delight” became a global phenomenon, reaching the top 40 in the U.S., the top 3 in the UK, and number 1 in Canada. The Sugarhill Gang rappers became the first rap stars, and despite controversies, nothing stopped “Rapper’s Delight” from becoming a milestone in the genre’s history.

 

1980s

In 1982, on the wave of success from “Rapper’s Delight”, Sylvia Robinson signed Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Out of this collaboration came “The Message”. Unlike “Rapper’s Delight,” which was mostly fun and lighthearted, “The Message” addressed social issues and injustices. It was the first conscious hip-hop song to achieve commercial success, paved the way for a more committed musical strand (with Public Enemy at the forefront) and proved that rap could be more than just entertainment.

 

The landscape grew with the arrival of Run-D.M.C. Under the leadership of producer Rick Rubin, the trio pushed the genre to a new level. Tracks such as “Rock Box” (1984) brought rap to MTV, making it the first rap video to air on the channel. A few years later, their collaboration with Aerosmith, “Walk This Way”, blended rap and rock into an explosive mix, reaching a new audience. But Run-D.M.C.’s impact was not limited to music: their single, “My Adidas” (1986), celebrating their favorite sneakers turned the famous brand into a cultural symbol. This led to a collaboration between the group and Adidas, marking one of the first sponsorship deals between a sportswear company and musical artists, skyrocketing sales and demonstrating the power of hip-hop as a marketing tool.

In 1988, hip-hop extended its influence across media, conquering print and television. Two Harvard students, Jonathan Shecter and David Mays, created The Source magazine, the “hip-hop bible” in the pre-internet era. The magazine was one of the most influential voices in the industry, with its signature ratings system ranging from one to five mics.

On August 6, 1988, hip-hop finally conquered television too. Yo! MTV Raps debuted as the first program devoted entirely to rap music. With hosts such as Ed Lover and Doctor Dré (not to be confused with Dr. Dre of N.W.A.), the show became a global benchmark for the genre, broadcasting videos, interviews and performances that made hip-hop an international phenomenon.

 

The decade ended with another history-making event. In 1989, the Grammy Academy established the Award for Best Rap Performance, a first-time official recognition for the genre within the ceremony. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince won this historic award with “Parents Just Don’t Understand”. However, this win came with controversy: the Grammys decided not to televise the presentation, prompting the duo, along with other artists, to boycott the ceremony.

“They said there wasn’t enough time to televise all of the categories. They televised 16 categories and, from record sales, from the Billboard charts, from the overall public’s view, there’s no way you can tell me that out of 16 categories, that rap isn’t in the top 16,” Jeff told Entertainment Tonight in a 1989 interview. Despite rap’s growing recognition by the end of the 80s, the Grammy boycott highlighted the genre’s ongoing struggle to gain the respect and legitimacy it deserved within the music industry.

1990s

Until the 1990s, hip-hop had produced increasingly diverse scenes, but its heart still throbbed in New York City. However, on the other side of the country, in Los Angeles (L.A.), a new subgenre called gangsta rap was emerging, with acts like N.W.A. blazing a path into unexplored trails. Their raw and violent lyrics described the reality of the L.A. suburbs: the brutality of street life, systemic racism and social tensions. The rise of rap in L.A. coincided with the Los Angeles riots and the Rodney King case. N.W.A. turned this lifestyle and these events into powerful protest anthems.

During this period, two figures emerged and embodied the opposite coasts: Tupac Shakur in the West and The Notorious B.I.G. in the East. Tupac, with deep lyrics and a charismatic personality, spoke of social injustice, while Biggie, with his unique flow and street stories, represented the beating heart of Brooklyn. Initially friends, the two became protagonists in the most popular feud in music history.

The rivalry ignited after Tupac was the victim of a shooting in New York City in 1994. The Californian rapper suspected that Biggie and his entourage were involved or knew about the attack. Despite Biggie’s denials, this event permanently turned the relationship between the two and culminated tragically with the deaths of Tupac in 1996 and Biggie in 1997. This conflict undoubtedly fed the negative perception associated with gangsta rap. Still, their tragic deaths were not in vain: they crystallized Tupac and Biggie’s status as legends who continue to inspire generations of artists and audiences.

Beyond East and West Coast boundaries, hip-hop expanded to new regional and national scenes, with the “Dirty” South leading the way with unique and innovative styles. The Geto Boys brought Houston into the spotlight, OutKast and T.I. revolutionized Atlanta, and Miami’s 2 Live Crew caused a stir with their provocative lyrics, culminating in a legal battle for freedom of expression.

 

The end of the decade marked another step forward for hip-hop. Rapper and singer Lauryn Hill, already the first female hip-hop artist to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album (The Score with The Fugees), released her solo debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998. The album won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and became one of only two rap albums to win the prestigious award (it still holds today alongside OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below). Lauryn Hill had a unique voice. In a genre dominated by men and often characterized by explicit lyrics, she stood out for her elegant approach and messages of love, faith, and empowerment. Lauryn Hill further mainstreamed rap and set the stage for a new generation of women in hip-hop.

In just about 30 years, hip-hop has transformed from an underground movement to a global cultural powerhouse. What once started in the Bronx is now a universal language, shaping music, fashion, and society at large. But as the turn of the millennium approached, the genre stood on the brink of even greater heights, ready to break new boundaries and continue its evolution into the 21st century.