50 Years of Hip-Hop: How a generation fostered creativity from urban despair and racial barriers

Hip-hop, a subculture and an art movement, was born when urban youth in crime and poverty-ridden neighbourhoods in South Bronx in New York City sought street corners to hang out and found ways to express their despairing selves. In the late 1970s, South Bronx was rocked by a manufacturing decline and an expressway that ended the local businesses. The emerging hip-hop movement gave the youths a recreative space to voice their despair and hardship, which grew to become a global phenomenon. Here's a look at the pioneers
Curated By: Madhu Kapparath
Published: Jul 21, 2023
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Image by : Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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American hip-hop band Run-DMC, circa 1985. A hip hop trio who fused rap with hard rock, Run-DMC were part of a wave of new school rappers whose single "Walk This Way"—and their hip style of dressing—conquered radio and MTV, catapulting rap into the mainstream.