Origins of Hip Hop

Fat Joe's authenticity helped him gain respect from all angles as he pushed to break boundaries as one of Hip Hop's only Latino rappers, while also forming a reputable crew of rappers and producers, famously known as The Terror Squad.

From his eccentric style, booming voice, and explosive career, Busta Rhymes changed the landscape of Hip Hop forever. After the heart wrenching breakup of his group, Leaders of The New School, Busta Rhymes had to forge his own path as a solo artist.

Eve's rise to fame as one of rap's most successful female artists is worth a celebration, but the path to get there was less than ideal. After struggling to be noticed she finally catches the break of a lifetime and gets signed by Dr. Dre.

Hip Hop was birthed from the Bronx but to New York's surprise, a harsh reality also lived on the West Coast. Enter: the Original Gangster, Ice-T. Ice-T took a page from Iceberg Slim's books and applied it to his multifaceted career.

Growing up in an upper-middle-class family in the suburbs of Atlanta, Jon Smith began to find his way in music early on; forming his supergroup Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, Jon continued to make his mark across genres.

Emerging from the South Bronx in the 1970s, Grandmaster Flash and his innovation helped create the most widespread movement in popular culture: Hip-Hop.