Hip-hop's history, culture and legacy revisited on its 50th Birthday

August 11th, 2023

A mural at the birthplace of Hip Hop at Bronx's Sedgwick Houses, features an image of the genre's creator DJ Kool Herc, Wednesday July 26, 2023, in New York. Hip-hop rose from the ashes of a borough ablaze with poverty, urban decay and gang violence. From breaking to graffiti “writing” to MC-ing or rapping, the block parties and various elements of hip-hop served as an outlet for creativity and an escape from the hardships of daily life. The movement expanded beyond the Bronx, across New York City and to different parts of the country. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Today we are celebrating Hip-Hop culture’s 50th birthday! The culture of Hip-Hop, which is notably distinct from the Hip-Hop music industry, can be said to date back thousands of years to wall carvings and griot traditions in Africa.

Art, dancing, storytelling and instrumentation have existed within indigenous black and brown cultures for centuries. As time passes, cultures grow and develop based on what’s happening around them, and they “remix” themselves.

In this feature, “City Lights” producer Jeannine Etter covers the remix of ancient African cultures into what we now know as Hip-Hop culture, speaking with Kevin Powell, human and civil rights activist, author and Hip-Hop historian, Joycelyn Wilson, an assistant professor of Hip-Hop studies and digital media at Georgia Tech and Joe Stewart Professor of “Evolution of Hip-Hop” at Clark Atlanta University.

This Aug. 22, 2006 file photo shows Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, left, and Andre Benjamin of OutKast during MTV’s “Total Request Live” at the MTV Times Square Studios in New York. The Neptunes, the innovative production-songwriting duo of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, are nominated for the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame 2020 class. Joining them as nominees are Outkast, R.E.M., Mariah Carey, Patti Smith, Journey, Vince Gill, Gloria Estefan, the Isley Brothers, the Eurythmics, Mike Love, David Gates and Steve Miller. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)

“The same people that Dr. King reminded us not to forget with ‘The Poor People’s Campaign’ are the very same people who ended up creating Hip-Hop,” Kevin Powell said.

You can find out more information about Hip-Hop’s bday here.