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Eras
Five decades, five eras. Every decade of hip-hop has its own sound, its own stars and its own fights, from the block parties of the Bronx to the streaming hits of today. Pick an era and meet the artists who defined it.
The five eras
The '80s turned a New York street culture into music for the whole world. Run-DMC brought hard drums and rock guitars, Rakim and Big Daddy Kane raised the lyrical bar, Public Enemy made rap political, and N.W.A put the West Coast on the map. The pioneers of the '70s, like DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, are part of this era too.
The '90s are for many the golden age: Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, the Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, the G-funk of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and the rise of the South with OutKast. Looking for the essentials? Read our list of the best 90s rappers.
The 2000s made hip-hop the best-selling music in the world. Eminem, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Kanye West ruled the charts, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Ludacris made the South the center of rap, and producers like Timbaland made the future sound.
The 2010s belonged to streaming. Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott became global stars, Atlanta trap took over with Migos, Future and 21 Savage, and the SoundCloud generation broke every rule.
The 2020s are the most global era yet: drill everywhere, viral hits on TikTok, UK rap on the world stage with Central Cee and Little Simz, and hip-hop's 50th birthday in 2023.
How eras work in this encyclopedia
An era here is the decade in which an artist made their most important work, so artists with a long career can belong to more than one era. Nas, for example, belongs to the '90s and to the 2020s, when he released some of his best albums again. Want the whole story in one go? Read the history of hip-hop.