Queens changed hip-hop at least three times. In Hollis, Run-DMC traded disco for hard drums and rock guitars and made rap a global phenomenon, and LL Cool J became one of its first solo stars.
In the Queensbridge projects, the largest public housing complex in the US, Roxanne Shanté started the Roxanne Wars at age 14, and the borough later produced Nas, whose Illmatic is often called the greatest rap album ever, and the dark street rap of Mobb Deep. Kool G Rap set the standard for street storytelling, and A Tribe Called Quest brought jazz to rap from St. Albans.
Salt-N-Pepa, the first female rap group to go platinum, came from Queens too, and so did 50 Cent, who ruled the 2000s with Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
