The Bronx is where hip-hop was born. On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc played a party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and within a few years Grandmaster Flash, Sha Rock and the first MCs had turned the borough's block parties into a culture: DJing, MCing, breaking and graffiti.
In the '80s KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions put the South Bronx on record, and Slick Rick, born in London but raised in the Bronx, became one of rap's great storytellers. Fat Joe and Big Pun carried the borough through the '90s and 2000s.
Today the Bronx is back on top: Cardi B and Remy Ma rule the charts, and Ice Spice made Bronx drill a global sound. In 2023 hip-hop celebrated its 50th birthday right where it started.
