Ice Cube said he never expected to be onstage accepting a gilded gramophone with his fellow N.W.A members, but that’s what happened Saturday when he, MC-Ren, DJ Yella and the mother and son of late rapper Eazy-E received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy at the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards. “My …
Read More »LL Cool J Praises 'Larger Than Life' DJ Kool Herc at Rock Hall Induction
LL Cool J honored DJ Kool Herc as “one of the great founders of hip-hop” when the pioneering musical visionary received the Musical Influence Award at the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. During his speech, the rapper recounted the legend of the party Kool Herc DJ’d …
Read More »Kool Herc and the History (and Mystery) of Hip-Hop's First Day
HIP-HOP WAS BORNINTHEBRONXINthe summer of 1973. To celebrate the music’s 50th anniversary,“Rolling Stone” will be publishing a series of features, historical pieces, op-eds, and lists throughout this year. Fifty years on, the details of that historic night in the Bronx — the night everyone now says gave birth to hip-hop …
Read More »'It Turned the World Upside Down': How New York City's 1977 Blackout Jump-Started the Hip-Hop Era
Journalist Jonathan Abrams spent the last four years compiling an enlightening, entertaining, and deeply researched history of hip-hop. Abrams traces the music’s humble beginning in the Bronx and DIY block parties to some of the most popular music in the world today. In this exclusive excerpt from “The Come Up: …
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