Bronx-based DJs set Hip-Hop's sonic foundations. MCs, inspired by African American oral traditions, create the modern template for rap music, culminating with the emergence of Hip-Hop's first crew, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Hip-Hop crews in the Bronx and Harlem begin to form around the DJs, but these pioneering groups never record any music. It would take R&B veterans to see the genre’s commercial potential and create Hip-Hop's first hit, "Rapper's Delight."

Run-DMC ushers in a new era of Hip-Hop. Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin build Hip-Hop's first empire, Def Jam. An unknown producer finds a new way to make beats and launches Hip-Hop's Golden Age, culminating in the epic fury of Public Enemy.

Ice-T uses Hip-Hop to reflect the violence of Los Angeles and inspires a new form of Hip-Hop: Gangsta Rap. N.W.A’s first album, Straight Outta Compton, shocks America. After the LA Rebellion, Dr. Dre makes The Chronic, and creates Hip-Hop’s first hardcore pop record

2 Live Crew popularizes the Miami bass sound and scores a victory for free speech. The Geto Boys put Houston on the map, paving the way for UGK.

In the Bay Area, Too $hort channels pimp culture, MC Hammer becomes rap's first pop star, and Digital Underground introduces the world to Tupac Shakur.

KRS-One makes his mark at New York's legendary Latin Quarter club. A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul cultivate an Afrocentric, jazzy style.

In the early 1990s, a new wave of hardcore East Coast artists emerges, led by Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and the Notorious B.I.G.