While 50 years is a milestone for a person, business and idea alike, the world has taken the year to celebrate a half-century of hip-hop.
More than a musical genre, hip-hop has become an important part of American culture, influencing fashion, literature, educational courses, the church, politics, law and so much more.
LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, 2 Chainz, Common, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, legendary rapper and Oscar-winning actor Will Smith along with DJ Jazzy Jeff, and many more artists took to the stage for “A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop,” which aired on Dec. 10 on CBS.
The star-studded event celebrated hip-hop’s trajectory from 1973 to today.
“Half a century ago, the revolution was not televised,” LL Cool J said, introducing the GRAMMY celebration. “Very few people would predict that 50 years later, hip-hop would rise to this global moment of power.”
Though the legend is hip-hop was born on Aug. 11, 1973, in the Bronx, New York, it has grown from unique sounds at a house party, to a cultural movement that goes beyond age, race, languages and ethnicity.
“Hip-hop is the ultimate American art form,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, at a hip-hop 50th celebration held at her official residence in September. “Born at a back-to-school party in the Bronx, raised on the streets of Philadelphia, Chicago, Oakland, and Atlanta, hip-hop now shapes nearly every aspect of America’s popular culture. And it reflects the incredible diversity and ingenuity of the American people.”
The vice president talked about hip-hop’s African, Caribbean, Latin, gospel, and rhythm and blues influences, before emphasizing the culture as truly American.
“Hip-hop culture is America’s culture,” she said. “It is a genre. It is music, and melody, and rhyme. And hip-hop is also an ethos of strength and self-determination, of ambition and aspiration, of pride, power, and purpose.”
Celebrations throughout the year have included: “Hip-Hop 50 Live” at Yankee Stadium, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “Hip-Hop Block Party,” and a multitude of tributes during awards shows.
From the Grammys, to Yankee’s stadium, to the Vice President’s residence, the U.S. has unapologetically celebrated the importance of hip-hop and that’s because it’s more than a musical genre, or even cultural wave.
“Hip-hop is a declaration of identity,” said Vice President Harris. “ It says, ‘I love who I am, I represent where I come from, and I know where I’m going.’”
