This year is a monumental one for our culture and hip-hop in general. A little genre that started in the Bronx would go on to dominate the world and dictate what’s hot and what’s not worldwide. Often imitated but never duplicated this thing of ours is here to stay. Unfortunately, some of the pioneers left us too soon yet their contributions will live on forever through film and video.
We figured why not take a trip down memory lane and revisit 50 of the most iconic moments in hip-hop. Celebrate the final day of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary over the next five pages.
50 Iconic Moments In Hip-Hop History
These moments are in no particular order but all are significant when we talk about hip-hop. These are the moments that inspired a generation and pushed our culture forward. If you were lucky enough to experience some of these you know just how beautiful they were for something that wasn’t even accepted at first. Furthermore, hip-hop was the underdog and is now the determining factor in what is cool and what isn’t.
Tupac Sign’s To Death Row & Releases The Iconic “California Love” Video After Release From Jail
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Young Dolph Survives 100 Shots and Releases Bulletproof
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Lil Wayne Released After Serving 1 Year At Rikers Island
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Rappers Boycott The 1989 Grammy Awards
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DaBrat Makes History Becoming The First Female Solo Artist To Go Platinum
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TLC Brings Safe Sex To The Forefront Of Hip-Hop Amid Raising STD Rates
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DMX Makes History Becoming The First Only Artist To Release Two No. 1 Hip-Hop Albums In A Year
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Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer Prize For DAMN.
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Lauryn Hill Wins Five Grammys In One Night
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Dr. Dre Sells Beats by Dre To Apple For $3 Billion
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Kanye West’s infamous “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” statement
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Suge Knight Disses Diddy During The Source Awards
If hip-hop was the Marvel Universe this would be the nexus moment that happens in every universe that can’t be undone. It changes the trajectories of several people and pushes hip-hop further into the forefront of entertainment. After all, drama sells, and very well at that.
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Andre 3000’s infamous “The South Got Something To Say”
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Nas Vs Jay-Z
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Brawl Breaks Out During The 2000 Source Awards
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TI Calls Out Lil’ Flip During Birthday Bash
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Three 6 Mafia Wins An Oscar For A Song About Pimpin
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Kool Herc Throws a Back-to-School Jam That Would Be Seen As The “Birth” Of Hip-Hop
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Lil Nas X Makes Grammy History Becoming The First Openly Gay Rapper To Become Nominated
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Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar & 50 Cent Headline The Pepsi SB LVI Halftime Show
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Run DMC & Aerosmith Cross Genres For “Walk This Way”
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2 Live Crew’s Banned In The U.S.A Becomes First Album To Receive “Parental Advisory” Sticker
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Yo! MTV Raps Premiers In 1998
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Rick Rubin & Russell Simmons Create Def Jam Records
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Cash Money & Ruff Ryders Embark On US Tour
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The Up In Smoke Tour Featuring Dr. Dre, Eminem, Xzibit, Warren G and Nate Dogg
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Kanye West Headlines Coachella 2011
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Drake Releases “Back To Back” Amid Beef With Meek Mill Over Ghostwriting Allegations
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Kanye & Jay-Z Release Watch The Throne
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ICE-T Joins Law & Order SUV
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Lil Wayne Reveals He Wants Off Cash Money Then Takes Birdman To Court & Wins
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Nipsey Hussle Sells 1000 Copies Of His Crenshaw Mixtape For $1000
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Ice-T Becomes Hip-hop’s First Big-Time Rapper Turned Actor In New Jack City
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Snoop Dogg Beats His Murder Case
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Lil Kim Releases The Video For “Crush On You”
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DJ Screw opens Houston record store “Screwed Up Records & Tapes”
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Eminem Releases The Movie 8 Mile
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DJ Drama & DJ Don Cannon Raided By The Feds Over Mixtapes
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Soulja Boy Delivers The First Viral Hit With “Crank Dat”
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Lil Wayne Releases Tha Carter III & Sells A Million Copies First Week
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Nicki Minaj Steals The Spotlight On Kanye West’s “Monster”
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Chief Keef “I Don’t Like” Ushers In A New Sound & Generation Of Hip-Hop
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XXL’s 2016 Freshman Cover Ushers In Yet Another Change In Hip-Hop
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LL Cool J’s Gap Commercial While Wearing FUBU
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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Debuts on NBC
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The Deaths Of 2Pac & Biggie
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Virgil Abloh Becomes The First Black Creative Director At Louis Vuitton
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Cardi B Becomes First Solo Woman To Win Best Rap Album Grammy
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Jay-Z Retires Then Returns
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50 Cent Drops Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ & Goes On Unprecedented Run
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MC Hammer’s Pepsi Ad Paves The Way For Hip-Hops Inclusion In Big Time Marketing & Branding
