Sugarhill Gang
Sugarhill Gang Formed: 1979 in NY Years Active: 70 ‘s, 80 ‘s, 90 ‘s, 00′s Genre: RAP Though the Sugarhill Gang inaugurated the history of recorded hip-hop with their single ...
MC Shan
MC Shan Genres: Rap Styles: Old School Rap Active: 1980’2 - 2000s Born: September 8, 1965 in Queens, New York, NY Aka: Shawn Moltke member of: Juice Crew According to legend, MC Shan ...
Roxanne Shante
Roxanne Shante Genres: Rap Styles: Old-School Rap Active: 1980s Born: November 9, 1969 in Queens, New York, NY Aka: Lolita Gooden Member of: Juice Crew Born Lolita Shante Gooden, Roxanne Shante was ...
LL Cool J
LL Cool J Born James Todd Smith on January 14, 1968, LL Cool J is a nickname that stands for “Ladies Love Cool James.” He signed to fledgling hip-hop label ...
Salt n Pepa
Salt N Pepa By the late ’80s, hip-hop was on its way to becoming a male-dominated art form, which is what made the emergence of Salt-n-Pepa so significant. As the ...
Public Enemy
Public Enemy Rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late ’80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time. Building ...
Biz Markie
Biz Markie Biz Markie’s inclination toward juvenile humor and his fondness for goofy, tuneless, half-sung choruses camouflaged his true talents as a freestyle rhymer. The Biz may not have been ...
MC Lyte
MC Lyte Born: October 11, 1971 in Queens, New York, NY Years Active: 80 ‘s, 90 ‘s, 00′s Genre: RAP MC Lyte was one of the first female rappers to ...
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys As the first white rap group of any importance, the Beastie Boys received the scorn of critics and strident hip-hop musicians, both of whom accused them of cultural ...
Spoonie Gee
Spoonie Gee, born Gabriel Jackson, had something a lot of other old school hip hoppers didn’t have- an uncle in the music industry. Bobby Robinson was already an accomplished producer ...
Fearless Four
Fearless Four Members The Great Peso (Mitchell Grant) b. 12/5/59 The Devastating Tito (Tito Jones) b. 5/27/64 Mighty Mike C (Michael Kevin Clee) b. 3/10/63 DLB, The Microphone Wizard (Daryl ...
Kool DJ Red Alert
Kool DJ Red Alert (born Fred Crute in November 20, 1956) is a disc jockey who rose to fame on 98.7 Kiss-FM in New York City, and has been recognized ...
Kool Moe Dee
Kool Moe Dee Born Mohandas DeWese in 1963 (some sources say 1962), in Harlem, NY Education: State University of New York, B.A. in communications. Career Rapper. Began rapping in high school; ...
Doug E. Fresh
Doug E. Fresh Born: September 17, 1966 in Barbados Years Active: 80 ‘s, 90 ‘s, 00′s Genre: RAP The first human beatbox in the rap world, and still the best ...
The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys originally known as The Disco 3, were an American hip-hop music trio from Brooklyn, New York City, that emerged in the early 1980s. Former Members Mark Morales a.k.a. ...
Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane Born: September 10, 1968 Emerging during hip-hop’s massive creative expansion of the late ’80s, Big Daddy Kane was the ultimate lover man of rap’s first decade, yet ...
Afrika Bambaataa
A seminal Bronx DJ during the 1970s, Afrika Bambaataa ascended to godfather status with Planet Rock, the 1982 hip-hop classic which blended the beats of hip-hop with techno-pop futurism inspired by German ...
Whodini
Whodini Members Jalil (Jalil Hutchins) Ecstasy (John Fletcher) Grandmaster Dee (Drew Carter) Formed in the early 80′s Whodini got its start in a rather unusual way. Keyboard wiz Thomas Dolby ...
UTFO
UTFO Members Kangol Kid Doctor Ice Educated Rapper Mixmaster Ice This Brooklyn based group (Untouchable Force Organization) released one of hip hop’s most important and successful records, “Roxanne, Roxanne” in ...
Crash Crew
Crash Crew Members E.K. Mike C La Shubee Barry Bistro G-man Reggie Reg DJ Darryl C (d. late 1990′s) Formed in Harlem in 1977 by a group of high school ...
DJ Grand Master Flash
DJ Grand Master Flash Born: January 01, 1958 in Barbados Years Active: 70 ‘s, 80 ‘s, 90 ‘s, 00′s Genre: RAP DJ Grandmaster Flash and his group the Furious Five ...
Eric B & Rakim
Eric B & Rakim Hip-hop trailblazers Eric B. and Rakim’s first single, “Eric B. Is President” (#48, 1986), sparked early debate on the legality of unauthorized, uncredited sampling when James ...
Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow Genres: Rap Styles: Old-School Rap Active: 1970s – 2000s Born: Agust 9, 1959 in Harlem, New York, NY Aliases: Kurtis Walker As the first commercially successful rap artist, Kurtis Blow is ...
The Cold Crush Brothers
The Cold Crush Brothers Formed: 1978 in New York, NY [The Bronx] Years Active: 70 ‘s, 80 ‘s Genre: RAP The Cold Crush Brothers were one of the first rap ...
RUN – D.M.C.
Run – D.M.C. Formed: January 1, 1981 Disbanded: January 1, 2002 More than any other hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. are responsible for the sound and style of the music. As the ...
