This was the ‘break’. It was a humble innovation, yet it sparked a revolution that was at once artistic, social, cultural, and political.

Hip hop was a reset from leftfield, reimagining the musical landscape through the simple but perfect formula of rhymes and beats. It wasn’t afraid to take elements from wherever it felt like and it was never scared to be its own thing. It was something for the masses, something for the marginalised, something that elevated the streets to the upper echelons of culture.

Half a century on, hip hop has solidified itself. It is now more popular worldwide than rock and pop. There are creators and fans in every corner of the world. It sees its influence infiltrate every strand of pop culture: commercial music, art, fashion, film, dance, literature, and so on. But the path to glory is never a straight and narrow one.

‘Just a fad’

While 1973 was hip hop’s birth, it did not penetrate beyond the grime of the New York City underground until the music industry opened slightly for that first hit to be produced in 1979.

That was Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang. Erroneously thought of as ‘the first hip hop song’, artists like Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Caz were cultivating hip hop’s sound, image and slang in the years preceding, along with an army of graffiti artists, breakdancers and DJs.

Either way, it was a hit, and the first one. It proved that hip hop could be commercially viable, and the industry took notice. But that didn’t mean they took it seriously. The Sugarhill Gang themselves were a stitched-together outfit from the mind of record executives Joe and Sylvia Robinson looking toward the youth trends of the cultural capital. Most insiders and critics saw it as a fad, much like disco had been previously. Hip hop would need to fight for itself first.

The early 80s saw acts like Kurtis Blow sign to a major label and earn a superstar title, but it was later in the decade when structures started to fall in place and things moved beyond just a few marquee names.

The growth of record labels like Def Jam and Cold Chillin’ Records gave hip hop the infrastructure it needed. Breakout groups like Run DMC stood bewildered seeing themselves on MTV alongside Madonna and Michael Jackson. Clearly this was something grander, something that could stand on its own, something that could survive the ever-changing cultural moment.

Acts like Run DMC saw themselves integrated into the powerful 1980s MTV machine (Image: MTV)

The original blueprint of hip hop itself began to change, with less focus on dance and graffiti and heavier reliance on MCing, beat producing, and DJing. In the following years, it was these very things that were perfected and pushed hip hop out into the world.

The golden age of hip hop

Although regularly debated, the ‘golden age’ of hip hop is usually defined as between 1988 and 1996, beginning with the proliferation of the ‘boom bap’ style and rise of gangsta rap, and ending with the murders of titan rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

Hip hop’s themes expanded exponentially in this period. Ideologies and philosophies began to form collectively and individually. The Native Tongues collective, consisting of groups such as A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, saw hip hop connect itself vividly to the black experience, favouring pan-Africanism, Afrocentrism and jazz-infused sounds.

With Schoolly D’s 1985 single P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?), the gang warfare of the inner cities and ghettos took centre stage, vastly popularised by the unapologetic Compton group NWA a few years later.

Gangsta rap was significant, not only because it portrayed the realities of inter-community factionalism and violence, but it was unremorseful in its portrayal. Gangsta rappers became a tool against orthodoxy, an unrepentant voice of dissent in an otherwise tepid mainstream culture. It uncovered the eyes of the privileged to a street view through stereos and TV sets.

Gangsta rap acts like NWA gave mainstream audiences an in-depth look into a more grim, street-based slice of reality (Image: Ruthless Records)

The towering figure of Tupac Shakur is still seen as a poet, a small-time revolutionary, and a martyr. He was all those things to varying degrees, but it only scratches the surface of how all-encompassing his art and persona were, and how enthralling hip hop’s major names could truly be.

He was a self-proclaimed thug, the words ‘thug life’ tattooed proudly across his stomach. He understood his stature didn’t place him above the street hustler, the drug dealer, the pimp, the petty criminal. At the start of his music career, his approach was one of collective empowerment, yet by the end of his life, he was the epitome of the rugged individual.

This generation turned rapping into a real craft, refining and pushing the limits of wordplay, flow, street vernacular, and style.

Hip hop’s sonic palette became more elaborate throughout this time, owing to the advancement in sampling technology. The rigid drum machines of its early years gave way to finely looped drum breaks and lifted musical passages. Beatmakers would raid their parents' record collections for jazz, soul and funk to incorporate. The most innovative and dedicated would find sample inspiration from far-out places, broadening hip hop’s sound beyond what its originators could have imagined.

Hip hop also expanded into other fields, with many rap artists becoming fashion designers, entrepreneurs, and activists. Prominent spotlights on television like Yo! MTV Raps gave hip hop a block of airtime to make its case to the casual viewer and define its image in the new visual era.

The ‘golden age’ is named not because hip hop’s evolution and reach would stop here, but because it was a special moment in time where there was a sense of unity in its mission. Divisions existed, mainly between east coast and west coast factions, but they all contributed to a singular force.

In the end, artists and labels from Southern states began to build major prominence secluded from the New York-heavy industry that failed to understand their perspective or even tried to. The 21st century saw hip hop industry fleeing New York City and setting up shop in its new capital of Atlanta, Georgia. And then the internet fundamentally changed how hip hop was produced, distributed, promoted, and well, pretty much everything.

The internet breaks everything

If anything accepted the idea of the internet as a tool for democratising ideas and levelling the playing field, then hip hop was certainly a main advocate.

Digital technology gave rap artists complete free rein in their sound, in crafting their rapping style, and in putting themselves in front of the world.

Read more: Ten of the best rap songs of 2022 from Lil Durk to GloRilla

No longer do rappers have to book studio time when viral hits can be recorded from the comfort of a bedroom microphone. Beatmakers are now far more likely to be familiar with easily accessible professional-grade digital audio workstations than with investment-heavy sampling machines.

The internet allowed artists to bypass the record industry entirely, creating a game of catch-up for label A&Rs. Songs posted to popular apps like YouTube, TikTok and Soundcloud spread instantly, with the record business too traditional to remain on the front foot.

The flashy nature of rap videos dissolved when the internet became the main platform for music videos, with budgets replaced by DIY glimpses into an artist’s environment and lifestyle. Atomisation turned the self-assured drug dealing rappers of the 1990s into the depressed drug using rappers of today. Genre itself became a superfluous, unsure concept as artists pursue unique, niche paths in place of wider mainstream culture.

Read more: Kendrick Lamar – Hip-hop icon's life told through his songs

Today hip hop is in many ways freer than it has ever been, operating outside the zeitgeist while also playing an active role in shaping it. A rabbit hole of sounds, trends, messages, and influences stretches the definition of today’s rap song to imaginative, exciting areas while retaining hip hop’s edge, youthful exuberance, and iconoclastic nature.

It’s been a long 50 years, but the journey is far from over.

Check out 50 iconic hip hop tracks below. Strong language throughout.