Airs September 4, at noon, on WHRV FM

In this program that will air on Labor Day at noon, host Juana Summers traces the growth of Hip-Hop as a cultural and commercial force beginning five decades ago - August 1973 - at a party in a community room in the Bronx.

Summers takes us to where it all got started – where DJ Kool Herc became known for spinning records focusing on percussive “breaks” in the music (hence “break dancing”). With his friend “Coke La Rock” shouting out rhymes on the microphone over the beat, their parties gave way to rap. Nelson George, author of Hip Hop America, helps fill in the story.

Then Summers takes us forward in time and recounts the early growth of Hip Hop through the 1970s and 80s. We hear from music historians and authors Dan Charna, Oliver Wang, Jonathan Abrams and Jen Chaney. And we hear first-hand accounts of the commercial rise of Hip-Hop from DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Moses Edinborough, director and producer of Yo MTV Raps. 

Finally, Summers explores more recent decades of Hip Hop - starting in the late 1990s with the advent of “Trap” music and southern rap in Atlanta. Together with writer Briana Younger and NPR’s Sheldon Pearce, Juana also considers how local or regional culture plays a part in sub-genres of Hip-Hop music that spread and influence music globally. And we hear from NPR's Sidney Madden and podcast host Masani Musa about the role that women have played in the growth of hip hop and the influence of NIkki Minaj on the industry.

Join us on September 4 at noon for this exciting program.

Want more Hip Hop?

Lost in the Shuffle recently showcased a Hip-Hop anniversary special featuring K-Tel Records' Rap Attack album from 1989. Hear the replay. 

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